J-M's History Corner

As surprising and controversial as that claim may be, given what little information we have about when Yehoshua ha’Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah, also known as the Christ) was born, December – possibly (but not necessarily) the 25th – is a completely legitimate candidate for the time His birth. The favourite alternative to December 25th is the Feast of Tabernacles in September/October, or the Feast of Trumpets shortly beforehand in September – although several others have been proposed (such as Passover, also the day of His death). The most common objection to December is that that month, in the Northern Hemisphere (and therefore Israel) is the beginning of winter, and that it would’ve been too cold for the shepherds to be out in the field.  Some of them add that the shepherds would’ve only been out during the lambing season, in spring. It is thus with great irony that we observe that not only did Israeli shepherds primarily spend the night in the fields with the floc...

G’day, everybody!  Well, today is Christmas.  I’m sure many of you will be spending time with family and friends, opening presents, etc, etc.  It’s widely assumed (and taught) that Christmas is Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) birthday – or if not His actual birthday, at least is a celebration of His birth.  But is that actually true? One may be surprised to know that the early Christians did not widely celebrate Jesus’ birth, and disagreed significantly about the date.  Most months had proponents claiming a date in it for His birth (May 20, January 6, etc). [2]   December 25th was just one date among many.  Then, in 336 AD, the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine (who had “converted” to Christianity – albeit remaining a staunch Mithra worshiper until literally the day of his death, when he suddenly decided he wanted a baptism – but very strongly mixed paganism [you know, the stuff the Bible repeatedly warns us to AVOID] in with Christianity, maki...