Is Christmas really the birthday of Jesus? |
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We can say with all probability that the 25th December is not a real birthday
of Christ. This day was celebrated as a Christian feast first in the middle of
the 4th century. There are many theories about the reasons of the choice of the
25th December since the Bible does not provide any clear information in this
matter.
(a) historical theory of religion
The 25th December has some connection with feasts of other religions. The
Christians borrowed a feast from some neighbouring religion or they deliberately
wanted to supersede such one. In fact, the cult of Sun was in the beginning of
fourth century popular in the Roman empire and it has been suggested that the
25th December was celebrated as a birthday of Sun. In any case the time round… |