Why December?
We believe Christ was born in the spring. How did we come to celebrate his birth in December?
Joanne
During the first century of Christianity, Christ’s birthday wasn’t officially celebrated. Some felt as though it would be sacrilegious to celebrate Christ’s birth the same way Herod, Pharaoh, and other pagan gods were celebrated. Birthdays were not deemed by church leaders to be appropriate for the Son of God. We believe Christ was born in the spring. How did we come to celebrate his birth in December?
Joanne
During the second century, various Christian scholars speculated on dates for Christ’s birth. Most dates were around spring; however, the hypothesized dates ranged throughout the entire year.
In the third century, the church began redefining pagan celebrations within Christian terminology. Attempts to change culture had been unsuccessful. In order to invite more men to the knowledge of Christ as their savior, they substituted Christ for the familiar pagan gods.
The symbol of the celestial sun was associated with Christ, the Son of God; therefore, the decision to select December 25th as the day to honor Jesus’ birth was only natural. The 25th of December already had two Roman festivals related to the sun: natalis solis invicti (the Roman "birth of the unconquered sun"), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian "Sun of Righteousness."
In 321 AD, the date was cemented in Western culture. Constantine, who ushered in an era of religious tolerance, declared that Christmas would be celebrated December 25th along with the popular venerable day of the sun.
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