Article written by Clare Merry October 2025
- When was Jesus born?
- Is there any significance to the timing of his birth?
- What gave rise to the title ‘Lamb of God’?
The 25th December
We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on the 25th December. It is, however, generally agreed that Jesus was not actually born on this day.
The first record of celebrating the birth of Christ is found in the Roman calendar of 354 AD. The new Christian festival replaced the old pagan feast of Sol Invictus – the Invincible Sun. The pagan festival was supposed to be celebrated on the shortest day of the year. The winter solstice occurs on the 21st December, but it was mistakenly celebrated on the 25th December.
Europe was Christianized not by removing pagan festivals from local communities, but by replacing the significance of the festivals with events in the life of Christ. Patron saints were also swapped in with similar names to replace gods and goddesses at places such as springs. For example, the warm thermal spring in Buxton was dedicated to the Romano-British goddess Arnemetia. Her name meant ‘beside the sacred grove’. Catholics later changed the dedication of the well with curative waters to St Ann’s Well. St Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary. The name Anne sounds like an abbreviation of the name Arnemetia, but this is the only association.
My investigation with this article is to ascertain when Jesus was actually born. The significance of this will become apparent to Jewish believers and to those who see Christianity as firmly founded in Judaism and the Jewish awaiting of the appearance of a Messiah.
Merry and True 