The Bible doesn't directly explain why Christmas takes place in the winter. Was the Dec. 25 date really just a way to convert pagans? A story last year, republished below, examined the longstanding dispute about when and how to celebrate Jesus' birth.
Here's a thought for the harried among us who are unready for the arrival of another Christmas season: There was a time when some scholars argued that the holiday should be observed in the spring. Just imagine three more months of shopping!
It seems to us a matter of course that Christmas should come on Dec. 25. But over the past 2,000 years or so, the timing of Jesus' birth—which, as the bumper stickers like to remind us, is the original reason for the season—has generated considerable controversy. In fact, there has been enough uncertainty about when to celebrate Jesus' birthday that some Christians have chosen not to celebrate it at all.
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