[George0000]

Was Jesus really born on the 25th December?

[Curlyben]

No, as this date didn't exist at that time.

[N0help4u]

Some say he was born fall or spring. Not summer or winter. The Catholic church decided to mix Christian holidays with pagan festivals.

[dwashbur]

We don't know the date or even the general time of year of his birth. The Catholic church adopted December 25 to coincide with a festival the pagans were already celebrating, and transformed the celebration into what we know as Christmas today. It's no longer a pagan day, obviously, you can tell that by all the good little prim and proper shoppers taking care to keep the real purpose of the celebration in view. Still, it was a pretty clever move by the church, since people were already used to having a celebration on that day, turning it into a celebration honoring Jesus. And since we have no clue what the actual birth date was, it really doesn't matter when (or if) we celebrate it.

So the short answer to your question is, probably not. We don't know.

[N0help4u]

Some say the fall because of the climate and the stars. I'd have to look for a site explaining that.
This is another way people have determined when they believe he was born.
Birth of Jesus Christ - Here a little, there a little - Holy Days

[joypulv]

Dave, you crack me up. Why can't more Biblical scholars be funny?

[dwashbur]

I was lucky; when I finished my Masters, I realized through interacting with people in my church that I could no longer speak English. Scholarese was my only dialect, and I was literally the only person in my personal circle who understood it.

So I went on a personal campaign to re-learn English and try to form a bridge between the two languages. That's why I'm always looking for better ways to, as Walter Martin used to say, "get the hay down out of the loft onto the barn floor where the cows can get at it." That's not a personal slam at anyone, just a metaphor, by the way! It means taking all the technical crap that only a select few understand, and translating it into something real people can follow. That's pretty much become my mission in life.

As I said, lucky. My goal was the sullen halls of academia, but God spared me. This life is much more interesting.

[jakester]

George - it doesn't matter which day he was born, man. What matters is that we understand the significance of his birth.

[ebaines]

Not only do we not know the date of his birth, we don't know even know for sure the year it occurred. Most estimates put Jesus's birth some time between 4 BC and 6 BC. Which means the term "BC" is an oxymoron!

[dwashbur]

Yep. We've known for centuries that our calendars are a few years off, but they're so entrenched now, trying to fix it - even if we knew how many years to adjust - would cause a nice global disaster. So we're stuck with it.

Still, it always provides a nice tool for those who seem to think world events are somehow tied to that calendar; my favorite were the Y2K people who decided Jesus was coming back at the turn of the millennium. So they were anxiously watching the skies at the end of 1999, not realizing that if Jesus really DID time it to be 2000 years after his birth, he should have already come back several years before that. Trying to help people like that keep from parading their ignorance is a big part of the reason I strive to be an educator.

[hauntinghelper]

That's why I'm always looking for better ways to, as Walter Martin used to say, "get the hay down out of the loft onto the barn floor where the cows can get at it."

I'm a Walter Martin fan myself.

[ebaines]

Still, it always provides a nice tool for those who seem to think world events are somehow tied to that calendar; my favorite were the Y2K people who decided Jesus was coming back at the turn of the millennium.

They were wrong on several counts - first as you point out the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' birth occurred several years prior, but second - even if Jesus had been born in the year 1 AD per the Gregorian Calendar the 2000th anniversary would have been in 2001, not 2000. Same mistake was made by all the partiers who celebrated the new millennium a year too early.

[Fr_Chuck]

I am not aware of any Biblical scholar that believes it was on December 25. The fact of the birth is what is of importance, not an exact day. There is large debate even over the year, as noted many think it is several years difference.

There is a lot of myth and of course anti christian discussion over dates of many Christian holidays, some, as the legend goes, for Christmas, it was used, since it allowed Christians to celebrate it, without others giving notice, since it was a day they were celebrating for other reasons.