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Many Christians openly acknowledge that no one knows the exact day Jesus was born. The precise date of Jesus? birth is not critical, and speculation and controversy about this topic can cause Christians to lose focus.

It is important that we rejoice and celebrate the central events in the life of Jesus Christ because he is the core and foundation of our faith. When we think about and ponder his birth, there are many issues that are mysterious and profound for us. God came to us, taking human flesh, dwelling with us, so that we might be saved. He never stopped being God, but he also became human! He was born of a virgin, and began his human life as a helpless and dependent baby, just as we all do.

How and why he did all of that for us is beyond our comprehension, but it is a subject that never ceases to cause us to marvel and to worship! Every December Christians (and many others who are not Christians but hear the gospel message nonetheless) center their lives in the miracle and mystery of the birth of our Lord.

And again, no one knows the actual day that Jesus was born. Attempts to calculate an exact date often fall into two schools of thought. Both methods depend on counting from the "course of Abijah." A course was a specific time when priests served in the temple.

The first method begins with Luke 1:5, 8 where we read that Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was serving the course of Abijah in the temple. 1 Chronicles 24:7-19 indicates that there were 24 courses. The assumption is that the eighth course was the course of Abijah and that this period of service started in early June. Assuming this conclusion to be accurate, some believe that we can count forward to discover the dates of birth for John the Baptist, and then by deduction, Jesus (born about six months after John, see Luke 1:24-36).

Therefore, assuming that Elizabeth became pregnant right away, and that the pregnancies of both Mary and Elizabeth were normal in terms of length, John the Baptist would have been born in March, nine months after his conception in June. According to this calculation, Jesus might have been born in the month of September. For some, the fact that the autumn festivals of the Old Testament begin at this time adds credibility to these calculations.

When was Jesus born?

Some people have claimed that Jesus was born near the fall festivals. That is possible, but it is not proven. Luke 2:1-3 says that "everyone went to his own town to register." Why would "everyone" go to such trouble? Apparently it was required. However, it is not likely that Rome would risk a rebellion by requiring each person to go to his own city at the same time as the local religion required everyone to go to Jerusalem. Most likely, an empire-wide census would take several years, and would be administered locally, by local customs, taking into account local religious festivals.

Many people have objected to the idea that Jesus was born in December, since there were shepherds staying in the fields (Luke 2:8), and shepherds didn't normally do that in December. But the Jewish Mishnah Seqal. 7:4 reports that flocks were kept in the fields near Bethlehem, even in winter. The weather there is sometimes cold, but sometimes quite mild in December.

Besides, this was not a normal year. Everyone went to their own city for the census (verse 3), but the shepherds had not. Perhaps they were staying in the fields later than usual in order to avoid taxation. Perhaps it was because the cities were full. We do not know, but for some reason they were not obeying the order to go to their city. So it is quite possible that the shepherds were in the fields as late as December. Of course, this doesn't prove that Jesus was born in December, but it shows that the chief objection to a December birth isn't that conclusive.

In the early third century (long before Constantine), Julius Africanus and Hippol

Now shove that in your mouths.

"All my love, is Hate" -lemmy kilmister "Orgasmatron"

im glad i have this ally. SweetnSour.