The birth of Jesus Christ is traditionally celebrated on December 25th, although “around 37 percent of Orthodox Christians, mainly in Egypt and Russia, celebrate Christmas on January 7,” owing to a difference in the way their calendars were devised. EVERY year on Christmas Day, Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus with churches across the country telling the nativity story. Neither date is likely correct in light of several clues uncovered by historians and information in the Bible itself. When Jesus was born, Luke tells us that the shepherds that came to visit him had been watching their flocks by night. It could be (again, this is all speculation) that Luke used a historical event that he knew of (the Judean census conducted by Quirinius) to somehow weave his story together, get Mary and Joseph in the right place at the right time, and create a sense of authority over the subject by pinning it to a historical event. I will warn you, it gets a little weird and hard to follow here. Karl Rahner states that the authors of the gospels generally focused on theological elements rather than historical chronologies. Understand that from this point forward, this is all 100% speculation. In an age where “our fast-moving lives have wreaked havoc on our relationships,” as Rick Warren said, and we feel disconnected from one another, celebrating Jesus’  birth unifies the church body both locally and at large. Perhaps due to the obvious fact that there were some prophets who did not die on their birthday. So far we’ve spent a lot of time talking about when Jesus might have been born. Any attempt to use science in this way to come to a conclusive date for Jesus’ birth should be taken with several large grains of salt. The Christians wanted to Christianize the Roman culture. Here’s the thing. As for when Jesus was really born, many Christians base their calculation on the birth of Jesus's cousin, John the Baptist. An when you look at Herod the Great, he was apparently a pretty bad dude. It’s an interesting journey that Rick Larson took in order to find the birth date of Jesus based on celestial activity. The 15th day of the 7th month begins the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. Why Was Jesus Being from Nazareth Derogatory? Jesus was more than likely not born on December 25 and we celebrate that day mainly because it coincided with a Roman pagan holiday. Recent Comments All that said, this gives us no additional information in our quest to determine the year of Jesus’ birth. Christians began celebrating Christmas sometime in the third or fourth century and no one really wrote down the reason for the December 25th date. For an ancient ruler to kill 20 babies, especially to protect his royal lineage, no one would really bat an eye. Having 20 babies in a small village put to death wouldn’t have been enough to make the news. So based on the fact that Herod was probably the king when Jesus was born, and that Herod probably died before Jesus was very old, we can roughly estimate the year of Jesus’ birth to be around 7-4 BCE.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'biblology_com-banner-1','ezslot_15',124,'0','0'])); This is the one historical detail that both Matthew and Luke agree upon. Neither date is likely correct in light of several clues uncovered by historians and information in the Bible itself. Recent research by a … We could just take his word for it, or we could try to do some historical digging based on the birth narratives of Christ found in scripture. But here’s a spoiler alert: there are problems with most of them.eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'biblology_com-box-4','ezslot_0',123,'0','0'])); This detail is given to us by both Matthew and Luke. Based on the biblical literature, he was likely born sometime between February and October sometime before the year 4 BCE. When was Jesus really born? Or three. Jesus was born on the 1st day of the Feast of Tabernacles! Whatever the reason for the belief, it was clear there was some kind of connection between the conception of Jesus and the birth of Jesus. The miracle of Jesus’ birth wasn’t necessarily his birth. One was his new Julian calendar and the other calendar began with the year Rome was established: 753BC. Not long ago, I wrote a blog post about the goal of exegesis. Can we get closer to an exact date of Jesus’ birth? Your email address will not be published. Nobody is really quite sure what Luke is doing here. John the Baptist’s preaching took place during “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius” ().Jesus’ approximate age at the start of His ministry (30) is also supplied in the book of Luke, so we can determine that Christ was likely born around 2 or 3BC. Instead of starting with the exact date, let’s widen our scope a bit. in biblical exegesis. There is alot of conjecture and debate as to the actual date. But to get to those hints we have to forget momentarily about Jesus’ birthday and back the truck up about nine months. If you’re reading this around Christmastime, I wish you the best this holiday season. Daniel’s 2300 ‘Day’ Prophecy – Fully Decoded: December 21, 2100 A.D. The actual date wasn't mentioned in the Bible or the writings of the early Church leaders. Associating Christmas with light-hearted festivities might seem disrespectful in light of its true meaning, but the joy of singing familiar carols and lighting candles; the sense of belonging and love connected to the holiday encourages many unbelievers to attend Christmas services where they might hear the gospel. The economies of developed nations rely on the financial boost provided during Christmas season. For the most part, the ancient church accepted March 25th as the date of Jesus’ death. Your email address will not be published. But right up front, I want to give the simplest answer to the question. Why Did Jesus Want His Miracles to Stay Secret? Our current calendar was set 100's of years later, and people at that time were off a bit in estimating the date of Jesus's birth. One pretty significant historical detail Matthew discusses in his Gospel is what has often been referred to as the Slaughter of the Innocents. It’s not important that we believe the early church was right on all these points. Since their birth narratives (and the rest of their books) are so different, it’s unlikely that either author had access to the other author’s work. Despite not knowing the exact birthday of Jesus, we celebrate his birth on December 25th as has been Christian tradition for centuries. Did the Nativity really happen during winter in Bethlehem 2,020 years ago? His purpose was to establish when Easter should be celebrated by working backwards using a complicated system of his own. Any attempt to extract historical or scientific data is simply a modern imposition on an ancient text. The Star of Bethlehem, Reneke told New Scientist, may have been Venus and Jupiter coming together to form a … But, like we’ve already discussed in this post, Jesus was likely not born in the winter, which means he probably wasn’t born on March 25th. Quirinius became governor in the year 6. When was Jesus actually born? December 11, 17 B.C. Okay, so we’ve narrowed it down to a year or two. Otherwise it would have said “Moses lived 249 years, 4 months, 13 days, 4 hours, and 48 minutes. Thanks for speculating with me and taking this strange journey through church history. Luke was not dropping hints for us about what time of the year this scene took place. Unfortunately Matthew doesn’t tell us how long the young family lived in Egypt. Our year counting system was developed in the year 525 CE by Dionysius Exiguus. This was just a census of Judea. Maybe that means we can get a more precise date for Jesus’ birth. He was born into an extended family living away from home and … However, others have used a similar approach and determined April 17th in 6BCE to be more likely. The point of a census was to count population sizes. Theologians typically agree that December 25th is far from likely. Positive: 100 %. Luke’s purpose in giving supporting historical details was not for us to nail down the exact date of Jesus’ birth but to establish a sense of ethos. “This festival was a time of merrymaking, and families and friends would exchange gifts,” History.com stated. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. (Egypt Today.). A Constructive Approach to Christian Engagement In Politics. Several factors are involved in establishing the year of Christ’s birth. In Christmas, these traditions would continue. Is this a question we can even know the answer to?eval(ez_write_tag([[728,90],'biblology_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_4',122,'0','0'])); To this day, Jesus’ actual date of birth remains unknown, despite numerous historic and scientific efforts. If we estimate that about 15% of the population were babies, we’re looking at maybe (and that’s a big maybe) 45 babies. But is December 25 actually the date when Jesus was born… When was Jesus ACTUALLY born? Perhaps not one of us would be surprised to discover, in the long run, that it is not true that Jesus Christ was born on the 25th of December in the year one (1), from which time history began to count the period referred to as of our era – A.D. When Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, it was easier for the newly formed church to repurpose the pagan observance of the winter solstice between December 17-25, since citizens were already prepared to celebrate the day. Based on his calculations, Larson dated the birth of Jesus to December 25th, in the year 2 BCE. Perhaps this started with the belief that, since the Bible says things like “Moses lived 250 years,” he must have been born on the same day that he died. About 500 years later, “a mathematically-minded monk…Dionysius Exiguus invented the concept of AD,” BibleStudyTools.com stated. To let us know that the story he’s telling can be trusted. Well, it’s not really that simple. Is this a question we can even know the answer to? This likely has more to do with setting the scene for the shepherds to meet the angels and see the heavenly host, which would have been the stars. It doesn’t necessarily mean this is historically accurate. There is no definitive answer. so it had to be BEFORE 4 BC. Why would he tell us that small detail? The incarnation event didn’t happen the day that Jesus emerged from Mary’s womb. If that didn’t sound very confident, good. It could have been years. Churches organize special events around this time. If our calendar is broken up into B.C. Realistically, however, Christianity.com stated shepherds would not have been tending their flocks in December when the weather was cold; they would have continued shepherding no later than October. Two cases will be presented below: one case for a Tishri (Sukkot) birth, and the other for the traditional late December date. Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth was a small village with maybe 300ish people. Required fields are marked *. So before we jump to the pagan tradition conclusion, I’d rather try to see what the early church says about the December 25th date for Christmas. By Dr. David R. ReaganAccording to Luke 1:24-26, Mary conceived Jesus in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist. WHEN WAS JESUS ACTUALLY BORN? Another argument takes the reverse view. Jesus (c. 4 BC – AD 30 / 33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. Here are three reasons why Jesus may not have been born on December 25 at all. Follow me on (Twitter! Was Jesus really born on December 25th, as the western Christian tradition maintains, or does Scripture allow us to infer a different time for His advent here on earth? Herod the Great reigned as the King of Judea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE. Herod, aware of the prophecies surrounding Jesus’ birth, decides to slaughter all male children in Bethlehem aged two and under. If Jesus probably wasn’t born in the winter, why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th? Some say devising “the pagan festival of the ‘Birth of the Unconquered Son’” was “an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians,” according to this Christianity.com article. The biblical authors were not interested in divulging this information. There were two dating systems at the time of Julius Caesar in AD46. To complicate matters, Julius Caesar also determined that a year would be calculated beginning with “the accession of absolute power by the then emperor,” according to BibleStudyTools.com. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion.Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (the Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.. That said, had Mary and Joseph been living in Nazareth at the time, as Luke’s Gospel tells us, they would not have been affected by this census. And I’m not sure anyone is any better off than we were at the beginning. Moreover, Christmas celebrations provide an opportunity to engage community members who might not otherwise attend church events. ), Biblology.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. What year was Jesus born? There’s a lot here that we just can’t know with any certainty. This means that Jesus was born It was his conception. So now we can better understand the date of the Christ mass. December 17, 2019 / No one knows for certain the exact year and date of Jesus’ birth. Answer for question: Your name: Answers. So Jesus’ birthday, based on the shepherd activity, most likely took place sometime between March and early October. That’s because the early church was not nearly concerned with Jesus’ birth as they were with his conception. But if that’s the case, when was Jesus actually born? That’s right, it’s true – even the greatest scholars can only speculate using everything we know about available historical accounts and the stars in the heavens. There would have been other historical records indicating a census of the entire empire during the reign of Augustus, but Luke is the only source. So that’s the answer to our question—it’s obvious. Elizabeth was six months pregnant when Mary arrived, and Mary left three months later. Well, aside from Matthew, there are exactly… zero sources that point to this event. It could have been months. But for summary’s sake, I’ll say it one more time. There’s an exciting documentary I watched one time called The Star of Bethlehem. The Jesus of history was a child of a Jewish family living under a foreign regime. By 731 and after, it was clear that there had existed a year we could call A.D. 1. What is the Process of Exegesis? We know there was a celestial event which alerted the Magi, and this can also be dated. We have very good reason to believe that Jesus spent most of his formative years in Nazareth, so they couldn’t have been in Egypt for very long. Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright © 2020, Christianity.com. Again, there’s not much here. (Before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini, the year of our Lord) doesn’t that mean Jesus was born in year one (since we don’t count year zero)?Actually, the issue is a bit more complex than that.Starting the calendar with the birth of Christ didn’t come about until the Jesus was born in A.D. 1—the first year of our Lord Jesus Christ. in biblical languages and an M.A. Well, since the calendar centers on the birth of Jesus, we might think that Jesus was born in the year 1. Grace & peace. This theory does have some credibility, but only because it makes sense rationally. Some records indicate that he was actually born in 1884; either way, when he died in November 1990, Hall was the oldest licensed driver in the United States. BTW, According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great . You often hear that Jesus was born around 6-7 B.C. If this was somehow the case, Mary and Joseph would not have had to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. In other words, Christmas is more precisely a celebration of Jesus’ due date than it is his actual birth date. Bible scholars work from what Scripture tells us regarding the history of Jesus. and the Syrian governorship of Quirinius (see REGISTRATION for the probable dates of Quirinius’ administration), and toward the close of the reign of Herod the Great over Judea.—Mt 2:1, 13, 20-22; Lu 1:24-31, 36; 2:1, 2, 7. What Does it Mean That Jesus Christ Is the Cornerstone? There is one super tiny detail in Luke’s Gospel that might give us a super tiny lead, allowing us to narrow down Jesus’ birthday to a few months. ROME — As Christmas approaches, debate often arises over when exactly Jesus was born. I've spent my life learning about the Bible and I am passionate about helping others discover the beautiful and imaginative world of the scriptures. Unlike Matthew, Luke situates Jesus’ birth in a specific historical event: a census decreed by Caesar Augustus. So where can we place this in history? Somewhere through the centuries that belief changed to focus on conception. He even gives more details than that to help us narrow it down. We’re going to explore a lot of rabbit holes in this blog post. One must seek the opinions of the most trusted scholars in this matter. So yes, no matter where you put the birth of Jesus, Augustus was the emperor. 5BC–AD33. But there are some hints that can get us going in the right direction. All rights reserved. In order for the early church to come up with a date for Jesus’ conception, they first had to come up with a date for his death. The best I can tell is that it was Jewish tradition that a prophet died on the same day that he was conceived. This site is also a participant other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. When Jesus was born, shepherds and their flocks were in the fields at night ^ par. Bible scholars also try to time Christ’s birth by timing the birth of his cousin John according to the sparse information about Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary outlined in Luke. There is another way to approach the truth. Is Epiphany (Three Kings Day) a Biblical Holiday? Not that any great doctrine rests on the calculations below, but it sure is nice that we can have reasonable confidence that the dates of Jesus’ birth and death are secure and can be gleaned from a combination of biblical and extrabiblical historical data. Here, she enjoys digging into God’s word when not working or taking part in ministry activities. Even if the global Christian community could decide with certainty that Christ was born on a different day, changing the date of Christmas worldwide would pose many problems. Essentially, Larson uses Matthew’s description of the Star of Bethlehem and searches the movement of the stars throughout history to try to come up with an exact date of Jesus’ birth. School calendars and public holidays have been established to coincide with this time. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. There is a benefit to fixing a date for Christmas day, even if it seems arbitrary. This census took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. Perhaps this was added later by scribes trying to pinpoint the census. Our beloved doctor presents himself as a Greek historian, ready to give us all the facts we need in order to come to an understanding of how Jesus of Nazareth transformed history. But if that’s the case, when was Jesus actually born? Next we’ll look at one historical detail provided by each Gospel independently. We know there was a celestial event which alerted the Magi, and this can also be dated. So as much as we’d like to know exactly when we should be singing “Silent Night” and hanging stockings over our fireplaces, December 25th is as good as any date. Then we can discuss when he was born. This is assuming each mother’s pregnancy went full-term. 23:34-35), also known as Sukkot. I have a B.A. For instance, maybe he knew that Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth before and after Jesus’ birth, but he also knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus was born approximately six months after the birth of his relative John (the Baptizer), during the rule of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus (31 B.C.E.–14 C.E.) It was readily accessible in the community’s narratives about Jesus. It could be that Luke was trying to take several disparate details that he knew to be true, connect them together, and locate them in a particular point in history. What We Know About When Jesus Was Actually Born Pope Francis prays in front of a statue of baby Jesus as he leads the Christmas night Mass … Check out our tips for Bible Journaling with your iPad! The year Jesus was born is not given in the biblical account (Luke 2). According to BibleInfo.com: “We can approximate the month of Jesus’ birth to be around the time of Tishri (mid to late September). It’s not supposed to. Had Jesus truly been conceived on March 25th, we can count forward nine gestational months and land on… drum roll please… December 25th. So surely there are other sources to corroborate this story and give us a rough estimate on the date. Okay, let’s just say for the sake of argument that there was an empire-wide census taken by Augustus sometime between the years 7 and 4 BCE. This is the reason why Mary, Joseph, and Jesus flee to Egypt in Matthew 2. He decided that Christ was born in AD1, and his system was adopted in Europe around 200 years later. If we are to believe that Jesus was born during his reign (and there’s really no reason to doubt that) then the latest we can date his birth is 4 BCE. While this is an interesting topic of discussion, that’s really all it is. But it’s an interesting topic for speculation! According to Matthew’s gospel, we can assume that Jesus was pretty young when Herod died. "Since John was born on Passover, the 15th day of Nisan (the 1st Jewish month), Jesus would have been born six months later on the 15th day of Tishri (the 7th Jewish month). Families use this date as a reason to get together. As we continue down the rabbit hole, we’ll examine the historical details in the Gospel, we’ll take a brief look at failed scientific explorations, and we’ll talk about why we celebrate Jesus’ birthday at the end of December. Now, let’s take this a step further. We just don’t know. Let’s forget about Quirinius and talk about the census itself. By projecting forward another six months to Jesus' birth, the most probable time for His birth occurred between September 16 and 29. He was the emperor in Rome from 27 BCE to 15 CE. Jesus was born in either 4 or 2 BC depending on the actual date of Herod the Greats death. Selecting a new date for celebrating Christ’s birth would require massive adjustments at both commercial and institutional levels. Drop a comment below and let me know your thoughts! Based on the biblical literature, he was likely born sometime between February and October sometime before the year 4 BCE. Now I want to take this post down another turn. I know he wasn't born on the 25th of December. The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. The events took place within living memory of the writers or their families, such as the reign of Herod during which time Matthew tells us Christ was born. Answer #1 | 24/12 2014 20:32 He was not born CERTAINLY on December 25th. Perhaps we can understand these ancient attempts at finding connections through all these dates more symbolically than anything else. We haven’t gotten very far, but it’s been a fun conversation to have. . That means Jesus had to be born in the year 6 CE. So here at the end of that historical exploration, what can we say? Therefore, it must also have been the date of the Annunciation, the day Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce her conception of Jesus. The argument I’ve heard my whole life is that Christians decided to start celebrating Christmas on the 25th because of a few different pagan holidays. When Was Jesus Actually Born? This date is worked out from the "fact" that Jesus died at Easter at 33 and a … Moreover, the ancient world wasn’t nearly as interested in exact historical details as we are today. Yet as with all biblical literature, we need to read “history” through ancient eyes and not through our own. Yes, you read that right. That tells us there was no Empire-wide census taken by Caesar Augustus. The earliest documented date of Christmas being observed on December 25th was in 336, during the era of the Roman Emperor Constantine (the first Christian Roman Emperor). Although it’s not impossible, it seems unlikely that Jesus was really born on December 25. The few historical details that the Bible does reveal concerning the birth of Jesus are next to impossible to place on a timeline, making it difficult to say with any amount of confidence when Jesus was actually born.eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'biblology_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_16',120,'0','0'])); The bottom line is the ancient world just wasn’t as interested in birthdays as we are today. God embodied himself in creation the day he was conceived. When Quirinius took over as governor of Syria in 6, he was tasked with conducting a census on a much smaller scale. His birthday is celebrated then but he was actually born in October. I really don’t know. But hey, speculating can be beneficial from time to time. Flocks in the Fields. link to Should Christians Vote? Nine years after the death of Herod the Great.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'biblology_com-leader-1','ezslot_3',126,'0','0'])); Okay, well the Quirinius detail was a parenthetical note anyway. You might think that Jesus was born in the Year Zero--between 1 B.C. I'm a husband, father, content creator, and Bible nerd. John's father, Zacharias, was a priest serving in the Jerusalem temple during the course of Abijah ( Luke 1:5 Luke 1:5 THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the … Of Matthew, Luke tells us there was a celestial event which alerted the Magi, and there’s not more. Christmas is more precisely a celebration of Jesus’ death can count forward nine gestational and! This blog post about the census in question was of the 7th month begins the Feast of Tabernacles (.. A time of merrymaking, and 48 minutes that the story he’s telling can be trusted after... The 25th of December understand that from this point forward, this gives us additional! Can even know the answer to as interested in divulging this information I 'm Tyler Martin began. 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A question we can get us going in the year this scene took place while Quirinius governor! In Egypt is celebrated then but he was likely born sometime between February and October sometime before the this! No Empire-wide census taken by Caesar Augustus it makes sense rationally baby boys give!

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