One of my favorite Christmas songs goes: “Oh tell me when was Jesus born?” But the gospels offer no date for Jesus’ birthday. Some people say we only celebrate it on December 25 because it is close to the date of the winter solstice, and Christian evangelists wanted to reach non-Christians who celebrated various feasts around that time. But the real reason is more complex, with intertwined cultural, historical, and theological factors.
We have no solid evidence for when Jesus was born. The early church did not seem overly preoccupied with this, and the earliest gospel, Mark, does not mention it. Culturally, however, early European traditions determined many of the first Catholic customs. So as Christianity expanded, Roman and Germanic festivals that accompanied the longest night of the year and the return of the sun became important. It is not coincidence that Christmas occurs near the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.
But there is more to it than that. The birth date of Jesus is directly connected to attempts to calculate the death of Jesus. According to tradition, as attested and calculated by Tertullian (around the year 200), who used the Gospel of John as his source, Jesus was crucified on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. This translated to March 25 of the Roman calendar. In the theological symbolism of the time, which saw patterns and rhythms in salvation history just as in the natural world, it made sense that the dates of Jesus’ conception and death would coincide, since both are essential for salvation. And, if March 25 was the day of conception, then nine months after that would be the date of birth: December 25. St. Augustine verified this method of calculation in the early fifth century.
Catholicism’s understanding of time is connected with our ideas about salvation, just as many of the church’s most important debates at the Great Councils (Nicaea, Constantinople, Chalcedon) hinged on questions pertaining to salvation. Teachings on the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the natures of Christ, and the role of Mary were at the forefront of the church’s concerns. How each of these was understood and defined through doctrine had a direct bearing on our beliefs about humanity’s salvation through God in Jesus. It should be of little surprise that a symbolic, theological understanding rooted in salvation in an early Christian historical context led to December 25 becoming the birthday of Jesus for the Latin church.
So on December 25, we celebrate Christmas. Jesus is born and thus the possibility of salvation through Christ entered the world. Unless, of course, you mark that moment from his conception. Or from Mary’s conception. Or connect it to local customs. Or . . . well, that’s for another column. Merry Christmas!
This article also appears in the December 2025 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 90, No. 12, page 49). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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