Factual? In Fact Not

No one really knows the exact day Jesus was born. December 25th was chosen by the Roman Catholic Church to honour the birth of Jesus Christ because they wanted to replace a pagan festival that celebrated the return of the sun. December 21st is the shortest day of the year, so ancient pagans chose December 25th to celebrate the coming increase of sunshine and the lengthening of days. The Roman Catholics thought the best way to be rid of an unholy day was to replace it with a holy day — hence the word holiday.

The Bible doesn't even narrow down the month in which Jesus was born. However, the Bible does give a hint: the birth of Jesus occurred during a time when shepherds lived out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night. This was commonly done from late March to early October.

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,

keeping watch over their flocks at night."

Luke 2:8

Once the grass stopped growing, there would be no more need for the shepherds to camp out in the fields. When winter came, the shepherds would bring their sheep home to live in shelters to protect them from the cold and heavy rains.

Also, the end of December would be a bad time of year for a pregnant woman and others to travel a long distance. Therefore, it would have been unreasonable for Caesar Augustus to decree that all the world should be taxed at that time of the year, forcing people to travel in poor weather conditions to their birthplace.

Over time people begin to believe that certain things are factual when, in fact, they are not.

Let's not be so quick to accept historical or traditional Biblical thoughts as truths without first studying the Word of God. We are so privileged and honoured in our society to be able to study freely the Bible for ourselves, so take the time to read God's Word daily. You will then be able to determine Biblical facts from fictional Biblical beliefs or assumptions.