Yes,
Christ Was Really Born on December 25: Here's a Defense of the Traditional Date
for Christmas
Dr.
Taylor Marshall
“The
Catholic Church, from at least the second century, has claimed that Christ was
born on December 25. However, it is commonly alleged that our Lord Jesus Christ
was not born on December 25. For the sake of simplicity, let us set out the
usual objections to the date of December 25 and counter each of them.
Objection
1: December 25
was chosen in order to replace the pagan Roman festival of
Saturnalia. Saturnalia was a popular winter festival and so the
Catholic Church prudently substituted Christmas in its place.
Reply
to Objection 1: Saturnalia
commemorated the winter solstice. Yet the winter solstice falls on December 22.
It is true that Saturnalia celebrations began as early as December 17 and
extended till December 23. Still, the dates don’t match up.
Objection
2: December 25
was chosen to replace the pagan Roman holiday Natalis Solis Invicti which
means “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.”
Reply
to Objection 2: Let
us examine first the cult of the Unconquered Sun. The Emperor Aurelian
introduced the cult of the Sol Invictus or Unconquered Sun to
Rome in A.D. 274. Aurelian found political traction with this cult,
because his own name Aurelian derives from the Latin word aurora denoting
“sunrise.” Coins reveal that Emperor Aurelian called himself the Pontifex
Solis or Pontiff of the Sun. Thus, Aurelian simply accommodated
a generic solar cult and identified his name with it at the end of the third
century. . .”
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