7 Answers

Because a hot toddy wouldn't  be the same in July

beside spending time w/ family and get gifts, I enjoy celebrating 12/25 because I rejoice in the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus

The celebration of Christ. If it was April third the meaning would be the same.

I'm with @ed shank, we would celebrate the same even if the date were different. That's not the point. We all collectively celebrate on Dec. 25, doesn't mean we stopped celebrating the actual birth...........

Was Christ Born on December 25th?

Christ was born in the fall of the year. Many have mistakenly believed He was born around the beginning of winter—December 25th! They are wrong! Notice the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition: “It was custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain.” The first rains began in early-to-mid fall. Continuing with this same quote: “During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the first rain began early in the month of March-esvan, which answers to part of our October and November [begins sometime in October], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact…See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.”

Luke 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Note that they were “abiding” in the field. This never happened in December. Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night.

Numerous encyclopedias plainly state that Christ was not born on December 25th! The Catholic Encyclopedia directly confirms this. In all likelihood, Christ was born in the fall! A lengthy technical explanation would prove this point.

Since we now know that December 25th was nowhere near Christ’s actual birthdate, where did the festival associated with this date come from?

Now read this quote under “Christmas”: “In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birthdate of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edit. Vol. II, p. 903).

A final quote about the selection of December 25th as the birthdate of Christ is necessary. Note an article in The Toronto Star, December 1984, by Alan Edmonds, entitled, “We owe a lot to Druids, Dutch”: “The Reformation cast a blight on Christmas. By then, of course, clever ecclesiastical politicians had adopted the Pagan mid-winter festival as the alleged birthdate of Jesus, of Nazareth, and thrown in a few other Pagan goodies to make their takeover more palatable.”

December 25th was not selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It was selected because it coincided with the idolatrous pagan festival Saturnalia—and this celebration must be carefully examined. In any event, we do not know the exact date of Christ’s birth. While God certainly could have made it known, He chose to hide it from the world’s eyes!

The chuch selected this time because it fell on the Roman Solstice festival and helped them assimilate more people into the church.

According to the Christmas Encyclopedia, December 25 evolved not from the Bible but from pagan Roman festivals held at year’s end. Those festivals included the Saturnalia (a celebration in honor of Saturn, the mythical god of agriculture), and the combined festivals of two sun gods. Both birthdays were celebrated on December 25.

The history of those festivals stepped in worship of false idol gods was overlooked in the year 350 when Pope Julius I declared December 25 to be Christ’s birthday. He did this even though the Bible does not give the date of Jesus’ birth. The Encyclopedia of Religion states that the Nativity (Christmas) gradually absorbed the rituals of those pagan celebrations. Images of the sun coinciding with the sun-god worship were increasingly used in relation to Christ, and the old solar disk became the halo of Christian saints.

Would God want us to overlook the pagan origin of Christmas and still celebrate it? What did the early Christians do, many of whom even walked with Jesus when he was on the earth? They NEVER celebrated his birth on any date. Rather, in obedience to Jesus’ command, they commemorated only his death. (Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Some may still wonder does the pagan connection to Christmas really matter. It does to God. How do we know?

1 Corinthians 10:20, 21 (NIV) says: 20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Furthermore, Jesus Christ said that “the TRUE worshipers will worship the Father with spirit AND TRUTH.” (John 4:23) In order for our worship to be acceptable to God, it cannot mix the unrighteous things of false god worship.