Date of Birth

Western Civilization is based on the Greco-Roman culture. Yes, we can look at other civilizations (e.g., Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and Persians) and note what they had to say about the importance of December 25th; however, much of Western Civilization bases its current practices as a result of prior existing Roman Institutions. As a result, it becomes necessary to discuss Yeshua's proposed date of birth in relationship in the dates that were historically proposed by the more influential factor, early Roman Society.

Who's birthday was the original cause of the pagan festival celebrate on December 25th, and what were they famous for?
In the second volume of his Primitive Culture, Edward Tyler, F.R.S. writes, “The Roman winter solstice festival, as celebrated on December 25 in connection with the worship of the Sun-god Mithra, appears to have been instituted in this special form by Emperor Aurelian about A.D. 273, and to this festival the day owes its apposite name of Birthday of the Unconquered Sun, 'Dies Natalis Solis invicti.' With full symbolic appropriateness, though not with historical justification, the day was adopted in the Western Church, where it appears to have been general introduced by the fourth century, and whence in time it passed to the Eastern Church, as the solemn anniversary of the birth of the Christ, the Christian Dies Natalis, Christmas Day.”

As far as sages and scholars have been able to calculate, what is Yeshua's actual birth date?
Since 1991, astronomers proposed April/June 5 BCE to be the date that Yeshua was born. No one challenged this proposal. It has been the only accurate detailed date that any human person was able to present with scientific facts as recorded in human history.

Does Yeshua's birth date have any significance when compared to the calendar Yahweh gave to the ancient Israelis?
According to Scriptures, the significance of the stellar observations was dependent upon the findings of those who traveled from the East to meet with Herod in Jerusalem. It really wasn’t of great significance among the Israelis of the day. Some speculate that Yeshua's birth took place on 15 Tishri, 3758, but this hypothesis is not conclusive because this date lands on the fall season of the Jewish calendar while the stellar observations made and documented in Scriptures are, as postulated by astronomers, took place in the early spring. So, the idea that Yeshua's birth took place some time during the Fall Feast Festival of Sukkot is nothing more than mere speculation.

How is it that today's society come to celebrate Yeshua's birthday on December 25th?
Concerning the solar solstices, observations were made by the early Romans. From the Twenty-Second until the Twenty-Fourth of December, the shadow displayed on the sundial would not move at all. On December Twenty-Fifth, the early Romans obsessed how the shadow would once again begin to move. Later in the 4th Century, the Roman Catholic Church began to teach that the sundial’s movements were related with Yeshua's death and resurrection even though such a memorial is made during the Passover season. During the three days that the shadow on the dial did not move, the early Catholic Church believed that these days represented the fact that Yeshua was once in the grave. It was then that the Roman Catholic Church started to hold the midnight Christ’s Mass on the 24th so that the masses could begin to observe the sundial's movement once again the following day on the 25th. Because the sundial began its motion on this day, its motion was compared to the Yeshua's resurrection from the grave. It was this association that December 25 became attributed to Yeshua's birth.

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