So why the 25th of December?
Few, if any, early Christian celebrated the birthday of Jesus. There was no precedent for celebrating birthdays in Judaism or Christianity. None of the birth dates of any of the important figures in the Bible are known -not Adam, or Soloman, or Moses. Only two birthdays are mentioned in the Bible, those of Pharoah (Genesis 40:16-22) and King Herod (Matthew 14:6-10 and Mark 6:21-27) and celebrating birthdays was considered to have pagan overtones. Those who did commemorate his birth (not knowing when it actually was) chose to do so in spring as it is the time associated with new life. Though the evidence is very sketchy, for some reason tradition holds that Christ's birthday has been celebrated since 98AD and in 137AD the Pope (possibly Pope Hyginus) ordered that Christ's birthday should be celebrated as a solemn feast. Solemn, as in, reverent and respectful, not just an excuse for a party.
richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK
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