Culture. Nurture. Tincture. Enrapture.

When is Christmas really?

“Simple enough“ you might think at first glance. After all isn‘t it December 25th? Well, that is exactly what I thought too before digging deeper. In thruth, the answer is far more complex that one could expect with multiple dates being pointed out as Christmas through the ages - if not at the same time! What‘s considered the “proper“ date for Christmas isn‘t just a matter of calendar date - it‘s intertwined in centuries of tradition, interpretation and cultural pratices. Nevertheless, I propose to you to join me as we try to reach the bottom of it. Ready? Let‘s dive in.

It is written…

To begin, we need to define what Christmas should be. Simply put, it is defined as the day of Jesus‘ birth. There‘s no disagreement on that. What is disagreed on, as you could expect, is the exact date of it. No clear direct account of it exists - not from Jesus himself, not from Marie, Joseph or any of the apostles. Sure, we have some accounts of it in the New Testament, but stay non-specific. For example, Matthew 2:1 states that “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king“. The theologian Emil Schürer dates the reign of Herod as being from about 37 to 4 BC. That a start, but far from a specific date.

In that way, conventional Christmas dates are achieved by convention of by inference in various ways (some of which I will explain later). This did not seem to perturb contempary believers that much. In fact, you might be surprised to know that Christmas was not even celebrated in the first decades of the faith. The celebration would actually branch from another christian festival that we have largely forgotten.

A real epiphany

The Epiphany is the christian feast day celebrating the visit of the Magi and the baptism of Jesus. This celebration is itself thought to have spured from egyptian christian communities in the second century. This festivity was held on two dates: one large feast on 6 January and another smaller one on 10 January (since the apparition of the shepperds a few days after the magi was considered a manifestation of Christ‘s glory). Gradually, this double commemoration would spread and quickly diverge. In places like Syria, the Epiphany would also be considered a celebration of the nativity (as in Christmas) itself. The dates would also shift heraticly.

An anonymous scholar from Barsalibi from the second century explains that the festivity was moved to December 25, as it was custom to celebrate the birthday of the sun on this very day. Christian simply decided to join in and found the date transfer useful in that way. This more familiar vision is debated and was certainly not mainstream at the time. About A.D. 200, Clement of Alexandria says that certain Egyptian theologians assign the day of Christ's birth on 20 May. In Cyprus, at the end of the fourth century, Epiphanius asserts that Christ was born on 6 January and baptized on 8 November. Mesopotamia put the birth feast thirteen days after the winter solstice (6 January). Others reached the date of 19 or 20 April. For its part, Armenia simply ignored the December festival.

Bringing everyone together

So when DO we have some agreement on the date we all know? Walcott and Mackenzie point to some evidence that we have to thank Pope Julius I, who acted as bishop of Rome from 337 to 352. Julius I officialy supported christians who favored this date for some years (although we don‘t know how many exactly). Apparently, Rome, being an epicenter to the christian faith would have propagated the custom. Our first still available written evidence of the celebration actually being held on 25 December is within the pages (or I should say tablets) of the Roman Chronograph of 354. This codex, illustrated by the calligrapher Furius Dionysius Folicalus, includes various lists of consuls, chariot races and, more importantly, a calendar. In the entry for the second day of the fourth week of december (25 December to us) is written “Nativity of Sol Invictus. 30 chariot races held“. Sol Invictus wasn‘t another name for Jesus, rather it was a late roman empire sun deity pioneered by the emperor Aurelian. Its nativity was voluntary placed next to the winter solstice to help overwrites other pagan pratices which already celebrated the solstice. Almost half a century later, Constantine would adopt christianity as the official faith for the empire. In turn, he would probably recycle Sol Invictus day just like Aurelian did before him. This leads us back to Pope Julius I and Sol Invictus day would gradually be replaced by the Christmas we know.

This theory has some merit, but another important one advances a more “astronomical“ approach. The christian writter Tertullian states that, given 25 March as Christ‘s death-day, the Divine life demands an exact number of years. From his calculations, this would lead to a birth date of 25 December. Supporting this claim, various montanist scholars of the second century reference Easter as being on 6 April. Making the parallel between the nativity (birth and baptism, or 25 December and 6 January) and the passion (death and resurrection, or 25 March and 6 April) deserved some consideration. Sadly, 25 March as the date of demise is also hotly debated to this day.

Either way, modern scholars still assume that Christmas on 25 December would have started aroud that time in Rome and gradually overtake competing traditions from there.

Tangling things further

Still with me? Good. Feel free to skip to the conclusion if your head spins. Otherwise, we have some other problems to point out: the year of Jesus‘ birth. Scholars advance various hypothesises ranging from 6 BC to 4 BC. In the Chronograph of 354 above, we see another entry stating: “Jesus Christ was born on the eighth before the calends of January (25 December), a Friday, the fourteenth day of the moon.“ In no year in the range 6 BC to 4 BC could 25 December fall on a Friday. What does that change for our investigation on Christmas day? Well, 4 BC is the EXACT year the emperor Augustus change (or I should say corrected) how leap years worked. So, even if 25 December is the correct date in today‘s term, we still might be off by a day. Adding to the confusion, both the old calendar and the corrected one were used at the time. Today, the difference between both is 13 days.

Can‘t we just agree?

In the end, Christmas is a deep, complex affair with no bullet-proof answer. If anything, our excursion shows that customs and traditions are shaped by communities, not necessarly the other way around. Is our Christmas day the correct one? Maybe not, but does it matter? Celebrations are made for people to come together and share common beliefs and principles. As long has this goes on, I see no problem in celebrating when and how we want.

This holiday season, take some time for yourself and your closed ones.

Have a great time and see you next time.

References

  • Martindale, Cyril (1909). "Epiphany" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Bradshaw, Paul (2020). "The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Christmas. Oxford University Press.
  • Mackenzie, Edward; Walcott, Charles (1868). Sacred Archaeology: A Popular Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Art and Institutions, from Primitive to Modern Times.
  • Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, Saturnalia, 1.14.13–1.14.14, tr. Percival Vaughan Davies, New York 1969
  • Martindale, Cyril (1909). "Christmas" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Chronograph of 354, Furius Dionysius Filocalus, [https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm#Chronography_of_354](https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/index.htm#Chronography_of_354)
  • Holger Oertel (September 22, 2007). "The Julian Calendar". Ortelius.de. Archived from the original on January 3, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2011.