Southlander
New Member
Here's my take on it. This is me the historian coming out here, not me the priest, but here goes:
Jesus' actual birthday is obviously not recorded in Scripture. The only two arguments for an actual birth date that I can find that seem to hold any water would land it on the Feast of Tabernacles (because he "tabernacled" among us) or the Feast of Trumpets (because trumpets announce the arrival of kings). The actual year, depending on which historian you want to debate with, would be between 4 B.C. and 2 B.C. (St. Bede of Wearmouth who gave us the A.D./B.C. system of dating was a bit off in his calculations.)
As to December 25th, in the early 7th Century the question of Christians not having any sort of celebration in mid-Winter was brought up with great frequency. "What do we do about it?" was the question. It is very difficult for Christians to go about their daily business when the Germanic peoples around you are celebrating Yule (Saturnalia was dead because the Roman state religion was no longer practiced).
The solution was kind of genious: the Feast of the Annuciation (celebrating the St. Gabriel visiting the Blessed Virgin to announce her Divine pregnancy) had long been established on 25 March. If one added nine months to that, 25 December is what you get. It gave Christians a mid-Winter celebration based on a Scriptural event of great importance, but set it up on a rival date that lands at least two days after the last day the Winter Solstice could land on (the actual date varies from the 19th to the 23rd of December). It also allowed for a corporate celebration of an event that was important enough to be remembered in Scripture, but whose date was not important enough to the meaning of the event to be recorded. (The event, and not the date was what mattered or Scripture would have recorded the date, I feel comfortable enough to say.) Christmas, whatever actual day it landed on, is precisely what made the Passion, Death, and Resurrection possible. It is also what shows us that the Gnostics are wrong because it asserts a real Incarnation, and not an illusion meant to look like one as they claim.
Now, personally, I don't go for all the christianized trappings adopted from the Germanic Yule celebration. The lights, the trees, and the wreaths are not part of my practice at all. To me, the idea that "the fruit never falls far from the tree," is more true in the spiritual realm than in the corporeal one. I don't allow them in my home. We exchange gifts, but they are not wrapped; they are simply given.
And that is my take.
Jesus' actual birthday is obviously not recorded in Scripture. The only two arguments for an actual birth date that I can find that seem to hold any water would land it on the Feast of Tabernacles (because he "tabernacled" among us) or the Feast of Trumpets (because trumpets announce the arrival of kings). The actual year, depending on which historian you want to debate with, would be between 4 B.C. and 2 B.C. (St. Bede of Wearmouth who gave us the A.D./B.C. system of dating was a bit off in his calculations.)
As to December 25th, in the early 7th Century the question of Christians not having any sort of celebration in mid-Winter was brought up with great frequency. "What do we do about it?" was the question. It is very difficult for Christians to go about their daily business when the Germanic peoples around you are celebrating Yule (Saturnalia was dead because the Roman state religion was no longer practiced).
The solution was kind of genious: the Feast of the Annuciation (celebrating the St. Gabriel visiting the Blessed Virgin to announce her Divine pregnancy) had long been established on 25 March. If one added nine months to that, 25 December is what you get. It gave Christians a mid-Winter celebration based on a Scriptural event of great importance, but set it up on a rival date that lands at least two days after the last day the Winter Solstice could land on (the actual date varies from the 19th to the 23rd of December). It also allowed for a corporate celebration of an event that was important enough to be remembered in Scripture, but whose date was not important enough to the meaning of the event to be recorded. (The event, and not the date was what mattered or Scripture would have recorded the date, I feel comfortable enough to say.) Christmas, whatever actual day it landed on, is precisely what made the Passion, Death, and Resurrection possible. It is also what shows us that the Gnostics are wrong because it asserts a real Incarnation, and not an illusion meant to look like one as they claim.
Now, personally, I don't go for all the christianized trappings adopted from the Germanic Yule celebration. The lights, the trees, and the wreaths are not part of my practice at all. To me, the idea that "the fruit never falls far from the tree," is more true in the spiritual realm than in the corporeal one. I don't allow them in my home. We exchange gifts, but they are not wrapped; they are simply given.
And that is my take.
But no, I don't quite have a reference for that, except for the several verses about His eyes being on us. :roll:
