Origin

The winter solstice is the point when the sun is furthest south of the equator.  It occurs towards December 24.  In the northern hemisphere, at this time, at 12.00 p.m. the sun, used to be at its strongest, is seen just barely above the horizon about to set.  The days are short, and nights long.  The ancients worshipped the sun because they were farmers and it was the sun that was the source of growth for vegetation, and that provided warmth and light.  Hence during the winter solstice, it appeared to the pagans that their sun god was dying.  However on December 25 the sun begins its ascend at noontime.  The primitive pagans interpreted that as the resurrection or rebirth of the sun god.  Thus December 25 was a day of celebration day for sun-worshippers all over the northern hemisphere.

It is no wonder that in Persia (today’s Iran) December 25 was celebrated as the birthday of Mithra, the mystery god who was revered as the sun of righteousness.  It was believed that he died on the night of December 24 and arose to newborn activity the next morning[1].  In Scandinavia (especially among the Teutonic and Celtic tribes) as well as in England (among the Anglo-Saxons) the winter solstice was celebrated as “Jul” or Yule[2] “to commemorate the rebirth of the sun as the giver of light and warmth”[3].  In Egypt, they believed that the son of Isis, the queen of heaven, was born at this very time[4].  In Arabia, the Sabeans observed December 24 as the birthday of Meni, the Lord of the Moon[5].  In ancient Babylon (now Iraq), the festival of Bacchus was celebrated on that day[6].  And in Rome, the winter festival, Saturnalia, was celebrated from December 17-24[7].  This festival was “dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun”[8].  And December 25 was the festival of Dies Invicti Solis (the day of the invincible sun), introduced by the Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, to mark the reappearance of the sun[9].

Neither the apostles nor the early church celebrated the birthday of Christ.  There is no mention of birth celebrations in the writings of second century Christian leaders such as Irenaeus (c. 130-200).  On the contrary, the church leadership was against birth celebrations.  Origen of Alexandria (c. 165-264) went so far as to mock Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries; dismissing them as “pagan” practices – a strong indication that Jesus’ birth was not marked with similar festivities at that place and time[10].  However in this era, it is evident that certain weaker segments of the church were flirting with the assimilation of pagan practices into Christianity.  They began setting auspicious dates for the birth and death of Christ to celebrate.  In 200 A.D., Clement of Alexandria wrote:

“There are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord’s birth, but also the day; and they say that it took place in the 28th year of Augustus, and in the 25th day of [the Egyptian month] Pachon [May 20 in our calendar] … And treating of His Passion, with very great accuracy, some say that it took place in the 16th year of Tiberius, on the 25th of Phamenoth [March 21]; and others on the 25th of Pharmuthi [April 21] and others say that on the 19th of Pharmuthi [April 15] the Savior suffered. Further, others say that He was born on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi [April 20 or 21].”[11]

It should be noted however that, up to this time, nobody thought that the date of Christ’s birth was December 25.

For those Christians living under the shadow of the great Roman empire, some were influenced to join in the celebrations of Saturnalia or failed to abstain from its festivities after conversion.  But the church stalwarts were still strongly opposed to the assimilation of paganism.  In 230 A.D. Tertullian (c. 160-225) was burdened to write this:

“By us, who are strangers to sabbaths, new moons and festivals, the Saturnalia, the feasts of January, the Brumalia and the Matronalia are now frequented; gifts are carried to and fro, new year’s day presents are made with din, and sports and banquets are celebrated with uproar.”

Referring to the pagan custom of affixing evergreen wreaths on front doors during Saturnalia, Tertullian warned the Christians converts at his time:

“If thou hast renounced temples, make not a temple of thine own house door“.

Cyprian, who became Bishop of Carthage in 249 A.D., wrote in De pasch, Comp., xix:

“O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born . . . Christ should be born.“

In the fourth century, things changed.  The Roman Catholic Church was eager to swell the number of nominal adherents.  So in order to conciliate the heathen populace, they openly adopted Saturnalia and Dies Invicti Solis and assigned Christian meanings to them[12].  It became Christmas, the birthday of Christ.

John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.), Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote in del Solst. Et Æquin (II, p. 118, ed. 1588):

“But Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December . . . the eight before the calends of January [25 December] . . ., But they call it the ‘Birthday of the Unconquered’. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, He is the Sun of Justice.”

Encyclopedia Americana has this to say:

“The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the ‘rebirth of the sun’. …  It is held by some scholars that the birth of Christ as ‘Light of the World’ was made analogous to the rebirth of the sun in order to make Christianity more meaningful to pagan converts.”

A further reason for the emergence of Christmas is given by Encyclopaedia Britannica:

“Christmas, the festival of the birth of Jesus Christ, was established in connection with the fading of the expectation of Christ’s imminent return. …  The Christmas is the Christian revision of the Roman day of the winter solstice – the festival of Dies Invicti Solis (the Day of the Invincible Sun) on December 25.”

Hence, in a mid-fourth century Roman almanac called The Philocalian Calendar (which contains a list of death dates of various Catholic bishops and martyrs) is the date December 25 and next to it is the entry: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae which means “Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (339-397 A.D.), admitted the pagan precursor of the celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25 as being the Roman day of the invincible sun and sanctioned it with these words:

“Well do Christian people call this holy day on which our Lord was born, the day of the new sun.”

The churches at Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey) accepted the festival in A.D. 380, parts of Asia Minor (Turkey of today) in 382 A.D., Alexandria in Egypt around 430 A.D.[13], and Jerusalem about 440 A.D.  In 530 A.D. a Catholic monk named Dionysus Exigus even tried to fix the exact date of Jesus’ birth.  Encyclopaedia Britannica records:

“He wrongly dated the birth of Christ according to the Roman system (i.e., 754 years after the founding of Rome) as Dec. 25, 753″.[14]

And the final historical document that throws light on the origin of Christian is this marginal note in the manuscript of Dionysius bar-Salibi, who was made Bishop of Marash (in Turkey) in 1154 by the Syrian Orthodox Church:

“It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that day.” (cited in Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries, Ramsay MacMullen, Yale:1997, p. 155)

Encyclopaedia Britannica confirms with this excellent summary:

“In the beginning many of the earth’s inhabitants were sun worshippers because the course of their lives depended on its yearly round in the heavens, and feasts were held at its return from distant wanderings. In the south of Europe, in Egypt and Persia the sun-gods were worshipped with elaborate ceremonies at the season of the winter solstice, as a fitting time to pay tribute to the god of plenty, while in Rome the Saturnalia reigned for a week. … The exact day and year of Christ’s birth have never been satisfactorily settled, but the fathers of the church in A.D. 340 chose the day of the winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people and which was their most important festival.”

“According to a Roman almanac, the Christian festival of Christmas was celebrated in Rome by A.D. 336.  In the eastern part of the Roman Empire, however, a festival on January 6 commemorated the manifestation of God in both the birth and the baptism of Jesus, except in Jerusalem, where only the birth was celebrated.  During the 4th century the celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25 was gradually adopted by most Eastern churches.  In Jerusalem, opposition to Christmas lasted longer, but it was subsequently accepted.  In the Armenian Church, a Christmas on December 25 was never accepted; Christ’s birth is celebrated on January 6. After Christmas was established in the East, the baptism of Jesus was celebrated on Epiphany, January 6.  In the West, however, Epiphany was the day on which the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus was celebrated.”

Chambers Encyclopaedia[15] says:

“It is nevertheless almost certain that the 25th of December cannot be the nativity of the Saviour, for it is then the height of the rainy season in Judaea, and shepherds could hardly be watching their flocks by night in the plains. … Not casually or arbitrarily was the festival of the nativity celebrated on the 25th of December.  One of the principal causes that co-operated in fixing this period was that almost all the heathen nations regarded the winter solstice as the turning point of the year – the beginning of the renewed life and activity of the powers of nature, and of the gods who were merely the symbolic personifications of these. In more northern countries this fact must have made itself peculiarly palpable – hence the Celts and Germans, from the oldest times, celebrated the season with the greatest festivities.  At the winter solstice the Norsemen held their great Yule-feast in commemoration of the fiery sun-wheel, and believed that during the twelve nights from the 25th December to the 6th January they could trace the personal movements and interferences on earth of their great deities, Odin, Beretha, etc.  Many of the beliefs and usages of the old Germans, and also of the Romans, relating to this period, passed over from heathenism to Christianity, and have partly survived to the present day.“

“There is no authoritative tradition as to the day or month of Christ’s birth. … The winter solstice was regarded as the birthday of the sun and at Rome a pagan festival of the nativity of ‘sol invictus’ was introduced by the Emperor Aurelian on 25th December 274. The church, unable to stamp out this popular festival, spiritualised it as the feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.  When Christianity spread northwards it encountered a similar pagan festival also held at the winter solstice – the great Yule feast of the Norsemen.  Once again Christmas absorbed heathen customs.  From the various sources came the Yule log, the Christmas tree introduced into England from Germany and first mentioned in 1789.“

Customs And Celebrations

Since Christmas is an adaptation of pagan festivals observed to honour the sun god, it is in them that the origins of the customs and celebrations of Christmas may be found.  Encyclopedia Britannica[16]confirms:

“The traditional customs connected with Christmas have developed from several sources as a result of the coincidence of the celebration of the birth of Christ with the pagan agricultural and solar observances at mid-winter. December 25 was regarded as the birthdate of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness.  …  The ecclesiastical calendar retains numerous remnants of pre-Christian festivals – notably Christmas, which blends elements including both the feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of the god Mithra.“

Yule Log And Christmas Tree

In ancient Babylon, tradition has it that when the god-king Nimrod (Genesis 10:8) was murdered, his wife, Semiramis, proclaimed that he reincarnated at the winter solstice in the person of a posthumous son supernaturally born by her after his death.  This legend was perpetuated by an annual custom of cutting down a huge tree almost to the ground, stripping it of all its branches, and then burning it.  On the following day, a young tree of an entirely different kind was put in its place.  This took place during the winter solstice.  Interestingly “Yule” is the Chaldean (Babylonian) word for “infant” or “little child.”  The Roman version of this myth tells of the mother of Adonis, the sun god, who mystically changed into a tree and, in that state, brought forth her divine son[17].  During the Roman festival of Saturnalia, trees were decorated with gifts and candles.  This legend spread to the northern European tribes in Scandinavia and from there to the British isles.  The Druids (priests of the Celts who occupied the lands of present day United Kingdom, Germany, France and Ireland) decorated oak trees with fruits and candles in honour of their god of harvest during the winter solstice.  The Vikings regarded evergreen coniferous trees as symbolic of the end of the darkness of winter and the return of the light of spring. 

Encyclopedia Americana states:

“Burning the Yule log was adapted to English custom from the ancient Scandinavian practice of kindling huge bonfires in honor of the winter solstice. The idea of using evergreens at Christmastime also came to England from pre-Christian northern European beliefs. Celtic and Teutonic tribes honored these plants at their winter soltice festivals as symbolic of eternal life, …  Some scholars hold that the evergreen tree, a symbol of life to the pagans, became a symbol of the Saviour and thus an integral part of the celebration of his birth.”

Encyclopaedia Britannica confirms:

“The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as a symbol of eternal life was an ancient custom of the Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship, common among the pagan Europeans, survived after their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the new year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime; it survived further in the custom, also observed in Germany, of placing a Yule tree at an entrance or inside the house in the midwinter holidays.”

Compton’s Encyclopedia says:

“Tree worship was a common feature of religion among the Teutonic and Scandinavian peoples of northern Europe before their conversion to Christianity. … German settlers brought the Christmas tree custom to the American colonies in the 17th century. By the 19th century its use was quite widespread.”[18]

Mistletoe

In Babylon, the mistletoe was a representation of divinity.  Engrafting the celestial branch into an earthly tree symbolised the reconciliation of God and man which imparted the latter with life eternal[19].  The ancient Druids appropriated this belief and placed mistletoes on their altars of worship and in their houses.  This explains the custom of using mistletoes as decorations during Christmas.  Encyclopedia Americana says that “the Druids ascribed magical properties to the mistletoe”.  Encyclopedia Britannica adds:

“Many current customs date back to pre-Christian origins: among them are Christmas decorations.  The Romans ornamented their temples and homes with green boughs and flowers for the Saturnalia [Dec. 17-23]. … The Druids gathered mistletoe and hung it in their homes; the Saxons used holly and ivy.“

For Scandinavians, the mistletoe was the emblem of Frigga, the goddess of love.  This link between the mistletoe and romance might well have given rise to the tradition of kissing under mistletoe on Christmas eve.

Holly Wreath

The origin of the use of holly wreaths during Christmas may be traced back to the Romans who, as indicated earlier, decorated their front doors with evergreens during Saturnalia.  This practice spread throughout the European continent.  The Scandinavian sun worshippers used the wreath to represent the sun and the holly to signify eternity in their religious practice during their midwinter festival.  The red berries, with their many seeds, that were added to the holly wreath symbolised fertility which the sun bestowed.  Encyclopedia Americana states:

“The evergreen holly was worshipped as a promise of the sun’s return, …”

The World Book Encyclopedia[20] states:

“The ancient Romans held year end celebrations to honor Saturn, their harvest god; and Mithras, the god of light. Various people in northern Europe held festivals in mid-December to celebrate the end of the harvest season.  As part of all these celebrations, the people prepared special foods, decorated their homes with greenery, and joined in singing and gift giving.  These customs gradual became part of the Christmas celebrations.”

Exchanging Of Gifts

Some naively attribute the custom of exchanging gifts during Christmastime to the wise men at Christ’s nativity who presented exotic gifts to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:11).  A closer reading of the nativity passage will reveal that they gave gifts to Jesus and not to one another, and Joseph and Mary did not reciprocate.  In truth, the custom of exchanging gifts at Christmastime is derived from the Roman Saturnalia, which honoured the god Saturn and held in Rome from December 17-24.  According to Encyclopedia Americana:

“Many early Christians decried the gaiety and festive spirit introduced into the Christmas celebration as a pagan survival, particularly of the Roman Saturnalia.”

The Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia adds:

“There were non-Christian elements present in the origin of Christmas.  The giving of presents was a Roman custom.  The Yule-tree [modern ‘Christmas Tree’] and the Yule-log are remnants of old Teutonic nature worship.”

Santa Claus

In Germany there is a legend about a person named Nikolaus who gave gifts to good children.  He had an assistant with a blackened face whose name is sometimes Knecht Ruprecht, sometimes Pelzebock and sometimes Krampus.  He brandishes a chain and carries a sack in which to put naughty children.  In Italy they have La Befana who is reputed to be a “good” witch who dressed in black and brought gifts to children on the feast of the Epiphany.  Italian children left their shoes out to receive the gifts.  In Holland there is Sinter Klaas who rode on a horse (instead of reindeer and sledge) with sidekick Black Peter.  The Finns have Joulupukki, a goat, who was formerly a black devil with the same role as Knecht Ruprecht.  And in Greece they have Kallikantzaroi, an evil spirit who came from the underworld to terrify the people.

These various pagan mythical figures were merged and christianised in the United States in the 19^th century and out came Santa Claus.  This Christian name was given to the pagan gift-bearer to commemorate a generous Catholic bishop called Nicolas.  He was born in Parara at Lycia, became the Bishop of Myra, in Lucia in Asia Minor[21], and finally died on 6 December 345 or 352.  He was believed to have made three golden balls, each made from his wages for one year, and to have rolled through the window of a needy family of good birth over a period of years.  The first ball allegedly landed in a stocking (hence the Christmas stocking).  This enabled the needy recipients to marry off their daughters.  The traditions associated with his generosity caused the Norman French nuns to place alms for the poor in a box of the chapel on the day and on its eve and dedicate their donations to Nicolas.  The day came to be known as “Boxing Day”, from the alms box, and was later separately celebrated on December 26.  Encyclopedia Americana records:

“The beloved image of Santa Claus as a fat jolly, bearded old man derives from St. Nicholas, an austere-looking 4th century Christian bishop of Asia Minor, who was noted for his good works. The idea of gift giving associated with this saint spread from Asia Minor to Europe and was brought to the United States by early Dutch settlers.”

Candles

Candles were lighted by the pagans on the eve of the midwinter festival dedicated to the Babylonian sun god Baal to do honour to him.  One of the distinguishing peculiarities of his worship is the lighting wax-candles on his altars[22].  The Roman Catholic Church borrowed this practice in their masses and her adherents used candles extensively in worship particularly during Christmas when they use them as decorations as well.

Christian Viewpoint

Despite its Christian masquerade and appellations, Christmas is essentially a pagan festival.  Christians will do well to avoid it.  Furthermore, neither the Bible nor history recorded the precise date of Christ’s birth.  Whatever day it was, it is definite that it was not on December 25.  In Judea (present day Israel), there are two important seasons of rain – the autumnal rain and the spring rain (also called the early rain and the latter rain).  The autumnal rain lasts through winter; the rain starts in November and continues till January.  The combination of the incessant downpour and the chilly winter winds makes the cold of the night piercing.  The severity of the cold after sundown in the region was in fact the complaint of Jacob to Laban in Genesis 31:40:

“Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; …”

The consequential difficulty of travelling at this season has been alluded to by Jesus in Matthew 24:20 when he warned:

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.”

But when Jesus was born, there were shepherds feeding their flocks, by night, and in the open fields![23]  In December there would be no shepherds keeping watch over their flocks in the open fields and certainly not by night!  It was their custom to remove the sheep from the fields to be corralled by late October before the first rain fell.  Otherwise the foot-rot disease due to constant contact with damp grounds would threaten these animals.  Further, at the time of Jesus birth, Augustus Caesar proclaimed an empire-wide census for the purposes of taxation.  As everyone had to return to their hometown, long journeys were to be expected[24].  It is improbable that such an event would have been decreed to occur in the depth of winter when inclement weather would have made travelling prohibitive.

Therefore the celebration of Christmas perpetuates the lie that Christ was born on December 25.  God is the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26) whereas Satan is the Father of Lies (John 8:44).  Celebrating it makes us children of Satan rather than children of God.

Another important reason for not celebrating Christmas is that the commemoration of the birthday of Jesus insults and demeans him because it tantamount to treating him, who is God having no “beginning of days” (Hebrews 7:3), as a mere mortal created at a certain point in time.

Lastly, the custom of setting and decorating the Christmas tree, which is Babylonian in origin, was roundly condemned by God in Jeremiah 10:1-5:

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[1] Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981.

[2] Yule, in Chaldee, means child.

[3] Encyclopedia Americana, 1969.

[4] Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1959.

[5] Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1959.

[6] Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1959.

[7] Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981.

[8] Encyclopedia Americana, 1969.  Saturnalia has been celebrated for centuries by the Latins (the inhabitants of Latium) towards the end of December in Rome.  It was the festival in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture and the arts.  The institution of the Saturnalia is lost in remote antiquity.  Some ascribed its origin to Janus, some to Pelasagi, and some to Hercules.  In the beginning three different festivals were involved over this period.  The festival of Saturnalia proper commenced on 17 December.  This was followed by the festival of Opalia on 19 December.  These two together lasted for five days.  Opalia was celebrated in honour of Opis who was allegedly the wife of Saturn.  Then came the festival of Sigillaria on the sixth and seventh days.  Sigillaria was the name for the little earthenware figures which were displayed for sale during this period as toys to be given as presents for children.  Thus, the period ran from 17 December until 23 December under the Julian Calendar.  The festival was viewed by the population as a time of absolute relaxation and merriment.  During its continuance, the law courts were closed.  No public business could be transacted.  The schools kept holiday.  To commence a war was impious and to punish a malefactor involved pollution.  Slaves were relieved of onerous toils and permitted to wear the pileus or badge of freedom.  They were granted freedom of speech and were waited on at a special banquet by their masters whose clothes they wore.  All ranks devoted themselves to feasting and mirth with presents exchanged among friends.  Cereei or wax tapers were given by the more humble to their superiors.  The crowds thronged the streets.  Public gambling was condoned by the authorities.  The whole populace threw off the toga, wore the loose gown called the synthesis and walked about with the pileus on their heads.  Lastly, for amusement in private society, there would be an election of a mock king.  Roman soldiers stationed on the Danube in the reign of Maximian and Diocletian chose a young and handsome man from among them by lot thirty days before the festival.  They dressed him in royal attire to resemble Saturn.  He went about in public attended by a retinue of soldiers and indulged his passions no matter how base and shameful.  At the end of thirty days, he would cut his own throat on the altar of the god he personated.  In the year 303, the lot fell upon the Christian soldier Dasius but he refused to play the part of the heathen god and to soil his last days by debauchery.  He refused to give in to the intimidation of his commanding officer Bassus and was accordingly beheaded at Durostorum on Friday 20 November 303.  This historical account has been confirmed by the discovery in the crypt of the cathedral at Ancona of a white marble sarcophagus.  On it were these Greek inscriptions (in script characteristic of the age of Justinian): “Here lies the holy martyr Dasius, brought from Durostorum.”  The sarcophagus had been brought there from the church of St Pellegrino in 1848 where it lay under the high altar and was recorded as being there in 1650 (see Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 2nd Ed, London, 1851; and James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, McMillan, 1976).

[9] Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981.

[10] Origen, Homily on Leviticus 8.

[11] Clement, Stromateis 1.21.145.  In addition, Christians in Clement’s native Egypt seem to have known a commemoration of Jesus’ baptism—sometimes understood as the moment of his divine choice, and hence as an alternate “incarnation” story—on the same date (Stromateis 1.21.146). See further on this point Thomas J. Talley, Origins of the Liturgical Year, 2nd Ed, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991, pp. 118-120, drawing on Roland H. Bainton, “Basilidian Chronology and New Testament Interpretation,” Journal of Biblical Literature 42 (1923), pp. 81-134; and now especially Gabriele Winkler, “The Appearance of the Light at the Baptism of Jesus and the Origins of the Feast of the Epiphany,” in Maxwell Johnson, Ed, Between Memory and Hope: Readings on the Liturgical Year, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000, pp. 291-347.

[12] Scholars of liturgical history in the English-speaking world are particularly skeptical of the “solstice” connection; see Susan K. Roll, “The Origins of Christmas: The State of the Question,” in Between Memory and Hope: Readings on the Liturgical Year, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000, pp. 273-290.  The reasons are these: (1) The first mention of a date for Christmas was around 200 A.D. and the earliest celebrations known was around 250-300 A.D. and in this period there is no evidence of the church borrowing heavily from pagan traditions of such an obvious character; (2) The persecuted Christian minority until the time of the Roman emperor Diocletian (303-312 A.D.) was actually concerned with distancing itself from the religious observances of the larger pagan communities such as sacrifices, games and holidays.  Instead, the American writer Thomas J. Talley (Thomas J. Talley, Origins of the Liturgical Year, 2nd Ed, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991) who advances the theory of the twentieth century French scholar Louis Duchesne (Louis Duchesne, Origines du culte Chrétien, 5th Ed, Paris: Thorin et Fontemoing, 1925, pp. 275-279) argues that the December 25 date for the birth of Jesus arose from a belief in the churches in both the east and the west that Jesus died on the same day he was conceived.  In the west, around 200 A.D. Tertullian of Carthage (Tertullian, Adversus Iudaeos, 8) reported the calculation that the 14th of Nisan (the day of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John) in the year Jesus died was equivalent to March 25 in the Roman (solar) calendar.  This assertion is also found in other texts such as the writings of Hippolytus and the pseudo-Cyprianic De pascha computus.  Hence by the fourth century an anonymous Christian treatise titled “On Solstices and Equinoxes” (De solstitia et aequinoctia conceptionis et nativitatis domini nostri iesu christi et iohannis baptistae.), which appears to come from North Africa, was able to surmise: “Therefore our Lord was conceived on the eighth of the kalends of April [March 25], which is the day of the passion of the Lord and of his conception.  For on that day he was conceived on the same he suffered.”  Similarly around 399-419 A.D. Augustine in “On the Trinity” in Sermon, 202 wrote: “For he [Jesus] is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also he suffered; so the womb of the Virgin, in which he was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which he was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before him nor since.  But he was born, according to tradition, upon December the 25th.”  The church eventually gave official sanction to this theory and recognised it as the Feast of the Annunciation — the commemoration of Jesus’ conception.  In the east, Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis wrote that on April 6, “The lamb was shut up in the spotless womb of the holy virgin, he who took away and takes away in perpetual sacrifice the sins of the world.”  Hence even today, the Armenian Church celebrates the conception or “Annunciation” in early April (on the 7th, not the 6th) and nine months later on January 6 the birth or “Christmas”.

[13] In about 400 A.D., Augustine of Hippo mentioned a North African dissident Christian group, the Donatists, who apparently kept Christmas festivals on December 25 (instead of celebrating the Epiphany on January 6, regarding it as an innovation).

[14] Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1998.

[15] Chambers Encyclopaedia, 1908, Vol. 111, p. 222.

[16] Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976; Micropedia II, p. 903, Macropedia 15, p. 1063.

[17] Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1959.

[18] Compton’s Encyclopedia, 1998.

[19] Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1959.

[20] The World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago, World Book, 1995.

[21] Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 11, p. 63.

[22] Hislop, The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, New Jersey, 1959.

[23] Luke 2:8.

[24] Luke 2:1-5.

Thanks to Shirly Hamra for photo