The Origins of Christmas and Jesus' Birthdate

The date of Christmas and many Christmas customs, like Hanukka, are apparently based on much older Solstice customs. The last day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere occurs between the 20th and 22 December. Because this is the longest night and shortest day of the year, it is often celebrated with lights and fire.

Yule - In ancient pagan times, the last day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere was celebrated as the night that the Great Mother Goddess gives birth to the baby Sun God. It is also called Yule, the day a huge log is added to a bonfire, around which everyone would dance and sing to awaken the sun from its long winter sleep.., many of the ancient Yuletide traditions were concerned with coping with the darkness and the evils it was thought to harbor. Evergreens and holly were one such tradition. They both were green amid the winter whiteness and a natural symbol of rebirth and life. Holly, in particular, was used to decorate doors, windows and fireplaces. It was believed that the prickliness of the holly would snag or capture evil spirits before they could enter and harm the household. The Yule goat, from Sweden and Norway, had its beginnings as a carrier for the god Thor. Now the Yule goat carries the Yule elf, or Christmas Tomte, when he makes his rounds to deliver presents and receive offerings of porridge. Yule has always been a time of peace and charity. Work had to be reduced to a minimum; and neither bird, beast nor fish could be trapped, shot or netted. Because Christian missionaries did not reach these countries until the tenth and eleventh centuries allowing the old traditions to settle into the lives of the people and not be easily dismantled by Christian imagery and meanings, many of the Christmas traditions of the Scandinavian countries go back to the Yuletide folklore.

Saturnalia - The Roman celebrated Saturnalia between 17 and 24 December. This honored Saturnus (the harvest god) and later Mithras and still later Sol Invictus. Saturnalia was a time of gift-giving and pranks.

Mithras - The Persian god of light Mithras, whose birthday was celebrated at the solstice, became popular in the Roman empire after the fall of the Republic. Some assert that many Christian traditions can be traced to Mithras.

As Christian numbers increased and their customs prevailed, their celebrations took on a Christian content. But the early church actually did not celebrate the birth of Christ in December until Telesphorus,  Bishop of Rome from 125 to 136 AD, declared that Church services should be held during this time to celebrate "The Nativity of our Lord and Savior." However, nobody was quite sure in which month Christ was born. Nativity was often held in September, which was during the Jewish Rosh Hashanah (New Year). In the year 274 AD, the Roman emperor Aurelian proclaimed December 25 as "Natalis Solis Invicti," the festival of the birth of the invincible sun. In 320 AD, Pope Julius I specified the 25th of December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.

In 325 AD, Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, decreed that the birth would be celebrated   on 25 December. He also introduced Sunday as a holy day in a new 7-day week, and introduced Easter. In 354 AD, Bishop Liberius of Rome officially ordered his churches to celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December.

However, even though Constantine officiated 25 December as the birthday of Christ,  Christmas failed to gain universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. In certain Protestant areas the celebration of Christmas was even banned. In England, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas festivities between 1649 and 1660 through the so-called Blue Laws, believing that Christmas should be a solemn day.

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Copyright 2001,  Diane Balay