The common Christian traditional dating of the birthdate of Jesus was 25 December, a date first asserted officially by Pope Julius I in 350 AD, although this claim is dubious or otherwise unfounded.
Although most Christians celebrate December 25 as the birthday of Jesus Christ, few in the first two Christian centuries claimed any knowledge of the exact day or year in which he was born.
According to legend, Jesus Christ was born on the night between 24 and 25 December in the year 0. Christians all over the world therefore traditionally celebrate the birth of the Messiah and Son of God on this date as Christmas.
“The real reason for the selection of Dec. 25 seems to have been that it is exactly nine months after March 25, the traditional date of Jesus' crucifixion. … As Christians developed the theological idea that Jesus was conceived and crucified on the same date, they set the date of his birth nine months later.”
The first official mention of December 25 as a holiday honoring Jesus' birthday appears in an early Roman calendar from AD 336.
Under Emperor Constantine, the Church in Rome began celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25 in 336. Some say the date was chosen to outshine the Sol Invictus and pagan celebrations.
Christmas is on Dec. 25, but it wasn't always. Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus's birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth.
Christmas is celebrated by many Christians on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar. For Eastern Orthodox churches that continue to use the Julian calendar for liturgical observances, this date corresponds to January 7 on the Gregorian calendar.
The nations that celebrate on December 24 are mostly Christian, and a Christian liturgical day always begins and finishes at sunset. As a result, Jesus is said to have been born at 5 p.m. on December 24, and his birthday finishes at the same time on December 25.
Ecclesiastically, the eve of a feast was the night before. However, in common use, the eve is the day before. Christmas Eve Eve isn't a commonly-used term, so has no formal definition but I interpret Christmas Eve as the day before Christmas, and Christmas Eve Eve as the day before that.
The origins of Christmas stem from both the pagan and Roman cultures. The Romans actually celebrated two holidays in the month of December. The first was Saturnalia, which was a two-week festival honoring their god of agriculture Saturn. On December 25th, they celebrated the birth of Mithra, their sun god.
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to poor people, today Boxing Day forms part of Christmas celebrations, with many people choosing to take advantage of Boxing Day sales.
"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
The Roman Christian historian Sextus Julius Africanus dated Jesus' conception to March 25 (the same date upon which he held that the world was created), which, after nine months in his mother's womb, would result in a December 25 birth.
Jesus' name in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua.
Exactly how old is Santa? According to the blog Email Santa, Santa Claus is 1,751 years old as of 2022. In fact, the origins of Santa Claus can be traced all the way back to a monk named Saint Nicholas, who was born between 260 and 280 A.D. in a village called Patara, which is part of modern-day Turkey.
Christmas is on Dec. 25, but it wasn't always. Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus's birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem.
Fannie Holt, one of the founders of Keystone Camp – and a woman remembered fondly for her whimsy and creativity – had the idea of a Christmas-themed celebration in the midst of summer.
Millions of Christians do not observe Christmas. Among them are Quakers, Jehovah's Witnesses, and members of the Churches of Christ. Some of the half-dozen Christian faiths that do no celebrate Dec. 25 contend there is nothing in the Bible that says Christ was born on that day.
The Bible and the Believer. The New Testament contains two Christmas stories, not one. They appear in Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2.
It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. Sure, enjoy the season but remember to rejoice as well! After all, the true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of God's ultimate gift: the birth of Jesus, the Christ child.
Because Christmas is about the birth of God's Son – Jesus. It is about how he came to give us love, hope and joy. That message doesn't change from year to year. When there is so much bad news and devastation in the world, this is good news worth celebrating!
Christmas Eve is on December 24 and marks the culmination of the Advent period before Christmas that starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve. Many churches mark the end of Advent with midnight church services. During modern times, it is popularly celebrated on the night before Christmas Day.
Though historians disagree on the exact origin of Boxing Day, it is thought to have grown out of longstanding British traditions of charitable giving and goodwill—practices especially associated with the Christian festival of Saint Stephen's Day, which is celebrated on December 26.
Since servants of aristocrats were required to work on Christmas, the following day became the time when their employers filled up boxes with gifts, money, and Christmas leftovers for them, much like a holiday bonus.