I am appalled by the amount of ignorance that surrounds such a well-researched historical event as the date of Christ’s birth. But fear not, it can be remedied rather quickly.
Most well researched treatises on this question start with two well-known historical dates. The first is the reign of the wicked King Herod mentioned so prominently in the Christmas story. Without question, he died between late March and early April, 4 BC, so Jesus had to have been born before then.
The Christmas story also states that Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus had ordered that all the Roman world be enrolled for a tax. Not all taxes required enrollment, or registration, in the city which was one’s “own city” and the city of his “house and lineage”. (Lk. 2:3-4) But inheritance taxes did have this unusual requirement and Caesar decreed an inheritance tax in 6 BC. Therefore, the date of Jesus’ birth had to be sometime between 6 BC and early 4 BC.
Surprisingly, the next most useful fact from the biblical account is the story of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. The Bible says that Zacharias was a priest “of the division of Abijah”. (Lk. 1:5) Because of this, an enormous amount of research has been done on the time of service by the priestly division of Abijah during this time and place.[i] This research mainly revolves around the priestly schedule set by King David as recorded in Nehemiah 12:1-7 and all the historical records of the changes in their schedule that resulted from subsequent invasions and foreign occupations of Judah. This research concludes that Zacharias’ service was during Oct. 3-10, 6 BC. So, John the Baptist was conceived on or about Oct. 10, 6 BC. This date would later be confirmed by the writings of 2nd Century church scholars and actions of the 4th Century church.
When the angel Gabriel visited Mary to inform her that Jesus would be conceived in her, Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth (Zacharias’ wife) was “in her sixth month” of pregnancy with John. (Lk. 1:36) “In her sixth month” means that Jesus was conceived about 5 ½ months after John the Baptist was conceived. So, Jesus was conceived on or about Mar. 25, 5 BC.
If Jesus was conceived on or about Mar. 25, 5BC, then Jesus was born on or about December 25, 5 BC.
December 25 was set as the date of Jesus’ birth as early as the second century by the scholarly historian and theologian Hippolytus (AD 170-235) and made official by Emperor Constantine in AD 325. It has been universally accepted as the true date of Jesus’ birth by the church universal ever since.
The suggestion that no one would call for a tax registration in winter is typical ignorant blither. The enforcement of Caesar’s decree was up to the local authorities, who knew their own weather. It is equally ridiculous to suggest that shepherds would not be out at night in the winter. (It makes me want to scream and throw something! What kind of shepherd would leave his sheep because he was cold?) This accusation is brushed aside as totally without any historical or biblical basis whatsoever. In fact, because December was the heart of one of the two short rainy seasons and grass was plentiful then, shepherds made a point of pasturing their sheep at night in December.[ii] Such loose cannons should be banned from biblical exegesis.
On December 25, 5 BC, Jesus was born under cloud of scandal, in a barn, attended by society’s lowest and then rushed out of the country to elude their murderous king. But no other birth in history has changed the world and its history more than His.
[i] http://www.nowoezone.com/NTC07.htm
[ii] http://spofga.org/ten_commandments/2012/another_false_myth_about_Christmas.php And http://nabataea.net/birthdate.html
Next: Doctrines of Demons?