The new year is all about change; changing habits or the way you live your life. So why not start with Christmas? Whether you celebrate Christmas or you don’t, you all know that 25th December is Jesus’ birthday - well, is it?. Sources, like the Bible, have been used to indicate to us that we have been celebrating Jesus’ birthday and Christmas all wrong.

So you are probably wondering how these sources prove this. Well, to begin, we know that Jesus’ parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke Chapter 2:1-4). Censuses like these were not taken in winter, especially when temperatures dropped below 0 degrees and roads were in terrible condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been of no benefit whatsoever.

Furthermore, we know that shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus’ birth due to the famous nativity story that is retold to us every year and Luke’s gospel. Now shepherds were not in the fields during December. According to Celebrations: The Complete Book of American Holidays, Luke’s gospel “suggests that Jesus may have been born in summer or early autumn. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night”.

In addition, The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary says this part of Luke’s gospel argues “against the birth of Christ occurring on Dec. 25 since the weather would not have enabled the shepherds watching over their flocks in the fields at night”.

The conception and birth of John the Baptist also helps to indicate to us that Jesus’ birth occurred in the autumn. It is in Luke 1 that we are introduced to John’s father, Zacharias and his mother Elizabeth.

Since Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy when Jesus was conceived, you can determine the approximate time of year Jesus was born if you know when John was born. John’s father, Zacharias, was a priest serving in the Jerusalem temple during the course of Abijah. Historical research and calculations have indicated that this course of service occurred around the 13th - 19th of June in that year.

It was during this time of temple service that Zacharias learned that his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child. After he completed his service and traveled home, Elizabeth became pregnant with John. If you assume John’s conception took place at the end of June, the end of June plus nine months brings you to the end of March. This is the most likely time for John’s birth. Now if you add on another six months (as John is six months older than Jesus) from the end of March, it brings you to the end of September which is the most likely time of Jesus’ birth.

As you can see, all these arguments lean Jesus’ birthday more to September or early autumn than December. So maybe in this new year, 2017, you should forget about the 25th December. Have your christmas presents ready for the start of September as like William Walsh said in the book, The Story of Santa Klaus, “the important fact then to get clearly into your head is that the fixing of the date as December 25th was a compromise with paganism” .