Was celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on 25th.December chosen to counter pagan festivals?
” Christians of the late third and early fourth centuries, had been contending for the faith against pagans since the Emperor Aurelian (AD 214-275) established the Sol Invictus, the feast of the unconquered Sun, on December 25th. (“The Origins of Christmas” Joseph F.Kelly, Liturgical Press, 2004)) For Christians, Jesus is the true Sun, the Sun of Righteousness (a title derived from Malachi 4:2). In fact, Aurelian may have established the Sol Invictus because of the rising popularity of Christianity, and may have established the date of the Sol Invictus in response to Christian celebrations already occurring on that day!! Joseph Kelly also explains the connection of Christmas to the Saturnalia feast of ancient Rome. Many claim that Christmas is really just the Saturnalia festival dressed up. According to Kelly, since the festival of Saturnalia always ended at the latest on December 23, the claim that Christmas was chosen to coincide with Saturnalia is rather weak. However, since the cel
