Why Do We Celebrate Christmas On The 25th
Christmas is celebrated to remember the birth of of jesus christ who christians believe is the son of god.
Why do we celebrate christmas on the 25th. Ultimately december 25 was chosen perhaps as early as a d. The fact is that we just don t know the actual birth date of jesus. When was jesus actually born. Most christians today probably can t imagine christmas on any other day than december 25 but it wasn t always that way.
By 336 a d the roman church calendar definitively records a nativity celebration by western christians on this date. Luke 2 8 states that when jesus was born shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks in the fields. No date is given in the bible so why do we celebrate it on the 25th december. A mass service which is sometimes called communion or eucharist is where.
Also the birth of jesus probably didn t happen in the year 1 but slightly earlier somewhere between 2 bce bc and 7 bce bc possibly in 4 bce bc there isn t a 0 the years go. The christmas story jesus s birth happened during the fall. But here is the right side of the history we do not see nor hear argued against by many. The name christmas comes from the mass of christ or jesus.
Of course it s true. Introduction we first look at the historical evidence of when the nativity of jesus was first celebrated as a feast in rome and at the theories put forward to explain why it began to be celebrated on that day. The early christians certainly had many arguments as to when it should be celebrated. 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.
The history behind how christmas came to be celebrated at the end of december may have little to do with the actual date of jesus s birth. In fact for the first three centuries of christianity s existence. Non believers or pagans celebrated sol invictus on the 25th of december in the ancient days. December 25 is the traditional anniversary of the birth of christ but most scholars are unsure about the true date for christ s birth.
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. The first date listed december 25 is marked. History reveals that the ancient roman king aurelion set the 25th of december as a day to celebrate sol invictus. We celebrate his birth on dec 25 because it was the birth date of many pagan deities.
Since december is considered festive by the christians it is but proper to give tribute to the savior of the world jesus christ by celebrating his special day on the 25th.