IS THE DATE OF BIRTH OF JESUS KNOWN?

The purpose of this write-up is to convey the fact. So I do not limit myself to a particular school of thought, idea or belief but give whatever is authentically proven from books of facts as has been the way of the scholars, whether of old or recent past.

Adopting this principle for myself, and to implement them in this post as well as others, would unavoidably not satisfy every group of people, religion or sect; in fact, it would result in some – if not most of them – insulting or criticizing me (as seen in my last post). This does not matter to me, for I also know that to please everyone is an unachievable notion, and that:

“He who pleases the people by angering his creator, he (the creator) will entrust him to the people” 

(tirmidhi).

So, back to our discussion

The first intellectual poser is: IS THE DATE OF BIRTH OF JESUS KNOWN?

The following facts books provide answers to this question:

The Guinness Book of Answerssays, “The actual day Christ was born IS NOT KNOWN and 25th December as the day of nativity (i.e., Christmas) was not generally observed until the 5th century A.D.”

All About American Holidays says, “The exact date of Christ’s birth is not known, and during the first two or three centuries little note, apparently, was taken of the anniversary for church officials opposed such celebrations as savouring paganism”.

Without a shred of doubt, the December 25 date is FALSE. Christmas was not celebrated until the year 400CE (5th century AD) meaning 400 years AFTER Christ! In other words, the Disciples of Jesus and those who came after them for at least 350 years never celebrated Christmas. They never knew what Christmas was!

Wikipedia states: “The precise year of Jesus' birth, which some historians place between 7 and 2 BC, is unknown.”

It is also certain that Jesus was not born in December because, in Jerusalem, the Biblical birthplace of Jesus, shepherds did not take out their sheep in December, which is the winter season. The fields would be covered in snow and there would be no green grass for the sheep which would defeat the purpose of taking the sheep out in the field.

 The bible says,

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” 

Luke 2:8.

If shepherds had their flocks out that night, it was not December.

The Second intellectual poser: WHY DECEMBER 25?

December 25 was chosen, according to Encyclopedia Americana, in order to make the celebration coincide with pagan customs, especially the roman saturnalia(a festival dedicated to Saturn: the Roman god of agriculture, the vine, working men, and to the renewed power of the sun), and the Persian mystery god, Mithra, the sun of righteousness.

Celebrations states that December 25 in the Roman world was the Natalis Solis Invicti, the birthday of the “Unconquerable Sun,” in honour of Mithras, a Persian deity.

Encarta Encyclopediacorroborates this: “the Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the feast of the nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. For example, the church replaced festivities honouring the birth of Mithra, the god of light, with festivities to commemorate the birth of Jesus, whom the Bible calls the light of the world. The Catholic Church hoped to draw pagans into its religion by allowing them to continue their revelry while simultaneously honouring the birthday of Jesus.

December 25 was not chosen because Jesus was born on that day: it was chosen so that it would coincide with a roman pagan feast!