(Cont. from Part 1) In addition, early Christians in both the West and (apparently) the East as well believed that Jesus died on the same day of the year on which he had been conceived, which Christians also understand as a divine event (the Annunciation of Mary). McGowan points out that this use of the same date for the conception and death of Jesus is similar to ancient Jewish traditions that "creation and redemption should occur at the same time of the year."
How would this translate into a specific date for Christmas? McGowan explains:
Around 200 C.E. Tertullian of Carthage reported the calculation that the 14th of Nisan (the day of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John) in the year Jesus died - was equivalent to March 25 in the Roman (solar) calendar. March 25 is, of course, nine months before December 25 ; it was later recognized as the Feast of the Annunciation—the commemoration of Jesus’ conception. Thus, Jesus was believed to have been conceived and crucified on the same day of the year. Exactly nine months later, Jesus was born, on December 25.
In other words, the assumed historical date of Jesus' death (March 25) was used as a calculation point for his birth, based on a theological notion that identified the date of his death and the date of his conception. If he was conceived on March 25, December 25 becomes a good date for his birth.
McGowan points out the the most widely-known and popular theory of how December 25 was selected is based on the fact that the Roman Emperor Aurelian in 274 CE set December 25 as the date celebrating the virth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Son), around the same time as Roman and barbarian winter solstice festivals. In this view, setting the same date for Christmas is what we today might call a marketing decision: "If Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be open to both the holiday and the God whose birth it celebrated." (Let's leave aside the whole Christian controversy over the nature of Jesus' divinity, which wouldn't be settled for more than a century).
(Cont. in Part 3)
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