The Controversies of Christmas; the Date
Scripture reading; all the Christmas story scriptures relevant to the date of Christ’s birth
Luke 1: 5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari′ah,[b] of the division of Abi′jah
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself,
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2 This was the first enrollment, when Quirin′i-us was governor of Syria.
8 And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Now, wasn’t that an inspiring an uplifting reading? But all of those Scriptures have something to say about the date and timing of Jesus’ birth. When was Jesus born? The timing of this singularly important event has been a question for years. And we got the date we have now, December 25th, because someone was curious about it.
In about the middle of the fourth century, the late 330’s, the bishop of Jerusalem wrote a letter to the bishop of Rome and wanted him to figure out the actual date of Christ's birth.
And the bishop of Rome promptly sent word back that Christ’s birth was 25th. Well, by the end of the fourth century that was accepted by the church and became the regularly accepted day to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Well, through the years, the decision by the Roman Catholic church that December 25th is Jesus’ birthday, has been reexamined by a multitude of scholars, and now us.
Let us pray.
Today,
1. Why December 25th? Then we are going to back up to see if we can come up with the year Jesus was born. And to find the year we need to consider the historic records of when 3 individuals held their political offices 2. The date for the reign of Caesar Augustus. 3. The date for the governorship of Quirinius. 4. The date for the reign of Herod. And finally we will return to a couple things that could be used to put a more precise date on Jesus’ birth; 5. Priests, Shepherds and the star.
I. Why December 25th?
We’re going to do a little study in a moment that gives evidence for the month of Jesus’ birth, but that seems a little presumptuous doesn’t it? Hey, bishop of Rome, when was Jesus born? Oh, no problem, it was December 25th.
Where did he get that date? Remember this question was asked over 300 years after Jesus was born. Well, there are two major theories about where the date came from. The first is tradition. The second concerns culture.
A. Tradition
If we look back at documents and manuscripts that date back to the early church, you might think that they would know precisely when Jesus was born. But they don’t. In fact, there is no record of Jesus’ birth being celebrated until 336 A.D. Birthday celebration was a pagan practice. It wasn’t practiced among the Jews, from which Jesus came. But, the church is not Jewish, so did any of the early church father’s mention Jesus birth in their letters or sermons? Yes
Now take this source for what it’s worth. These quotes come from
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/was-jesus-born-december-25th
Around A.D. 194, Clement of Alexandria stated that “from the Lord’s birth to the death of [the emperor] Commodus comprises 194 years one month and thirteen days” (Miscellanies [Stromateis] 1:21:145:5). Calculating backward from the assassination of Commodus on December 31, 192, that would put the birth of Christ on November 18, 3 B.C.
Clement also reports there were some who held it occurred on the twenty-fifth of the Egyptian month of Pachon, which would correspond to May 20 of that year (1:21:145:6).
He further reports that some followers of the Gnostic Basilides said that it was on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth of the Egyptian month Pharmouthi, which would point to April 19 or 20 (1:21:146:4).
Thus we see that, at the end of the second century, a number of different dates for Jesus’ birth were being proposed.
Around 204, St. Hippolytus of Rome wrote that “the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was eight days before the Kalends of January, the fourth day [i.e., Wednesday], while Augustus was in his forty-second year” (i.e., 3 or 2 B.C.) (Commentary on Daniel 4:23:3). The Kalends was the first day of the month, and eight days before January 1 is December 25.
This is the earliest record we have of Jesus’ birth being December 25.
There are other later statements about the date of Jesus’ birth. But they just begin to repeat the tradition of the December 25th date. But let’s go back to 204, when Hippolytus of Rome wrote that Jesus was born December 25th. His statement was ““the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was eight days before the Kalends of January, the fourth day [i.e., Wednesday], …. “Birthday of the Unconquerable.”
“Birthday of the Unconquerable” That title brings us to the second theory of where the bishop of Rome got the December 25th date. First, he was likely just repeating a tradition that caught on. Other dates had been proposed by the early church fathers, November 18th, May 20th, April 19th or 20th, but one stuck December 25th. Why did it stick?
It has to do with those words, “Birthday of the Unconquerable.” The word “unconquerable” in is “Invictus” in latin. And there was
· 274 – A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian.[2]
This temple was dedicated on, guess what day? December 25th. And this was not a temple to honor Jesus. The first word, Sol, of Sol Invictus, means “Sun.” So, Sol Invictus means, “the unconquerable sun.”
So here’s the question, around 204 A.D., Hippolytus says, in effect, Jesus was born December 25th, and that’s the birthday of the unconquerable.
Around 336, the bishop of Rome declares that Jesus birthday is December 25th, the very same day that the Roman cult of Mithra celebrates their god, “the unconquerable sun.”
So, here’s the second theory about where the bishop of Rome got that date. The theory is that he chose that date to try and put a sanctifying influence into a very pagan holiday. In other words, he hoped to Christianize a pagan holiday.
Now who would do that? That’s just silly. Oh really. How many churches do you know of, who happened to have a “fall festival” on October 31st? Anyone ever heard of Neewolah? That began as a Christian attempt to take a pagan holiday, and make it Christian. Instead of the jack-o-lantern being used to ward off evil spirits, it is a symbol of Christ cleaning you out and putting His light in you.
Well, what were those pagans doing during the festival of Sol Invictus? Partying. In fact, the whole month of December was like Mardi Gra in parts of the Roman world. Drunkeness, sexual immorality, and excessive eating—you know, like Christmas today.
What else did they do? Well, it was all a celebration in anticipation of the coming spring. They were in the middle of the long dreary winter, but now the sun had crossed the threshold between the days getting shorter, and the days becoming longer. So, they decorated their houses with evergreen branches decorated with trinkets. They hung mistletoe as a symbol of fertility. They lit candles. They exchanged gifts.
John MacArthur
“Now the bishop's idea was, now this is such an orgy, this is sort of like carnival in our modern world, this is the worst of a pagan decadence celebrated, the bishop's idea was, let's take the birth of Christ and put it on the same day around the same time to coincide with all the ancient festivals and all the wild winter revelries, in that way we will bring a sanctifying influence into this celebration and draw the attention of the people away from those things that they're engaged in to more spiritual pursuits and start making them think about the fact that God came into the world in a human form.
That was a nice thought.”
Now, can we prove that that is what the bishop wanted to do? Sanctify a pagan festival time? No.
But as the old saying goes, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s likely a duck.
But let’s move now to the year of Jesus birth. I mentioned a minute ago that Hippolytus put a date on Jesus’ birth.
“Around 204, St. Hippolytus of Rome wrote that “the first advent of our Lord in the flesh, when he was born in Bethlehem, was eight days before the Kalends of January, the fourth day [i.e., Wednesday], while Augustus was in his forty-second year” (i.e., 3 or 2 B.C.)”
Now keep two things in mind about that date. First, Hippolytus wrote this around 200 years after Jesus’ birth. And second, we don’t build our faith on traditions, but on the Word of God. When does the Bible say that Jesus was born? Consider Caesar, Quirinius, and Herod
verses 1, 2 and 3 of Luke 2. "Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria and all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city."
Verse 5 of chapter 1 says, "In the days of Herod king of Judea,"
II. The date for the reign of Caesar Augustus.
A. "It came about in those days."
Sometime in those days during the time of Caesar a decree went out.
Luke, can’t you do better than that? Yes, he can.
Sometimes, Luke is very precise. Chapter 3 verse 1, "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene.
But not here. “In those days.” Well, when did Caesar Augustus reign?
16 January 27 BC – 19 August AD 14
That’s a span of about 41 years. So that narrows Jesus’ birth down a little bit.
But there’s a little more information. He just says "in those days,” in those days, a decree went out. A decree is an imperial edict.
B. A decree went out.
John MacArthur
“He made an edict and this was the edict. The census was to be taken of all the inhabited earth. All the inhabited earth would simply be another way to say all the known world which would be all the Roman Empire which covered the known world in that area. A census, apographē, simply a registration, to write something.
This was done for two reasons. It was done to draw people into the military service, to find out who all the military-age young men were. It was for the registration of a census for the purpose of taxation.
So, when was this census? Well, this is very interesting. We have evidence of a census being taken of the Roman world on a 14-year cycle. Just like here in the U.S., it is established in the law that a census be taken every 10 years, Caesar made a law that one be taken every 14 years. You can track these series of censuses every fourteen years, all the way, I think it's to the year 270 A.D. in some parts of the Roman world.
Now, there’s a third clue. Jesus was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus, 16 January 27 BC – 19 August AD 14 during the time of the census, and it is called the “first census” in verse 2.
C. the first census
The first of the cycle of fourteen-year censuses which Caesar Augustus had set in motion.
When was the first one? Well, that’s where we are introduced to the second political figure who was in office at the time of Jesus’ birth.
III. The date for the reign of Quirinius, the governor of Syria.
A. Governor
That is just a generic Greek word for “leader.” It’s not an official title like procurator, or tetrarch. It doesn’t mean that he is the number one man. The Romans had technical titles which you can see in a pecking order in a hierarchy. There were legates. There were proconsuls. There were prefects. There were procurators. And those are identifiable connected roles in the hierarchy of Rome. “Governor” is a generic for “leader.”
B. governor of Syria.
Syria again is that large area in which Judea would exist. And over that area this man, Quirinius, had some responsibility. He was a “leader” over Syria.
So, this was the first census taken and it was taken at a time while Quirinius was governor or leader of Syria.
D. When was that?
To decide that we need to know who Quirinius was. His name was Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. He was known to have governed Syria, listen carefully, A.D. 6 to 9; A.D. 6 to 9. A well-known census was taken in Palestine in A.D. 6.
So, you say, well that settles it. Quirinius served between 6 and 9 A.D. That was during the reign of Caesar Augustus. There was a census taken in 6 A.D., so bingo, Jesus was born in 6 A.D. There’s only one problem. Jesus was also born under the reign of Herod the Great. And remember that Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to flee to Egypt, from Herod, because Herod sent out an order to kill all the boys, 2 years and younger, in the region of Bethlehem. And remember that they returned from Egypt after Herod died?
Well, we know when Herod died. Well, we’re pretty certain between one of two years. He either died in 1 B.C. or 4 B.C. Now, I’m not going to go into the arguments for either here. But it is definitely either 1 B.C. or 4 B.C.
So, what’s the problem? Herod died at least 10 years before the most famous census of Quirinius. To make it simple, you can’t have Jesus born before Herod dies, in 4 B.C. and born during the 6 A.D. census, when Herod had been in the grave for 10 years.
So, what’s the solution? By the way, this was a problem for years. And those who doubt the inspiration of Scripture, threw this in the faces of those who believed the Bible.
All that those who believed the Bible could say was that there must be some piece of information missing, and that they just chose to believe the Bible.
Then, lo and behold. I love that phrase, lo and behold.
E. Archeology has vindicated Luke.
A fragment of stone discovered at Tivoli, which is near Rome, in A.D. 1764, that contained an inscription in honor of a Roman official who it states was twice governor of Syria and Phoenicia during the reign of Augustus. Somebody was governor twice. But how can that be? How could someone be a leader at two different times? I don’t know, ask Grover Cleveland.
So, this guy on this inscription was governor under Augustus once in A.D. 6 to 9 and another time previous to that, back in the B.C. time. And that guy’s name was…dunt da da duh… Quirinius.
And it works out. We know that the first census ordered by Caesar, was before Jesus was born. It was that census that sent Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem. We also know that Caesar ordered that census in 8 B.C.
But now we are back to a problem. It’s the same problem as before. If the census was ordered in 8 B.C., that’s still 4 years before Herod’s death. Well, let’s look quickly at the last politician that influences our dating Jesus’ birth; Herod.
IV. The date of the reign of Herod
Herod the Great reigned, let’s take the most widely accepted date, 37–4 BCE .
Second, if we want to narrow down the date. It had to be during the reign of Caesar,
27 BC – AD 14. It had to be during the reign of Quirinius, which we’ve established that he reigned twice. It had to be after Caesar made the law that started the census; 8 B.C.. But it had to be before Herod died; 4 B.C. We’ve narrowed it down to a span from 8 to 4 B.C..
Now, there’s a lot more that could go into this. But let’s narrow it down quickly by going backwards from Herod’s death. Herod died in 4 B.C. The Bible describes that event close on the heals of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus escaping his clutches in fleeing to Egypt. So, let’s take the shortest time span possible. Let’s say that Herod died within 6 months of the escape to Egypt. An overland trip to Egypt would have taken them. It is a journey into Egyptian territory of just 65 Km. That would have taken them less than a week. Now if they stayed in Egypt for a couple of years, that means that Jesus birth could have been anywhere from 6 to 4 B.C.
Since Caesar Augustus made the decree in 8 B.C., we don’t know if it was early or late in the year. That means that the actual completion of the census actually took place a least a couple of years after the edict. And that would not be that unusual when you consider factors like how fast things were communicated, how quickly foreign powers chose to obey the command, and how quickly they could get the simple logistics of all these people returning to their home towns together.
So, what’s the date conclusion? Jesus was most likely born between 6 and 4 B.C., more likely closer to 4 B.C..
Does it matter? We walk by faith not by sight. But what we believe is real. It really happened. And what that means is that there will be historic evidence for the life of Christ. Does it mean we can “prove” all the stories of the Bible by outside historic sources? No, but I live by faith. I believe the Bible. And I believe that even when there is a contention over one of its historic statements, that archeology and history will bear out the truth.
Compare this to Mormonism. The Mormons will say that they have faith that the events described in the book of Mormon, about the lost tribes of the Jews coming to America, and converting the Indians, are true. But, history and archeology haven’t verified that any of that ever happened. There’s no evidence.
Now, let’s look again at this December 25th date.
V. Priests, Shepherds and the star.