Who decided that Dec 25 would be the day to celebrate Christmas?

Answer 1

They dont have to decide which date Christmas would be, Christmas is allways on 25th of Dcember ;)

M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopaedia says: "The observance of Christmas is not of divine appointment, nor is it of N[ew] T[estament] origin. The day of Christ's birth cannot be ascertained from the N[ew] T[estament], or, indeed, from any other source."-(New York, 1871), Vol. II, p. 276. In other words, we cannot find the date of Jesus birth in The Bible or anywhere else, so we do not know the date of Jesus birth.

According to the Encyclopedia Americana, "The reason for establishing December 25 as Christmas is somewhat obscure, but it is usually held that the day was chosen to correspond to pagan festivals that took place around the time of the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen, to celebrate the 'rebirth of the sun.' . . . The Roman Saturnalia (a festival dedicated to Saturn, the god of agriculture, and to the renewed power of the sun), also took place at this time, and some Christmas customs are thought to be rooted in this ancient pagan celebration."-(1977), Vol. 6, p. 666. So acording to this source, December 25 was chosen because it was the date of the pagan celebration to the sun god. It also says that some of the same customs that are in the Christmas celebration came from this same pagan holiday.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia says, "The date of Christ's birth is not known. The Gospels indicate neither the day nor the month . . . According to the hypothesis suggested by H. Usener . . . and accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began its return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated the dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun). On Dec. 25, 274, Aurelian had proclaimed the sun-god principal patron of the empire and dedicated a temple to him in the Campus Martius. Christmas originated at a time when the cult of the sun was particularly strong at Rome."-(1967), Vol. III, p. 656.

The date of December 25 was established as "Christ's Mass," later called Christmas by the Catholic church some 300 years after Jesus' death. They chose as the date the corresponding date of the Saturnalia, which was already a holiday to pagan people, a day to honor the sun god, Mithra. THis celebration included the decorating of homes, exchanging of gifts, and general merry-making. They believed that the sun god went through an annual death and rebirth at this same time every year, and they celebrated the birth of the sun god each year on December 25.

Answer 2

The Roman Empire's State Church decided in the early 4th century to place Christmas on December 25, most likely to replace the existing pagan winter solstice festival that was already on that date (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti).

Answer 3

December 25 was decided upon by some early Church conference as it neatly coincided with some Roman Holiday, so the foundation stones were intact- to build the Christmas season upon.

Answer 4

Roman Catholic Church, as opposed to January 5th observed by the Eastern Orthodox.

Answer 5

Because, that is Jesus's birthday .That is the whole reason we have Christmas to celebrate Jesus's Birthday. It is not all about the presents.

Answer 6

It's what Christians belive in. They belive that Jesus was born on Chritmas day and since thier god is Jesus that is why Christmas is on the 25th of December

Hope my answer helped :)

Answer 7

So actually, a while back when Christ was born. That is the date of Christmas. But I'm atheist and I think the pope or priests, etc. made this WHOLE thing up to get money.

Answer 8

god it was Jesus birthday