REAL BIRTH DATE OF JESUS CHRIST

A few things you should know about Christ’s Mass; keep in mind that religious text was written and believed theologically, with little regard for facts or historical precision.  The purpose of this post is to piece together as many historical facts as possible to assist you, the reader, with the ‘when’s and ‘why’s concerning the birth date of Jesus Christ, wherever your studies may lead you.

Truth be told, reading this may only lead to more questions.  But sometimes, you can’t get things right, until you get them wrong, and then make them worse.  To a healthy mind, learning is a right, a privilege and a pleasure.  So empty your cup.  And happy reading!

You may also browse our music page, for songs that are inspired by this, and other similar subjects; such as The Shrine Worshipper and Masquerade.

Jesus holding a cute lamb ba-a-a-a-a-a-a!

First off, why do we celebrate December 25th as the birth date of Jesus Christ?

The biggest turning point in early Christianity was the accession of Constantine I.  During the reign of this man, Christianity went from an underground, criminal movement, to a sanctioned, widely accepted religion of ‘first rank’ within the Roman Empire.  Constantine supported the Church financially, built various basilicas, promoted Christians to high-ranking offices and granted many privileges, including exemption from certain taxes.

Constantine established a precedent for the Roman Emperor within the Church.  The bishops decided on the doctrine – the emperor’s role was to enforce that doctrine, root out heresy, and uphold ecclesiastical unity.  The bishops defined what proper worship was – it was the emperor’s job to ensure that God was worshipped properly by civilians & citizens of the empire.  From this point in history, religion became the figure of authority, gaining direct control of the masses.  Mind you, this is the same man that had his wife, Fausta, and son, Crispus, executed because they contradicted his agenda.

In order to gain religious supremacy, Constantine ordered members of the church to officially celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, in 325 AD - shortly after Pope Julius (320 AD), and later reinforced by Bishop Liberius (354 AD).  Why?

Happy birthday Jesus Candy Cane

This was the perfect ploy to subtly convert the roman/pagan majority to Christianity.  Northern pagans celebrated Yule on December 25th; ancient Babylonian pagans honored Horus, son of Isis, on December 25th; the very Romans honored Saturn, the god of agriculture, all many years before Christians adopted the same date. Ok, so pretty much every winter-solstice variant was celebrated on December 25th, until Christianity dominated the date.  Christians also adopted a variety of traditions from these winter-solstice variants, including music & caroling, gifts, a special feast, decorations, etc.  This made it more comfortable for non-Christians to accept these efforts of wiping out their culture.  These winter -solstice celebrations are hardly known anymore; they’ve almost been wiped out entirely.

Funny thing is, it’s very unlikely that Jesus was born on December 25th.  Though the dates of his birth & death are not covered in the bible, here are some references in the bible that can help us pin point a more precise date.

“Luke 1:26: In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee.”

Accounts on Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth and her son, John the Baptist, help determine that Jesus was not born in December.  When the angel Gabriel visits Mary, her cousin Elizabeth was already in her 6th month of pregnancy, approximately.  This was some time during December.  Jesus is born 9 months later.  Since John the Baptist was born in April, five or six months prior to Jesus, this places the birth of Jesus Christ around August to early September; definitely not December, unless Mary was pregnant for 12 months. Let’s assume this story about Gabriel is true; that Mary & Elizabeth didn’t make it up to hide an infidelity.  After all, Mary was only a teenager - a very confused teenager – at the time.

“Luke 2:8: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”

The book of Luke, of the four canonical gospels (the book that covers Jesus’ birth), describes spring or autumn around the time of Jesus’ birth, not winter.  Luke specifically mentions Shepherds in their fields, watching over their flock at night.  You will not see shepherds parading their livestock in December. Between predators and the freezing cold, sheep especially, die.  The Romans did not issue census during winter, for it was too cold to ask civilians to travel to the city of their father’s for tax purposes. If a 9-month pregnant Mary were to travel to Bethlehem during winter, it is much more likely she’d be found face down in the snow – and I wouldn’t be writing this post.

“Luke 3:22 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized.”  The Baptism of Jesus Christ took place at the beginning of his 30th year of age.  His first Passover took place six months after that.

“John 19:14: It was the day of Preparation of Passover week, about the sixth hour.  “Here is your king”, Pilate said to the Jews.”  Jesus then dies during Passover… at 33 & a half years old.  Passover is in March/April, depending on your calendar.  Again, this places the birth of Jesus Christ around August to early September.

So, why celebrate the birth date of Jesus Christ on December 25th?  Why believe it at all?  To put things mildly, December 25th was not the birth of Christ; we still cannot pinpoint an exact date for his birth or death.  What we do know, is that December 25th is the turning point in history when the Christian religion took authority, to forcefully oppress other’s beliefs and their “holy days”.  That oppression has spread worldwide, like a virus.

Today, most people believe (and celebrate) without questioning, without knowing why – and perhaps most self-destructive of all – without caring.  The media takes things a step further: Thanks to the religious paradigm, your “beliefs” concerning December 25th are exploited and reduced to the worship of aggressive marketing & lavish gifts.  Hypocrisy stacked upon hypocrisy, like Black Friday after Thanksgiving.  This is the kind of unjustified brainwashing that separates us all.

It’s one of my biggest wishes that the masses will stop following religious/cultural traditions blindly and learn, instead, to think.