Christianity is the largest religion in the world, in addition to being the most persecuted.
According to Pew Research Center, 2015, approximately a third of the world's population is Christian. Christmas Day, therefore, could be considered the most celebrated religious holiday on the planet.
Early Christians were predominantly Jewish.
Jewish believers were more interested in the dates of:
- Passover, when Jesus Christ was crucified as the “the Lamb of God”; followed by
- His being in the tomb on the Feast of Unleavened Bread; then
- His rising from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits.
It was not until large numbers of Gentiles became Christians that interest was given to the date of Christ’s birth.
To track down the traditional date of Christmas, it is first necessary to determine the date of the conception of John the Baptist.
The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, explained how in the time of Herod the Great, who died between 4 B.C.-1 B.C., John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, was a Levite priest, of the family of Abijah:
"In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron."
What is the "priestly division of Abijah"?
King David divided the Levite priests into 24 family groups, called "divisions" or "courses," which took turns ministering at the altar in Jerusalem.
This is recorded in I Chronicles 24:
"The sons of Aaron ... served as the priests ... David separated them into divisions for their appointed order of ministering ...
The first lot fell to Jehoiarib,
the second to Jedaiah,
the third to Harim,
the fourth to Seorim,
the fifth to Malkijah,
the sixth to Mijamin,
the seventh to Hakkoz,
the eighth to Abijah ..."
The list names all 24 family divisions, but for this study, we are only concerned with Jehoiarib and Abijah.
Solomon initiated these courses when he dedicated the First Temple in mid-10th century B.C., as recorded in 2 Chronicles 8:12-14:
"Solomon ... in keeping with the ordinance of his father David, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their duties."
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 and they confirmed the order of the Levite family courses, as revealed by Israeli scholar Shemaryahu Talmon in his research published in 1958 from the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls, Parchment Number 321-4Q321.
The article "Dead Sea Scrolls deciphered: esoteric code reveals ancient priestly calendar" was published February 20, 2018, in The Conversation.
This priestly order was again confirmed by excavations at Caesarea in 1962 by Hebrew University’s Department of Archaeology, published in 1964, Avi-Yonah, M., "The Caesarea Inscription of the Twenty-Four Priestly Courses" (Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies L.A. Mayer Memorial Volume, 1895-1959: 25. JSTOR 23614642).
The 24 Levite family courses, called the sacerdotal rota system, were a rotating schedule where each family served twice a year, for a week at a time, six months apart.
The family course of Abijah served in the annual cycle on the 8th week and the 32nd week.
But when did the divisions start?
The Babylonian Talmud, translated by Rabbi Dr. Isadore Epstein (The Soncino Press Ltd., NY, 1990), confirmed in Arachin 11B that the priestly family of Jehoiarib was on duty when the First Temple was burned on the 9th day of the Jewish month Av, circa 587 B.C.
The Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Mishnah b. Taanit 4:5 [24a]; 29a:12) stated that when the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. on the 9th of Av: “The Levite family on duty when Temple destroyed was Jehoiarib of the First Course.”
Josef Heinrich Friedlieb confirmed in his 1887 book, The Life of Jesus the Redeemer, that when the Second Temple was burned on the 9th of Av in 70 A.D., the priestly course of Jehoiarib was on duty.
The Wikipedia entry for "Jehoiarib" (accessed 12/22) stated:
“In Jewish tradition, Jehoiarib was the priestly course on duty when the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman Imperial army in the second week of the lunar month Av, in 70 C.E.”
The 9th day of Av in the Hebrew lunar calendar corresponds to August 4th in the Roman Julian solar Calendar.
If Jehoiarib, the first division, was on priestly duty the first week in August, then seven weeks later would be the course of Abijah. That would be the last week of September in the Roman calendar, or the second week of the Jewish month of Tishri.
This is an important week, as it began with the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur -- the 10th day of Tishri, and ended with the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkoth -- the 15th day of Tishri.
The Infancy Gospel of James, circa 136 A.D., cites Zacharias serving in the Temple on the Day of Atonement.
This was also the view held by the early church father Saint John Chrysostom, 349-407, the Archbishop of Constantinople. He accepted that Zachariah was involved in the service of the Temple the week of the Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles.
Susan K. Roll wrote in Toward the Origins of Christmas (1995, pp. 100-101):
"Chrysostom's ... argument follows ... that Zachariah was ... priest during the Feast of Tabernacles in the year John the Baptist was conceived."
This evidence seems to indicate that circa 1-4 B.C., at the end of the reign of King Herod in Judea, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was serving in the Temple the last week of September. His wife, Elizabeth, would then have conceived soon after.
The Gospel of Luke 1:8-13 recorded:
"When Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense ... All the assembled worshipers were praying outside."
What does it mean "chosen by lot"?
Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, but other priests were involved in the service of the Temple.
The Benson Commentary of the Old and New Testament quoted the eminent Scottish scholar Reverend James Macknight, D.D.:
"Because some parts of the sacred service were more honorable than others, both the priests and Levites divided the whole among them by lot. The Jews tell us, that there were three priests employed about the service of the incense; one who carried away the ashes left on the altar at the preceding service; another who brought a pan of burning coals from the altar of sacrifice, and, having placed it on the golden altar, departed; a third, who went in with the incense, sprinkled it on the burning coals, and, while the smoke ascended, made intercession for the people. This was the part that fell to Zacharias, and the most honorable in the whole service.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges states:
"His lot was to burn incense ... This was the loftiest and most coveted of priestly functions ... King Uzziah was smitten with leprosy for trying to usurp it - 2 Chronicles 26:18. Incense was a symbol of prayer ... and Philo tells us that it was offered twice a day,—before the morning and after the evening sacrifice of a lamb."
There were about 24,000 Levites, so being chosen was a rare occurrence, but being chosen to serve during this important week was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
The Pulpit Commentary states:
"As the whole number of priests at this time was very large - some say even as many as twenty thousand - Dean Frederic Farrar conjectures that it would never happen to the same priest twice in his lifetime to enter that sacred spot."
The Gospel of Luke continues:
"An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. Then Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear ... But the angel said to him: 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John' ...
When Zechariah's time of service was complete, he returned home. After this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five month remained in seclusion."
John the Baptist was known as "The Forerunner" of Jesus.
The Byzantine Rite Church Calendar commemorates September 23 as the date of the conception of John the Baptist, as does the second-century work Protoevangelium of Saint James.
John was born nine months later, June 24, which is the date recognized as the "Nativity of John the Baptist" by Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican Churches, being one of the oldest Christian observances since the Council of Agde in 506.
Luke's Gospel stated that Elizabeth was in her 6th month of pregnancy when the angel visited her younger cousin Mary.
Six months after the end of September is the end of March.
Luke, chapter 1: 26-35, recorded:
"In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, 'Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.'
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
... But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end' ...
'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail ...'"
Luke continued:
"At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In a loud voice she exclaimed: 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!'”
Adam C. English gives a summary in Christmas: Theological Anticipations, 2016:
"It would seem that Zachariah entered the Temple sanctuary on the highest and holiest day of the year, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. There, beside the altar of the Lord, a radiant angel gave news of the child to be born to Elizabeth.
The date reckoned for this occurrence is September 24, based on computations from the Jewish calendar in accordance with Leviticus 23 regarding the Day of Atonement ...
... According to Luke 1:26, Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary took place in the 'sixth month' of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Luke repeats the uniqueness of the timing in verse 36.
... Counting six months from September 24 we arrive at March 25, the most likely date for the annunciation ... Nine months hence takes us to December 25."
Susan K. Roll wrote in Toward the Origins of Christmas, 1995:
"Saint John Chrysostom counts off the months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and dates Mary’s conception from the sixth month of Elizabeth’s ... then counts off another nine months to arrive at the birthdate of Christ."
March 25 is the traditional date on the liturgical calendar for the Feast of the Annunciation.
In 221 A.D., Sextus Julius Africanus wrote a five volume history of the world, Chronographiai, in which he listed March 25th as the date of Creation and, in 1 B.C., the date of the Incarnation of Christ.
The 4th century work, On Solstices and Equinoxes, stated:
"Our Lord was conceived ... in the month of March - March 25 - which is the day of the passion of the Lord and of his conception. For on that day he was conceived on that day he suffered."
Yale Divinity School Professor Andrew McGowan wrote in “How December 25th Became Christmas”:
“It was a common belief that the Messiah fulfilled his mission on the anniversary of its inception."
Jonathan Noyes of Stand to Reason (12/16/21) wrote:
"Tertullian, 155-220 A.D., said Jesus died on the 14th day of Nisan. This is March 25th according to the calendar we’re familiar with, and it lines up with biblical evidence. Notice March 25th is nine months before December 25th."
Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote in On The Trinity, written circa 417 A.D.:
“For Christ is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also he suffered; so the womb of the Virgin, in which he was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which he was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before him nor since. But he was born, according to tradition, upon December the 25th."
In 204 A.D., Saint Hippolytus of Rome wrote:
"The first Advent of our Lord in the flesh, when He was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th ... He suffered in the thirty-third year, March 25th ... the eighteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, while Rufus and Rubellius were Consuls."
The date of the birth of Jesus has been studied for centuries.
One cannot be dogmatic about it, as it admittedly confusion trying to reconcile the ancient Jewish lunar calendar with the Roman Julian solar calendar, the Egyptian solar calendar, the Athenian lunar calendar, the Gregorian calendar, various leap years, and synchronizing the reigns of various emperors, governors, and consulships mentioned in historical records.
For centuries, pilgrims would travel to Bethlehem, as Saint John Chrysostom mentioned in his Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, 370 A.D.:
"Since that birth of Jesus, men come from the ends of the earth to see the manger, and the site of the shed.”
Some think that shepherds would not have been in the field with their flocks in the winter, but Jacob tended sheep in the "frost by night," as he told Laban in Genesis 31:38-40:
"This twenty years I have been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not miscarried their young ... Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes."
The winter argument also loses credibility when one considers the moderate climate of Bethlehem in December, with an average daily temperature no lower than 40 degrees, on average a few degrees warmer than Dallas, Texas.
Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem where shepherds, who constantly moved their flocks, would provide "lambs without blemish" to the Levitical priesthood for daily Temple sacrifices.
Many sheep herders confirm that lambs can be born in winter, such as the Westminister, Maryland, Carroll County Grown website which posted the article “Why are Lambs born in the Winter?” (accessed 12/23):
“Lambs are born during the winter for various reasons. One main reason is that sheep are seasonal breeders meaning that their ‘estrus cycle’ … sheep are short day/long night breeders meaning they breed late summer/early fall and consequently their lambs are born in the winter and spring.”
The U.K. agricultural website War Horse Valley Country Farm Park (accessed 12/23) states:
“Lambs are born around 145 days - or about 4.5 months - after the ewe falls pregnant. Lambing can start as early as December and go on to as late as June.”
Some think December 25 was chosen to erase the pagan Roman winter solstice festival of Saturnalia, but this is discounted when one realizes the winter solstice is not December 25, but December 21-22, with celebrations beginning as early as December 17, but lasting no later than December 23.
Some suggest that December 25 was chosen to replace the Roman cult of Sol Invictus worshiping the sun god, but records show that persecuted Christians were celebrating the nativity of Jesus on December 25 before Sol Invictus was instituted in 274 A.D.
One of the earliest records of Christmas on December 25 was in the middle of the second century A.D., in Antioch, present-day Turkey.
An early group which celebrated Christ's birth on December 25 were the Donatists, who, due to suffering intense persecution by the Romans, vehemently opposed compromise with anything pagan.
Pope Saint Telesphorus, 125–136 A.D., added the midnight Mass to the liturgical calendar to celebrate the precise hour Jesus was believed to have been born.
Bishop Theophilus, 115–181 A.D., who was over the influential See or jurisdiction of Caesarea wrote: “We ought to celebrate the birthday of Our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen.”
And again, Saint Hippolytus of Rome wrote in 204 A.D.: "The First Advent of our Lord in the flesh occurred when He was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th."
Christians had been celebrating December 25th for more than a century before Roman Emperor Aurelian designated December 25th as Natalis Sol Invictus in 274 A.D.
It is thought Aurelian emphasized the sun god to promote himself as divine, as his name "Aurelian" is from “aurora,” the Latin word for sunrise. He minted coins with his image wearing a crown of sun rays, calling himself “Pontifex Solis.”
Many emperors promoted themselves a divine. Julius Caesar had a cult to himself, Divis Julius, with his general, Mark Anthony, as high priest. After his assassination in 44 BC, the Roman Senate “confirmed” Caesar as divine. Augustus Caesar had temples where he was worship as a “god.”
Dr. Taylor Marshall wrote in the article "Yes, Christ Was Really Born on December 25":
"The liturgical celebration of Christ’s birth was commemorated in Rome on December 25 long before Christianity became legalized and long before our earliest record of a pagan feast for the birthday of the Unconquered Sun."
Yale Professor McGowan wrote:
“Most significantly, the first mention of a date for Christmas, circa 200 A.D., and the earliest celebrations that we know about, circa 250–300 A.D., come in a period when Christians were not borrowing heavily from pagan traditions of such an obvious character ... December 25 feast seems to have existed before 312—before Constantine and his conversion.”
It was largely due to Emperor Julian the Apostate, reigning 355-363, that December 25th was promoted as Natalis Sol Invictus, “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.” Since Julian was raised a Christian but rejected the faith, it follows that he would want to erase the Christian holiday.
Therefore, it may not have been Christians who chose December 25th to erase a pagan holiday, but the other way around; Emperor Aurelian, who wore a sun crown, and Emperor Julian, an apostate, who sought to erase a Christian holiday.
This would be similar to the modern-day Kwanzaa.
WFXRtv published in 2016 "Roanoke’s Harris Museum of African-American Culture Celebrating 50th Anniversary of Kwanzaa":
"The holiday was created back in 1966 by Ronald Everett, a Black professor, activist ... Kwanzaa first started as an alternative to Christmas during the Black Nationalist Movement of the 60’s."
Jonathan Noyes noted in his article "A Very Pagan Christmas?" (12/16/21) that even after 601 A.D.:
"... when Pope Gregory the Great urged Christians to turn pagan temples into churches and to repurpose pagan festivals into feasts celebrating Christian martyrs ... there are no known early sources indicating Christmas grew out of pagan origins. For this, we have to go all the way to the 12th century ... Dionysius bar-Salibi was the first to suggest Christmas was moved to December 25th to correspond with the pagan festival Sol Invictus ... Then the record is silent again ... (till) post-enlightenment comparative religion scholars."
To reiterate, no Christian writer prior to the 12th century suggested that December 25th was chosen to replace Sol Invictus.
McGowan wrote:
“Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar festivals. According to this theory, early Christians deliberately chose these dates to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world ...
Despite its popularity today, this theory of Christmas’s origins has its problems. It is not found in any ancient Christian writings, for one thing.
Christian authors of the time do note a connection between the solstice and Jesus’ birth ... They see the coincidence as a providential sign, as natural proof that God had selected Jesus over the false pagan gods.”
After three centuries of persecution by the pagan Roman government, Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., ending the persecution of Christians.
In 336 A.D., Constantine, observed Christmas Day in Rome on December 25.
In 350 A.D., Pope Julius celebrated Christmas on December 25, as did Pope Liberius in 354 A.D.
The Chronograph of 354 AD contains calendar entries for the year 336 AD, and lists: "25 December: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae" which translated is “the birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judea.”
Dr. Taylor Marshall explained, that same document has for December 25 the Latin letters “N INVICTI CM XXX,” with N standing for “nativity”; INVICTI meaning “of the unconquered”; CM “circenses missus” meaning “games ordered”; and XXX being 30. The word “sun” is not included. It simply reads 30 games were ordered on the nativity of the unconquered.
Advent, preparing for the coming of Jesus, began c.480 A.D. with fasting three times a week for four weeks prior to Christmas, December 25th.
Throughout history, events were dated in connection with the reign of prominent kings.
Even after Constantine legalized Christianity, events were still being dated in relation to the previous Emperor Diocletian - "anno Diocletian," who terribly persecuted Christians.
In 526, during the time of the Christian Emperor Justinian, a scholarly monk named Dionysius Exigus thought it inappropriate that dates were still being recorded in relation to the reign of anti-Christian Emperor Diolcetian.
Dionysius Exigus began making notations, marking down dates in relation to the birth of Jesus - “anno Domini,” which in Latin means “in the year of the Lord's reign.”
Gradually, this method of recording all dates in relation to Christ’s birth became the most accepted dating system in the world.
There was secular attempt to avoid this by using B.C.E. - Before Common Era; and C.E. - Common Era. But when did it change from Before Common Era to Common Era? - The Birth of Jesus!
Even in their attempts to cancel it they cannot help but to confirm it.
Clarence E. Marion was dean of Notre Dame's College of Law, and was appointed to a position by President Eisenhower. He wrote a book in 1951, Keys to Peace, which sold millions of copies. Marion wrote:
"The long march of measured time suddenly stopped. It then did an about-face and started to march in another direction and to a different drum straight through the ensuing centuries of Christ and Christendom ...
B.C. - before Christ - and A.D. - Anno Domini, the year of our Lord - mark each one of the only reliable milestones along the path of world history ...
The end of the first time-chain, and the beginning of the second, came together on the night that Christ was born in Bethlehem ...
The first CHRISTMAS DAY thus stands as the Great Divide for the timing and recording of all people, things and events that have lived or taken place upon this earth ...
the one place on the long, long trail of time where the magnetic needle of history stands vertical and points up."
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Dear William Federer,
Thank you for that powerful and irrefutable
historical documentation !
It is noteworthy that every document signed, every letter written, every newspaper or magazine, and every dollar bill or coin, has written upon it a date which
Emphatically references the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!
William, Thank you for this very enlightening article on December 25th. I have read your books and followed you for years and appreciate your interesting historical narratives. Merry Christmas.
Thank you so much for this very important and interesting article. God bless you