We have record of celebrations of Christmas on Dec. 25, from Pope St. Telesphorus (c. 125-136), the seventh bishop of Rome, St. Theophilus (AD 115-181), bishop of Caesarea, St. Hippolytus (170-240), Pope Liberius (352-66), St. Gregory Nazianzus (d. 389), and St. Ambrose (d. 397) ([[De_Montor2009-uh]], [[Schaff2017-bd]], [[Schaff2017-rf]], [[Chisholm2017-ay]], [[Schaff2007-pp]]). The dating of Christmas was placed by early Christians. Church Fathers such as John Chrysostom, Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome attested to 25 December as the date of Christmas. ([[English2016-zl]]). There has been two traditional ways that this date has been chosen. The first is based off an old Jewish notion that a Holy man would live a whole number of years, so his death would be the same day of year as he conception. The second is calculating the day as based off the story of Zachariah and the Annunciation of Mary in Luke's Gospel. > [!Info]+ ### Calculation 1: Annunciation of Mary > >Considered academically "a thoroughly viable hypothesis" ([[Roll1995-na]]), this dating comes from the Luke 1. We know the dates that Zachariah served in the Temple as September based on [[Vermes2004-tj|The Dead Sea Scrolls]], 1 Chronicials 24:7 as well as records from Christian historians dating AD 221 ([[Schaff2017-cc]], [[Saunders2013-mq]], [[Friedlieb1887-gz]], [[Talmon1991-nr]], [[Bonneau1998-nb]]). Six months later the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26). Three months after the announcement John the Baptizer was born around June 24, right after the summer solstice when the days were becoming shorter. Nine months from the Angles announcement would be just after Winter solstice when the days become longer on December 25th ([[Barrack2007-ub]]). > [!Info]+ ### Calculation 2: The Death of Christ > >Another way the Christmas has been dated is by using the day Christ was killed on the cross as the starting point. There is an old Jewish belief that a holy man/ Prophet would live a whole number of years, dying on the same day they were conceived, called by some apologist the integral age theory ([[Anonymous2021-cw]]). There is also an idea seen in sources like the Talmud that Creation and Redemption should happen on the same day. ([[Rodkinson2018-qf]]). > >The Early Christians that used this method came upon 2 dates for Christmas, January 6th and December 25th due to disagreements on whether to use the Hebrew or Greek calendar for the 14th of Nisan as the day of Christ's Death ([[Schaff2017-jn|Irenaeus]],[[Schaff2017-mm|Tertullian]], [[Schaff2017-rf|Hippolytus]]). Eventually, the day was moved to December 25th and January 6th became the celebration of the Wise Men that visited Jesus - The 12 Days of Christmas ([[Hill2003-sx]], [[Cameron2014-la]], [[Weiser1958-iv]], [[Talley1991-aw]]). > [!quote] [[Church2017-mx]] >By 388 C.E. the December 25 date had been imported into the Eastern Church as well by John Chrysostom who gave a sermon claiming, >>“Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... the eight before the calends of January [25 December] ..., But they call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord ...? Or, if they say that it is the birthday of the Sun, He is the Sun of Justice…" ([[Martindale1908-ky]], [[Roy2005-fu]] , [[Wainwright2006-am]]). > So, by the mid-3rd Century Christian writers had based the conception of Jesus on the vernal equinox leading to a birth date of December 25 ([[Duchesne1919-nx]]); [[Neil_Alexander1994-iz]]; [[Roll1995-na]]; [[Talley1991-aw]]; [[Wybrew2000-uz]]; [[noauthor_2022-uf]]; [[Roy2005-fu]]; [[Senn2010-ot]], [[Senn2012-bw]]; [[Rothenberg2011-qa]]). By the middle of the 4th Century, liturgical feasts had been marking the date for some time and had almost certainly been doing so before the ascension of Constantine to the Eastern and Western thrones in 312 C.E. The celebration of Christmas on December 25th is rooted in early Christian tradition and supported by historical records from figures such as Pope St. Telesphorus, St. Theophilus, and St. Hippolytus, among others. The date was chosen based on interpretations of biblical events and Jewish traditions, notably the annunciation to Mary and the concept of the 'integral age theory,' which suggests a prophet lives an exact number of years, aligning Christ's conception and crucifixion. Additionally, calculations based on Zachariah's temple service and Gabriel's announcement to Mary further support December 25th as the date of Jesus' birth. Despite debates and the existence of other potential dates, the adoption of December 25th was reinforced by church leaders like John Chrysostom and eventually became widely accepted within the Christian community, shaping the liturgical calendar and influencing Christian theology and practice.