The Date of Christmas

From time to time, people ask me why we celebrate Christmas on December 25. Or, they don't ask, and they believe what they were told. Most people have been taught some version of history that goes like this:


The Romans had a huge Solstice festival called Sol Invictus (the Invincible Sun) and the Christians took it over so they could convert it into a Christian festival and get rid of the pagan Roman practices in the area. So, really Christmas is nothing more than a made-up day designed to use a party that was already in place.


Okay, well...yes and no. The Romans did have a Solstice festival called Sol Invictus. And Christians have often associated the increasing Sun with the ever-increasing Light of the Son. And it's also true that when Christianity spread into pagan cultures, they often kept all the big parties, celebrations, and festivals, but put a Christian spin on them. I mean, why convert to a religion that takes away your parties? And Christianity has always loved a good celebration (despite this weird reputation we have for being joyless prudes--just not historically true).

But every society has had a Solstice celebration, and Christianity no more had any need to take over the Romans' festival than anyone else's. Frankly, it would have made a lot more sense for us to take over Hannukah, but we didn't.

The date of Christmas comes from another source entirely.

You have to remember, though, that dates as we understand them now were much less exact in the ancient world. So, people get confused when they hear that the Solistice is on the 21st, but Christmas on the 25th. Neither of those numbers would necessarily have had any meaning in ancient times.

Same for Jesus' death date. Scholars now put it around April 4-7, probably in the year 29. But that's a very recent development. For centuries, starting from the very first century AD, the date of the crucifixion was thought to be March 25--and it probably was, the way dates were calculated back then. Remember, our calendars have had a lot of adjusting in the last 2000 years.

Why does Jesus' death date matter in the question of his birthdate? It matters because the ancient Greeks (the dominant culture in Jesus' day, even if it was being run by Romans at the time), believed that a Hero lived a perfect life, and that even included that life's timeline.

A perfect life began and ended on the same day--it was full, complete, perfect, with no remainders. And they considered that life began on the day of conception. Therefore, their ultimate Hero, Jesus, was conceived and died on the same day, March 25. We also celebrate the Annunciation on March 25, the day when the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother of Jesus.

And what happens 9 months after Jesus' is conceived? December 25, Jesus is born.

And if there's already a big Solstice party going on, great. There's nothing stopping us from joining in the celebrations.