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WHEN WAS
JESUS BORN?
Strange
as
it
may seem,
there is
no
Biblical
authority
fcr
the celebration of Christmas. The
T
HE FACfS
about che origi n of
Chrisrmas will starde you.
Abundanr historical evidence
proves beyond doubr rhat Chrisrmas
is noc of Bíblica! origin ac all. The
festival , bel ieve it or not, had irs
beginnings hund reds of years before
che birtb of Chriscianity. "Chrisrmas"
cusroms were being observed by
almosr
che
whole
W
escern world cen–
ru ríes
before
Chrisr.
Whence Comes Chriscmas?
The largesc religious cult wh ich
fosrcred rbe celebrarion of Decembcr
25 as a holiday rhroughouc rhe
Roman and Greck worlds was pagan
sun worship - Mithraism. The chicf
dciry in chis religion was che "Sun
Goddcss" - rhe Oriental goddess of
rhc heavens, called "rhe Queen of
Heaven." The season of rhe ycar
when
chis
goddess rcceived her great–
est adoracion from che pagan world
was ar rhe time of che winrer solsrice
in December. Thc winrer fest ival was
called "che Nat ivicy" - che Nariviry
of rhe Sun.
Sir James Frazcr in his monumen–
tal work on ancicnr religion,
The
Goldm B()tlgh.
relaces: "An inscruccive
relic of rhe long srruggle berween
PLAIN TRUTH September-October l 972
.
reasons may
surpnse you.
by
Ernest Mortin
Christianiry and Mithraism is prc–
served in our festival of Chrisrmas,
which che Church seems ro have bor–
rowed direcdy from irs heachen rival.
In che Julian calendar, rhe 25th of
December was rcgarded as che N:uiv–
ity of the Sun.... The ritual of rhc
nativiry, as appcars ro have been celc–
brared in Syria and Egypr, was
remarkable. The celebranrs rerired
inco certain inner shrines. from which
at midnighr rhey issued wich a loud
cry, 'The Virgin has broughc forch!
The ligh t is wax ing.' The Egyptians
even represenced rhe newborn sun by
che image of an infanr [remember,
chis was
before
Chrisc] which
on Hís
birthday,
che winrer solstice, rhey
brought forth and exhibiced ro his
worshippers"
(The Golden Bough,
Se.
Marcin's ed., pp. 471-472) .
The similariry berween rhis ancienr
pagan rice and rhe modern Chriscmas
is as srriking as ir is obvious!
Can che Bi r thday of Christ
Be Known ?
Hardly any early church scholars
believed thar Chrisr was born on
December 25. In fact, rhere were al!
types of guesses by che men of rhe
fourrh and fifrh cenruries, and almosr
everyone disagrced. (See Smich's
Dic–
tionary ofChristian Antiquities,
Vol. l,
p. 358.) Buc rhe people jusr couldn't
give up celebraring rhe season.
The rru rh is, no man knew - or
knows - whcn Chrisr was born! The
Gospels say norhing as ro the day of
His birth. This lack of referencc is in
irself significant. If God had wanred
Chrisrians ro celebrare His birchday,
He surely would have rold His people
when ic was!
This omission also shows how
unconcerncd che Gospel wri rers were
over rhe exact dare of Chrisr's birth.
To che early Chriscians, rhere was
notbing especially significanr in a
birthday. Accually, rhe only rwo
insrances of birchday celebracion in
che
Bible refer ro cvil men. Notice
Genesis 40:20 where Pharaoh's birrh–
day was obscrved, and also Marrhew
14:6-10, where ir describes Herod's
birthday parry and che beheading of
John rhe Baprisr.
Only
che hearhen celebraced cheir
birthdays in Bible rimes. No wonder,
rhen, thar rhe early Church never
observed rhe birrhday of Chrisr. Thar
was a cusrom of rhe heachen. nor of
God's people! The
Catho/ic Encyclo–
pedia
sraces: "In che scriprure, sinners
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