And the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates it on the 6th January! In some part of the UK, January 6th is still called 'Old Christmas' as this would have been the day that Christmas would have celebrated on, if the calendar hadn't been changed. Some people didn't want to use the new calendar as they thought it 'cheated' them out of 11 days! Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, so the early Christians thought that this was the right time to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
They also took over some of the customs from the Winter Solstice and gave them Christian meanings, like Holly , Mistletoe and even Christmas Carols!
St Augustine of Canterbury was the person who probably started the widespread celebration of Christmas in large parts of England by introducing Christianity to the regions run by the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century other Celtic parts of Britain were already Christian but there aren't many documents about if or how they celebrated the birth of Jesus.
If you'd like to know more about the history behind the dating of Christmas, then read this very good article on Bible History Daily goes to another site.
There's a strong and practical reason why Jesus might not have been born in the winter, but in the spring or the autumn! It can get very cold in the winter and it's unlikely that the shepherds would have been keeping sheep out on the hills as those hills can get quite a lot of snow sometimes!
During the spring in March or April there's a Jewish festival called 'Passover'. This festival remembers when the Jews had escaped from slavery in Egypt about years before Jesus was born.
Lots of lambs would have been needed during the Passover Festival, to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Jews from all over the Roman Empire traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, so it would have been a good time for the Romans to take a census. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census Bethlehem is about six miles from Jerusalem. It's the festival that's mentioned the most times in the Bible! It is when Jewish people remember that they depended on God for all they had after they had escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years in the desert.
It also celebrates the end of the harvest. During the festival, Jews live outside in temporary shelters the word 'tabernacle' come from a latin word meaning 'booth' or 'hut'.
Many people who have studied the Bible, think that Sukkot would be a likely time for the birth of Jesus as it might fit with the description of there being 'no room in the inn'. It wouldn't have been practical for Joseph and Mary to carry their own shelter as Mary was pregnant.
The possibilities for the Star of Bethlehem seems to point either spring or autumn. The possible dating of Jesus birth can also be taken from when Zechariah who was married to Mary's cousin Elizabeth was on duty in the Jewish Temple as a Priest and had an amazing experience. There is an excellent article on the dating of Christmas based on the dates of Zechariah's experience, on the blog of theologian, Ian Paul. With those dates, you get Jesus being born in September - which also fits with Sukkot!
In the Bible, John says "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us So John seems to have clearly been drawing on this analogy saying that Jesus 'pitched his tent' as a human and also quite possibly he is making the link to the time of Jesus's birth.
John certainly knew both Jesus and Mary and so would have known when Jesus was born! Everyone knows what day of the year we celebrate Christmas, but not many know the real reason why. On December 25th, nine in 10 Americans will celebrate Christmas, but few understand why.
Everyone knows the trappings associated with the holiday— Christmas trees , red and green ornaments, presents , etc. Although Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, his exact birthdate is unknown. The celebration of Christmas spread throughout the Western world over the next several centuries, but many Christians continued to view Epiphany and Easter as more important. Some, including the Puritans of colonial New England, even banned its observance because they viewed its traditions—the offering of gifts and decorating trees, for example—as linked to paganism.
In the early days of the United States, celebrating Christmas was considered a British custom and fell out of style following the American Revolution. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV.
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