Celebrating Christmas
Celebrating Christmas. P.K.Ghatak, MD No.50 The world celebrates Christmas on 25 th December to mark the birth of Jesus. But Jesus was not born on 25 th December. The Bible does not mention Jesus' date of birth, the description of the season at the time of birth was not definitely winter. The astrologers, and religious scholars by studying the appearance of a bright star on the night sky, calculated Jesus was born in between 6 th BC and 4 th BC. The ancient church in Rome decided to celebrate Christmas on 25 th December because it was already a holiday in the Roman empire. That day Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a popular winter solstice festival in honor of Saturn, their god of agriculture and harvest. First Christmas celebration. Romans celebrated Christmas in 336 CE for the first time. In Russia and other places where the Julian calendar is followed, Christmas comes 13 days behind December 25, on January 7. The Eastern Orthodox church celebrates Christmas on 7 th January. T...