Why should we celebrate Christmas on December 25? I argue that we should celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25 for the same reason that we confess the Nicene Creed. If we believe that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us — in other words, if we believe that Jesus Christ is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God — then we should celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25.

A few days ago I pointed to Andrew McGowan’s explanation of the historical origins of the date.

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/new-testament/how-december-25-became-christmas/

My chief quibble with his explanation is that he thinks that the emperor Aurelian (ca. 274) set the feast of Sol Invictus on December 25 — when in fact Aurelian’s celebration took place in October:

http://chronicon.net/blog/christmas/sol-invictus-evidently-not-a-precursor-to-christmas/

But none of these articles actually explain why we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25. After all, it is clear from the evidence that there were people as early as 200 A.D. who believed that Jesus was born on December 25 — and yet it seems equally clear that it took another one hundred years before anyone was celebrating Christmas. Why?

I would suggest that when you overlay the Trinitarian controversy with the celebration of December 25 as Christmas, you get a very interesting picture.

Gregory of Nazianzus (author of the “Theological Orations” — an important series of sermons expounding the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity) introduced the practice of the December 25 celebration of the birth of Jesus into Constantinople in 379 (January 6 had been the previous date recognized in the East). John Chrysostom says that December 25 had been celebrated in Antioch as early as 376.

There is also the intriguing story of Nicholas, the bishop of Lyra (later known in Christmas lore as “St. Nicholas”), who is said to have attended the council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The story is told that the debate over Arius’s views grew so heated, that during the exchange Nicholas punched Arius in the face — resulting in the comment of one friend that he sees every Christmas sermon as an opportunity to join St. Nicholas in punching Arius in the face!

In other words, the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25 goes hand-in-hand with the triumph of the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity.

Now, some would say that all of this is very nice and good — but Scripture nowhere tells us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. That is true — but Scripture does tell us to commemorate the great deeds of God in history. Esther and Mordecai establish the feast of Purim to celebrate God’s deliverance of Israel from Haman. And, following this example, the Jews established Hanukkah (the feast of dedication) to celebrate their deliverance by the Maccabees. And John 10:22 tells us that Jesus went to the temple for the Feast of Dedication. John’s gospel is structured around the feasts that Jesus attended (cf. John 2:23; 4:45; 5:1; 6:4; 7:2; 10:22; 11:55; 12:1) — and John (and Jesus) treats the Feast of Dedication just like the other feasts, so no one can argue that this is a mere civil occasion. So if Jesus observed a Maccabean feast, that would indicate that he permits us to institute days of thanksgiving — or days of fasting — as needful and useful for the church.

Incidentally, this is what our Westminster Confession of Faith says in 21.5 — when it endorses the practice of “solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon special occasions, which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner.” I realize that many (though not all) of the Westminster Divines objected to the celebration of Christmas on December 25 — but the principles that they articulated leaves open the option for the church to establish special occasions of this sort.

It seems to me that if we are going to have “Reformation Day” services on October 31 — where we celebrate the reformation of the church in the 16th century — then we should also have “Nicene Day” services on December 25 — where we celebrate the triumph of Nicene Orthodoxy in the 4th century!

I have little use for trees, gifts, Santa Claus, and all the commercial hoopla that surrounds December 25. (Notice: I did not say that I have no use for such things — merely that I have little use for such things, and such little use as I have, I hope to use in loving God and neighbor through such things). But December 25, as far as I am concerned, is about rejoicing in what God did when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

–Peter J. Wallace