'Tis the Season!

December is here—a time when children eagerly anticipate the celebration of Christmas. For many, it is also a season to reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ. However, December 25 is not historically the actual day of Jesus’s birth.

The date has roots in ancient pagan winter festivals, such as the pre-Christian Roman festival of Saturnalia. Saturnalia, held in mid-December, honored Saturn, the god of agriculture and time. According to History.com, it involved feasting, gambling, gift-giving, and role reversals between masters and slaves. Traditions like gift-giving and merry-making are still reflected in modern Christmas celebrations.

Another significant influence was the Cult of Sol Invictus and its festival, Natalis Invicti (the Birth of the Unconquered Sun). This cult, popular in the Roman Empire during the 3rd century AD, celebrated its major festival on December 25. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Emperor Aurelian established Sol Invictus as an official cult in 274 AD, giving pagan Romans a “unifying worship” around the winter solstice. Some scholars suggest that early Christians chose December 25 for Christmas to counter this pagan festival.

Early Christian leaders took a pragmatic approach to evangelism, often adopting and reinterpreting existing cultural traditions. As noted by the Biblical Archaeology Society, Christian missionaries found it easier to convert pagans by allowing them to retain certain familiar customs. By aligning Christmas with midwinter festivals, the Church facilitated widespread conversions to Christianity.

In the early Church, there was considerable debate about the actual date of Jesus’s birth. Writers like Clement of Alexandria proposed dates such as April 20, May 20, November 17, and January 6. The first recorded instance connecting December 25 to Jesus’s birth came in 336 AD, when Roman Emperor Constantine established it as a civic holiday.

Interestingly, December 25 was already celebrated in the Roman Empire as a holiday for Sol Invictus. Scholars believe church leaders chose this date to link Jesus with the symbolism of light and the sun, making Christianity more relatable to Roman converts.

The role of Christian Roman emperors was instrumental in solidifying December 25 as the official date for Christmas. After Constantine’s establishment of the holiday, Emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity the empire’s state religion in 381 AD and issued an official edict in 393 AD mandating the observance of Christ’s Nativity on December 25.

As Christianity spread across Europe during the Middle Ages, December 25 became central to the Christian liturgical calendar. The Roman Catholic Church sought to eclipse pagan festivals like Saturnalia by associating Jesus with themes of light and renewal. The Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1582, further formalized December 25 as the official celebration of Jesus’s birth. Today, most Protestant and Orthodox churches also commemorate Christmas on this date, despite historical uncertainties about the actual year and day of Jesus’s birth.

Modern biblical scholarship suggests Jesus was likely born between 6 and 4 BC, based on the timeline of Herod the Great’s death. However, December 25 remains a symbolic date, celebrated globally as the anniversary of Christ’s birth.

While the Gospels do not specify a date for Jesus’s birth, December 25 has become deeply entrenched in Christian tradition. The Church’s decision to align Christmas with midwinter pagan festivals made the faith more accessible to converts and integrated Jesus’s birth into Western cultural festivities.

This reflection draws heavily on the writings of Amanda Williams, a dedicated Christian writer passionate about sharing Biblical truths. You can find her article, “Why Was December 25 Chosen as the Birthday of Jesus,” at christianwebsite.com.

If you have not yet received Jesus as Savior, why not make that decision today?

Dave Carroll is an area missionary with InFaith, America’s oldest Christian home mission agency. He is also the pastor of Wolf Creek Baptist Church. You can contact him at 406-459-8935 or [email protected].