There are, even today, differences of opinion and uncertainties regarding the date and year of Christ's birth. The majority of Christians all over the world celebrate Christmas on December 25th. However, there are certain Eastern Churches which celebrate Christ's birthday on January 6th.

What is the reason for this difference? Which is the correct date on which Christ was born? We naturally wonder. To find an answer we must understand a little about the origin of Christmas celebrations.
 
 

It was from 4 AD onwards that Christians began celebrating Christmas. In the list of holidays published by Valentinianus in 389 AD, only Sundays and Easter were mentioned. It is clear that Christmas was not celebrated at that time. We might think it is very strange that Christians took so long to begin celebrating Christmas. There were chiefly two reasons for this.

In the first place, Christians did not give as much importance to the birth of Christ as to his passion, death and resurrection. This was but a natural evolution, as is evident from the preaching of the Apostles who gave the most importance to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. The earliest of the New Testament books to be written also adopted this stance. The very first Gospel to be written, namely, St Mark's , begins with events like John the Baptist's preaching and Jesus' baptism. The Evangelist does not refer to Jesus' birth or his hidden life. It is only in the Gospels of Luke and Mathew, which took shape later, that Jesus' birth is narrated. And that, together in four chapters only. And to add to it, there are many differences in the two narratives. The reason is their different theological orientation. The basis for the celebration of Christmas is the infancy narratives in these two Gospels.

St Paul's epistles, too, do not refer to the birth of Jesus. It can be logically inferred that another reason for the delayed beginnings of Christmas celebrations, was the severe persecution of the early Church. In the Roman empire the festival of the sun god (Sol Invictus) was celebrated during the winter solstice. This fell on December 25th. Popular opinion holds that this festival was substituted by another . That was how the Christmas celebrations began. Besides, it was only fitting that the birth of Jesus ,the Sun of Justice, should be celebrated on this day. This is a valid proof that the Church has been, right from the very first centuries, trying to shape and develop Christian belief and observances, in keeping with the culture and traditions of each country and era. We must not forget that the relevance of such an inculturation is on the increase even today.

There are various arguments extant to show that December 25th has been accepted as Christmas day. This is the opinion of the historian Usener. Originally Christmas was celebrated on January 6th. In Rome Pope Liberius transferred Christmas day to December 25th in 353-54 AD, and fixed January 6th as the feast of the Epiphany. This arrangement gradually spread from Rome to the Eastern countries.

The opinion of the historian Duchesne is quite another. Right from the beginning, the Western church celebrated Christmas on December 25th and the Eastern church on January 6th. In course of time the majority of the Eastern churches adopted the date followed by the Western church.

We can neither fully accept nor reject these two lines of argument. However, it is clear that there was no common agreement in the early Church regarding the date of Christ's birth.

When Jesus was born the shepherds were tending their flocks in the fields- so says Lk 2:8. In Palestine the best time for tending sheep is in February-March. Some, therefore, think that Jesus was born at this time. There are certain Christian churches that celebrate Christmas on March 25th.
 
 

It has been possible to calculate the year Jesus was born in the light of the Gospels and historical documents. The Evangelists say Jesus was born during the time of Herod. Herod's reign lasted from 37BC-4 BC. It was in fear of this Herod that Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with the infant Jesus. (cf Mt 2:1; 2:15-19; Lk 1:5).Herod died on April Ist in 4 BC, according to the Jewish historian Josefus. St Luke says in his Gospel that Jesus' birth took place during the census undertaken as per the orders of Augustus Caesar (Lk2:1-2). Augustus Caesar ruled over the Roman empire from 30 BC -14 AD . Another indication is that this first census was carried out when Quirinios was the governor of Syria (Lk 2:2). Quirinios had twice taken the census. The Evangelist is referring to the first one. This was between 7BC and 6 BC. That Jesus was born between 7 BC an d 6 BC, is the inference of scholars. The above -mentioned facts confirm this conclusion.

Jesus' birth was not in at a time when a clear demarcation was made between BC and AD .This division of history was made in 6 AD only by the scholar Dionysius Exiguus. The variation in the date of Jesus' birth was due to an error of calculation by this scholar. Actually the beginning of the era of Christ should have been calculated, and fixed earlier by six or seven years.

St Luke says in 3:1-23 that Jesus was about 30 years old during the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign. Dionysius Exiguus took these 30 years literally and calculated the year of the Lord. In the Bible '30' is a symbolical number. An individual becomes eligible for God's service when he completes 30 years (Num 4:3; 2 Sam 5:4; Ez 1:1).St Luke must have stated that Jesus was about 30 according to this tradition . The Evangelist does not say 'exactly 30 years', but only ' about 30'. It was in 14 AD that the reign of Tiberius Caesar began. During the 15th year of his reign Jesus must have been more than 30 years.
 
 

We do not know exactly when Jesus was born. It is not necessary for our faith, either. Undoubtedly, it is fitting that the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25th (festival of the sun god), for Christmas is the feast of light. The Bible portrays the Incarnation of Christ as the advent of light. "Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life'" (Jn 8:12). Also St Paul says, "Let us live honorably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness; not in quarrelling and jealousy" (Rom 13:13).
It is God's eternal love that we recall and celebrate in Christmas. The Incarnation is not something that happened once and for all ,long ago. Jesus must be born in us each day. Only then will there be meaning and relevance in our Christmas observances and celebrations. That is why, perhaps, the Lord has not given us any exact detail regarding his date of birth. "Jesus may be born a thousand times in the stable at Bethlehem ; but if he is not born in me, his birth has no meaning for me" - this saying by great men merits our reflection.