Was Christ Really Born on 25th of December?

Was Christ really born on 25th of December? What does the Holy Bible say on Christ's birth? What does pagan customs and traditions has to do with the celebration of birthday of Christ? Read on... here are the interesting facts dug out from the pages of ancient history.

Let history say whatever it has to say. But one thing is true. Jesus Christ was born. Doesn't mind the date and time. This article is only written from the point of academic interest. Treat it thus and correct me if I am wrong.

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The Birth of Christ

"... behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people. For unto you is born this day... a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2: 10 & 11.

Its indeed good news that Christ the Lord, "... died for our sins... and buried; and rose again on the third day... " I Corinthians 15: 3 & 4. So that whosoever believeth on Him should have everlasting life... " John 3: 36.

What isn't good news is that the way the Christmas - supposed to be birthday of Lord Jesus Christ - is being celebrated. It has become a ritualistic festival with many pagan (non-Christian) customs being observed as a tradition on that day, thereby diluting the very essence of Christ's birth and His mission on this earth. I Peter 2: 24; Colossians 1: 14; and Isaiah 53: 5 & 6.

Even the ardent believer whose faith in the Word of God is unshakable seems to have fallen victim to the ritualistic celebrations, which is indeed abhorrence to Lord God.

For Christmas does not mean the birth of Christ. The word is made up of Christ + Mass which means Christ's Mass. The Mass is a much-sanctified religious service of the Roman Catholic Church, the performance of the sacrament of the Eucharist, i.e. ceremony performing Lord's Supper. And Mass is a Latin Word meaning dismiss.

Further, there is no precedence in the Bible where Christ's birth was celebrated. But the Lord did ask His people to remember His death. Luke 22: 19 & 20; and I Corinthians 11: 24 to 26.

No one can dispute the fact about Christ's birth. But it was definitely not on 25th December as believed by Christians throughout the world.

The Possible Scriptural Evidence

There is possible evidence to believe that Christ was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, which falls in the intervening months of September\October. Of course, one only has to study the Scriptures diligently and relate all the Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus Christ and place all the feasts of the Lord in proper perspective in relationship to the Savior, (like Passover is related to His crucifixion and First fruits to His resurrection etc.) and interpret it correctly in the light of the Gospels.

Well, as of December and 25th; it is written in Luke 2: 8 to 11 that... shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night were told by the Angels of the Lord about Christ's birth. But this incident couldn't have happened in December. In Judea, at that time December was cold and at that a rainy season, which is most unlikely that shepherds were out in the field by night.

Also in verse 1 of the same chapter Luke says, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the entire world should be taxed or registered for census purposes; and in subsequent verses 3 to 6, "all went to be taxed... Joseph also went up... to be taxed with Mary. This incident also cannot be traced to the month of December because middle of the winter was not fitting for such a business, especially for women with child, and children to travel in those days.

Even Christ has warned his disciples. "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter." Mathew 24: 20. If winter was so bad (like hell) even to flee, then it was certainly not fit time for shepherds to be in the fields nor for women and children to travel.

Thus in the light of this argument we could well say, that Christ's birth and the occurrences of the events in Luke Chapter 2, could not have taken place during winter or more precisely in the month of December as was believed by Christians throughout the world.

Then how come December 25th has come into wide acceptance as the day of the birth of Christ?

The Significance of December 25th

To get at the root of this, one should go back to the ancient times and have a look at their customs and traditions that has unique relationship with the day of 25th December.

* December 25th was the day on which was celebrated the accouchement of the Queen of Heaven, the celestial Virgin, and the birth of her child, the sun-god.

* The Savior of Greeks, Bacchus or Dionysus was born of a Virgin on the 25th of December.

* So was Hercules. Isis, the Egyptians' Virgin Queen of Heaven delivered the child called Horus towards the end of December [probably 25th December].

* The Egyptians apart from worshiping the Virgin Mother, they also to the congregation exhibited the effigy of her babe lying in a manger, a custom that is very much in practice even today in churches and homes throughout the Christian world.

* In Rome, the day of winter solstice December 25th was celebrated as the birthday of the unconquered Sun; and it was the birthday of Mithra, the Persian sun-god, whose worship spread far and wide in the Roman Empire.

* Even in Hinduism, from time immemorial and to this day, Sun is worshiped as God. Yet Hinduism did not influence in fixing the Birth of Christ like other customs of the nations across Europe and West Asia did.

* In Rome, there was another festival called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of seed-time and harvest. This festival was celebrated with much gaiety and revelry for a week-long period during the end of December at winter solstice. It was just a kind of Christmas.

* The ancient Germans, Britons and Saxons burnt the Yule (Yule is the Chaldea name for an 'infant' or 'little child') log and banqueted at the winter solstice. Their bonfire symbolically represented the sun god's regeneration as he returned from his winter-home. Thus Christians of that time thought it fit to celebrate the birth of Christ on that day as burning of Yule log supposed to represent the Light of life.

* During the reign of Constantine the Emperor of Rome, the Church at Rome under Bishop Liberius, around 320 A D or 354 A D assigned and fixed December 25th as the day of celebration of Christmas.

December 25th was Fixed as Christ's Birthday

Thus by the end of the 4th century the whole of the Christian world was celebrating Christmas on 25th of December.

This is how the day of Mithraic feast of sun god; festival of Saturnalia; and the Yuletide feast; including the veneration of the Queen of Heaven followed by celebration in Egypt, Greek and other parts of the world under Roman Empire strongly influenced the day of Christ's birth, which came to be the 25th of December.

But not all fell in line and upright men like Tertullian (230 A D) protested and lamented. They blamed the Disciples of Christ in this respect and demanded they keep themselves away from world's idolatrous corruption. They couldn't stem the tide and gradually the church was submerged under pagan superstition.

John Chrysostom, an Antioch born zealous pastor and archbishop of Constantinople writing in Antioch about 380 A D says, "The birth of our Lord was unknown on the very borders of the Holy Land where He was born; but was made known in all the European regions of the west, from Thrace even to Spain... "

It is quite clear from the above statement that in those days itself the birth of Christ was unknown in a land where He was born.

Finally December 25th was Accepted as Christ's Birthday

By the turn of the 4th century, Christians began defending the celebration of Christmas on 25th December on the ground that it got an opportunity to turn the people away from pagan traditions to that of worshiping the Christ as Lord God and Savior.

To this effect, there went out an official decree to all to observe the festival of Christmas on 25th of December, for it gave them, they believed, a chance to put Jesus Christ, the "Sun of Righteousness" ( Malachi 4: 2 ) in peoples' hearts in place of the sun god Mithra. Yes, David also proclaimed in his Psalms 84:11 as "For the LORD God is a sun and shield... "

Thus, gradually by the year 450 A D and to this day, the 25th of December came to be observed as Christmas, the birth of Christ, throughout the Christian world.

This is Jayanarayana, a professional content writer based in Hyderabad, India. I have been providing content for various websites for the last 8 years. Writing is my passion. I own a couple of blogs http://writersden-jay.blogspot.in/ and http://shirdisaibaba-jay.blogspot.in/. Kindly go through them. You will find interesting articles which stimulate your thinking. Make you proactive.

Writersden-jay unravels the world the way it is. And why it is. Human Interest Features, Fiction, Jokes, Health & Lifestyle, Science & Spiritual and many more takes you into the world of mysteries and reality. I would be more humbled if you would enrich Writersden-jay with your wise comments and healthy criticism.

Shirdisaibaba-jay is another blog of mine that speaks about Lord God Shirdi Sai Baba, whose very Name evokes unspeakable joy in my heart. His Grace and Love is what I breathe. This blog is still under revamp stage. I am eagerly looking for His Grace to be upon me to complete this blog.

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Hemingway's Writing and Some Major Features

Iceberg Theory-

Ernest Hemingway's 'The Iceberg Theory' describes the symbolic interpretations of a form of art. As a writer he had opted for this technique where he would write a surface story that omits the hidden point of the story. To apply this technique, an author has to omit the items that are already stated or the figures of speech or facts that seem too obvious. This technique make the readers compelled to think, understand, and really delve into the writing to understand the whole story.

Hemingway applied this technique because he used to believe that true meaning of a literary work should not be understood completely from the surface story. He believed that the heart of the story is to remain below the surface. In one of his writings he says-

"If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water" (Death in the Afternoon)

Code Hero/ Hemingway Hero-

The basic concept of the 'Hemingway Hero' came as an outcome of the First World War. The American man suddenly realized that the old concepts and values or other ethics of the western world had not served to save the mankind from all the catastrophic results of the WWI. After this realization many sensitive, especially young writers began to look for a completely new set of values to replace the old ones after the War. Hemingway was one of these seekers. His search had resulted in a new sense of beliefs that reflected through his writings and through his heroes. Hemingway defines the "Code Hero" this way- "a man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful."

The Hemingway Hero generally abided by a set of general principles. He can be said to be a "man's man". His characteristics generally included- heavy drinking, womanzing nature, involving in multiple love affairs, participating in hunting, enjoying bullfights. He was involved in all those 'manly' activities that a typical American man did not participate in.

Cubist Style/ Cubism-

Cubism is a form of art from the early 20th-century that is said to be pioneered originally by Picasso and Braque. This became a revolutionary technique in European painting and sculpture. This also inspired literature, music as well as architecture afterwards. In cubism, an object of art is analyzed, broken up and reassembled in various abstracted forms. This way a subject can be interpreted from a multiple point of views rather than depicting it only from a single point of view. Gertrude Stein was one of those people of the time who had been influenced by this form. Both Stein and her brother were important influences on Cubism themselves. In reading Hemingway, the concept of Cubism is important.

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Personal Journals Can Bring Joy to the Autobiographer As Well As the Readers

Last weekend I was visiting an old friend who had moved up into the mountains and built himself an incredibly beautiful mansion. He is one of those interestingly successful men that decided college was not the route for him. Working extremely hard in the insurance business, he toiled his way into a substantial amount of residual income. He always had a love for animals, the west, the mountains, and one day had a dream to build himself a mountain retreat. Raising a large family of seven children did not keep him from the goal of retiring to his mountain estate. We lived on the other side of the fence from him and his family for a number of years. He would often talk about the land he had in the mountains where he would realize his dream. So, it was fun to visit him on his mountain estate complete with pool, barn, animals, pond, greenhouses, mini ski lift, mini cowboy town, and many more things to amuse and entertain the soul.

As we sat visiting in his spacious, uniquely decorated office, he handed me a few pages of his life story. He had spent the last few months reading through his journals and creating from them his autobiography. Assuming it was like most life stories, I wasn't really interested in its contents just then. However, as he and my husband visited about a number of things, my eyes wandered to the lines on the page in hand. Hmm, this is fascinating, I thought as I read along. Surely this couldn't really be his life? And he was very good with words - something I had not expected. The story line was very entertaining and captured my attention immediately.

I couldn't help asking a few questions. Where did he learn to write? Did these things really happen to him? Some of them were just plain funny. After a wide grin and a chuckle, he admitted that he had put his own twist on his life story. What? How can you call it your life story if it isn't accurate? His reply was that he wanted to spice it up and thought it would be fun to add a little more drama here and there.

I had to laugh. How would his kids know what really happened and what didn't? Although many of them had expressed dismay at having to sort out the truth from the fiction, he wasn't too worried about that. It was as if he had decided to make of his life - historical fiction. What a novel idea. I still don't know if I think he ought to have approached it that way, but it isn't my story to tell.

My point in writing this is, he was having a great time writing his memories, even if they were part fiction. His children anxiously awaited the continuation of his story. It brought him more feedback and interaction with his family than he had enjoyed in a long time. It was very therapeutic for him, and it was well worth reading. I asked him if he was going to print a companion book which separated out the truth from the fiction. He hadn't thought about doing that. It just shows you the difference in people, most of us just couldn't leave something like that to posterity without a disclaimer.

I was fascinated by the joy he was getting out of the whole process and decided that we all have a story to tell. Our lives are rich with experience and meaning. If you think you may ever want to write your memoirs - you ought to be keeping a personal journal now. Perhaps at some future time, you and your posterity will find joy and entertainment in the telling of your story.

If you are looking for an excellent personal journal complete with blank tabs and a travel companion - go to http://www.personalponderings.com/. The one line entry provides an index to your life that makes writing your memoirs easy and enjoyable.

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Ptolemy and the Battle for Ancient Alexandria

Ptolemy sharpened his knife with a small stone as he carefully studied the dark waters for any sign of movement. The dense cloud-cover created an almost pitch-black night. By his feet laid a sword and bronze helmet, heavily dented and scratched from years of hand-to-hand combat in the wars of Alexander the Great. He thought to himself, if he were to bring twenty thousand men across that river for a surprise attack, tonight would be the night. Only Ptolemy's tall silhouette was visible when men finally approached and knelt down.

"General. We have a sighting."

That moment occurred two thousand, three hundred years ago in the Pelusium region of Egypt, when one man named Ptolemy was all that stood between Perdiccas, a power-hungry heir to Alexander the Great's empire, and civilization's most significant and influential achievement in science and technology, the Great Library of Alexandria. Ptolemy's astounding leadership and commitment to his vision was a gift to all man-kind, for all ages to come.

Not many people know that much of our advanced technology stands on pillars of math and science developed thousands of years ago during this magical time known as the Ptolemaic dynasty in ancient Egypt. And even less known, was the shocking violence that almost ended Ptolemy's dream of the cosmopolitan city named Alexandria before it ever had a chance. Dedicated to the peaceful pursuit of math, science and the arts, Alexandria left a legacy of unimaginable technology.

How ironic that the fate of such an advanced institute of peace, so far ahead of its time, would be determined by such barbarism and brutality, but that's how it was so long ago, and that was the burden this one man carried. Ptolemy, born in Macedonia, was the boy-hood friend of Alexander the Great, and eventually one of the top Generals in Alexander's legion. But when Alexander died and negotiations over who would inherit his vast empire failed, Ptolemy immediately took those soldiers most loyal to him and claimed Egypt as his own.

Perdiccas, another x-General from Alexander's legion, loathed Ptolemy after on-going disputes over territory and ruling power. But when Ptolemy literally stole Alexander's body from the control of Perdiccas, that was the final insult. After building an immense legion with massive war elephants, an insanely angry Perdiccas marched his deadly war machine towards Egypt to put an end to Ptolemy and his plans for the new city.

Facing such a horrific Armageddon of death, most anyone else would simply flee, but despite the minimal size of his defensive force, Ptolemy decided to fight for the future of Alexandria. Along the banks of the Nile River, the brilliant leadership of Ptolemy was put to the ultimate test in the shocking events that followed.

History may not remember with clarity all details of the battle for Alexandria, but we should never forget that long ago, thousands of men sacrificed their lives in the name of peace and science. And even today, our world is better because of it.

The magnificent and inspirational story of Ptolemy and the battle for ancient Alexandria is now told in my new novel, "Alexandria, the Stones of Macedonia", available at http://www.mpsoldo.com/. When purchased through that site, I will personally sign all copies sold, making them an extra special gift or addition to your personal collection.

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Egyptian Culture - The Sun of God and the Sacred Adze

It must have been very frustrating for early astronomers living in a country with constant cloud obscuring the motions of a revolving cosmos. In Britain the night sky is unobservable for most of the year. The great burial chamber in New Grange, Ireland is aligned to the sunrise on the winter solstice. For just three days of the year a beam of light shines through an aperture and along a narrow corridor to illuminate a central chamber. The dramatic effect of such a special moment is sublime. I can imagine the gathered spirits of the dearly departed climbing onto this sun of god and catching a lift to the hereafter.

Rain clouds and overcast skies were hardly ever a problem in Egypt. Almost every night sky was soft black velvet strewn with the jewels of the firmament. The Egyptians built similar directional architecture designed to line up to a particular moment of cosmic time. Humans share this common theme in their spiritual endeavours: The night sky is just too awe-inspiring to ignore. The link between the earth and the sky was constantly debated by these mysterious astronomers who gathered to share their knowledge. A streak of light from a meteor burning out in the atmosphere would have caused the same gasp that it causes today. Occasionally they would see a meteorite actually landing in the vast desert that surrounded them.

Not ones to miss out on divine contact, these objects were collected and used for a very specific holy purpose. Meteorites have varying components (depending on which corner of the universe they come from) but the Egyptians were primarily interested in their metallic content. They melted it down and used it on the interior edge of a ceremonial adze. This was an odd looking tool used by priests to awaken their Gods.

There is often a point in religious ceremony where the divine spark enters a host. Christians use a wafer which is afterwards eaten as the body of Christ. In Egyptian ritual this point is reached when the statue of the God is reborn in an Opening of the Mouth ceremony.

Sacred verse was read aloud from a special scroll before touching the adze to the lips of the God and He or She would then enter their temple. Offerings placed on tables would be divinely accepted and symbolically consumed before they engaged in communion with the congregation.

Separated by such a great distance of time it is so easy to misunderstand the intentions of ancient cultures. The population of ancient Egypt remained a cohesive society for thousands of years. There is certainly a distinct beauty about their way of life which apparently provided a satisfying and fulfilling experience on many different levels.

Read about this and many other fascinating aspects of Egyptian culture in Nile God, a paperback novel and ebook. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A4COHJO The author, Garth Meaney has a background in antiques and restoration. He is also a collector of ancient artifacts. His interest in ancient history provides an informed background for this thrilling tale of romance, secrets and magic.

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The Origins of The Myth of The Devil

The devil is today a prevalent myth among believers of the so called Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

The faithful person thinks of the devil as a supreme being, though of an inferior level to that of God, ruler of a kingdom called hell, at the same time real and metaphorical.

His mission in life would be to prevent as many souls as possible from reaching salvation, taking them to hell and torturing them eternally. Additionally, the devil has a special part to play as the Antichrist, heralding apocalypse when the end of times finally comes.

Clearly not everybody is in line with these ideas, but even for those who are, it is important to understand that things weren't always this way.

There was a time, and not so long ago, when hell and the devil didn't fill people's imagination and in fact didn't exist at all. So a legitimate question arises: What's the origin of this myth?

Within the frame of polytheism, gods are not entirely good or evil and propitiatory rites to any gods in antiquity would be regarded today as crimes: animal and human sacrifice, blood drinking, mutilation, castration. Evil was generally attributed to a bad executed rite.

The triumph of monotheism brings about an important change since the only God must be free of evil. Hence a dualistic concept emerges whereby evil is assigned to a second supreme being of a lesser entity. Monotheism is truly asymmetrical 'duoteism'.

The Old Testament barely mentions Lucifer and Satan, two angelic beings that are later to be the foundation of the concept of the devil.

The New Testament fully identifies Satan with the devil, though only in the Book of Revelation is made clear that the beast (dragon), the snake, the devil and Satan are the same thing (Revelation 20.2)

Hell didn't exist in the Old Testament and the first mentions to a possible afterlife simply refer to a descent to the grave.

The concept Sheol appears later as the place where all souls, good and evil, go after death.

The concept Gehenna refines this notion and implies that souls must spent one year purifying ere they can be admitted into the Sheol.

Jesus changes this view when he threats with the Gehenna as a place where there's no purification, but torment, and this is not temporary but eternal.

A somewhat confusing mention in Peter 3.18-20 and the Apostles Nicean Creed support the notion of a trip Jesus took during the three days of his apparent death and give credibility to the idea of hell as an actual place.

Satan wasn't a great problem for Christianity as official religion of the Roman Empire that had to concentrate in getting rid of early heresies. In fact, the devil was second order figure during the Middle Ages until the times of the crusades.

Indeed, when crusaders came back from the Orient they brought back certain spiritual notions that made things change and thanks to which the figure of the devil gained importance.

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Consider, Sir, that those which appear yonder, are not giants, but windmills

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