Orthodox_Freethinker

So why Dec. 25? Scholars tend their theories
Richard N. Ostling
ASSOCIATED PRESS
12/23/2004 05:55 pm
http://www.rgj.com/news/printstory.php?id=88266

It appears that Jesus' birth on December 25th can be deduced from the Scripture:

"Luke 1 says Zechariah was performing priestly duty in the Temple when an angel told his wife Elizabeth she would bear John the Baptist. During the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Mary learned about her conception of Jesus and visited Elizabeth “with haste.�

The 24 classes of Jewish priests served one week in the Temple, and Zechariah was in the eighth class. Rabbinical tradition fixed the class on duty when the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and, calculating backward from that, Zechariah’s class would have been serving Oct. 2-9 in 5 B.C. So Mary’s conception visit six months later might have occurred the following March and Jesus’ birth nine months afterward."
http://www.rgj.com/news/printstory.php?id=88266

Hopefully, the assumption that paganism birthed the Christmas celebration will be laid to rest:

"One notes that in A.D. 274, the Roman Emperor Aurelian inaugurated Dec. 25 as the pagan “Birth of the Unconquered Sun� celebration, at the calendar point when daylight began to lengthen. Supposedly, Christians then borrowed the date and devised Christmas to compete with paganism.

Aurelian’s empire seemed near collapse, so his festival proclaimed imperial and pagan rejuvenation. Before 274, there’s no record of a major sun cult at the Northern Hemisphere’s winter solstice (the year’s shortest day, which actually occurs before Dec. 25).

William Tighe, a church history specialist at Pennsylvania’s Muhlenberg College, champions the exact opposite theory.

Aurelian almost certainly created “a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians,� Tighe wrote last December in Touchstone, a Chicago-based magazine for Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditionalists. True, the Christians later appropriated Aurelian’s festival into their Christmas.

But Dec. 25 “appears to owe nothing whatsoever to pagan influences,� Tighe said. He said the pagans-first theory originated only three centuries ago in the writings of Protestant historian Paul Ernst Jablonski and Catholic monk Jean Hardouin."
http://www.rgj.com/news/printstory.php?id=88266

firebird

The sun is reborn at the end of the winter solstice dec.25th

Wads4

This reminds me of how to calculate the date of Earth's creation to 4004 BC by counting "Begats"Why "supposedly"?-- The birth of Mithras was on december 25th, and was a much older established date. Hisory has subsequently shown that Christians adopte, plagiarise and generally take over other peoples dates and festivals in order to neutralise and christianise them.The Sun "dies" on 21st December, the Solstice, and by the third day on 25th December it can be observed to be moving north again,-ie it has become "resurrected." the final glorious triumph of Life over death occurs at the Spring equinox when the days become longer then the nights, and new life bursts forth--at the festival of the goddess Eostre. I am thinking of taking bearings myself to-morrow ,21st, and again on 25th, to confirm the resurrection. Says he: Is it surprising that Christian monks living centuries later (what would they know?),--should come to such a convenient conclusion?

Why don't you ask Mithras what he thinks?

Asha'man

It has to be deduced from scripture, since it has no relationship to reality.

Shepherds don't watch their flock at night except in the Spring, when the newborn lambs are especially vulnerable. An Early Winter date for Jesus' birth is therefore ruled out by the gospels themselves. :rolling: :rolling:

TySixtus

Bingo. End of thread.

Ty

Neutral

Hi Mr. Orthodox freethinker
I don’t know if you know this or not but Christians in Egypt celebrate Christmas on January 7 not Dec 25!

JaredM

I recall reading somewhere that Jesus may have been born in late summer. If I can find a source I will post a link.

--Jared

Puck

When we seek to find something to support our agenda, we will surely find it. We have to be wary though, for our opponents will surely find stuff to support their agenda, too. Sometimes from the very source we used.

Thus, we should make sure that what we find to back us up, comes from reputable sources and has the consensus of most of the reputable scholars in that field.

The bible isn't a good source, since within it, one can find something to support their stance, no matter which 'side' they are on. It contains too many conflicts and contradictions.

Orthodox Freethinker? Just because the 'theory' originated 300 years ago, doesn't mean the facts weren't there to base it on. There was no 'christmas' celebrated untill the Roman Church couldn't stop the 'pagans' from celebrating their own, ancient ceremonies. Same with Easter and Halloween. And reputable scholars do say that according to the bible, jesus was indeed born in the spring.

BDS

Yes. That's why we found so many Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

Chaupoline

Russians celebrate on January 7th as well. Jesus wasn't born on December 25th or January 7th. The day was chosen to correlate with a Roman Winter Solstice, to appease its Roman converts. I had heard one account that states that Jesus was actually born on April 24th in the 4th year of our Lord. Their backing of this date was because it was the beginning of the Age of Pisces, and would constitute the Bethlehem star. The early Christians didn't even celebrate Christmas until it became the state religion of the Roman Empire. Their main holy day was in honor of the resurrection, which got combined with another Roman holiday to make Easter.