1. What did December 25 originally celebrate?

For some time before the coming of Christianity, December 25 was a time of pagan celebration. The pagans knew that at this point in their calendar the shortest day and longest night had passed, that little by little the sun would rise higher and remain longer in the sky, bringing with it the promise of spring.

Prior to this day occurred the week-long Roman feast called Saturnalia (December 17-24), held in honor of the goddess Saturn. This festival brought hopes for peace, happiness, and goodness that supposedly occurred during Saturn's reign.

Emperor Aurelian (A.D. 270-275) quickly capitalized upon the heathen worship of the sun and, in the year A.D. 274, officially declared December 25 as the birthday of the Unconquered Sun (dies natalis solis invicti).

2. Was Christmas originally recognized as Jesus' birthday?

To the best of our knowledge the apostles and their immediate successors attached no significance whatsoever to the date of Christ's birth. In fact, they probably, indeed, could not have identified it had they been asked.

Historians did not begin to date history from Christ's birth until the sixth century, when a learned monk of Rome, Dionysius Exiguus, introduced the method. (In fact, Dionysius, we now know, erred in his computations and dated Christ's birth some four or five years too late in history. That's why today's books, rather than adjusting the dates for all historical events, simply list Christ's birth at about 4 B.C.)

Regardless of the year, one deduction about the day of His birth may be made. It almost certainly was not during the month of December. At least two observations lead us to this conclusion.

First, in the Middle East, December is not a month when shepherds or sheep remain in the open fields at night. Luke records, "Now in this same district there were shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch through the night over their flock, when suddenly there stood before them an angel of the Lord" (Luke 2:8, 9, NEB).

Winters in the mountain regions of Judea are not a time for flocks to be long exposed to the elements of nature. Because of the cold weather and the chilling rains, it is most unlikely that they would be outdoors.

Possibly, then, Jesus may have been born sometime after the rains of April and before those of November -- the season sheep would be found in the open fields at night. Although of this we cannot be certain.

Second, December is not a likely month for a governor to call a registration. Again in the same chapter of Luke's Gospel we find, "In those days a decree was issued by the Emperor Augustus for a registration to be made throughout the Roman world. This was the first registration carried out while Quirinius was governor of Syria. For this purpose everyone made his way to his own town" (verses 1-3, NEB, alternate footnote translation).

Since it was necessary for everyone to make his way to his own town, it is unlikely that a governor would choose winter when travel would be difficult.

Scholars since have calculated that Jesus' birth came in about 6 or 7 B.C., meaning paradoxically "Before Christ". The revised time was determined partly by the fact that Herod the Great ruled Judea when Jesus was born and history records that Herod died in 4 B.C.

In what month the birth occurred, or on what day, has been a matter of speculation for centuries. Possible dates include: January 6, February 2, March 25, April 19, May 20, October 4, November 17.

A British physicist and astronomer, David Hughes, has calculated that the date was September 17, 7 B.C., based on various scientific evidence, including that of a conjunction of two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, in the constellation Pisces on that date.

He concludes in a book that this extraordinary celestial display was the "star" seen by the distant wise men.

The 17th century German astronomer, Johannes Kepler, similarly had calculated a three-planet conjunction, including Venus as well as Jupiter and Saturn, in the same constellation in 7 B.C.

In what month, then was Christ born? No one knows.

3. How did December 25 gain its Christian emphasis?

Evidently, sometime during the early fourth century, Christians began searching for the proper day to celebrate Christ's birth.

Some churches had been celebrating Jesus' birth on January 6, others April 20, May 20, March 29, and September 29. Finally so much confusion reigned that Saint Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, about the middle of the fourth century, inquired of the Roman bishop, Julius, regarding the correct date.

Julius wrote Cyril and reported that he personally favored December 25. Obviously refusing to accept this date as valid, Cyril and the Jerusalem church continued celebrating the event for many years on January 6.

In A.D. 354, two years following the end of Saint Julius' reign, the new Roman bishop, Liberius, ordered all his people to celebrate December 25 as the correct day of Christ's birth.

With the passage of time this date became the more popular and was soon adopted by most of Christendom.

4. Christmas banned!

Much about Christmas remains veiled and puzzling. It harbors a mystery of faith and has a rather checkered history.

For more than 300 years after Jesus' time, Christians celebrated his resurrection but not his birth. The later Christmas festival was even banned in 17th century England and in early America.

The observance first begin in fourth-century Rome, timed to coincide with a midwinter pagan festival honoring the imperial army's sun god, Mithras. The December date was taken over to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

In any case, a variety of months and days have been used over the centuries in different parts of the world to celebrate the occasion. Some Eastern Orthodox churches still do it on January 6.

Christmas was banned in 17th century England when Oliver Cromwell and his puritan followers gained temporary rule, forbidding what was called the "heathen celebration of Christmas."

The holiday similarly was banned in colonial New England. Christmas wasn't made a legal holiday in Massachusetts until 1856.

5. Where did the name Christmas originate?

In the medieval ages the celebration of Christmas took the form of a special mass said at midnight on the eve of Christ's birth. Since this was the only time in the Catholic church year when a midnight mass was allowed, it soon became known in the Old English as Christes Masse (Christ's Mass), from which is derived Christmas.

6. What about Jolly Old St. Nick?

Many Christian parents wonder what to tell their children about Santa Claus. Some see red (no pun intended) when they think of that jolly old elf. Others view him as a delightful fantasy that can do no harm. But have you ever thought that Santa can provide a springboard for reinforcing young minds with the true meaning of Christmas?

For example, when a child asks, "Is Santa real?" a mother or father might answer, "No, but hundreds of years ago, there lived a man named Nicholas (later known as St. Nicholas) who gave to others because he loved Jesus. He was born in A.D. 280, and when he was still just a boy his parents died, leaving him great wealth. Early in his life he devoted himself to serving God. Later, as a bishop in Asia, he gave away much of his wealth to the poor -- especially to children. When he was persecuted and imprisoned, he always shared his meager provisions with the inmates. He believed that giving to the needy was the same as giving to Jesus. And that's what the Bible teaches us to do."

7. What is the message of Christmas?

For all of the clouded chronology and legal background of Christmas, however, the biggest mystery is in its message -- that God has entered the human race in love for it, on with it, and one of it.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth," the Bible says.

That is the mystifying core of Christmas, an awesome concept that has challenged hearts and minds since. It holds that Jesus was truly human, sharing the nature of all people, yet also truly God.

"Emmanuel... God with us," Scripture says. "The light of the world."