Okay, so apart from what religious interpretation you subscribe to, there is a mountain of historical and scientific evidence to suggest that the person known as Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th. However, The typical Christmas story that we think of is baby Jesus in a manger born on December 25th. So if that’s not true, why do we celebrate it that way?
Well, mid-winter celebrations were common much before the birth of Jesus. Yule was prominent, and in this calendar, the winter solstice did fall on December 25th. Many of the Christmas season traditions come from thousands of years and years ago, rather than being from the nativity seen. This makes sense to me because the general characteristics of midwinter are great to celebrate, but the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem likely wouldn’t have featured many elements we see today.
Firstly, one factor that contributed to Christmas being celebrated on December 25th, despite not knowing the actual birthday of Jesus would be the Competition Hypothesis. Essentially, this theory goes that there were traditional Yule/mid-winter festivals that tended to be present in early societies. This usually meant the influence of feasts of a grand nature that celebrated togetherness. Essentially, this theory is important because it notes that some of the things we most adore about Christmas time as a society aren’t really about the birth of Jesus at all. Therefore, one of the reasons that we celebrate Christmas around that time is due to its historical nature, and the “Christan-izing” of an already present holiday.
The next of the two main arguments for why we celebrate Christmas when we do is because of the Calculation Hypothesis. What this theory states are that in the Early Years, it was believed that if a person was holy, they lived full years. Based on how Christians interpreted this, it can be assumed that they took the time that Jesus was crucified (March-April), back-dated months to the time of conception, and then placed birth right around December. That means, if Jesus died in March-April-ish since he was a holy man, he had to live full years (discussed in lecture 10/04/2022). This meant that his time of conception had to be around March-April as well back when he was born. One supporter of this theory, Sextus Julius Africanus, likewise believed that March 25 was the day of creation meaning this is when Jesus was conceived. The theory is important because if Jesus had been conceived on March 25, he would have been born nine months later on December 25. This idea boils down to that March-April + nine months of carrying the child lands right around December. Therefore, the theory of the Calculation Hypothesis comes out to chronological math and biology.
It is also hard to know when the exact date of Jesus’s birth, but these two theories at least attempt to explain why we have it when we do. I do understand that many people want to celebrate the ideals of Jesus, such as giving, kindness, forgiving, etc. and that is great. But it can be great whether you are religious or not.