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Bible scholars of many religions recognise that Jesus was not born on December 25, not just Jehovah's Witnesses. The fact is, the Bible does not tell us when he was born.

Commenting on this, McClintock and Strong's Cyclopedia 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." In other words, there is no way to figure out the exact date of Jesus birth.

Luke 2:8-11 shows that shepherds were in the fields at night at the time of Jesus' birth. The book Daily Life in the Time of Jesus states: 'The flocks . . . passed the winter under cover; and from this alone it may be seen that the traditional date for Christmas, in the winter, is unlikely to be right, since the Gospel says that the shepherds were in the fields.'

So why was December 25 chosen by the early Catholic church as the date to celebrate the birth of Jesus? The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: '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 church decided to use the Pagan holiday of the Saturnalia, which was a celebration to the sun god as the date for Christmas. Many of the customs of Christmas were actually carried over from the Saturnalia celebration, and other customs were added later from other Pagan celebrations.

The Encyclopedia Americana states: 'During the Saturnalia . . . feasting prevailed, and gifts were exchanged.' (1977, Vol. 24, p. 299) Most of the customs associated with Christmas are not of Christain origin, but can be traced back to Pagan rituals and beliefs.

Is there any objection to sharing in celebrations that may have unchristian roots as long as it is not done for religious reasons? What does the Bible say?

Eph. 5:10, 11 says: 'Keep on making sure of what is acceptable to the Lord; and quit sharing with them in the unfruitful works that belong to the darkness, but, rather, even be reproving them.'

2 Cor. 6:14-18: 'What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Be′lial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God's temple have with idols? . . . ''Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,' says Jehovah, 'and quit touching the unclean thing''; ''and I will take you in, . . . and you will be sons and daughters to me,' says Jehovah the Almighty.''

Illustration: Suppose a crowd come to a gentleman's home saying they are there to celebrate his birthday. He does not favor the celebration of birthdays. He does not like to see people overeat or get drunk or engage in loose conduct. But some of them do all those things, and they bring presents for everyone there except him! On top of all that, they pick the birthday of one of the man's enemies as the date for the celebration. How would the man feel? Would you want to be a party to it? This is exactly what is being done by Christmas celebrations.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Christmas. We do not feel that it is a Christian holiday. We do not believe that it honors Jesus, who is a mighty king, now ruling in heaven, and not a helpless baby in a manger. While we make this choice ourselves, we respect other people's right of other religions to choose otherwise. ANSWERI don't think they do celebrate Christmas. I know several people who are Jehovahs witnesses that don't celebrate. She actually isn't at school on the last few days of term before Christmas to avoid getting involved.

Jehovah's witnesses don't celebrate Christmas for the reasons given above and also because Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, not Bethlehem, so why wasnt Jesus born there? The taxes were due to be paid to Ceaser and they had to travel to do so. It would not have been expected for them to make this journey in the dead of winter, more like early autum. Im not a religious person myself but I can see the logic in the Witnesses reasoning behind not celebrating Christmas, what would be the point if Jesus wasnt born then? Although, my understanding is, that even if he was, they still wouldn't celebrate as they don't celebrate birthdays either. There are two birthdays mentioned in the bible and both resulted in murder. If the person who asked this question knows Jehovah's Witnesses who do celebrate Christmas, then they not really Witnesses as its not somthing they can pick and choose, and why bother being in a religion if you don't follow it properly? Surely if they believe in God then they believe He can see them pulling their crackers!

Also an answer:

Answer 2: The exact date of Christ's birth is not known, "says the Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. Still, millions of professed Christians around the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. Although the Bible does not give a specific date for Jesus' birth, it does provide evidence that he was not born in December. Significantly, most historians and Bible scholars reject December 25 as Jesus' date of birth. No doubt you will find such information in an encyclopedia to which you have access. Our Sunday Visitors Catholic Encyclopedia states: There is a general agreement that Jesus was not born on December 25. Hundreds of years after Jesus' death, December 25 was chosen as the date of his birth. Encyclopedia Britannica states: One widespread explanation of the origin of this date is that December 25 was the Christianizing of the dies solis invicti nati (day of the birth of the unconquered sun a popular holiday in the Roman Empire that celebrated the winter solstice as a symbol of the resurgence of the sun, the casting away of winter and the heralding of the rebirth of spring and summer. (See Jehovah's Witnesses official website for further information)

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Q: Why do Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 yet celebrate Christmas?
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