Yes, Jesus Really Existed and He Was Born on December 25

Once again this year we will hear the silly suggestion that “There is no evidence that Jesus Christ ever existed.” This idea will be hooked to the long standing theory that Jesus’ birthday on December 25 was an early Christian smash and grab.

The conspiracy theory is that the early Christians hijacked the Roman mid winter feast of Saturnalia and baptized it.

Christmas and Common Sense

Let’s use some common sense.

The early Christians hated paganism. They had inherited from the Jews the conviction that the pagan gods were demons, and if you worshipped them you might become demon possessed. That’s why the early Christians would not offer so much as one grain of incense to the pagan gods. Rather than do so, they were willing to be deprived of their property, exiled, imprisoned, tortured and killed.

So, we’re supposed to believe that sometime in the third century the Christians did a complete about face and said, “Well, I guess we were wrong about paganism. Gee, what a waste all those martyrdoms were! You know, it’s going to be real popular to adopt that Saturnalia festival, that way we can keep Christianity fun, and maybe get lots more converts. Let’s do it!”