25th. of december is a conventional date for the birth of Christ. when was it signaled as such and by whom? what is the difference between the christian, muslim, jewish and chinese calendars?

-- ENRIQUE ORTIZ (eaortiz@yahoo.com), January 13, 1999

Answers

Please read the two "introduction" paragraphs on web page "http://www.scborromeo.org/biblestu/xmasmidn.htm" for the most common explanation of the use of December 25, followed by a fairly new and revelutionary explanation, which is more fully "fleshed out" by these notes from "30 Days" magazine -----

"December 25 is an historical date," Professor Tommaso Federici, Professor at the Pontifical Urbanian [?Urban] University and a consultant to two Vatican Congregations, has stressed. In an article in the Osservatore Romano on December 24, he wrote: "December 25 is explained as the 'Christianization' of a pagan feast, 'birth of the Sol Invictus'; or as the symmetrical balance, an aesthetic balance between the winter solstice (Dec. 21-22) and the spring equinox (March 23-24). But a discovery of recent years has shed definitive light on the date of the Lord's birth. As long ago as 1958, the Israeli scholar Shemaryahu Talmon published an in-depth study on the calendar of the Qumran sect, and he reconstructed without the shadow of doubt the order of the sacerdotal rota system for the temple of Jerusalem (1Chronicles 24, 7-18) in New Testament times. Here the family of Abijah, of which Zechariah was a descendant, father of John the herald and forerunner (Luke 1, 5), was required to officiate twice a year, on the days 8-14 of the third month, and on the days 24-30 of the eighth month. This latter period fell at about the end of September. It is not without reason that the Byzantine calendar celebrated 'John's conception' on September 23 and his birth nine months later, on June 24. The 'six months' after the Annunciation established as a liturgical feast on March 25, comes three months before the forerunner's birth, prelude to the nine months in December: December 25 is a date of history."

Question asked: "what is the difference between the christian, muslim, jewish and chinese calendars?"
Quick answer: Christian calendar is right, while all others are wrong.

Long answer (from various web sites):
The "western" Christian (Gregorian) calendar is based on the motion of the earth around the sun, while the months have no connection with the motion of the moon. The counting {before Christ = B.C., in the year of the Lord = A.D.} is based on the assumed birth year of our Savior -- though scholars now think that Jesus was born not in 1 A.D., but in about 4 B.C.. We are about to enter 2002 A.D.. Thanks to scholars catching an error (with the correction approved by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582), the western Christian "Julian" calendar (renamed Gregorian) was permanently fixed and is (wisely) used also by the Greek and Romanian Orthodox Christians. But the calendar used by the Russian and other Eastern Orthodox Christians is still the "broken" Julian mess, since those folks have been unwilling to accept the correction approved by a pope! [The Anglican Communion also clung to the broken calendar until the late 1700s, for the same reason.] As a result, the Orthodox calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, and the gap continues to grow by about one day every 128 years. Because of this stubbornness, the Orthodox are now celebrating Christmas on January 7 and New Year's Day on January 14.

In the Jewish calendar, the years are linked to the motion of the earth around the sun, and the months are linked to the motion of the moon. The counting is always "positive," beginning from the assumed year of the creation of the universe, 3761 BC. So Jews would say that they recently entered the year 5962 AM (anno mundi = year of the world).

The Islamic calendar is based on the motion of the moon, while the year has no connection with the motion of the earth around the sun. The counting begins from 622 A.D., the year of Muhammad's journey ("hegira") from Mecca to Medina (in Arabia, not Ohio). So Muslims think that they are in the year 1422 A.H. (anno hegirae = year of the hegira). [Since 622 plus 1422 = 2044, you can see that an Islamic year contains fewer than 365 days.]

The Chinese calendar is based on exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon. The Chinese calendar - like the Hebrew - is a combined solar/lunar calendar in that it strives to have its years coincide with the tropical year and its months coincide with the synodic months. Chinese years can be numbered (based on our 2637 B.C. being the year that their calendar was invented) or can be given as one of 60 two-part names (the first component being one of ten "celestial stems" and the second being one of twelve kinds of animal). Chinese people say that they are in the year 4699, which is the 18th year of the 78th sixty-year cycle (or "xin-si" = 8th-stem/snake). The year 4700 will start on February 12, 2002 (i.e., "ren-wu" = 9th-stem/horse).

The Hindu calendar is based upon the start of something called the Saka Era (78 A.D.). So Hindus think that we are in the year 1923 SE.

The Sikh religion is pretty new. Their calendar is based on the start of something called the Khalsa Era. So Sikhs think that we are in the year 303 KE.

The Baha'i calendar began when "the Bab" (a supposed "prophet herald") declared that a new "Manifestation of God" would shortly appear. The beginning of the Baha'i Era occurred in 1844 CE. The Baha'i calendar has 361 days per year, so their folks think that we are in the year 157 BE.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock ...

-- (~@~.~), December 29, 2001.