But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. My email is: [email protected] Thank you. Helen Jarvi. Mithra was born December 25th as were many of the Roman Gods.
Centre of Stonehenge This idea that Jesus was born and crucified on the same date reminds me of the traditional Buddhist belief that the Buddha was born, became enlightened, and died all on the same date—the full moon of May—also with no actual historical or scriptural evidence to support it. It may be that knowing one important date and wanting to know another one makes it easy to combine the two—the known and the unknown—into one.
The most important thing is that Jesus was born and later died for our sins. Then 3 days later arose from the dead. Have you repented and received The Lord Jesus as your Saviour? So please repented and receive Jesus now. Luke pinpoints a time when the Bible chronology and secular history agree and that is 29 AD. According to early Church history, Gabriel announced to Zechariah that he would have a son John the Baptist on the Jewish day of Atonement.
Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn morning and evening incense as prescribed in the Old Testament regulations, not performing the atonement duties which were the sole domain of the high priest. And the Bible bears this out. Zechariah was on the priestly division of Abijah, which according to Old Testament regulations would have been on duty in the 10th and 34th weeks of the Jewish religious year. Tishri Since it takes 9 months for a baby to be born, simple mathematics tells us that John was then born around June 24 and Jesus 6 months later.
That is why for 1, years March 24 has been regarded as the date of the Annunciation, June 24 the birthdate of John the Baptist, and December 25 the birth of Christ. It had nothing to do with paganism at all. It was Biblical and based on known historical facts. It really is so simple if we will just take the Word at face value and believe. For anyway that you self glorify over The Most High is never good. Also I know some mention Dec 25 as being Nimrods birthday, I would be interested to know whether or not this is true.
Thank you, and all praises to The Most High. Historians mention that first century Christians did not celebrate birthdays, in fact they regarded the celebration of birthdays as idolatrous worship…….
Very interesting article, thank you. I was just reading an article or two on Egyptian and Babylonian deities. You have cleared up a difficult passage for me.
There are Egyptian passages that refer to the sun god Ra, whose soul is pictured as a ram during the spring time, entering the goddess Nut, and being born as the sun during the winter solstice.
I was very puzzled. Now I have read your article and feel the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from understanding something better. Thank you. Thank you for the very interesting and informed article. The past Pope agrees with you…. The Catholic Church has dated the birth of Jesus at 25 December because this date is nine months after his death and resurrection. Church doctrine holds to the idea that Jesus Christ died on the same day of the year that he was conceived.
However, some historians have argued that 25 December is used because it aligns with the birth of the Mithraic cult or to the winter solstice, in tribute to the Roman state-sanctioned sun god Sol Invictus. The Catholic Church directly opposes this view.
As Cardinal Ratzinger says,. However, these old theories can no longer be sustained. From my education I learned that Christ was conceived on Dec. That it is all pagan and unholy. Thus, we have the division between those who are against it and those who have lived with the celebration since their very own birth. I do have to say that these confusions are the very reason why there will be the 1, years of teaching by Christ and His anointed chosen.
Both my wife and I read this article and found it to be very interesting. Found a lot of very interesting concepts. Thanks and have a Blessed Holiday Season.
I like the way our Faith Family has understood that our salvation is tied up into one package. Easter means Christmas had to be a real event. Most of the church realises that Jesus was not born on the 25 December, yet they continue to celebrate it, making the celebration a lie.
God is truth, and we are called to worship Him in Spirit and Truth, how do we justify that? Great Read! Good information and helps understand why we celebrate as we do in the modern world. Even though it may be watered down in some parts of the world. Thank you for sharing the information. Can the author address the apparent coincidence of Jewish Chanukah festival on the 25th Day of Kislev, that occurs in December, that early Christians wished to coopt, and therefore adopted the pagan date of the 25th of December as a festival day?
Should we ignore scripture and just rely on human opinion? Luke And there were in the same country shepherds abiding G63 in the field G68 , keeping watch over their flock by night. So, the shepherds were camping out in the field. A field is a piece of ground or land used as a farm. Most of the time shepherds lead their flocks across the hillsides to eat mouthfuls of grass as they graze. These hillsides are not farms, and the grasses that are eaten are a tuft here and there after each step.
They are not in knee-high grass eating their hearts content! Now look at the growing schedule for Israel, and see what months of the year the farms are planted and harvested. The barley harvest began in March-April: the first sheaf being cut and waived in the middle of Aviv, which could be any time between 21st March and the middle of April. It is the same in modern Israel. The sheep at that time could glean the stubs and remains from the harvest. Then in the 7th month plowing begins. The shepherds might have been able to leave their flocks safely when they are in the farm areas where the food is plentiful for the sheep and where the dangers of the wilderness are not present.
That is a way for them to be able to go see the baby Jesus. Another question i have is if there was so much uncertainty in the 70 to years after Jesus had died regarding his day of birth but none of the dates pointed to December 25 did suddenly years later they decide that December 25 was the day?
I have some interesting thoughts to share. The first…. My oldest was born 5days before her due date while the other actually came on her due date. As this is modern known data can we really presume that they were able to accurately depict the day of conception especially given that nothing is written about a particular day when the angel appears to Mary to give her the news?
So there for, would it not then be more appropriate to speculate that they would have had Jesus killed on the day of his birth? I would like to know your take on this information? Speculation and theories, no matter how theologically based, always ends in the same way. Speculation and theories. Nor did the early church practice such a thing. Nor is there any commandment from God to do so. So what is the real reason that we do celebrate Christmas.
A tradition invented by godly men with good intentions? I tend to think so even though there are a lot of discrepancies in the props that are used in relation to the actual biblical account. Every scholar, professor or simple man has their thoughts and theories. My thoughts and theory I do not care when he was born. His preachings and teachings are what is important. Do not succumb to the changes by activist athiests or progressives.
I read this to my granddaughter trying to get her to understand that there are different theories to the birth of Christ. Her father has told her that celebrating Christmas is paganism and now she is afraid to celebrate. I being a Christian believe in celebrating in December Can you give me more information to help her. Id rather people consider Christ than the celebration of the sun.
For whatever reason this December 25th date was officially selected, believers focus on the birth of their Savior and giving. Just like when I birthed my own children, it was a time of celebration for a gift had been given. Ive observed in this life that just about any and everything can be made to look ugly, wrong even vile. Nine months has nothing to do with accuracy, 40 weeks does, yes days from the conception to the birth.
Conception in like the lighting of a LAMP. Now how easy is it to turn this scripture into a calendar date with both Solar and lunar calendar in agreement, like two witnesses 6 months before Herod died. Isiah Not only did he invent the erroneous Anno Domini A. How does such a learned man not know this? The answer is in the Infancy Gospel of James a discarded gospel but very reliable resource.
Mary laid her baby in an ox manger when she found out the Magi and Herod were looking for him which it is clearly known that he was laid in the manger the same day of birth.
The bethlehem star shined on December 25, 2 bc. This was the day the Magi visited. All of these events happened on the same day. For by it, those who worshipped the stars were taught by a star to adore you, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know you, the Orient from on high.
The twenty-fifth of December was called the birthday of the Invincible Sun, the sun in the sky. The Christians made a polemic against that. In general, this troparion of Christmas is a polemic against paganism. That is why the song was put on the very day of that particular pagan festival that the Christians were now co-opting, and saying what is really to be celebrated today, what is really to be acknowledged and confessed and proclaimed is the Gospel of Christ.
That the nativity is not of the physical sun in the sky being born in the springtime, as the days get longer, but it is the nativity of Christ, our God. There is a special star in the sky that proclaims the birth of the Messiah, the nativity of the Messiah. Those who were stargazers, astrologists, who were worshipping stars, adoring stars, trying to find out the truth about creation in stars, are now taught by a star. And what are they taught to do?
That is from Malachi The orient from high will visit us, it says, the dayspring on high, the oriens ex alto, as it says in Latin, the anatoli ex ipsus. That is a quotation of Isaiah, and that is also found in St. Due to a difference in the Georgian and Julian calendars, Jan. The majority of the Orthodox churches worldwide use the Julian calendar, created under the reign of Julius Caesar in 45 BC, and have not adopted the Gregorian calendar, proposed by Latin Pope Gregory of Rome in There are 13 days in difference between the two calendars, the Gregorian calendar being the one long adopted by Western nations.
December 25 on the Julian calendar actually falls on January 7 on the Gregorian calendar. So strictly speaking, Christmas is still kept on December 25, which just happens to fall 13 days later on the Julian calendar.
For those remaining on the Julian calendar, the Epiphany is celebrated on Jan. Adoption of the Gregorian calendar among Orthodox churches varies among jurisdictions within the denomination. All are grossly incorrect. Unfortunately, what the first article overlooks is the Book of Luke.
Herod the Great was long dead. Matthew So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
The Background section appears as follows:. The oldest relatively complete extant manuscripts of the Bible are the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, which date from the 4th century. Besides these, there exist manuscript fragments ranging from a few verses to whole chapters.
Papyrus and Papyrus 67 are notable fragments of Matthew. These are copies of copies. In the process of recopying, variations slipped in, different regional manuscript traditions emerged, and corrections and adjustments were made. Modern textual scholars collate all major surviving manuscripts, as well as citations in the works of the Church Fathers, in order to produce a text which most likely approximates to the lost autographs. Were there not warnings not to add to nor take away from the Scriptures?
So, either this passage has been tampered with or the passage in Luke has; they are incongruent. Fortunately, the essential truths remain for our salvation. Yes, much paganism was assimilated through the Catholic Church, and those false traditions carried over unchecked after the Protestant Reformation.
Some have asked: Why is this important? Bottom line: God does everything in accordance with His appointed times on His calendar. Christmas is not of God; Christmas is about Mithra s! Then it was right after sunset, of B. That astrological setup, happens about once every 30 years. And then, if he was two weeks premature not unusual for a first child, at 13 years of age , his conception would be about B. Which began, at sunset of B. You cannot celebrate His birth — For no one, back then, celebrated birthdays, because they did not know when they were conceived.
They counted your birth, as being your year one, already. He told you to celebrate only His death. It was near the Passover, and an eclipse in Jerusalem, and there is an earthquake thrown in there, somewhere. It comes out to being 1 B. He was dying, and his sons were ruling in his stead the last 3 years. He sent his troops out to kill the children up to two one, to us ; the wise men had showed up later, when the Holy Family were living in town.
The shepherds put the sheep in the harvested fields before October back then, in Israel. They eat up the straw and weeds, and so forth, and fertilize all of the fields with their droppings, in the winter. Shepherds were not well liked; these nomads, were considered to be thieves.
But the sheep and goat droppings, which convert the chaff and weeds to fertilizer, were desirable to the farming people, who lived in the small towns. Bethlehem was pretty small, back then. A city back then, was like a village or a small town is, today.
Sheep need no shepherd watching over them, once they are closed in the fields, close to town. One guy, can handle a bunch of flocks. The lions and the wolves, are generally more up in the hills, and not close to the towns. Would be by B. Around then, not much later, as he died in the following spring.
Herod had his sons rule before, with the two sons he killed off. Josephus says of one of them, that he was effectively the king. They only lacked the crown itself. But you often predated your rule, on the coins that you issued. This has been found, in the ancient world. Most successions, were not as abrupt as people think that they were.
You kept giving your son more-and-more power and authority while you lived, to try him out, to see if he was fit to rule. The sons who Herod killed, also had coins made in their names, while Herod was still alive. There are also 4 Jewish calendars, and the Roman one. And if you ruled for a part of a year? To the Romans, that was a full year, of your reign. Your successor, thus began his reign on the first day of the following year, no matter when he actually started being Emperor.
All of that, has to be considered in analyzing the data. The grain, the bread, is the sign of the Harvester, Virgo. She used to be shown holding a shock of wheat, or a loaf of bread. The twin fishes, are the sign of Pisces. Virgo, is fall; Pisces, is spring. Both of them, reference harvest seasons. Unusable fish, of the catch?
Are fertilizer, for the spring planting. The Ancient World, was a hardscrabble existence. And anything which could be harvested, and sold, was. The Ancients believed that your major stars, were designated by your birthdate.
Your minor stars, are of the astrological sign, of 6 months later. You do not believe that astrology has anything to do with the Bible?
Then why the twins Gemini and the archer on horseback Chiron; Sagittarius in Genesis? The rams Aires and the scales of Judgment and good measure and the recording of the Books Libra of Canaanite Leviticus? The constellation is that long… Moses, has to fit in here, somewhere… Yeshua likely was crucified on C.
Which gives you, 34 years, 6 months, 22 days. But if you add on the time in the womb? You add on days, or 5 months and 14 days. Which gives you, 35 years, 2 months, and 2 days. It all works out — To make Christmas about His conception day, and Easter about His death, and the fall festivals, about His birth.
The twins Gemini and the archer on horseback Chiron; Sagittarius — The first 2, years. Pisces the fishes and Virgo the Harvester; the bread; the grain — The fourth 2, years. The first 2,, predate Abraham, still in Ur. The next 2,, take you to the start of the conquest of Canaan, via the enslavement, in Egypt. The next 2,, take you up to today… The final 2,? The Millennial Reign, of God On earth, for 1, years? Aquarius, represents that. And then the 1, years, of the Release of the Dragon?
You guys are too clever for your own good!! I believe Christmas is a moot point in every respect. As for a savior? This is a horribly researched article, and BAS should be ashamed for re- publishing it.
The census of Quirinius certainly occurred in 6 CE. HaDerech in Acts, then these Biblical accounts become crystal clear. The only time that occurs is in Course Year 3 of 6 from the 14th through the 20th. Therefore, Yochanan was conceived on the 22nd of the 12th month in 4 CE.
That certainly coincides with the first census of Quirinius. I even verified what the star of Bet Lechem Bethlehem was with our local planetarium. Christ arose as the Lord of the weekly Sabbath on 18 Abib, which was — not coincidentally — when Jehoiarib first served after originally being selected by lot. The Order of Malki-tsedeq Melchizedek supplanted that of the imperfect Levitical priesthood.
Finally, His empty tomb was discovered early on the first day of the week 19 Abib! He never reached 30 years of age; that is also consistent with the Scriptures.
There is a significance to the days and times given us to observe and keep. These dates are not therefore to be confused with the days and times set by man in the name of their deity. I have read or heard much of this before. However, it is a nice seasonal reminder.
As this article suggests, she would be using a comparative-religions approach to the interpretation of the Christmas event — an approach that is not as ancient, necessarily, as she supposes. The above article gives alternate perspectives, and for that I am quite grateful. Every word in the Bible is there because God put it there.
How about that! She confirmed what I had been told. We will never know the actual date of Jesus birth. If Zechariah saw the angel Gabriel in 6 BCE, Elizabeth would have conceived John a couple of days later, after Zechariah completed his service and went home. The burning of the incense takes place during the Day of Atonement. That day was Sept 22, 6 BCE.
This would allow time for Herod to seek the death of Jesus. Allowing a few months for the Magi to arrive and Herod would have hedged his bet by calling for the killing of every boy under 2. This would also allow time for the flight to Egypt and upon returning, Herod Archelaus would be king causing Joseph to settle in Nazareth.
If the early church did the calculations for themselves, they too could have arrived at a similar result. Sheep do graze in the fields of Bethlehem all year long according to some people who have been there. But whenever he was born, it was the start of his incarnation, not of his existence, since he was there at the creation. Thanks BAR and the Author. Merry Christmas! Material implication already of Stoics in Nicea A. D battle: st. Athanassius contra Arius plus B.
God bless! All true. However the important aspect missing form the article is that Jesus was a sun god born of a moon god through Virgo, the virgin in the House of Bread, Bethlehem. The birth of the sun is seen as 3 days past the winter solstice. On this day the constellations display the birth narrative just before sunrise. Scholars turn their back on the fact Jude-Christianity is built upon cosmic mythology like all the other religions in the region.
It is not special. Stop pretending. The moment of conception is vastly more important than the day of birth, without which there would nevr be a birth. Gloria a Dios en las alturas,Y en la tierra paz, buena voluntad para con los hombres!! Lucas I believe you may have missed the importance of the Feasts of God and their significance.
Christ was likely born during the feast of tabernacles dwellings commemorating the temporary dwellings for the Hebrews upon leaving Egypt. Christ was born in a temporary dwelling as his family was traveling as well. This correlation may be worthy of examination as the feasts were prophetic as well as contemporary to the day they were given. Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of deity Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December.
The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves.
But instead the gifts are given to others? Really, Jesus is the replacement of the sun god of the pagan festival, which during that festival they gave each other gifts. Worship of false gods? Worship of idols? Followers of tradition?
December 06, Jesus was well not born on Dec 25 we just celebrate it on that day because of the festivities. We believe the Dec. However, the method of proof by which to substantiate that claim has largely been lost to history. This has left Christmas open to the charge that the date was derived from the pagan winter soltice, or other serreptious means.
However, other than the mere coincidence of sharing the common date of Dec. To the contraary, evidence that Jesus was born Dec. We are happy to be able to share the evidence with you here. Jesus Christ was not born on 25 December. A statement by Pope is a reality that has been confessed. There remains a few more of the realities both the Christian faith and the rest of the world has started to realise. He as is believed specially by Christians and Muslims in particular that was taken to heaven and will appear is a totally wrong.
Jesus migrated to India and died there at the age of about years. His tomb is in Srinagar city. Another interesting fact for Christian world is that Marry mother of Jesus has her grave in Murree a beautiful hill station about one hour drive from Islamabad the capital city of Pakistan. Further more that the world is expecting the Messiah will not come in shape of Jesus instead the Messiah has not only come in shape of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian.
He claimed to be the Messiah and the Imam mehdi in in India and died in Lahore currently in Pakistan in After his death currently it is his fifth successor Mirza Masroor Ahmad who currently resides in London. While the Christian people specially youth are getting rid of Christianity and becoming more of disbelievers of Allah Almighty. It is the Ahmadiyya community which is telling the truth about Jesus and Mary in particular hence the world is rapidly approaching and entering Islam.
For further information you are more than welcome to visit my country Pakistan where I can do my utmost to entertain you and provide maximum details. I recently watched The Star of Bethlehem, a fascinating documentary linking the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem to December 25 on our solar calendar.
I always knew that our date of celebration had to have some heavenly significance not tied to a pagan holiday to have continued to our present day. I was pleased to learn that it does.
Can you condemn others with a clear conscience? Jesus may not have commanded that not celebrate his birth, but many did long before it came into regular practice. Do you condemn the shepherds and wise men? If it is done properly, we are worshipping the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior for humbling himself to become a helpless baby. We remember it because His journey of sacrifice began then and his birth and death are linked. They cannot be separated.
That is simply what we are doing. God announced a party for the birth of His son. Jesus was born on December 25 Christmas is the biggest celebration of Christianity, at which all celebrate the birth of Christ. There is, however, no mention biblical or otherwise indicating 25 December as the one in which Jesus was born. You should be concerned with the attitude of Christians towards Christmas and not the Feast itself. Constantine was a follower of this religion. Mithraus just happened to be born on …..
A perfect fit! It also this much distance between summer to the end of winter. God has no beginning and ending.
Instead of rejecting paganism, some people embraced pagan practices. Because God manifested in the flesh to die for our sins. Why insist to give Christ a celebration of His coming as a Messiah or His birth which is a false tradition of Roman Catholic. Any half-truth is not truth at all but lies. His resurrection truly defeat sin, death and Hell.
If there is no night, then eternity is surely only one day!!! Details on my blog at: crazyrev dot blogspot dot com please make the necessary adjustments! At the end of the day, why do we waste so much time on speculation about this date?
The miracle is Scritpure teaches clearly that His birth was the fulfillment of prophecies given hundreds of years prior, His vicory over sin and satan millennia prior. For surely the relegation of them to a single date each in the calendar dulls the joy of everything about our God?
Above all things, let us rather celebrate the promise of his return, for it is in that our hope is fulfilled. Eternity is so much more than a day, surely? Thank you Mr. McGowan for such an interesting and engaging article. Ultimately, however, I think the traditional Saturnalia celebration linkage is far more credible because we know how pervasive Greco-Roman paganism was and how it very nearly subsumed Jewish culture with the Maccabean Revolt and events before and after.
Christmas in Europe at one point resembled trick or treating for Halloween, which is why it was banned for many years in the United States. Nor is Tishri the 9th month after Abib for that 9 month symettry you allude to but is the 7th month. Thank you for your kind attention. Lots of comments and ideas…many interesting, others — well……As to Shteef who is offended that Christians believe the multiple gods are untrue —when did this become news to you? Judaism was, and is, firmly monotheistic.
Read Isaiah and Micah, among others. Kriishna was no virgin birth. And while his birth story is unusual, it is not more so than the birth story alleged of Alexander the Great, Buddha, or others.
But not virginal — and certainly not monotheistic or something prophesied as a solution to the sins of mankind. E, rather then AD. It helped that December 25th already hosted two debaucherous holidays: natalis solis invicti the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun" , and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness.
Christmas wasn't widely observed until after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and declared it the Roman empire's favored religion. By Meghan Overdeep. Save FB Tweet More.
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