Christmas is coming soon, but why do we celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25th? The Bible makes absolutely no reference to any date, and gives barely any information that could even hint at which season Jesus was born. So how did the Church land on December 25th as our celebration of Christ’s birth? The early evidence shows that it wasn’t until the late 2nd Century until people even started trying to figure out what date Jesus was born. Some Early Church leaders actually argued against trying to determine a date for Jesus’ birthday. Instead, the emphasis was on Jesus’ death and on the specific days and events leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection (since those details are given in Scripture). Since there is so little information about Jesus’ birth, the Early Church was always content to simply emphasize the virgin birth without knowing when exactly Jesus was born.
Interestingly, the “12 Days of Christmas” comes from a disagreement regarding when Christmas should be celebrated.
“The modern Armenian church continues to celebrate Christmas on January 6; for most Christians, however, December 25 would prevail, while January 6 eventually came to be known as the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the magi in Bethlehem. The period between became the holiday season later known as the 12 days of Christmas.”
Andrew McGowan
By the 300’s there were Christian groups regularly celebrating Christ’s birth on December 25th. Before then, the Christians either didn’t care to know Jesus’ birthday or they were still trying to come to agreement.
Living Theologically 