The
logic behind the argument
The method pursued by the opponents of the
established date of Christmas - in their desire to disprove that
the 25th of December was the date on which Christ was
born - is an indirect one.
(Luke
1: 24 -26).
(24
Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid
herself five months, saying, 25 “Thus has the Lord dealt with
me, in the days when He looked upon me, to remove my disgrace
among people.” 26 Now in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth….)
In these Gospel
passages,
we see
that
the Holy Mother conceived Jesus 6 months after John was
conceived by his mother Elizabeth, therefore that must
surely indicate the difference in their ages.
To estimate the
date of John’s
birth,
they resort
to the following passage :
(Luke 1: 23, 24)
23 So
it was, as soon as the days of his officiating were completed,
that he departed to his own house. 24 Now after those days
his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five
months, saying….”
It says here that
Elizabeth conceived immediately “after the days of officiating”
of Zechariah –John’s father– in the Temple. If we therefore
locate on which days Zechariah had officiated in the Temple,
we can locate John’s day of birth from there, and thereafter,
the Birth of Jesus Christ.
From
(Luke 1: 5)
5
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain
priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah…
we find mention of
the “division of Abijah”.
This was one of the
24 “divisions”
that the
Israelites had in their priesthood. The
names and the order of these 24 divisions can be found in :
(1
Chronicles 24: 7-18)
7 Now
the first lot fell to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah, 8 the
third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 9 the fifth to Malchijah,
the sixth to Mijamin, 10 the seventh to Hakkoz,
the
eighth to Abijah,
11 the ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, 12 the eleventh
to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim, 13 the thirteenth to Huppah,
the fourteenth to Jeshebeab, 14 the fifteenth to Bilgah, the
sixteenth to Immer, 15 the seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth
to Happizzez, 16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to
Jehezekel, 17 the twenty-first to Jachin, the twenty-second to
Gamul, 18 the twenty-third to Delaiah, the twenty-fourth to
Maaziah.
There, in
verse
10,
we can
see that the division of Abijah was the eighth.
Thus, by dividing the 12 months of the year by 24, we have
15 days to each division. Zechariah’s division, therefore,
was the 8th
fortnight
of every year.
But here, another
question arises: Where do we start counting from? The
Jewish year did not start in January; this can be seen, in :
(Exodus 12: 1,2)
1
Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
saying, 2 “This
month
shall be your beginning of months; it shall be
the
first month of the year to you.
Thus,
in order to locate the time of the year of the division of
Abijah, the Protestant procedure is to calculate 8
fortnights, commencing from the middle of March, which
corresponds to the Jewish month of Nisan or Av.
So, according to these calculations, 15th March + 8
fortnights = 15th July = the end of the “division
of Abijah” and the commencement of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
Thereafter, 15th
July
+ 6
months
=
15th
January = Immaculate Conception of the Holy Mother
and
15th
January
+ 9
months
=
15th
October = the approximate date of Jesus’ Birth.
For all those who
do not know better, the above calculation seems correct and
logical. But, if one observes more closely, the errors in
calculation are revealed:
1st
error:
This calculation
is based on the sequence of “divisions” as they had
originally been ordained. But, after the destruction of
Jerusalem in
587 b.C.,
these divisions were rescinded, and the priests scattered
When they finally
returned - after their exile in Babylonian captivity – and
recommenced their officiating in the Temple, the new order
was entirely different! We can read about this in the Holy
Bible, in :
(Nehemiah 12: 1-7)
1 Now
these are the priests and the Levites who came up with
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah,
Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shechaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnethoi,
Abijah,
5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7
Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the heads of the
priests and their brethren in the days of Jeshua.
Only 4 of the 24
divisions returned.
And we see
now, that the division of Abijah is no longer the 8th,
but the 12th!
Now,
if we add
to the preceding calculation another 4 fortnights, we see that
the Birth of Jesus Christ becomes:
15th
October +
60
days
(4
fortnights) =
15th
December = the approximate date of Christ’s Birth!
It is not difficult to see
just how close
this date is to the 25th of December; and
furthermore, the 10 days’ variance can be easily explained, thus
proving that the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed born on the 25th
of December.
However,
because we
prefer to remain consistent and serious when it comes to our
beliefs, we will not indulge in this detail, although we are
tempted to disprove even this (smaller) Protestant
miscalculation.
In fact, there are
several other errors in their calculations.
2nd
error:
In
reality,
there are
no bona
fide studies
on the matter; nowhere is it written that each “division”
officiated for exactly one fortnight (fifteen days). Each
“division” was
only
one week
long –
from Saturday to Saturday – and this is the reason it only took
place twice a year.
(Flavius
Josephus “Antiquities”,
book
7, 14:7)
3rd
error:
Even
though the “divisions” went by the year, the Israelites added
one intermittent month, every 3 years. Given, therefore,
that there must have been “divisions” officiating during that
extra month, the ensuing new year would have started at a
date other than that of the preceding year.
With the above,
we mean to
show –
at least for the time being
– that
it is
not possible to pinpoint the date of the Lord’s
Birth,
and that consequently, the “evidence” based on the division of
Abijah is unfounded.
Another argument
opposing the date of Christmas is the one based on the matter of
the census, which made Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem.
This argument
asserts that it was not possible for the census to have
taken place in December, on account of the bad weather, which
would have impeded the people’s ability to travel. But here,
the
exact opposite is the case.
The season decided
for a census had to be Winter, in order to avoid
causing problems to the farmers and the stock-breeders, who
normally work intensely during the other seasons, and who would
have otherwise suffered serious financial losses.
Another assertion
is that it could not have been December, because
–according to the narration- there were shepherds keeping watch
while grazing their sheep outdoors.
First of all,
shepherds
always kept watch during the night, and furthermore, the text
does not explicitly mention that they were outdoors. Judging
by the climate of that region, we know that Winter there is
quite mild, and also, the shepherds could very well have
alternately kept watch, in shifts of small duration, throughout
the night, without suffering from chills.
A certain piece of
ancient information from Josephus tells us that the census at
the time of Christ’s Birth took place on the 9th
of the month of Shevat (This manuscript was taken by Tito,
and is guarded in a museum of Rome). The 9th of the
month Shevat coincides approximately with the 25th
of December.
However, we do not
propose to delve on this issue as one of huge significance,
because
dates
are not of importance. In the Orthodox Church, we do not
celebrate dates.
In
the Church, we preach the Gospel.
Thus, on the one day, we highlight the Birth of Christ; on
another day, the event of His Baptism; on another day, that He
was crucified for us, or, that He ascended into heaven…
All
these events could quite easily have taken place, on any other
given days of the year!
That is why,
on
“one”
day
we commemorate the Birth of Christ,
on
“another”
day we
commemorate His Baptism, and on “another” day, we remind
ourselves that He was crucified….
The disclaimers of
Christmas usually accuse Christians of indulging in
intemperance and merrymaking during that time of year;
activities that gratify only the flesh and have nothing
whatsoever to do with the event of Christ’s Birth.
Naturally, such
activities do not belong to Christian customs! Nor does the
Church condone them, given that, the morning after such
late-night shindigs, how would it be possible for one to wake up
in the morning and think about going to Church? Would they be
in a position to welcome our Lord –the very Sun of Justice- the
next morning, and to receive Holy Communion?
This kind of
festivity is obviously a habit that is entirely unrelated to
the Church, and it is at least inconsistent, to accuse the
Church of such phenomena.
In fact, it is
interesting to note
that during that period, quite a large number of the more
“fervent” Protestants (who otherwise condemn such “festivities”)
also apply themselves to similar parties, together with many
other negligent “Christians”….
Proper Christians
only rejoice over the joyous event of the Incarnation and
exchange gifts with each other, according to the words of the
Holy Bible, in :
(Nehemiah 8: 9,10)
9 (…)
This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.
(…) Go forth, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send
portions to those for who have nothing; for this day is holy to
our Lord…..
It is a fact that
the
celebration of Christmas on the
25th
of December commenced around
335 A.D.,
in the Church of Rome,
and was later adopted by the other Churches, as we can see from
other writings of the 2nd century A.D.
It must however be
stressed that this was merely the year that the date of
celebration (of Christmas) was inaugurated as a “separate”
occasion, because the fact is, that since the beginning of
the Christian Church, Christ’s Birth was always celebrated
together with the feast of the Epiphany, the Epiphany of the
Lord, on the 6th of January.
Until that time,
Christ’s Birth was celebrated together with His Baptism:
both these events being landmarks that the Lord came, and was
incarnated for our salvation.
These two events were later separated, and given two individual
dates.
This can be seen
in an Epistle by the Bishop of Nicea, John, to Zacharias the
Catholic of Armenia Major, where we learn that Pope Julius I of
Rome replied to the Bishop of Jerusalem, who had in turn written
to him: “How can I participate simultaneously in the
celebration of the Birth in Bethlehem, and the celebration of
the Baptism in the Jordan River?” To which the Pope of Rome
then replied that there is a document by Josephus that is kept
in the archives of Rome, which says that the Birth of Christ
took place on the 9th of the month Shevat (=25
December).
Finally, to those
who assert that Christians adopted an idolatrous feast-day
–which was customarily celebrated by idolaters on the 25th
of December (the birth of the god Sun)- we would like to
stress that the complete opposite occurred!
The fact is,
that
the Church sanctified that desecrated date, by substituting an
idolatrous festival with the celebration of the Sun of Justice,
Jesus Christ, for the salvation of the idolaters!
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