In this first week of Advent 2025, I would like to share some thoughts for new as well as regular Another Voice readers, about history and figuring out the date for Jesus’ birthday.
One thing that older historians learn is that life is neither linear nor circular. Life is spiral. As we grow, we notice some things coming around again. But we see them from a better perspective and often with a deeper understanding. This certainly applies to the history of Jesus of Nazareth.
The “birthday” of Jesus of Nazareth is not mentioned anywhere in the New Testament, which is quite silent about the day or the time of year when Mary gave birth to her son. Historians know that in keeping with Hebrew customs at the time, Mary was between 12 and 14 years old when her son Jesus was born. Her husband was probably a couple years older. In Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus and his parents, Mary was called Myriam.
We know very little about Mary’s husband Joseph. He is not mentioned in the Gospels after the incident, mentioned in Luke 2:41-52, where the 12-year-old Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem. Nor is he mentioned at the crucifixion when Jesus entrusted his mother to the care of the “beloved disciple.”
[Interesting of course is that the Gospel of Mark mentions Jesus’ brothers, named: James, Joses (Joseph), Judas, and Simon. The passage also mentions that Jesus had sisters, though they are not named. The reference appears in Mark 6:3. But this leads to a discussion for another time.]
Today we know that the actual date for the birth of Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew) is unknown. It is not found in the Gospels nor in any bonafide historical sources. Most contemporary biblical scholars and historians suggest, however, that Jesus’ birth was between 6 and 4 BCE. [The designations with “CE” (for Common Era) originated in 1708 but were not widely used until the late 20th century, particularly in scientific and academic fields. Jewish scholars have used “CE” frequently for over a century. Its broader adoption today is due to its cultural neutrality compared to the religiously specific BC/AD designations.]
Early Christians did not focus on Jesus’ birth. The key Jesus-event for them was Easter. They rejoiced in their belief that Jesus was raised from the dead and entered a new form of life: promising new life for all who believed and followed him. Christians were and are Easter people.
In the second century, some Christians did begin to celebrate Jesus’ birth. But there was no agreement about a specific birth date. The infancy narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. The eminent Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, S.J. (1904-1984) stressed that the authors of the Gospels focused on theological beliefs rather than historical chronologies.
In the third century, however, the precise date for celebrating Jesus’s birth became a subject of great interest, with early Christian writers suggesting various dates. Later in the early fourth century, some Christian writers acknowledged that Jesus’ birth coincided with the winter solstice. They saw the lengthening days after the winter solstice as symbolizing the Light of Christ entering the world.
Around 350 CE, Pope Julius I (280-352) officially set December 25th as the date for celebrating Jesus’ birth. By the end of the 4th century, December 25th was widely recognized as the date for celebrating Jesus’ birth (centuries later called Christmas) in the Western Roman Empire. January 6 was the date in the East.
The word Christmas arrived in Old English in 1038 as Cristemasse, a shortened form of “Christ’s Mass,” which referred to a celebration of the Eucharist (Mass) to commemorate the birth of Jesus.
Most historians do not believe that the December 25 Jesus’ birth date was created by copying the Roman Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun) festival, though but the claim still remains popular with some people. The claim, however, is not supported by historical evidence, which indicates that the Sol Invictus festival was not originally celebrated on December 25th.
Historians stress that the Roman Emperor Aurelianus (214-275) changed the festival of the Sol Invictus date to December 25th in 274 CE, to counteract Christianity’s growing influence. Prior to this, the Sol Invictus had been celebrated earlier in December. Christian leaders like Hippolytus of Rome (170-235), who was Bishop of Rome and one of the most important Christian theologians of the second and third centuries, had identified and stressed December 25th as Jesus’ birth date long before the earliest records of Sol Invictus being celebrated on that day.
Actually, the idea of linking the birth of Jesus with the Sol Invictus festival was first suggested in the 12th century and later popularized by post-Enlightenment scholars.
When it comes to the New Testament Jesus Infancy Narratives, I suspect that most people simply ignore the differences found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. They easily combine the accounts without noticing the differences. Nor do they realize that imaginative infancy suppositions, that arose centuries after Jesus’ birth, got thrown into the mix.
In reality, most of our contemporary Jesus-birth imagery comes from the Catholic friar, Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone (1181-1226), known today as St. Francis of Assisi.
As Christmas approached in 1223, St. Francis asked his friend Giovanni Velita to help him create a live Nativity scene. They set up a cave with animals, a hay-filled manger, and real people portraying Mary and Joseph. Francis had a statue of a baby for infant Jesus; and he himself would proclaim the Gospel, inviting all to enter into the story of Jesus Christ’s birth.
On Christmas eve 1223, people gathered with candles and torches to see and experience the live Nativity scene. It was in fact much more than just a display. It was a spiritual encounter with the miracle of the Incarnation. An eyewitness account reports that during the Mass, a real infant somehow appeared in the manger, and St. Francis, filled with joy, embraced the child.
St. Francis’s Nativity scene spread quickly, becoming a long-standing tradition. It was not just an historic display, but an invitation to experience the meaning of Jesus’ birth firsthand: seeing his humility, poverty, and love.
As we celebrate Christmas in three weeks, we are invited to do the same. St. Francis’s Nativity scene calls us to reflect on the simplicity of Jesus’ birth and the love that came with it: the love that we share because God is love.
Next week, in keeping with the season, some thoughts about the Jesus Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke.
Jack
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Jack — I always find the discussion of a real date on which Jesus Christ might have been born into humanity to be interesting is what I have come to believe as manifestations of superficiality. For example, churches in which a baby Jesus statue is attached to a wire strung from the choir loft to the manger and the babe is sent flying down during Midnight Mass. And then, there is the practice of some families baking a birthday cake and taking it to church and placing it before the manger. While Francis of Assisi was well-intentioned in his initiation, have we not flown well beyond it? The question of religious superficiality seems to be a constant in our day and time. For example, how is it that we have the son of the president of the United States asserting that Jesus Christ wrote the Gospels? Rank superficiality would be a generous response to that! Yesterday was Giving Tuesday. Once again, we are probably embarking on the same road as the Assisi manger display — a one time experience with a loss of real meaning, real motivation to live as Jesus lived and taught. And I remain asking, “cui bono?”
Many thanks Joe.
I was in process of send a response but lost it. Local internet problems😉
Of course the exact date of Jesus’ birth will probably never be known nor is it important. What well important is that he existed. And what is also VERY important is combating the kind of ignorance you mention.
Warmest regards my friend!
Jack
Dr. John A. Dick
Leuven – Louvain
“History gives answers to those who know how to ask questions.”
As always, Jack, all your historical information is amazing and so badly needed to counteract the “literalists.” Thank you for calling us “to reflect on the simplicity of Jesus’ birth and the love that came with it: the love that we share because God is love.”
Highest regards,
Betty
Thank you!