How Christmas is Celebrated: Its Significance, History, and Wishes

Early Christians recognized the concept of Jesus’ birth and observed it as two separate things. During the early years of Christianity, the first 200 years or so, many people rejected the idea of the birthday celebration of paganism. They spoke against celebrating the birthdays of saints and martyrs because the days they died were their real spiritual “birthday.”

The actual reason for choosing December 25 as Jesus’ birthday is unknown. The New Testament does not report it. The date was first introduced by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221, and then later it was adopted by most of the people. It has been particularly associated with a traditional theory that December 25 was the date of connection with the Roman holiday dies solis invicti nati, that is, “day of the birth of the unconquered sun. Over time, Christian writers linked this idea of the sun’s rebirth with the birth of Jesus, the “Son.”

However, this theory creates a problem because the early church worked hard to distance itself from pagan customs. It seems unlikely they would take up a pagan festival so easily.