When Did Christmas Begin To Be Celebrated On December 25

The modern armenian church continues to celebrate christmas on january 6.

When did christmas begin to be celebrated on december 25. Though december 25 is the day christians celebrate the birth of jesus christ the date itself and several of the customs we ve come to associate with christmas actually evolved from pagan. Eastern churches retained the january 6 commemoration together with epiphany until sometime in the fifth or sixth centuries when the 25th day of december became the widely accepted holiday. Theological scholar andrew mcgowan examines how december 25 came to be associated with the birthday of jesus and became christmas a holiday celebrated by christians around the world. The first date listed december 25 is marked.

The church in rome began celebrating christmas on december 25 during the reign of constantine the first christian emperor possibly to weaken pagan traditions. Tony burke the modern christmas nativity scene is drawn from apocryphal texts in addition to the. 354 these words appear for a d. Christmas or feast of the nativity is an annual festival commemorating the birth of jesus christ observed primarily on december 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.

By 336 a d the roman church calendar definitively records a nativity celebration by western christians on this date. Natus christus in betleem judeae december 25th christ born in bethlehem judea. For most christians however december 25 would prevail while january 6 eventually came to be known as the feast of the. Most christians today probably can t imagine christmas on any other day than december 25 but it wasn t always that way.

In fact for the first three centuries of christianity s existence. Natus christus in betleem judeae. Christmas stories in christian apocrypha. A feast central to the christian liturgical year it is preceded by the season of advent or the nativity fast and initiates the season of christmastide which historically in the.

Christ was born in bethlehem of judea 3 in about 400 c e augustine of hippo mentions a local dissident christian group the donatists who apparently kept christmas festivals on december 25 but refused to celebrate the epiphany on january 6 regarding it. In polytheistic rome december 25 was a celebration of the unconquered sun marking the return of longer days. In an old list of roman bishops compiled in a. This day december 25 336 is the first recorded celebration of christmas.