<P> Alexander Murray of History Today says that the celebration of Christmas as the birth day of Jesus is based on a date of a pagan feast rather than historical analysis . Saturnalia, the Roman feast for Saturn, was associated with the winter solstice . Saturnalia was held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December . The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift - giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms . It is likely that such a Christian feast was chosen for Christ's marked contrast and triumph over paganism; indeed, new converts who attempted to introduce pagan elements into the Christian celebrations were sharply rebuked . </P> <P> December 25 may have been selected due to its proximity to the winter solstice, because of its theological significance . After the solstice, the days begin to lengthen with more sunlight, which Christians see as representing the Light of Christ entering the world . This mirrors the celebration of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on June 24, near the summer solstice; John said of Jesus "He must increase, I must decrease ." John 3: 30 NRSV </P> <P> In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the Lord's Day (Sunday) was the earliest Christian celebration and included a number of theological themes . In the 2nd century, the Resurrection of Jesus became a separate feast as Easter and in the same century Epiphany began to be celebrated in the Churches of the East on 6 January . The festival of the Nativity which later turned into Christmas was a 4th - century feast in the Western Church notably in Rome and North Africa, although it is uncertain exactly where and when it was first celebrated . </P> <P> The earliest source stating 25 December as the date of birth of Jesus is likely by Hippolytus of Rome, written very early in the 3rd century, based on the assumption that the conception of Jesus took place at the Spring equinox which he placed on 25 March, and then added nine months--festivals on that date were then celebrated . 25 March would also roughly be the date of his crucifixion, which ancient Christians would have seen as confirming the date of his birth, since there was a notion that the great prophets were conceived into the afterlife on the same date they were conceived into the world . John Chrysostom also argued for a 25 December date in the late 4th century, basing his argument on the assumption that the offering of incense in Luke 1: 8--11 was the offering of incense by a high priest on Yom Kippur (early October), and, as above, counting fifteen months forward . However, this was very likely a retrospective justification of a choice already made rather than a genuine attempt to derive the correct birth date . </P>

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