| To restate more precisely: It is well-established that December 25 is a highly unlikely date for the birth of Jesus. Children and people who have only a superficial knowledge of Christianity might very well believe otherwise. But they are poorly-informed. Arguments against include: a) Calendar dates are generally fuzzy from that period, particularly for events that are not formally documented. So the likelihood of anyone ever having known the correct date is very low. b) The mythology around the birth does not match the seasonal expectations for late December (more likely springtime). c) Dec 25 was chosen in 336 AD, by church decree. Prior to that, there was no holiday nor even a strong claim of any specific date. d) Dec 25 was already a festival day for pagan celebrations of Saturn (Rome) and Mithra (Persia), which was likely a factor in the choice of date, to coincide with existing customs. There are no substantial arguments in favor of December 25 being the accurate birth date of Jesus. |