Was Jesus born on December 25? Probably not. Some Biblical scholars suggest his birthday was in September, others suggest April. It’s fair to say that we really don’t know. December 25^th has been the traditional day to celebrate Jesus’ birthday since the fourth century when Romans started the tradition. The 25^th of December seems to be as good of a day as any. But let’s dig a little deeper, what if Jesus wasn’t born at all? What if the whole Jesus story is allegory, metaphor, and myth? 

Hang with me on this thought experiment if you will. If your faith system relies on a substitutionary atonement theory (Jesus dies for our sins), it’s probably very difficult to imagine a world without a literal Jesus having walked among us. Because, if Jesus wasn’t born, then Jesus couldn’t die, and if Jesus didn’t die, then there was no blood to wash away our sins, and so now what? No one gets a pass to heaven? we are all doomed for hell? If this is you, please humor me with a few minutes of your time to explore the metaphor.

Myth?

From the very beginning, the Jesus story has the aura of mythology. The idea of a virgin birth was rather common in ancient mythological belief systems. Some of the names from virgin birth stories you might recognize are: Romulus and Remus, the alleged “founders” of Rome; Ra and Horus, the Egyptian gods; Dionisius and Persephone from Greek mythology; and Attis the Phrygo-Greek god of 1250 BCE who, get this, was born of a virgin mother on December 25^th and after his death, was resurrected in the Spring! Perhaps the Biblical writers wanted to make Jesus’ birth relatable to the people of the day, and “lightly” embellished the Jesus story to fit in with other common god stories of the era?

Scientifically speaking, the probability of parthenogenesis (virgin birth) among mammals, no less the human species, is as near to zero as one can statistically get. If parthenogenesis were to happen to a human, because of the whole XY chromosome thing, the offspring would most assuredly be female. What a minute, does that mean that Jesus was female at birth? That sounds like a great topic to explore in another post!

But God can do anything! Sure. I have no argument that can counter an “Appeal to God”. If blind faith enriches your spirituality, and helps you to better love yourself and others, then by all means, you do you! I happily stewed in blind faith theology for decades, so I can appreciate the comfort and warmth that lies in that kettle.  

Modern Culture?

Jesus is the Reason for the Season, right? I mean, look at the hymns and carols we sing. A few that come to mind are “Away in a Manger”, “We Three Kings of Orient Are”, and “Silent Night.” They paint such a romantic and quintessential picture of a divine birth, that it’s hard to dismiss the validity of the event as we know it today. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever been around animals enough to see an actual manger, also known as a feed or water trough, but they are gross. Ain’t no way a new mamma is going to set her newborn infant down in that filth. As far as the “three kings from orient are” goes, they weren’t kings, they weren’t from the orient, and we don’t know how many there actually were. Silent night? Even with the birthing and the animals braying, I’m going to let this one ride because I’m not ready to give up those transcendental Christmas Eve candlelight services of my youth. 

Historicity?

Unfortunately, we have very little evidence of Jesus as a real person outside of scriptural texts. Jewish historian Josephus mentions Jesus in one paragraph out of his tens of thousands of pages of writings. However, that paragraph feels very out of context and a bit forced into the surrounding text. Roman historian Tacitus writes about Jesus, and did so as a non-Christian, so presumably was offering an unbiased telling of the Jesus story. Tacitus was also a Roman Senator and as such, may have had insider knowledge of Jesus’ execution. However, his writings came decades after the synoptic gospels (Mathew, Mark, and Luke), so it is possible his accounts were merely a copy and paste of earlier Christian writings. There is a smattering of other potential Jesus references throughout the centuries, but one needs to be rather liberal in their interpretations to connect them to the story of Jesus of Nazareth. To be sure, there is evidence on both sides of the debate over a historical Jesus, but the fact remains that there is no definitive evidence to prove, without a doubt, that the Jesus story, as told in today’s Bible, is historically accurate. So, it comes down to faith, which takes us back to our original thought experiment… what if Jesus was never born at all?

What does this mean?

As we mentioned earlier, if your faith system requires that a perfect god-man walked the earth and died to wash away your sins, then it is probably paramount to you that Jesus was born on this earth. If you are using those interpretations to better love yourself and your neighbor, I don’t think there is an inherent problem with walking the path of Biblical literalism. On the other hand, if you refuse to read the Bible through any lens other than a literalistic lens, we are going to run into problems, which we will discuss at length in future posts. If you’re not held to an either/or interpretation, or if your faith system doesn’t rely on a god becoming man and dying for you, then you are likely to be okay digging into the allegorical and metaphorical possibilities of the Jesus story. 

Perhaps this is where we can glean wisdom from the cultural blending of December 25^th as both a religious and secular holiday experience. Some common characteristics we might recognize of both Jesus and Santa Clause are generosity, gentleness, joy, peace, kindness, and patience. We can practice these characteristics, modeled by both Jesus and Santa (whether real or mythical), in our own lives. We can savor the magnificence of the Jesus story as told by the Bible, the mystery of the story told in the hymns, the metaphor of the Christ among us, and the tangible experience of a 21^st century Santa Claus all at the same time. 

For me, the world is big enough for both Jesus and Santa Claus to be the reasons for the season. For me, it does not matter if Jesus was born on December 25, April 25, or September 25. For me, it does not matter if a literal human known as Jesus was born at all. I will strive to love myself and to love my neighbor with all my heart and all my soul whether the story of Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, is myth or real.

If you were presented with definitive proof that the Jesus story is all myth, would anything change in your life?