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Does any one have some idea:at what time of year was Jesus born?
Who set the date December 25?
Enrique -- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), December 25, 1999
Answers
If you would do a study on when the people were taxed (see Luke 2:1-3) you would find that it occured during the summer months. Isreal is in the northern hemisphere so they also have winter with the rest of us on the northern half of the world. Shepherds would not be in the field grazing sheep. now for the part that burst everyone's CHRISTMAS bubble. the bible speaks of NIMROD who was amighty hunter before God. He was the one who started all the confusion at the tower of bable. What nobody has taken the time to look up is that nimrod had a son named TAMMUZ. Dec 25 is the birth of Tammuz. all of the traditions that follow christmas is built around these two people. When Nimrod was killed by Ham, noah's son, he cut him into pieces. out of the stump or the chest part of his body grew an evergreen tree. his wife SIMARAMIS claimed that it was the spirit of nimrod resurrected(this is where the idea of reincarnation came from)so people came to worship the tree. read jeremiah chapter 10:1-4 to see what God thinks of this tradition. there are so many other facts based on the life of NIMROD,SIMARAMIS & TAMMUZ (THE UNHOLY TRINITY---RA, ISIS &HORUS--- WOULD YOU BELIEVE THE ROMANS LIFTED UP A GOD CALLED TAMMUZ THAT WHEN THEY WOULD CRUCIFY SOMEONE THEY WOULD DO IT IN THE NAME OF TAMMUZ. THEY WOULD FASHION A POLE IN THE SHAPE OF A "T" TO SACRIFICE TO TAMMUZ. SOUNDS KIND OF WHAT HAPPENED ON CALVARY!!!!!!!!!!
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BELIEVE ME LOOK IT UP FOR YOURSELF . THAT IS IF YOU WANT TO DIG REAL DEEP AND GO BEYOND TRADITIONS..
-- R. Leonard (sbthkeeper@dellnet.com), January 10, 2000.
Dear Enrique, Anything I have ever read regarding this subject states that Jesus was probably born in October. His birthday was moved to Dec. 25 so the newly formed Christians could have their celebration near the same time as the Jewish Hannukah and the Moslem Ramaden and the pagan rituals of the New Year. In this way, all peoples were celebrating major feasts sort of at the same time. Ellen
-- Ellen K. Hornby (dkh@canada.com), January 14, 2000.
Thank you, Ellen, but I think you sould check your history. In my readings I have found that December 25 was set as Christ's date of birth in the IV century, long before the Moslems appeared in the world.
Enrique
-- Enrique Ortiz (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 14, 2000.
With reasonable certainty, we know that Jesus was not born in December, or any cold month, for that matter. On the other hand, from a considerable number of data, we are reasonably certain that He was born in the fall--probably in October, BC 7. Some of these data are Biblical (information on the weather in Palestine at the time of His birth; the relationship of Jesus' and John the Baptizer's birth; and information from Daniel's prophecy concerning the death of Jesus). Secular/Biblical data include Quirinius and the census; Jesus and Herod; and the appearance of the stars.
If you would like a copy of my research on the subject, just send a brief e-mail request and I will mail or e-mail one to you. God bless.
-- chuck lee (cdlee@bellsouth.net), November 11, 2000.
+ Hello, Enrique.Dr. Warren Carroll, eminent historian, founder of Christendom College in Virginia, and an EWTN online expert, believes that the true date of Christ's birth is uncertain and not likely to be December 25. He believes that December 25 was chosen around the time of the emperor Constantine to "baptize" a pagan feast celebrated late in December.
However, the good doctor received the following very interesting message early in 1999:
"Dear Dr. Carroll: Recently a questioner asked you about the 'myth' of the date of Christmas. I know it has long been believed by many to be just that, but I was wondering if you happened to see the Dec. 24, 1998 issue of 'Osservatore Romano' (the Vatican's official newspaper), in which this very topic was addressed by Professor Tommaso Federici, Professor at the Pontifical Urbanian University and a consultant to two Vatican Congregations. In his article, Professor Federici says that December 25 is in fact an historical date for Our Lord's birth."In this article, he wrote: 'December 25 is explained as the "Christianization" of a pagan feast, 'birth of the Sol Invictus'; or as the symmetrical balance, an aesthetic balance between the winter solstice (Dec.21-22) and the spring equinox (March 23-24). But a discovery of recent years has shed definitive light on the date of the Lord's birth. As long ago as 1958, the Israeli scholar Shemaryahu Talmon published an in-depth study on the calendar of the Qumran sect, and he reconstructed without the shadow of doubt the order of the sacerdotal rota system for the temple of Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 24, 7-18) in New Testament times. Here the family of Abijah, of which Zechariah was a descendent, father of John the herald and forerunner (Luke 1,5) was required to officiate twice a year, on the days 8-14 of the third month, and on the days 24-30 of the eighth month. This latter period fell at about the end of September. It is not without reason that the Byzantine calendar celebrated "John's conception" on September 23 and his birth nine months later, on June 24. The "six months" after the Annunciation established as a liturgical feast on March 25, comes three months before the forerunner's birth, prelude to the nine months in December: December 25 is a date of history.'"Enrique, you may hear or read that December 25 has been rejected as a possibility because (allegedly) there was no grazing of sheep at that time of the year. I have read that this theory has been disproved and that shepherds were at work throughout the year near Bethlehem. (The actual date is not important to me. I just desire that people would not say outrightly that it could not be December 25.)
God bless you.
John
-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), November 11, 2000.