Jesus is the Reason for the Season.
Only... only... Jesus was almost certainly not born on this date. He probably was born in the late winter or early spring, somewhere between 7 and 4 B.C.
The birthday of the Roman Sun god, Sol Invictus, may have been celebrated on December 25 and early Christians, in classic Roman fashion, may have co-opted the day and re-imagined it for their purposes, but the linked Wikipedia article is less certain about this than you may have expected. (The Emperor Constantine may have fought the Battle of Milvian Bridge in A.D. 312 after receiving a vision of the Christian Cross, but Constantine was not exclusively a Christian during his reign: The linked Wikipedia article is pretty darned certain that it was the Emperor Constantine who, in A.D. 321, declared Sunday, dies Solis, the Roman day of rest in honor of the Sun god.)
However the date was selected, though, today is Christmas and we here at The Blog of Days wish you and yours a merry one.
No comments:
Post a Comment