Question
Why is the celebration of Christmas designated for December 25th?
Answer
Christians began to celebrate Christmas about 200 A. D. but on different dates because the exact date of His birth was not known. In 354, December 25 was declared to be the birthday of Christ by the Catholic Church and 440 the Pope decreed that Christmas should be celebrated on that date. The church at Constantinople for a while observed it on the 6th of January and it is still used by some Eastern Orthodox churches.
It perhaps never crossed their mind that if God had wanted us to celebrate His birth, he would have told us the date and day, but he did tell us to celebrate Christ death, burial, and resurrection each and every Lord’s day. Acts 20:7 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 .) When God told the Jewish people to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy”, they understood that it meant EVERY Sabbath day. The same goes for the Lord’s Day and the Lord’s Supper…upon the first day of every week.
By Danny Stanford
