True birthdate of jesus christ

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After Zechariah returned from his priestly duties, Elizabeth became pregnant with John the Baptist.

Luke 1:24-28, 31 chronicles these events, “Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, ‘Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.’ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.

The Bible gives no specific date of Jesus' birth. Additionally, the early Christian church established December 25th as the date to celebrate Jesus's birth, possibly to coincide with existing pagan festivals, such as the Roman celebration of Sol Invictus.

Some argue that this activity would have been more likely in a warmer month, implying that Jesus might have been born in a mild Mediterranean climate during the winter. And if he wasn't, why do Christians celebrate his birth on December 25 every year?

Here’s a quick breakdown of the origin of Christmas as we know it, when it’s estimated Jesus might have been born, when Christians started celebrating his birth and where some of our most beloved Christmas traditions come from.

Christmas at the White House: Where did the White House get its Christmas tree?

What if Gabriel appeared to Zechariah during his second stint in the temple six months later?

The most commonly believed theory estimates Christ’s birth to have been in the spring, based on the Bible’s mention of shepherds tending to their flock, which would have happened only during springtime.

Another theory, based on astronomy, places Jesus' birth in either the fall of 7 B.C. or the summer of 2 B.C.

According to livescience.com, this theory suggests that "the Star of Bethlehem may have been Venus and Jupiter coming together to form a bright light in the sky, a rare event that occurred in June of 2 B.C.

Another possibility is a similar conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter, which occurred in October of 7 B.C."

Why was December 25th chosen as the birthday of Jesus? Saturnalia was a Roman festival that celebrated the god Saturn and included various festivities, including gift exchanges and feasting. Historically, such censuses were conducted periodically, and there is evidence of one occurring in 6-4 BC.

Scholarly Consensus: Taking into account all the available evidence, many scholars place Jesus's birth between 6 and 4 BC, with the death of King Herod serving as a significant anchor point.

The biblical account does not give the year Jesus was born (Luke 2). And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’...And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.”

Based on the Bible text and knowledge of the priestly courses, we can estimate that Jesus was born around the time of Tishri, which falls in mid to late September.

In 1 Chronicles 24, the order of temple service is laid out by divisions numbering one through 24, with Abijah listed as eight in the rotation.

As Paul calculated on his blog, if each priestly division served for one week, with the first week of the ecclesiastical calendar landing in late March, that would put Zechariah in the temple in early June.

He finds the debate over his birthday to be intellectually fascinating and worthy of discussion, but he also thinks it misses the point spiritually.

"Maybe, just maybe, we're better leaving it open in a sense," he says. There were two dating systems at the time of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. One was his new Julian calendar, and the other calendar began with the year Rome was established: 753 BC.

To complicate matters, Julius Caesar also determined that a year would be calculated beginning with the start of complete authority by the reigning emperor at that time.

About 500 years later, a mathematically-minded monk, Dionysius Exiguus, invented the concept of AD. His purpose was to establish when Easter should be celebrated by working backward using a complicated system of his own.

But that only helps us if we know when exactly John was conceived. And how would we know that?

More Biblical Clues

Again, the Bible provides more clues. That would place Jesus' birth in March, which Paul admits is a distinct possibility.

Ultimately, how important is it to solve the mystery of Jesus' actual birth date?

Thomas Wayment is a professor of classical studies at Brigham Young University who has written about the competing theories regarding the timing of Jesus' birth.

Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.”

The St. Nicholas version of Santa was first introduced to Americans in the late 18th century, when a group of Dutch families gathered to honor Saint Nicholas’s death date and caught the attention of a New York newspaper.

“The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas),” History.com says.

Christmas is a source of joy and hope, signifying that God entered the world to bring light into darkness and offer hope to those in need.

In summary, Christmas, the celebration of Jesus's birth, remains a deeply meaningful and cherished observance in Christianity. Finally, we count forward nine more months, which is the average time it takes for human gestation, to reach Tishri (September) when Jesus was born.

What Year Was Jesus Born?

While many scholars believe Jesus was born sometime between 4 BC and 6 BC, there is no definitive historical evidence that pinpoints the exact year of his birth.

This idea is largely based on the mention of shepherds in the Gospel of Luke who were tending their flocks at night when the angelic announcement of Jesus's birth occurred. "We're celebrating an event, not a day."

We updated this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.