A few days ago, we saw that some people believed Jesus was born during the fall. Today I wanted to examine some support for the traditional December 25th day. First, sheep destined to be sacrificed at the Temple were kept in fields all year long. So angels could have appeared to these special shepherds. Secondly, the 9th day of Tebeth was a Jewish fast day. Yet, no one knows the origin of the fast. It falls on December 25th quite often. Some people object to the December 25th day on grounds that many pagan religions celebrated the rebirth of their sun god on or near the first day of winter (December 21). They believe that the Catholic Church, with a documented history of Christianizing local pagan customs, chose the day to make conversion more appealing.
The December 25th Theory
A few days ago, we saw that some people believed Jesus was born during the fall. Today I wanted to examine some support for the traditional December 25th day. First, sheep destined to be sacrificed at the Temple were kept in fields all year long. So angels could have appeared to these special shepherds. Secondly, the 9th day of Tebeth was a Jewish fast day. Yet, no one knows the origin of the fast. It falls on December 25th quite often. Some people object to the December 25th day on grounds that many pagan religions celebrated the rebirth of their sun god on or near the first day of winter (December 21). They believe that the Catholic Church, with a documented history of Christianizing local pagan customs, chose the day to make conversion more appealing. |
About FainnHe has a thick Appalachian accent and a magnificent beard. He is also married to Mary Ball Archives
November 2021
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