Kingdom Tract
Society
THERE is much
evidence to prove that October 5th is the anniversary of the birth of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.
On
this date in the year 4 B.C, the Babe Jesus was born, although, ironically
enough, Christendom does not celebrate the event until December 25th, whilst the
true date is allowed to pass by without so much as a sign from the leaders of
organized religion.
The belief unfortunately persists that the
birth occurred on December 25th between the years 7 B.C. to 3 B.C. Although
those holding these beliefs appear to agree on the day and the month. there is a
certain amount of disagreement regarding the actual year.
Let us examine some of these statements
wherein December 25th is presumed to be the correct date.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th
edition) volume six and page 293, states:
“The earliest identification of December
25th with the birthday of Christ is in a passage otherwise unknown and probably
spurious, of Theophius of Antioch (A.D. 171-183) preserved in Latin by the
Madgeburg Centuriators to the effect that the Gauls contended that as they
celebrated the birth of the Lord on December 25th, whatever day of the week it
might be, so they ought to celebrate the Pascha on March 25th, when the
Resurrection befell."
“Certain Latins as early as A. D. 354
may have transferred the human birth-date (of our Lord) to December 25th, which
was then a Mithraic Feast, and is referred to by certain chronographers as
Natalis Invicti Solis, or the birthday of the unconquered Sun.”
Although we have abundant evidence that
Christianity was introduced into Britain by the Apostles themselves within the
fifth year after the Crucifixion, the so-called Christian Calendar giving the
Nativity of our Lord as falling at the Winter Solstice, December 25th, was
generally adopted by the Western Church about the third century, although the
Eastern Church did not do so until near the end of the fourth century, when it
was received from Rome with the intimation that the census role in the Roman
archives contained the date December 25th as the correct date.
St. Luke (2:2-7) records that Christ was
born when Quirinus, the Governor of Syria, commenced to enforce the Decree, of
Caesar Augustus that all the (then known) world should be taxed, and reports
that Joseph accompanied Mary to Bethlehem to be so taxed, and that whilst there
was delivered of her child.
History reveals that the Romans were averse
to disturbing Jewish Feasts and Customs, and this particular decree would
operate during the civil year which commences in Tisri, the equivalent of our
September or October. This period, falling as it did between the harvest and the
ploughing season, proved the most convenient time for the making of a register
of census.
The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was held on
15th Tisri, and this would explain why all places were filled so that Joseph and
Mary had recourse to the stables of an inn wherein the Babe was born.
Quirinus was Governor of Syria from 4 B.C.
to I B.C., and the Register was commenced during the first year of office. It
was in this year that the Feast of Trumpets was held on the seventh day of the
seventh sacred month, a Saturday or Sabbath day, and therefore the probable day
on which the Babe was born.
The Gospels state that the tidings were
given to the shepherds who were attending their flocks by night, but here again
we have evidence that it was not customary to keep the flocks out in the open
during the night after the end of October, certainly not during the winter
nights.
St
Luke (2:21-39) further records that after the Circumcision and days of
purification were ended, Mary went to the Temple at Jerusalem to present the
Babe to the Lord in accordance with Jewish custom.
It
was about this time that Herod gave orders for the destruction of all boys under
the age of two years, and St. Matthew (2.12-15) records that theAngel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, warning him to take the Babe and mother into
Egypt, as Herod was seeking to destroy Him. He further records that Jesus was
taken a journey of, roughly, 200 miles into Egypt, where He remained until after
the death of Herod.
It
is well to note here that records at our disposal show how impracticable, such a
journey would be if undertaken after mid-November, unless, of course, one
travelled via the sea route, but of this we know Joseph and Mary did not avail
themselves. At the time of this journey the Babe was about six weeks old, and
this exactly fits in with all the other known facts.
Now Herod was proclaimed king by the Romans
at the 184th Olympiad, which was a period of four years, at the end of which
were held the games that commenced the next period. The first Olympiad was
during the period of 776-772 B. C, and was reckoned as from Midsummer to
Midsummer. The end of the 184th Olympiad would therefore be Midsummer 40 B.C.
According to the celebrated historian Josephus, Herod actually reigned after the death of
Antigonus in the Autumn of 37 B.C, and he frequently states that over three
years elapsed between the Roman Proclamation and the death of Antigonus.
Josephus counted his year from Nisan to
Nisan, the equivalent of our March, and he would therefore have counted the
portion of the first year of Herod’s reign before Nisan as being one whole year,
and as he states that Herod reigned 34 years after the death of Antigonus, his
reign terminated before the Passover of Nisan 3 B.C.
Certain writers have endeavoured to prove
that Herod died on a date different from the actual date in order to prove
correct their theory that the Holy Babe was born on December 25th.
The records made by Josephus, however, are
very complete and authentic. He states that Herod burnt the Priest Matthias and
on the same night there was an eclipse of the moon. There is no record whatever
to show that such an eclipse of the moon, visible from Jerusalem during the
beginning of the year 3 B.C. ever took place, but a record does exist of such an
eclipse occurring during the night of March 12th to 13th in the year 4 B.C.
The Feast of the Passover in the year 4
B.C, occurred on April 10th, which is barely a month after the eclipse, and we
know that Herod was then alive. .
Josephus records that after the death of
Herod, the funeral preparations and the procession of the golden bier to
Herodium, together with the period of mourning, amounted to some five weeks. He
also records that as the time for the holding of the Feast of the Passover,
following the funeral, approached, there was feasting and rioting among the
populace, and the authorities were compelled to call out a regiment of soldiers
to quell such rioters.
From this it is obvious that the death of
Herod must have occurred at the beginning of the year 3 B.C. as the eclipse of 4
B.C. occurred within one month of the Passover of that year, and it has already
been shown that the period of time between Herod’s death and the Passover was
about ten weeks, so that the eclipse, death, burial, riots and Passover could
not possibly have taken place within the period of the same year.
The Jewish Megillah Taanith states that the
death occurred on Sebat 1st or January 18, 3 B.C, and with this date the records
of Josephus agree.
Referring back to St. Matthew 2:19-23, it
is recorded that another Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and
told him to return to the land of Israel, and that Joseph did take Mary and the
Babe to Nazareth.
St. Luke 2:41 states that Joseph and Mary
went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover, and it is presumed
that they attended the one held on March 31st, 3 B.C, following the death of
Herod.
The correct chronology would therefore be:
Decree of Caesar Augustus, about May, 4
B.C;
Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem for
census, late September or very early October;
The Nativity, October 5th, 4 B.C;
Presentation at the Temple (43 days after),
November 16th, 4 B.C;
Flight to Egypt, November 18th, 4 B.C.;
Death of Herod, January 18th, 3 B.C;
Funeral, mourning, etc., to February 28th,
3 B.C;
Feast of Passover, March 31st, 3 B.C.
This proves very conclusively that the
present-day Christmas celebrations do not connect in any way with the
anniversary of the Nativity.
What then, is this celebration connected
with?
Professor Waddell in his “The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and
Anglo-Saxons” produces evidence, that as
far back as 1500 B.C., certain inhabitants of Britain were Sun worshippers
similar to the ancient Egyptians of 2000 B.C., and that one of their festivals
was Natalis Invicti Solis, the birthday of the unconquerable Sun, and
such a festival was held on December 25th, which date originally coincided with
the Winter Solstice.
The “Christian” Church did not
include any festival in December, certainly not the Christmas festival, until
the end of the third century and it is presumed that this festival was probably
adopted by the Roman Church at that time when many pagans were being converted
to their faith, and no doubt it was considered advisable to hold such a festival
in order to retain them in the Roman Church.
As
we are now approaching the close of the “Latter
Days” so often referred to in the Bible, and in addition have had
days set aside for National prayer to God, seeking God’s aid to deliver us from
the trials and tribulations that now beset us, is it not a little incongruous
that we still hold on to our pagan feast days which obviously are opposed to
God, inasmuch as, through the celebrations conducted in many Churches, they lead
us to break the first and greatest commandment? We cannot expect God to deliver
us from our enemies and still continue with our idolatrous rituals. That surely
is sheer hypocrisy which the church seems all too eager to accept, inasmuch as
they have consented to both in the past; and it would appear to be high time
that the churches reconstituted their Calendar.
It
is gratifying to know that Scotland has managed to resist such pagan influence.
Let us hope that in the not-too-far future the British Commonwealth of Nations
and the United States of America will be equally sensible.
