Evidence the Early Church believed Jesus REALLY WAS Born on December 25th! 🤔

In this video, I explore some of the theories for the dates for Jesus‘s birth, especially in the early church. You may be surprised to know December 25th was argued for the date of Jesus‘s birth before the Roman Empire accepted Christianity.

I have long heard that our modern date of Christmas, Dec. 25, as the birth of Jesus was chosen in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan holiday Sol Invictus. I’m sure you have heard the same..

Needless to say, I was surprised to learn that December 25th was considered long before that.
Was Jesus really born on December 25th?

The tradition for December 25th is actually quite ancient. Hippolytus, in the second century A.D., argued that this was Christ's birthday. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Church, January 6th was the date followed.
By the third century, it appears that some Christians had started celebrating Christ’s birth, as well as his death, on March 25th, because in a book called On Computing the Date of Easter, the author makes a case against this day as Christ’s birthday.

So why were Christians celebrating Christ’s birth and death on the same day? Likely, an ancient Jewish tradition of “integral age” or “whole year theory” influenced this practice. It is a belief that the life of a Jewish prophet began and ended on the same day. A third-century Christian, Sextus Julius Africanus, added an interesting component to this theory. He argued that Christ’s life began not at birth but at conception. His case proves to be of particular relevance, because if Christ was conceived on March 25th, he would have been born 9 months later on December 25th, the date on which our discussion is focused.

Interestingly, the Church later recognized March 25th as the Annunciation (the date that Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the birth of Christ and also believed to be the moment of conception (notice the pro-life implications) and December 25th as the birthday of Christ.

Interestingly, according to the Roman calendar, March 25th was also the Spring Equinox, a day that symbolized the “rebirth of the earth” and that some Christians believed marked the first day of creation. Believers saw significance in the symbolism of Christ’s death on the anniversary of creation since it was Christ’s redemptive death that allowed creation to be made new.

In the fourth century, John Chrysostom argued that December 25th was the correct date and from that day till now, the Church in the East, as well as the West, has observed the 25th of December as the official date of Christ's birth.

So perhaps December 25th wasnt just a Pagan appropriation after all?

Some further resources on Dec 25 potentially being Jesus’ actual birthday:

https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/how-december-25-became-christmas/

https://taylormarshall.com/2012/12/yes-christ-was-really-born-on-december.html

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