Biblical Evidence Shows Jesus Christ Wasnt Born on Dec. 25 article by Good News Editor Is it even possible that December 25 could be the day of Christs birth? History convincingly shows that Dec. 25 was popularized as the date for Christmas, not because Christ was born on that day but because it was already popular in pagan religious celebrations as the birthday of the sun. But is it possible that December 25 could be the day of Christs birth? Lacking any scriptural pointers to Jesuss birthday, early Christian teachers suggested dates all over the calendar. Clement. . . picked November 18. Hippolytus . . . figured Christ must have been born on a Wednesday . . . An anonymous document[,] believed to have been written in North Africa around A.D. 243, placed Jesuss birth on March 28 (Jeffery Sheler, U.S. News & World Report, In Search of Christmas, Dec. 23, 1996, p. 58). A careful analysis of Scripture, however, clearly indicates that Dec. 25 is an unlikely date for Christs birth. Here are two primary reasons: First, we know that shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus birth (Luke:2:7-8). Shepherds were not in the fields during December. According to Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, Lukes account suggests that Jesus may have been born in summer or early fall. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night (p. 309). Similarly, The Interpreters One- Volume Commentary says this passage argues against the birth [of Christ] occurring on Dec. 25 since the weather would not have permitted shepherds watching over their flocks in the fields at night. Second, Jesus parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census ( Luke:2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self- defeating. Given the difficulties and the desire to bring pagans into Christianity, the important fact then . . . to get clearly into your head is that the fixing of the date as December 25th was a compromise with paganism (William Walsh, The Story of Santa Klaus, 1970
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:51:38 +0000
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