Around the world , Christians anxiously await the arrival ofChristmas , a joyous day to celebrate the giving birth of Jesus Christ . But more than two millennium after Jesus ' momentous ministry , even Christians ca n’t hold on an exact date of birth . Sowhen was Jesus born ?
In Catholic and Protestant traditions , Christmas is celebrated Dec. 25 , while Orthodox Christians in countries like Russia , Greece and Egypt observe onJan . 6 or 7 .
Yet , according to historians and scriptural assimilator , those day of the month that have become coarse in Christian tradition are moot . The Bible ’s most detailed account of theNativityis in the New Testament’sGospel of Luke , but even that " neat " narrative — complete with highly specific references to ruler from the Roman Empire and a worldwide nosecount — conk out to name a day , month or year for Jesus ' birth .
Jesus Wasn’t Born in ‘Year 1’
Before we even get to the calendar month and 24-hour interval debate , historian generally agree that we ’ve get the year of Christ ’s birth all wrong . How can that be , though , if " year 1 " on the Gregorian calendar was based on the yr that Jesus was bear ?
The short answer ? The man who devise the idea ofanno Domini(shortened to A.D. ) , or " Year of Our Lord , " was off by several years .
Even Pope Benedict XVI agreed in a 2012 book that Dionysius Exiguus , the 6th - century monk who first calculated the twelvemonth of Jesus ' birth , miscount , and that Jesus was likely born between 7 B.C. and 2 B.C. ( Note that mod writers often expend " C.E. " for " Common geological era " alternatively of " A.D. " and " B.C.E. " for " Before Common Era " instead of " B.C. " or " Before Christ " to be more inclusive and avoid religious references when denoting age . )
One compelling reason for an early birth yr is that the Bible mentions in several place that Jesus was born when Herod the Great was king of Judea .
However , accord to Flavius Josephus — the celebrated Roman - Jewish historian who live in the first C C.E. — King Herod diedin 4 B.C.E.
If we take Josephus ' word for it , Jesus must have been born at least four yr before ( in all likelihood more ) than our calendar says .
The Birth of Jesus: A Centuries-long Debate
" We have this modern compulsion with dates and chronological order , but the gospel writer were much more concerned in theology than chronology , " says Ian Paul , a theologian , biblical scholar and source who blogs at his websitePsephizo .
That say , Paul ’s best speculation for the true escort of Jesus ' giving birth issomewhere in September , ground on a complex set of calculations related to the parturition of John the Baptist , also refer in Luke .
A fall date for Christmas makes sense when you believe that the shepherd were in the fields run their troop , a signboard of balmy conditions . Paul says that by December , the Judean foothill outside of Bethlehem are cold enough to get snow .
Ultimately , whether the lifespan of Jesus began in December , September or March does n’t convert the true meaning of Christmas . Still , the argument over Jesus ' " real " birthday shew just how unmanageable it is to place specific dates on effect in ancient history .
How December and January Became the Traditional Months for Christmas
The pop possibility that Christians choose Dec. 25 to co - opt thepagan solsticefestival of Sol Invictus is not establish on strong grounds but on themargin scribblings of an unknown Syrian monkin the twelfth century .
Rather than accusing Christians of stealing the holiday , he was offering a theory for why Western church " moved " Christmas from January to December , only days away from the winter solstice .
In fact , the first mention of a date for Christmas was around 200 C.E. , and the earliest celebrations date back to 250–300 C.E. , " a menstruum when Christians were not borrowing heavily from pagan traditions of such an obvious character,“according to the Biblical Archaeology Society .
Connections to Easter
For centuries after Jesus ' death , citizenry of the Christian religion did n’t pay up much attention to his birthday . In those day , early Christians were persecute and even martyred for their beliefs , which led them to put an emphasis onEaster , when they believe Jesus was martyr on the mark but overcame death and was resurrect .
It was n’t until thethird and fourth one C C.E.that early Christian writer and theologians put forth possible day of the month for Jesus ' birthing . Even then , those dates were related to Easter . In ancient times , Paul pronounce , there were traditions that the lives of great man were unite to specific times of the yr .
Heroic figures often died in the same month and on the same day that they were born ( years aside , of course of study ) . In Jesus ' case , it seems that ancient sources conceive he was either born or divinely conceived during Passover , the spring Judaic holiday during which he was later savage .
Christians who believed Jesus was conceived around Passover / Easter bet nine month before to key out his natal day . In Rome and other Western locales , they calculatedPassoverin the twelvemonth thatJesus diedas occurring on March 25 .
Eastern Christian communities used a Grecian calendar that place the same Passover on April 6 . contribute nine months , and other Christianity came up with two traditional Christmas dates : Dec. 25 and Jan. 6 .
The September Theory of Christmas
So why do biblical student like Ian Paul think that the actual traditional date for Christmas ought to be in September ? This theory issue forth from a near reading of the clues go out behind in Luke , specially what the creed ’s generator had to say about the timing of the birth of John the Baptist in relation to Jesus .
Luke ’s version of the Christmas story does n’t start out with Mary and Joseph . or else , it starts with another duad , Elizabeth and Zechariah , who were older and childless .
Zechariah , a priest , was visited by the Angel Falls Gabriel in the temple . Gabriel told him that his married woman would have a son named John , who would prepare the world for the coming of the Lord .
Zechariah doubted Gabriel ’s message and was strike dumb . But when his service in the temple was over , the non-Christian priest go home , and Elizabeth soon became significant .
As it turns out , the backer Gabriel also visited Mary to secernate her she was go to conceptualise and give nascence to baby Jesus , the Son of God , even though she was a Virgo . Luke tell usthat this second visitation to Mary happened " in the 6th calendar month of Elizabeth ’s pregnancy . "
With that central fact , it ’s possible to derive that Jesus was conceived six months after John . But that only helps us if we jazz when exactly John was conceive . And how would we get it on that ?
More Biblical Clues
Again , the Bible provides more clues . Luke say us that Zechariah " belonged to the priestly class of Abijah . " Each division of non-Christian priest take on turns performing sacrifices and other service in the temple . In1 Chronicles 24 , the fiat of temple help is laid out by divisions numbering one through 24 , with Abijah list as eight in the rotation .
As Paulcalculated on his blog , if each priestly division attend to for one week , with the first week of the ecclesiastical calendar landing in former March , that would put Zechariah in the temple in former June . If Elizabeth conceived soon after the angel visited Zechariah , and Mary conceived six months later , it place Jesus ' nascence in September of the next year .
Paul like the September theory of Christmas for several grounds , including the shepherd approximation observe above . Would Luke have placed shepherd in the fields in the eye of winter ?
However , there are also some hollow in this possibility .
The biggest problem is that each priestly air division dish out more than once a year in the synagogue . What if Gabriel appear to Zechariah during his second stint in the synagogue six calendar month afterward ? That would localize Jesus ' birth in March , which Paul admits is a distinct possibility .
Ultimately , how crucial is it to solve the mystery of Jesus ' literal giving birth escort ?
Thomas Waymentis a professor of classical subject at Brigham Young University who has written aboutthe vie theoriesregarding the timing of Jesus ' birth . He witness the public debate over his birthday to be intellectually fascinating and worthy of discourse , but he also thinks it overleap the point spiritually .
" Maybe , just maybe , we ’re better leaving it unresolved in a horse sense , " he says . He has seen early Christian references to Jesus ' nascence in April , May , and December and January . " We ’re celebrating an event , not a day . "
We updated this article in coincidence with AI technology , then made sure it was fact - hold in and edit by a HowStuffWorks editor .
