When was Jesus born and does it matter?

Some years ago, at a Christmas banquet, one of the guests who knew I was a theology professor cornered me. He had read an article in the Montreal newspaper, La Presse, stating that, quite obviously, Jesus had not been born on December 25. He accused me of being completely out of touch!

It’s true that we don’t know the date or the exact year of Jesus’ birth. The gospel writers don’t mention a specific date, although it was probably around 7 or 8 BCE. However, we do know that the shepherds were in the fields with their flocks when the event occurred. In the regions surrounding Bethlehem, shepherds were in the fields from the end of March or beginning of April until sometime in November. Therefore, Jesus may have been born in the spring, summer or fall, but certainly not in the winter. December 25 is not the date on which He was born.

Reasons for the choice

But is that really a problem? From antiquity, several dates have been suggested. Since scholars have little information on which to base their calculations, they use all sorts of methods, sometimes unlikely or even harebrained, to identify a date. How did they arrive at December 25?

During the first two or three centuries, the celebration of Jesus’ birth was not a central preoccupation for believers. The main festival of the early church was Easter, an occasion commemorating the death and resurrection of Christ. The celebration of Jesus’ birthday became important when the church began reflecting on the significance of the incarnation.

Documents indicate that January 6 was originally set aside for a celebration of Jesus’ birth. The day also commemorated other events in Christ’s life, such as the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism and His first miracle at the wedding in Cana.

Two influences can be identified to explain the change of date to December 25.

Counteracting heresy

First, at the council of Nicea in 325, representatives of the churches declared that all teaching denying that Jesus was both truly God and truly man was heresy. They rejected, for example, the idea that the Father had adopted Jesus at the time of His baptism. Following this landmark decision, the celebration of Jesus’ birth was separated from the one marking His baptism. Church leaders wanted to avoid propagating the heresy that Jesus had become God’s son through adoption at His baptism.

Replacing a pagan festival

The second influence comes from the church’s desire to replace a popular pagan festival with a Christian celebration. During the time of the early church in Rome, pagan worshippers belonging to the cult of Mithra gathered on December 25 to hold a celebration of light in honour of the sun. Since metaphors of light and sun were frequently used in Scripture as symbols of the Messiah, Christians chose this date to throw a party for the One who is the true light of the world.

It is worth noting that the idea of the Messiah as the light of the world was not simply a Christian adaptation of the pagan festival of light, since similar descriptions are present in the biblical texts themselves. Let’s think about the prophet Malachi: “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays” (Malachi 4:2).

Or Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, who prophesied:

“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven” (Luke 1:76–78).

And further, Simeon, who declared upon receiving the small child Jesus in the temple:

“For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:30–32).

And finally, Jesus said of Himself:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Christians wanted to demonstrate that true light comes from God through the birth of the Saviour.

The first records of believers celebrating Christmas on December 25 come from Rome in 336. However, this year-end date was not readily accepted by all churches, and some hoped to continue the feast on January 6. For many years, scholars tried to prove that the original date they had chosen was the actual date of Jesus’ birth. Suddenly, a previously unimportant question created great controversy between churches.

Towards the sixth century, the majority of churches finally adopted December 25 as the date for celebrating Christmas.

God with us

What lesson can be learned from all of this? Is the date really important? No! We have no historic certainty as to the exact date of Jesus’ birth. However, we shouldn’t view Christmas as a celebration without significance. The importance of this annual event comes in remembering the magnitude of God’s love for us.

The gospel writers documented the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus because the event was monumental: God is supremely interested in us! God Himself, the Creator of the universe, made an unfathomable gesture of love by taking the form of a small child to save those He had created. Here is the importance of Christmas. Even if we do not understand exactly how the date was chosen, I suggest that we declare, as the shepherds did when the angels appeared, “We don’t understand it all, but let’s go and see this thing that has happened.” December 25 is an occasion to remember all that God has done for us and respond to His great love.

Jean-Raymond Théorêt is academic dean at École de Théologie Évangelique de Montréal (ETEM). This article was translated from the December 2005 issue of Le Lien.