December 25th?

On December 25, Christians around the world will gather to celebrate Jesus’ birth. Joyful carols, special liturgies, brightly wrapped gifts, festive foods—these all characterize the feast today, at least in the northern hemisphere. But just how did the Christmas festival originate? How did December 25 come to be associated with Jesus’ birthday?  The Bible offers few clues: Celebrations of Jesus’ Nativity are not mentioned in the Gospels or Acts; the date is not given, not even the time of year. The biblical reference to shepherds tending their flocks at night when they hear the news of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8) might suggest the spring lambing season; in the cold month of December, on the other hand, sheep might well have been corralled. Yet most scholars would urge caution about extracting such a precise but incidental detail from a narrative whose focus is spiritual rather than physical.

The extrabiblical evidence from the first and second century is equally sparse. There is no mention of birth celebrations in the writings of early Christian writers such as Irenaeus (c. 130–200) or Tertullian (c. 160–225). In fact Origen of Alexandria (c. 165–264) goes so far as to mock Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices— and is a strong indication that Jesus’ birth was not something of "celebration" in that place and time. As far as we can tell, Christmas was not celebrated at all at this point. This stands in sharp contrast to the very early traditions surrounding Jesus’ last days. Each of the Four Gospels provides detailed information about the time of Jesus’ death. According to John, Jesus is crucified just as the Passover lambs are being sacrificed. This would have occurred on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan, just before the Jewish holiday began at sundown (considered the beginning of the 15th day because in the Hebrew calendar, days begin at sundown). In Matthew, Mark and Luke, however, the Last Supper is held after sundown, on the beginning of the 15th. Jesus is crucified the next morning—still, the 15th. Jesus’ ministry, miracles, Passion and Resurrection were often of most interest to first and early second century Christians. The earliest writings—Paul and Mark—make no mention of Jesus’ birth. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke provide well-known but quite different accounts of the event—although neither specifies a date. 

It is not until the second century C.E. that supposed details of Jesus’ birth and childhood are related in apocryphal writings such as the "Infancy Gospel of Thomas" and the "Proto-Gospel of James." These texts (spurious at best) are supposed to provide everything from the names of Jesus’ grandparents to the details of his education—but even then the date of his birth is not mentioned. It is not until about 200 C.E., a Christian teacher in Egypt makes reference to the date Jesus was born. According to Clement of Alexandria, several different days had been proposed by various groups, but doesn’t mention December 25 at all. 

The most loudly touted theory about the origins of the Christmas date(s) is that it was borrowed from pagan celebrations. The Romans had their mid-winter Saturnalia festival in late December; barbarian peoples of northern and western Europe kept holidays at similar times. To top it off, in 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on December 25. Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar festivals. According to this theory, early Christians deliberately chose these dates to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world: If Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be open to both the holiday and the God whose birth it supposed to celebrate.  A marginal note on a manuscript of the writings of the Syriac biblical commentator Dionysius bar-Salibi states that in ancient times the Christmas holiday was actually shifted from January 6 to December 25 so that it fell on the same date as the pagan Sol Invictus holiday.  In the 18th and 19th centuries, Bible scholars spurred on by the new study of comparative religions latched on to this idea. They claimed that because the early Christians didn’t know when Jesus was born, they simply assimilated the pagan solstice festival for their own purposes, claiming it as the time of the Messiah’s birth and celebrating it accordingly.  

It is profoundly interesting though, that in the first few centuries the persecuted Christians were greatly concerned with distancing itself from the larger, public pagan religious observances, such as sacrifices, games and holidays because they were all associated with giving worship to the Roman Emperor. This was still true as late as the violent persecutions of the Christians conducted by the Roman emperor Diocletian between 303 and 312 C.E. and would change only after Constantine converts to Christianity. It is only from the mid-fourth century on, we do find "Christians" deliberately adapting and Christianizing pagan festivals. 

In the end we are left with a question: How did December 25 become Christmas? We cannot be entirely sure. There is only one thing of which we can be certain regarding it, and that is that it does not have biblical authenticity. Like most things of its nature, it is a man made thing. 

 (adapted from an article How December 25 Became Christmas by Andrew McGowan, Biblical Archaeological Review 12/7/2012)

Jim