Excavating the Evidence for Jesus

December 25th

Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25? Was Jesus possibly born on this day, or did celebrations start as a result of religious syncretism from Roman times? The Roman festival of Saturnalia, honoring the god Saturn, is often cited as the inspiration behind the church-sanctioned date for Christmas, but Saturnalia was celebrated from December 17–23, not on December 25, and therefore it was not a replacement festival or holy day. Another claim is that December 25th was the day for Sol Invictus and the early church just “Christianized” this day.