Tomorrow (or today depending on when you’re reading this) is Christmas day. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Nobody knows exactly when Jesus was born, so why on this day, do we celebrate his birth?
First, some people don’t, “Many Orthodox and Coptic Churches still use the Julian Calendar and so celebrate Christmas on the 7th January” (“Why Christmas Celebrated on the 25th December?”).
But why choose this day out of all the days in the year? Well there are two theories to this: one being much more popular than the other.
Theory 1: Converting the Pagans
Most people have heard the theory that this date was chosen because it revolved around a lot of pagan festivals such as the Roman midwinter festivals, ‘Saturnalia’ which happened in around December 25th. According to Andrew McGowan, “Early Christians deliberately chose these dates to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world: If Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be open to both the holiday and the God whose birth it celebrated” (McGowan, “How December 25 Became Christmas”).
Theory 2: Counting back Nine Months
The other theory is that early Christians celebrated the Annunciation, which is the day the angel appeared to Mary. According to early Christians this day happened on March 25th. If you count nine months from that day, it lands right on December 25th. So mathematically it would have to be on this day.
Regardless of how December 25th came about as the day, it is a special holiday to billions of people and whether you celebrate it or not, it is a day for families to get together and celebrate the kindness towards each other.
Check back tomorrow for the final post on my twelve days of Christmas Lore.
Merry Christmas!
Sources:
McGowan, A. (2014, December 8). How December 25 Became Christmas. Retrieved December 25, 2014, from http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/
Why Christmas Celebrated on the 25th December? (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2014, from http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/25th.shtml
