Why Dec 25? (A Different View)

Historian William Tighe disputes the contention that the celebration of Dec 25th as a Christian feast day was a competitive counter to an existing pagan celebration. His thesis, presented in an article in Touchstone Magazine, is aptly summarized in the article's conclusion:

"December 25th as the date of the Christ’s birth appears to owe nothing whatsoever to pagan influences upon the practice of the Church during or after Constantine’s time... it arose entirely from the efforts of early Latin Christians to determine the historical date of Christ’s death"

In fact, Tighe takes the surprising position that, "the pagan festival of the 'Birth of the Unconquered Son' instituted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians."

Interested? Read the article.