Date of the birth of Jesus

The date of the birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical sources and the evidence is too incomplete to allow for consistent dating.^[1] However, most biblical scholars and ancient historians believe that his birth date is around 4 to 6 BC.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] Two main approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus: one based on the accounts in the Gospels of his birth with reference to King Herod's reign, and the other by subtracting his stated age of "about 30 years" when he began preaching.

Aside from the historiographical approach of anchoring the possible year to certain independently well-documented events mentioned in Matthew and Luke, other techniques used by believers to identify the year of the birth of Jesus have included working backward from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus^[8] and assuming that the accounts of astrological portents in the gospels can be associated with certain astronomical alignments or other phenomena.^[9]

The common Christian traditional calendar date of the birthdate of Jesus was 25 December, a date first asserted officially by Pope Julius I in 350 AD, although this claim is dubious or otherwise unfounded.^[10] The day or season has been estimated by various methods, including the description of shepherds watching over their sheep.^[11] In the third century, the precise date of Jesus's birth was a subject of great interest, with early Christian writers suggesting various options.^[12] Around AD 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote:

There are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord's birth, but also the day; and they say that it took place in the 28th year of Augustus, and in the 25th day of [the Egyptian month] Pachon [20 May] ... Further, others say that He was born on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi [20 or 21 April].^[13]

The early Christian writer Lactantius wrote "the east is attached to God because he is the source of light and the illuminator of the world and he makes us rise toward eternal life". It is for this reason that the early Christians established the direction of prayer as being eastward, towards the rising sun.^[14] A late fourth-century sermon by Saint Augustine explains why the winter solstice was a fitting day to celebrate Jesus's birth:

Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.^[15]

Steven Hijmans of the University of Alberta wrote: "It is cosmic symbolism ... which inspired the Church leadership in Rome to elect the southern solstice, December 25, as the birthday of Christ, and the northern solstice as that of John the Baptist, supplemented by the equinoxes as their respective dates of conception."^[16] The Christian treatise De solstitia et aequinoctia conceptionis et nativitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi et Iohannis Baptistae ('On the solstice and equinox conception and birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist'),^[17] from the second half of the fourth century,^[18] dates John's birth to the summer solstice and Jesus's birth to the winter solstice.^[19]^[20]

^ Doggett 2006, p. 579.
^ Dunn 2003, p. 344.
^ D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo & Leon Morris. (1992). An Introduction to the New Testament, 54, 56. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
^ Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, Scribner's, 1977, p. 71.
^ Ben Witherington III, "Primary Sources," Christian History 17 (1998) No. 3:12–20.
^ Rahner 1975, p. 731.
^ "Jesus - Jewish Palestine, Messiah, Nazareth | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^ Maier 1989, pp. 113–129.
^ Molnar 1999, p. 104.
^ Pearse 2018.
^ Niswonger 1992, p. 121–124.
^ Hijmans, S.E., Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome, 2009, p. 584.
^ McGowan, Andrew, How December 25 Became Christmas Archived 14 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Bible History Daily, 12 February 2016.
^ English, Adam C. (14 October 2016). Christmas: Theological Anticipations. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1-4982-3933-2.
^ Augustine, Sermon 192 Archived November 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Hijmans, S.E., Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome, 2009, p. 595. ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3 Archived 10 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
^ Senn, Frank C. (2012). Introduction to Christian Liturgy. Fortress Press. ISBN 978-1-4514-2433-1. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
^ Roll, Susan K. (1995). Towards the Origin of Christmas. Kok Pharos Publishing. p. 87, cf. note 173. ISBN 978-90-390-0531-6. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
^ Bradshaw, Paul (2020). "The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Christmas. Oxford University Press. pp. 7–10.
^ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article "Christmas".

[FOOTNOTEDoggett2006579-1] Doggett 2006, p. 579.

[FOOTNOTEDunn2003344-2] Dunn 2003, p. 344.

[carson54-3] D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo & Leon Morris. (1992). An Introduction to the New Testament, 54, 56. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[4] Michael Grant, Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, Scribner's, 1977, p. 71.

[5] Ben Witherington III, "Primary Sources," Christian History 17 (1998) No. 3:12–20.

[FOOTNOTERahner1975731-6] Rahner 1975, p. 731.

[7] "Jesus - Jewish Palestine, Messiah, Nazareth | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 6 January 2024.

[FOOTNOTEMaier1989113–129-8] Maier 1989, pp. 113–129.

[FOOTNOTEMolnar1999104-9] Molnar 1999, p. 104.

[FOOTNOTEPearse2018-10] Pearse 2018.

[FOOTNOTENiswonger1992121–124-11] Niswonger 1992, p. 121–124.

[hijmans-12] Hijmans, S.E., Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome, 2009, p. 584.

[13] McGowan, Andrew, How December 25 Became Christmas Archived 14 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Bible History Daily, 12 February 2016.

[English-14] English, Adam C. (14 October 2016). Christmas: Theological Anticipations. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1-4982-3933-2.

[15] Augustine, Sermon 192 Archived November 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.

[Hijmans-16] Hijmans, S.E., Sol, the sun in the art and religions of Rome, 2009, p. 595. ISBN 978-90-367-3931-3 Archived 10 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine

[Senn-17] Senn, Frank C. (2012). Introduction to Christian Liturgy. Fortress Press. ISBN 978-1-4514-2433-1. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2014.

[Roll87-18] Roll, Susan K. (1995). Towards the Origin of Christmas. Kok Pharos Publishing. p. 87, cf. note 173. ISBN 978-90-390-0531-6. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.

[Bradshaw_7-10-19] Bradshaw, Paul (2020). "The Dating of Christmas". In Larsen, Timothy (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Christmas. Oxford University Press. pp. 7–10.

[ODCC-20] Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article "Christmas".

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