History enthusiast explores, refutes myths about origin of Christmas celebrations
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The date for celebrating Jesus’s birth comes from early Church Fathers’ calculations for the date of the Annunciation, not from some corresponding pagan feastday.
Guillermo Villa-Trueba Ph.D., Hispanic outreach manager for the Missouri Catholic Conference, made that and several other points about the Christian observance of Christmas in a Spanish-language livestreamed discussion the evening of Dec. 18.
“People need to be sure there’s nothing wrong about celebrating Christmas,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba.
He pointed out that every year, people try to subvert the truth of the Catholic faith by making false statements about why Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25.
“But the date of Christmas is not a matter of faith, it is a matter of custom,” Dr. Villa-Trueba noted. “If he wasn’t born on that exact date, it would not affect our faith at all. The historical basis of Christianity would be completely unharmed.”
Nonetheless, there’s good reason to believe that Jesus was, in fact, born on Christmas.
“It mainly revolved around when Jesus was conceived, when the Annunciation took place,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba.
He pointed out that the early Christians were more concerned about when Jesus was crucified, died and rose from the dead than when he was born.
Only over time did the mystery of the Incarnation — the Son of God being born in human flesh in order to restore God’s broken relationship with humanity — grow in stature in the consciousness of early Christians.
“They started doing these calculations based on Jewish and Roman calendars,” Dr. Villa-Trueba noted. “They concluded that Jesus died on March 25.”
A widespread theory is that, adhering to the tradition that the great prophets, most notably Moses, had all died on the anniversary of the day they were conceived, the Church Fathers concluded that the Annunciation had also taken place on March 25.
That is the day when the angel told Mary that she had found favor with God, and that she would be the mother of the Savior.
With her “fiat” — “Let it be” — Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Those doing the calculations added nine months to that date, which brought them to Dec. 25 for the birth of Christ.
“More than anything, this was a way of reinforcing that nine months elapsed from the moment of the Annunciation,” Dr. Villa-Trueba stated.
Conflicting dates
Dr. Villa-Trueba graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School. He holds a doctorate in Economics and Government and master’s degrees in Public Policy, History and Canon Law.
He noted that every December brings claims that celebrating Christmas is not biblical, or that its timing is actually based on ancient pagan celebrations.
“There are basically two myths that are espoused by different factions with distinct objectives,” he said.
These claims are usually made either by religious fundamentalist groups with roots dating back to the Puritans of the early 17th century, or by atheists who identify as neopagan.
“With the atheists, although most of them actually come from a culturally Christian background, they want to show that Christianity is based on lies,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba.
They draw parallels between Christmas and the ancient Roman celebrations of Saturnalia and Sol Invictus.
“They say those pagan feasts preexisted Christmas, and that Christmas was just an attempt to rebrand or ‘baptize’ these pagan feasts in order to win over converts,” he noted.
Saturnalia was a Roman festival in honor of the God Saturn. It was celebrated on Dec. 17 and was later expanded to Dec. 23.
“Those dates don’t overlap with Christmas Day or even with any of the 12 Days of Christmas,” Dr. Villa-Trueba pointed out.
If the goal of the early Christians was to make people choose between Christmas and Saturnalia, it would make no sense to choose a different date, he noted.
Sol Invictus, also sometimes known as Natalis Solis Invicti, is Latin for “the unconquered sun.” This celebration was implemented by Roman Emperor Aurelian around 274 A.D.
“He was very hostile to Christianity,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba. “He wanted a way for the pagan cults in the empire to unite.”
So, he decided to make a public celebration of the annual rebirth of the sun.
The problem with conflating this celebration with Christmas is: Christmas was already being observed by that time.
A book by St. Hippolytus of Rome, written in 204 A.D., mentions Christmas and that it was celebrated on Dec. 25.
Another historical source, written by Sextus Julius Africanus in the early 200s, also mentions celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25.
“So, the more likely explanation here is that Christmas was gaining popularity, and the emperor wanted an alternative celebration for people to do on that day,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba.
He pointed out again that although the date for Christmas does not have pagan roots, such roots would not present a dilemma for the faithful.
“What we are celebrating is the birth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” he said. “The evidence of the events that we celebrate on Christmas is pretty clear: the birth of Jesus Christ.
“So, as long as people keep in mind the actual reason we celebrate Christmas, there is no problem with having that celebration, along with all the traditions that have come along with it,” he said.
“Even if there was a minor tradition that is pagan in origin, that would not be a sin,” he stated. “Because we do it in a way that is intended to glorify the birth of Jesus Christ.
“We make our homes, churches and public spaces beautiful and ready to greet our Savior,” he said.
The true meaning
Dr. Villa-Trueba offered several resources for people who’d like to research these matters more in-depth.
“If they want something more academic, they can consult Dr. Thomas Talley’s book, The Origins of the Liturgical Year,” he said.
“If they want something shorter and less scholarly, the Catholic Answers website has many great resources.”
Visitors to that site — catholic.com — can read well-cited articles by such Catholic apologists such as Jimmy Aken and Joe Heschmeyer.
“And if they prefer to listen in a podcast, Joe Heschmeyer has a couple of his ‘Shameless Popery’ podcasts dedicated to the origins of Christmas,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba.
“And Jimmy Aken, on his ‘Mysterious World’ podcasts, talks about several Christmas traditions.”
Not only are these things interesting from a historical and academic standpoint, they ultimately point to timeless truth.
“The Incarnation is one of the main mysteries of our faith,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba. “It’s the means by which Our Savior came to us to redeem us, to become one with us, to experience everything we experience, except sin, and ultimately to die for us and offer us the possibility to restore our relationship with God and save us through his sacrifice,” he said.
Dr. Villa-Trueba is grateful for Advent, the season of preparation to welcome Christ historically at Christmas, as well as spiritually more deeply into the heart of every believer.
“It’s great to have this Advent season to prepare, because none of us are worthy of Jesus Christ,” said Dr. Villa-Trueba. “We’re just doing our best to be ready for Christmas.”
But having properly prepared for the day when it arrives, “there’s no harm in participating in these Christmas traditions and expressing our happiness for the birth of our Savior,” he stated.
