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When I went to Catholic School I was always taught that
the Christian God Jesus was born on December 25, which
is when 2 billions of the worlds Christians celebrate Christmas.
I didn't know that another 200 million or so Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on January 7. Here is a bunch of interesting information I saw in the December 1, 2012 issue of the WatchTower, which is a publication by the Jehovah's Witnesses Christian religion. Oddly I have seen and heard all the information before either at atheist meetings or in atheist publications. Jesus wasn't born in the winter or Dec 25???Oddly many Christians who are Bible experts don't beleive that Jesus was born in either December or January.The Bible does not give a specific date. It simply states: “There were also in that same country shepherds living out of doors and keeping watches in the night over their flocks. And suddenly Jehovah’s angel stood by them, and . . . the angel said to them: ‘. . . There was born to you today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”—Luke 2:8-11. Facts point to Jesus’ birth at approximately the beginning of October when shepherds with their flocks would still spend the night in the fields. The countryside around Bethlehem experiences the coldest weather during the months of December and January. Hence, to keep them warm at night, flocks are herded into protective shelters. Early Christians did NOT celebrate the birth of the Christ???It was not until more than 300 years after Jesus’ birth that Christendom officially began to observe Christmas on December 25.Interestingly, in the mid-17th century, an act of parliament banned Christmas celebrations in England. In the United States, the Massachusetts General Court did the same. Why? The book The Battle for Christmas, says: “There is no biblical or historical reason to place the birth of Jesus on December 25.” It adds that to the Puritans, “Christmas was nothing but a pagan festival covered with a Christian veneer.” The Christmas holiday was stolen from the Pagans????The roots of Christmas can be traced back to pagan Rome with its mixture of festivals for honoring the agricultural god Saturn and the sun god Sol Invictus, or Mithra.Anthropologists Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling, coauthors of the book Pagan Christmas, write: “Like many pre-Christian customs and beliefs, the old feast commemorating the yearly return of the sun was rededicated to the birth of Christ.” So basically since all the pagans were celebrating their holiday on December 25, the Christians decided to party at the same time as their pagan friends partied. The artoc;e in the WatchTower didn't mention this, but December 25 is the Winter Solstice or the shortest day of the year. And many religions had their festival and celebration on Dec 25 for that reason. The Christians simply picked Dec 25 for the birthday of their Jesus God because that was the day all their pagan friends partied on. |