historysquee: The Date of Christmas Day  Christmas is now celebrated on the 25th December each

historysquee:

The Date of Christmas Day 

Christmas is now celebrated on the 25th December each year. However this was not always the case. The decision for Christmas celebrations to happen on the 25th December, is something that has happened over time. The actual birth date of Jesus is not referenced in the Bible, although from very early on, it was guessed to be in December some time. 

The first recorded time the birth of Jesus was celebrated on 25th December was in 336 AD in Rome, under the Roman Emperor Constantine. In the East, there had long been a tradition of celebrating this on the 6th of January, but soon the 25th December spread as the prevailing tradition. It has been suggested that the 25th was chosen as it was when several sun festivals occurred in Rome, including the Roman winter solstice. The connection of Jesus to the sun comes about because Jesus is referred to as the ‘Sun of righteousness’ in Malachi 4:2. As the date was the same as previous celebrations, it would have helped to encourage more people to celebrate and over time, become more involved in Christianity. Winter was also a time when less work would have been needed to be done in agriculture and so it would have enabled people to celebrate the occasion more easily.  

Modern Christmas traditions also come from the other December celebrations, as the occasions were tied together over time, due to similarity of dates. For example, the idea of giving gifts on Christmas is taken from the Roman festival of Saturnalia and lights and charitable acts from the Roman New Year. Yule logs and festive foods were taken from German traditions.