They are closely related, however, if for no other reason than the fact they occur so close together. In a way, this seems to suggest that natal celebrations of Christ were more closely associated in Rome with natal celebrations of Sol Invictus whose supposed birth date these two figures share, rather than Saturnalia which runs December 17-23. In another section of the Chronography of 354, the Depositio Martyrum, states "Eighth day before the kalends of January Birth of Christ in Bethlehem Judea." Kalends being the first day of the month, so counting back, that gives us December 25. It makes somewhat sense to have such a festival at the time of the year after all, following the winter solstice, the sun starts its return in to the northern hemisphere. The the Calendar of Filocalus found within the Chronography of 354 states on December 25 "Birthday of the unconquered, games ordered, thirty races." The "unconquered" here is of course Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, NOT Jesus but a Roman sun deity. The earliest example of a December 25 Nativity comes from the mid-fourth century CE. For other Christians, this day became associated with the feast of the Epiphany. Several different communities celebrated the Nativity on January 6, as many orthodox Christians still do today. Celebrations in different communities take place in April, May, January, March, December. Early examples of celebrations of the Nativity seem to emerge around the early 3rd century CE, but these celebrations are widely varied in when they occur. From a liturgical calendar perspective, it would be no surprise that Easter and the days leading up to it were of most importance.Ĭhristmas, or any celebration of the Nativity, were not present in early worship practices among Christians, or at least don't appear in early sources which list feast days. Even Sunday celebrations were fundamentally Paschal celebrations, with the focus being on the remembering (or anamnesis) of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The earliest examples of Christian liturgical celebrations all deal with Jesus' death and resurrection. Neither specify the date, month, or even season of Jesus' birth.
Only Matthew and Luke include any infancy narrative, and they disagree on so much.
John doesn't really talk about Jesus' birth but does talk about the incarnation of the Word in the first chapter, and this reading is often selected for Christmas Eve services. Mark doesn't mention his birth at all, rather starting the gospel at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. If we look to the gospels, the canonical record of Jesus' life, we find details about his birth somewhat lacking. Because the incarnation necessarily means things like conception and birth, it is natural for such celebrations to occur when the early church conjectured the date of Jesus' birth. To discuss any possible ties with Saturnalia, we need to take a few steps back and look at it from a larger perspective first.Ĭhristmas, or as it is properly known by many ordos in the west as The Nativity of Our Lord, is fundamentally a celebration of the incarnation of the Son. Christmas is a complex festival with a complex history.