Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. But early Christians did not celebrate his birth, and no one knows on which date Jesus was actually born
By Arjun Sengupta, Indian Express
NEW DELHI | 25 December 2024 — The birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated annually in most (not all) places on December 25, as Christmas. But among Biblical scholars and historians alike, there is no consensus on when Jesus was actually born. Why then is Christmas celebrated on December 25?
“The Bible is reticent on the birth of Christ.” Thus began historian Judith Flanders’ much-acclaimed Christmas: a Biography (2017).
The nativity (birth) of Jesus Christ is only mentioned in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, both of which were likely written in the final decades of the first century, well after the death of Jesus. Both only tell us where Christ was born (Bethlehem), and to whom (Joseph and Mary), not where.
Mathew does say that Jesus was born in the reign of Herod (circa 37 BCE to 4 BCE), a Jewish client-king appointed by the Romans to rule Judea. But no specific date or time of the year are provided. Luke mentions there being shepherds in the fields hurrying to see the blessed child — something Biblical scholars use as a seasonal marker.
Flanders noted: “If Mary gave birth in December — and there is no mention in the Bible, nor in any early church writings, of the date of Christ’s birth — why were the sheep still in the fields in the winter months, when they should have been taken into the villages for warmth?”
Although there is still debate on the specifics of when he was born, there is a general consensus about the date not being December 25.
‘In the bleak midwinter…’
That early Christian writings make so little mention of Christ’s nativity is because birthdays carried little significance in the early church. What likely changed things was the spread of Christianity to the west, and more importantly, the north.
“To understand what Christmas has become, first we should consider winter,” wrote Bruce David Forbes in Christmas: A Candid History (2007). Christianity originated in the Levant but soon spread to Europe where it reached places where winters were much harsher, to the point of being almost unlivable.
“… [The] approach of winter is a little like walking into death, hoping we will emerge on the other side…,” Forbes wrote. Long before Christianity entered the scene, those living in the northern latitudes used to organise “big, blowout, midwinter parties” as a means of coping with the grim season.
Christianity, when it spread to Europe, continued the tradition. “We love the lights, the evergreen decorations, the music and the food, the chance to get together with family and friends, and the special feeling of warmth that comes with the festivities. Yet all of these features have no necessary connection with a story of a baby Jesus in a manger. Instead, they are the predictable characteristics of midwinter festivities,” Forbes wrote.
Saturnalia & Yule
Two examples of European midwinter festivities predating Christmas are the festivals of Saturnalia and Yule. Elements of both festivities can be found in Christmas celebrations today.
Saturnalia was a weeklong Roman midwinter festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture. Lucian of Samosota (circa 120 to 180 CE), a Greek commentator on Roman culture and society, wrote a dialogue between Saturn and his priest which included the “rules” of the Saturnalia.
Saturn notably tells his priest that he could “drink and be drunk, shout, play games and dice, appointing masters of the revels, feast the servants, sing stark naked, clap and shake, and sometimes even get pushed head-first into cold water with my face smeared with soot.” (Lucian, Vol VI translated by K Kilburn).
Similarly, Yule was a festival celebrated in Northern Europe (Scandinavia, northern Germany, the British Isles) defined by wanton festivities, most notably by “ritual beer-drinking”.
Twelfth-century Nordic historian Snorri Sturluson in Heimskringla told the story of Norway’s early kings. He wrote, “It was ancient custom that when sacrifice was made all farmers were to come to the temple and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part in the drinking of ale.” (As quoted by Kathleen Stokker in Keeping Christmas: Yuletide Traditions in Norway and the New Land, 2000).
Story of Christianity’s rise
The first written record putting the birth of Jesus on December 25 can be found in a Roman document called the Philocalian Calendar, which was compiled either in 336 or 354 CE.
The first official observance of Christ’s birthday in December did not start until sometime in the fourth century. According to Forbes, “the observance of Christ’s birth in December spread throughout the Christian realm in the late 300s and early 400s”. But why did Christmas become big centuries after Christ?
In some ways, the rise of Christmas mirrors the spread and rise of Christianity as the predominant religion in Europe. After Constantine (reign 306-337 CE) became the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity, something he hoped would unify the empire, the religion rapidly spread in the public sphere.
“In its newly public role, Christianity was now in a position to contend openly with its rivals… Christmas was started to compete with rival Roman religions, or to co-opt the winter celebrations as a way to spread Christianity, or to baptise the winter festivals with Christian meaning in an effort to limit their excesses,” Forbes wrote.
Christmas, as we know it today, was a product of this jostling between Christianity and other competing religions. To be clear, Christianity won, in that it did become the dominant religion across much of Europe, but the church was forced to embrace many non-Christian traditions in the process.
As historian Stephen Nissenbaum put it in his classic The Battle for Christmas (1988): “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” [IDN-InDepthNews]
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Photo: The blessing of the “Bambinelli” in St Peter’s Square. Source: Vatican News