Pastor Todd wrote on Nov 17, 2006 5:12 PM:One key piece of scripture that is blatantly overlooked in the theories stated in this article related to the presence of shepherds at the birth. Shepherds DO NOT abide in the field by night during the month of December in Israel. It is too cold. They flocks would have been taken out to pasture during the day and then brougt back in before dark. Data can be stretched a hundred different ways to support Christ's birth on Dec-25th, but they do not hold up to scriptural and historical scrutiny. And, pagan lore does claim the Dec-25th birthdate long before the time of the Messiah. Specifically, one must research on the pagan god Mithra.

alan wrote on Dec 5, 2006 2:32 PM:The shepherd fields at Bethlehem supplied thousands of sheep for the year round sacrificial system of the Jewish temple. It is not improbable that the shepherds would stay with the sheep in the field simply because of the sheer numbers of them. They would have gathered them around the migdal at night but still in the fields.

pastor Paul wrote on Dec 10, 2006 6:29 PM:Since the Western Christmas (25 December) falls near the Winter Solstice (21 December), it occurs at the same time of the year as certain pagan solstice feasts. One such feast was the Roman celebration of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Nativity of the Invincible Sun), which commemorated the birth of the sun god Mithra. After Emperor Aurelian declared Mithra/Sol Invictus to be the patron of the Roman Empire in 274 AD, this feast in his honor became very popular. Some say that the Christians invented Christmas, a feast in honor of Jesus' birth, as an alternative to this popular feast of Mithra's birth. Others claim that Christmas was never a separate feast, but is the feast of Sol Invictus itself, continued and adapted by pagan converts in the fourth century, after Constantine forced them to become Christians. Unwilling to abandon their beloved Mithraism, they changed Dies Natalis Solis Invicti into a feast of Christ's Nativity (since no one knows for sure what day Jesus was born).

John wrote on Dec 20, 2006 11:23 AM:Don't forget Saturnalia, all this talk about Dies Natalis Solis Invicti at 274 AD is 500 years too late. In the Roman calendar, the Saturnalia was designated a holy day, or holiday, on which religious rites were performed. Saturn, himself, was identified with Kronos, and sacrificed to according to Greek ritual, with the head uncovered. The Temple of Saturn, the oldest temple recorded by the pontiffs, had been dedicated on the Saturnalia, and the woolen bonds which fettered the feet of the ivory cult statue within were loosened on that day to symbolize the liberation of the god. It also was a festival day. After sacrifice at the temple, there was a public banquet, which Livy says was introduced in 217 BC (there also may have been a lectisternium, a banquet for the god in which its image is placed in attendance, as if a guest). Afterwards, according to Macrobius (I.10.18), the celebrants shouted "Io, Saturnalia!" at a riotous feast in the temple. The Romans often cut down evergreens and decorated them to pay homage to Saturn, the god of farming. This was to honor the fact that the evergreens remained alive during the harshness of winter in the Mediterranean. It was also traditional for Romans to exchange gifts during this holiday. These gifts were customarily made of silver, although nearly anything could be given as a gift for the occasion. Several epigrams by the poet Martial survive, seemingly crafted as riddling gift-tags for gifts of food. The medieval celebration of the Feast of Fools was another continuation of Saturnalia into the Christian era.

Rob wrote on Dec 22, 2006 6:00 PM:"Aurelian's empire seemed near collapse, so his festival proclaimed imperial and pagan rejuvenation. Prior to 274 there's no record of a major sun cult at the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice (the year's shortest day, which actually occurs before Dec. 25)." Isn't it the case that the winter solstice fell on Dec 25th on the Julian calendar, but now we use the Gregorian calendar it falls on the 21st? The account in the Bible book of Luke reports that the sheperds were living out of doors and keeping watch over their flocks in the fields at night. This certainly does not harmonize with December time in Israel. (see Ezra 10:9,13; Jeremiah 36:22). Also, is this ('season of showers of rain, when it is not possible to stand outside') really a wise time for a Roman ruler to decree for an often rebelious people to travel in order to get registered?

Stephan wrote on Feb 7, 2007 4:46 PM:I wonder if any you are aware of the significance of December 25th as the "birthday" of Sol Invictus - the Invincible Sun - the cult of which Constantine was the "Pontiff Maximus" - his actual title. Im sure youre aware that the Sun's course takes it a little farther South each day during the Winter, causing it to get colder and colder as less of the Sun's rays reach the Northern Hemisphere. This is a terrible sign to the ancients. Should it continue indefinitely, eventualy everything will freeze solid. However, on Dec 21st, the Winter Solstice begins - which is a period of three days where the "sun stands still" - it halts its southward progression and remains in the same place for three days. Then on December 25th, it begins its migration back northward, waxing in power and eventually bringing about the Spring. Hence, on Dec 25th, the Sun is reborn.

bknow wrote on Oct 4, 2007 6:48 AM:The Egyptians also had their god saviour born on Dec 25. His name was Horus and he had a virgin birth, was killed and resurrected etc. The pagan's have had a foothold on Dec. 25 for thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. Since Isreal spent an inordinate amount of time in Egypt it is plausible that they has assimilated some of the pagan beliefs into the religion of the time. Just like they worshipped hand made idols. Which where brought from other civilizations.-

rbond22 wrote on Dec 10, 2007 5:40 AM:Pastor Paul wrote "after Constantine forced them to become Christians". This is wrong. If you've studied the history of 4th-century Rome, you'd know that Constantine did not force people to convert. He actually remained very tolerant to Pagans and several of the people in his government were Pagans. Though he adopted Christianity as the offical faith of the Roman Empire, he (at least in the beginning) actually separated Church and State and he allowed Pagan sacrifices to go on for a long time. The complete outlaw of Paganism and its rituals happened under Emperor Theodosius, years after Constantine's death. Constantine did his best to stay diplomatic during his reign, which is why he flip-flopped so repeatedly during the Arius/Athansius controversies following the Nicean edict. Two great books on early Christianity during and after Constantine are "When Jesus Became God" by Richard E. Rubenstein and "Quand Notre Monde est Devenu Chrétien" (When our world became Christian) by Paul Veyne. Not sure if this last book exists in English, but it's a very interesting source, and well referenced.

Harold wrote on Dec 15, 2007 11:57 AM:"Shepherds DO NOT abide in the field by night during the month of December in Israel. It is too cold." You assume the weather of today and the weather of a few thousand years ago is the same.

Maddy wrote on Dec 22, 2007 3:55 PM:Does it truly matter when the date of Christ's birth is? Surely the most important thing is the message behind the ridiculous holiday - giving; whether it be to charity, or to our friends and family. Shouldn't we be doing that every day of our lives? Not just during the season of Christmas.

James wrote on Dec 23, 2007 6:51 AM:Interesting, Maddy- ridiculous holiday? Well I guess perhaps we know where you stand. The message behind this holiday is not the date of the birth or the giving of gifts other than the most important gift ever given- The gift of the Christ. The Holy Savior, this is the only gift that matters. All other gifts fall painfully short.

Michael wrote on Dec 23, 2007 8:21 PM:Christmas Traditions—What Are Their Origins? IN BOTH the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas celebrations rank among the most popular, among believers and nonbelievers alike. In Japan, with its non-Christian Shinto majority, Christmas takes its place alongside other celebrations and has become a time of uninhibited revelry and commercialism. But have Christmas festivities always been so secular? How did this seasonal festival begin? A look at how Christmas was celebrated in the first millennium of the Common Era helps trace its origin back to pre-Christian sources. Writing in the magazine History Today, Alexander Murray of Oxford University contends that medieval man “fused existing elements of pagan mid-winter rites with the developing theology of Christmas.” How and why was this done? Pre-Christian Origins Peoples of ancient European civilizations observed how the sun appeared to stand still in mid-winter near the southern horizon before slowly regaining height in the sky. This winter solstice (a word derived from Latin words for “sun” and “stand still”) was, according to the Julian calendar, originally dated December 25. These same people found it easy to draw an analogy between the sun and God as the Source and Sustainer of life. In 274 C.E., the Roman emperor declared Sol invictus (unconquered sun) the principal patron of the empire, and this on December 25, thus honoring Mithras, god of light. About the emergence of Christendom as a new imperial religion, Murray writes: “After much uncertainty, victory would go to [Mithraism’s] main rival, Christianity. But around the year 300 this rival still had to be diplomatic. It was then that the church decided to create a feast for Christ’s birth (Latin: nativitas). (No such feast is included in lists of feasts from the third century, and the new feast is first recorded in a document of 336.)” What date was chosen for this celebration? December 25, the result of “a shrewd and practical decision on the part of the early church fathers,” according to the book Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore. Why so? Mid-winter was already well-established as a season of merrymaking with the seven-day Roman agricultural festival of fire and light, Saturnalia. Then there was Calends, a three-day feast to celebrate the appointment of Roman administrative officials who served for one year from the first, or calends, of January. Thus, with Saturnalia, Calends, and the Mithraic birthday of the unconquered sun falling within so short a period each year, December 25 became the chosen date for the celebration of “Christ’s Mass” in an appeal to pagan peoples to convert to the Roman Empire’s new state religion. As time went by, the heathen Germanic mid-winter feast, Yule, reinforced the customs of banqueting and merrymaking, as well as the giving of gifts. Tapers (or, candles), logs, evergreen decorations, and trees became prominent in Christmas celebrations. But, some may reason, the celebration of Christ’s birth must surely have figured prominently among Christians before any subsequent link with pagan traditions. Is this so? Not Celebrated by Early Christians The Bible does not reveal the exact date of Jesus’ birth. More than that, “the early Christians did not celebrate His birth,” comments The World Book Encyclopedia. And why not? “Because they considered the celebration of anyone’s birth to be a pagan custom.” Augustus Neander, in The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries, agrees: “The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general.” From this examination, you can see that Christmas celebrations find their roots in pagan customs. As The Economist explains, it was only later that religious “publicists appropriated ‘this festival of light [the birthday of the unconquered sun], for Christ is the world’s light’, and pretended (with a lack of evidence that would not be approved by Truth in Advertising campaigners) that baby Jesus was born in December. That is why Presbyterian Scotland long disdained Christmas, as did lingeringly puritan America until commercial interests recreated it.” Christmas Traditions Revived At the beginning of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901), according to Gavin Weightman and Steve Humphries, authors of Christmas Past, “no British children hung their stockings by a fireplace on Christmas Eve; nobody had heard of Santa Claus; Christmas crackers did not exist; very few people ate turkey on Christmas Day; it was not common to give presents; and the decorated and lighted Christmas tree was hardly known outside the royal court. In fact, Christmas Day was not a very important date in the calendar for any kind of social ritual.” What happened, then, to revive the popularity of Christmas festivities? “This transformation of old feasts into one short, respectable family event began around the 1830s . . . and was more or less complete by the 1870s, which was when the figure of Santa Claus first appeared in Britain,” states Christmas Past. At the same time, the publication of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a story of miserly Scrooge’s conversion to the spirit of Christmas, sparked a mood of benevolence toward the poor. The squalid conditions and economic hardships of living in towns spawned by the Industrial Revolution prompted the Victorians to take up a kind of moral crusade that, in the later Edwardian period, was modified to bring charity only to the “respectable” poor. A writer in Britain’s Catholic Herald observes: “Gradually, with increasing general affluence, many of the unfortunate aspects of the middle-class Christmas ritual have become widespread. Simplicity and generosity have been overtaken by competitiveness and oneupmanship. The homely feasting which was once a genuine treat has been replaced by orgies of over abundant heavy food. Families are forced by this new tradition to spend days together whether they like it or not, playing games which some of them despise, watching television some of them hate, cutting out contact with neighbours and outsiders at the one time when goodwill and general friendliness are supposed to reign. “And if one says this, if one ventures to criticise either the commercialism or the mere social conventions of it all, one is labelled a Scrooge. To my mind Christmas has gone horribly wrong in recent years.” Whether you agree with this assessment or not, what can happen in your neighborhood at Christmastime? Christmas—A Hazardous Time Do you find that some people use this occasion to overindulge in eating and drinking? Does drunken, rowdy behavior disturb the peace of your community? Although many sincere people demonstrate outstanding kindness and consideration at Christmas, their efforts do not prevent the damaging of family relationships so common at this season. You may well ask then, ‘Why does Christmas produce such excesses of bad conduct?’ Basically, because it is unchristian, pagan. Can you imagine Christ being pleased with that? Hardly. Indeed, in frank terms, the Bible reasons: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial [Satan]?”—2 Corinthians 6:14, 15. A Different View During this Christmas season, you may well receive a visit from one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. You will observe that they do not join in Christmas celebrations. Perhaps you are concerned about their children, believing that they, most of all, miss out on the festivities. But in an interview in the Southampton (England) Southern Evening Echo, a Witness father of two offered this reassurance: “‘They honestly don’t feel they are missing out, I promise you,’ says John. ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are very earnest in promoting happy family life. So as well as giving many presents to our children throughout the year, we give them something much more valuable [, namely,] our time and love.’” Certainly, such genuine love and interest contribute much to happy family life. So instead of following Christmas traditions of pagan origin, would it not be better if everyone honored Jesus by displaying a true Christlike spirit to relatives, friends, and acquaintances, yes, and to strangers too, the whole year around?

Peter wrote on Jan 1, 2008 12:34 AM:Mithraists left no records, not a single line.

As for the Egyptian "savior god", what is the primary source for his birth on December 25. There are also heathen holidays that have from time to time occurred around the time of Passover, etc. A people would have to be pretty stupid to not notice such creations of GOD as soltices and equinoxes, as the signs foretold in Genesis' first chapters, where the stars are created.

For all who believe the Scriptures, certain things were universal knowledge once, like an expected Virgin mother and her SEED, a destruction of a serpent/dragon, a war between the good and the evil, the reality foreseen in the Symbol of the Cross placed on Cain's head as a guarantee of deliverance from harm.

GOD alone placed a Message in the astronomical signs - there was no evil demiurge who created any day or astronomical sign therein. Scripture mentions no evil date. The same day CHRIST was born, antichrists were also born. Someone good and someone bad has been concieved, born, or has died on every day of history. But why wouldn't the CREATOR allign HIS own Nativity with the special arrangements HE HIMSELF designed for man's prodigeous instructive cues?

satan knew the basic Prophecy with which he was doomed outside of Eden, and sought to anticipate, by every clue he could observe, a counterfeit to all that might yet be from GOD. It makes sense that JESUS appeared in Birth at the world's darkest night, bringing on the lengthening of days with HIS Birth.

There has never been a sun symbol for Christmas. Sun worship isn't really dwelt upon in Scripture.

Israel often is milder at winter than many other places world wide. Anyways, the argument against the shepherds being out is just too ignorant to bother commenting on except with laughter.