Is it a coincidence that Jesus was born on Dec.25th and so was the Greek Gods Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus?
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These are all part of the same myth.\nNot much is known about the life of Jesus as he was unimportant in his own lifetime. Subsequent generations have filled in the gaps with their own speculation.\nAs you can see from some of the answers.
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I did a little research for you:\n\nhttp://www.egyptianmyths.net/osiris.htm\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris\nhttp://sobek.colorado.edu/LAB/GODS/osiris.html\n\nOsiris, the Greeks called him Pluto or Dionysus. He was a nature god and a king, the universal lord. According to tradition he abolished cannibalism, taught the solar religion, taught men to produce grainetc., built temples with fin images and laid down strict religious laws. He also built towns, gave man civilization and invented two kinds of flute to accompany ceremonial songs. \n\nHe was always accompanied on his travels by his grand vizier, Thoth, and his nephew (or some say his son), Anubis. Isis was his wife and Horus his son. Osiris is always depicted witha greenish face and dressed in white. He carries a crook and a flail, the insignia of order and discipline, and is sometimes shown seated on a throne, surrounded by water which grows the primordial lotus. His symbol is the Djed, or tet, a stylized tree.\n\nOsiris and his sister/wife, Isis, ruled over the lands later called Egypt. They were both divinities from Heaven(?) who had decended to Earth to aid in the development of mankind. Osiris had a brother Set (likened to the Greek Typhon), and the two brothers dwelt amicably with their wives, Isis and Nephthys, in Abydos. Osiris was much loved by the people, having taught them the arts civilization; he promoted piety, good health and well-being amongst them.\n\nWhile travelling to visit south-east Asia (some accounts state India) with his wife, Osiris was suddenly summoned by his brother to return. During his absence Set had conspired with seventy-two otherswho arranged a banquet to celebrate the King's homecoming. As part of the entertainment a strange box was introduced and, one after the other, the guests tried to fit into it. Only Osiris was able to slide comfortably inside, upon which move the conspiritors shut and sealed the lid. We are told that Osiris entered this box or tomb on 7 Athyr (13 November), the very day and month when Noah was surposed to have boarded the biblical ark. The box was then thrown int the Nile (or some accounts the sea), and carried onwards by the inundation. Eventually it was caught up in a tamarisk tree.\n\nIsis, who had been visiting Chemmis, received news of what had occured. She hastily sumoned her nephew Anubis, and set out to seek for her husbands body. At Byblus she found the tree,but it was guarded by a magical power and she could not approach the coffin. As she watched, the King of Byblus came looking for a tree to serve a a column for his palace. He selected the very one that held Osiris. In vain did Isis, in her form of a dove, utter plantive cries to dissuade the men from cutting it down, so she resumed her womanly appearance and went to the palace where she became nurse to the Queen's child. \n\nBy ingratiating herself with her employers Isis was able to match the evil magic of Set and secure the coffin. But her troubles were far from over.Set heard about her deeds and artfully stole the box while she slept. He open the coffin and cut the body of Osiris into fourteen pieces, dispersing them in various places. Isis then had the task of seeking each piece. With her sister Nephyhys and her nephew Anubis she travelled far and wide until she had located every piece except the phallus. This had been eated by a oxyrhyncus (although some may say a spider). She then made a phallic likeness from wood and brought the whole body to Abydos for burial. Together with Nephthys, her sister, Anubis, her nephew, and Thoth, her uncle, Isis wept bitterly over her dead husband and chanted magically. So powerful were her tears and prayers and the occult powers of Thoth, that one member of Osiris began to evidence vitality and secured conception for the faithful wife. Osiris then ascended to Heaven from which sublime place he continued to watch over Isis while she carried and bore his only son, Horus.\n\nThis is a copy of my previo
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No one knows for sure when Jesus Christ was born, but many scholars believe it was probably around the first of October. Dec. 25 was formerly celebrated as the birthday of the pagan diety Mithras in the Roman Empire. The Emperor Constantine who legalized Christianity in the Empire in the 4th century A.D., commandeered the holiday for the Christians in his empire. You need not feel guilty, however, if you celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day as this has been a tradition all over the world for centuries and the original pagan meaning of the day has been all but obliterated by time and tradition. Hope this helps.><>Sir Brian
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Actually, its a myth that a Roman emporer set the date of Christmas.  Early Christian Churches celebrated the nativity during every month of the year, depending upon where you lived.  Both Rome and Antioch used December 25th.  There is a good argument that they chose the date to overtake the existing celebration Natalis Invicti.  It is unlikely connected to the Jewish feast of Dedication which at the time was a December feast.\n\nThe whole Church gradually adjusted its readings of scripture to place the nativity readings on December 25 and the Epiphany readings on January 6th.  This was done due to the fact that both Rome and Antioch are most ancient churches.  Additionally, Jerusalem used a different date but wrote to the bishop of Rome asking him to go to the tax office to see when the census was.  We have no reply from the Pope but shortly thereafter, Jerusalem changed its celebration to December 25.  The earliest mention of Christmas was in passing by Clement of Alexandria in the year 200.  It was celebrated either on May 20 or April 20 depending on where you were in Egypt.\n\nIt is important to understand the role of feasts like Christmas in both the early and the current Catholic calendar.  The goal of the Church is to proclaim all of the scriptures throughout the year.  As such, you can either read them in order, or order them according to important events that require contemplation.  The Church does a mixture of both.  It reads all the bible in the public proclaimation of scripture, but it also takes some passages, such as the Easter Passages and remove them from their proper order to allow people to prepare for Easter with readings and to celebrate Easter properly.  What you are seeing in the early dates was their cycle of reading scripture.
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"Jesus was born during the Jewish feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot.\nIt is happy celebration and a time of joy and rejoicing. Jesus is our joy. This makes sense."\n\nyes, it does.\n\n"That is why all the rooms were gone in Bethlehem too."\n\nactually, this probably makes sense too, PLUS with all the people from the tax thing. your explanation makes sense, and also, that might be why the Romans decidend to take taxes then, becuase the people would all be in one place anyways.\n\n"It is NOT wrong to celebrate Christ's birth any day. Just trying to let you know, he was born in the feast of joy! PRAISE HIM!"\n\nAMEN! he is worthy of praise, celebrate his love EVERYDAY!
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No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th? \n\n\nThe answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. \n\n\n \nIn Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born. \n\n\nIn northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year. \n\n\nHuge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods. \n\n\nThe tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees. \n\n\nIn 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them. \n\n\nChristmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.” \nThe controversy continues even today in some fundamentalist sects.
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Yeah Jesus definately was not born on December 25 (In the bible it mentions that the shepards and their flocks were outside when Jesus was born and obviously would not be out there if it was in the freezing winter). December 25 was the date of the Roman festival marking the 'birthday of the unconquered sun.' Christians back then wished the date to concide with it. And even if it was his birthdate do you think Jesus would be happy with how commercialized christmas is and them making money off "his birthday" (No he would turn over the table of money)
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Jesus Christ: The Real Story\n\nWas Jesus Born on Dec. 25?\n\nMost people assume Jesus was born on Dec. 25. After all, that's the date celebrated throughout the world as the day of His birth. A careful analysis of Scripture, however, clearly indicates that Dec. 25 is an unlikely date for Christ's birth. Here are two primary reasons:\n\nFirst, we know that shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at night at the time of Jesus' birth (Luke 2:7-8). However, shepherds did not remain in the fields of Judea at night during December due to lack of forage and the bad weather. According to Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, Luke's account "suggests that Jesus may have been born in summer or early fall. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night" (p. 309).\n\nSimilarly, The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary says this passage argues "against the birth [of Christ] occurring on Dec. 25 since the weather would not have permitted" shepherds watching over their flocks in the fields at night.\n\nSecond, Jesus' parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). The Romans would have known better than to have taken such a census in the dead of winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition for traveling. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating.\n\nSo if Jesus Christ was not born on Dec. 25, does the Bible indicate when He was born? The biblical accounts point to the autumn of the year (in the northern hemisphere) as the most likely time of Jesus' birth, based on details of the conception and birth of John the Baptist. \n\nSince Elizabeth (John's mother) was in her sixth month of pregnancy when Jesus was conceived (Luke 1:24-36), we can determine the approximate time of year Jesus was born if we know when John was born. John's father, Zacharias, was a priest serving in the Jerusalem temple during the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5). Historical calculations indicate this course of service corresponded to June 13-19 in that year (The Companion Bible, 1974, Appendix 179, p. 200). \n\nIt was during this time of temple service that Zacharias learned that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child (Luke 1:8-13). After he completed his service and traveled home, Elizabeth conceived (verses 23-24). Assuming John's conception took place near the end of June, adding nine months brings us to the end of March as the most likely time for John's birth. Adding another six months (the difference in ages between John and Jesus) brings us to the end of September as the likely time of Jesus' birth.\n\nAlthough it is difficult to determine the first time anyone celebrated Dec. 25 as Christmas, historians are in general agreement that it was sometime during the fourth century.\n\nThis is an amazingly late date. Christmas was not observed in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, until about 300 years after Christ's death. Its origins cannot be traced back to either the teachings or practices of the earliest Christians. To learn more about the origins of Christmas, request or download your free copy of the booklet Holidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep?\n\nHolidays or Holy Days: Does It Matter Which Days We Keep?\nTHIS PUBLICATION IS NOT TO BE SOLD. It is a free educational service in the public interest, published by the United Church of God, an International Association.\n\n© 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006 United Church of God, an International Association\nAll rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.\nScriptures in this booklet are quoted from the New King James Version\n(© 1988 Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers) unless otherwise noted.\n\nAuthor: David Treybig Contributing writers: Scott Ashley, John Ross Schroeder\n\nEditorial reviewers: John Bald, Roger Foster, Jim Franks, Bruce Gore, Paul Ki
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""Question for those who say `Jesus never existed', or `he is a myth'...? Where did the 100's of Christians in Rome come from (around 64 AD) that were tortured and killed by Nero?""\n\nFirst, plenty of people died for their faith, even if you think their faith was nonsense. Sincerity and willingness to die for what one believes in, does not mean that what one believes in is True.\n\nSecond, there are plenty of people who lived over the last 3,000+ years who definitely existed, but whose faith centered around myth, unless, of course, you think that Zeus and Jupiter, Hercules and Dionysus, among many other mythological gods, and those who followed them, were all real???
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Yes! Finally after months someone makes sense! Original christianity (not bible version) was polytheistic. Jesus taught Gods! His father in heaven is supreme god (like Brahma), then there's son of god (cosmic christ), then there's the goddess Sophia, and the creator god (Ialdaboath), and many more gods. There is mention of 35 aeons (these are very high god/goddess pairs). This is what Jesus taught and even the NT gives away Jesus' polytheism. The orthodox christians wanted "one god" so they invented "the mystery of the holy trinity". Jesus was a Pagan polytheist, and there are extra-biblical scriptures which clearly state this.
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According to our calendar system Jesus was born in 4 B.C. and died in 30 A.D. at 33 years old.\nOriginally thought to be at year 1 A.D. scholars and progressing advancement in dating recalculated for the more accurate date of 4 B.C. \n\nAll these other people here have no idea what they're talking about.
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Your maths may be a bit out - but otherwise, yes it's true.\n\nHe was 33 1/2 when KILLED on Nisan 14th (end March / start April) so was born end October or very start of November.\n\nChristmas as we know it is from the Roman festival of Saturnalia (return of the sun god) celebrated on Dec 25th. It was amagamated into the 'christain' calendar by Emperor Constantine to 'unite' his peoples - bringing pagan & early roman catholocism together.\nThe true christians of the first century did NOT celebrate Christs birth - only a memorial of his death.\n\nToday - it holds no significance in any religious field - simply a time to get drunk, eat too much & fall out with the relatives...but those who object to the roots of the celebration hold firm their convictions.
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The bible doesn't say that Jesus' birthday was on Dec 25.
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Matthew 2:1-2  Now when Jesus was born in \n          Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the \n          king, behold, there came wise men FROM THE EAST \n          to Jerusalem, 2  Saying, Where is he that is \n          born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star \n          IN THE EAST, and are come to worship him. \n\nWhat is interesting, to me, is that the wise men were IN the East, and they saw a star in the East, which means they would have traveled AWAY from Bethlehem, not towards it. Furthermore, Herod is in Jerusalem, and the wise men are sent to Bethlehem by the Eastern Star, which, again, would send them in the wrong direction::\n\n          Matthew 2:3,7-9  When Herod the king had heard \n          these things, he was troubled, AND ALL JERUSALEM \n          with him....7  Then Herod, when he had privily \n          called the wise men, enquired of them diligently \n          what time the star appeared. 8  And he sent them \n          to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently \n          for the young child; and when ye have found him, \n          bring me word again, that I may come and worship \n          him also. 9  When they had heard the king, they \n          departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in \n          the east, went before them, till it came and \n          stood over where the young child was.\n\nIf they were East of Jerusalem, or later, IN Jerusalem, and they followed a star in the East, they would not have wound up in Bethlehem......
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Does it really matter why we celebrate Christ's birth in December.\n\nk1
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We can pinpoint the time of the Messiah's birth. Revelation 12 tells of the birth of the Messiah when the constellation Virgo (the woman in the heavens) was clothed with the sun and had the moon at her feet. This tells us that Jesus was born when the sun and moon were in Virgo. In other words, at the time of the September New Moon, or shortly thereafter. This fits the autumn lambing season. Furthermore, it coincides with the season of the three Jewish feasts, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. Interestingly, the apostle John records in John 1:14 that the "Word became flesh and tabernacled amongst us." As the New Moon was on the 10th and Tabernacles on the 25th September in 3 BC, the birth of Christ would be somewhere between those dates.
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That's because now that it's a federal holiday, it has turned into a secular celebration. Christians have stolen practically all of their holiday traditions from pagan ritual.\n\nDo you honestly think Jesus was born on December 25th?\n\nChristmas isn't an exclusively Christian holiday, little miss possessive. Do you want us to stop eating, drinking, having parties, and being merry simply because you don't like the idea of us non-believers celebrating a pagan holiday?\n\nFor a Christian, you sure are spiteful. Tsk tsk.