We prepare gifts and treats for our friends and relatives in the spirit of Christmas because many of us believe that this coming December 25 is the 2014th birthday of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I would like to delve on Christ’s year of birth.
Allow me to quote from a website called Agape Bible Study: “In 525 AD, mathematician Abbot Dennis the Short rejected the old Roman calendar which was dated from the founding of the pagan city of Rome and established a new calendar which he dated from what he calculated as the year of the birth of Christ, which he designated as year 1 Anno Domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord.” He decided to date the beginning of the civil calendar year with Jesus’ entrance into the covenant with Yahweh according to the Law. This event was commanded since the time of God’s covenant with Abraham, to take place eight days after the birth of a male child (Genesis 17:9-12; 21:2-4) and was repeated in the commands of the Sinai Covenant with Israel (Lev 12:3). Counting December 25th as day one, which was the ancient custom since there was no concept of 0-place value, the eighth day was January 1st.” (END OF QUOTE)
Unfortunately, Church Fathers like St. Clement of Alexandria and St. Eusebius of Caesarea believed that Abbot Dennis’ calculations are not correct. Many scholars agreed with the Church Fathers and thereby rejected the calculation proposed by the Abbot.
Lunar Eclipse
Some scholars today refer to some extra-terrestrial phenomena like lunar eclipse and the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus that happened between 7BC and 2BC in the hope of finding the exact year of the Nativity.
On another hand, in Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s book, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, Benedict said mentioned that Exiguus (the inventor of Christian Calendar) “made a mistake in his calculations by several years. The actual date of Jesus’ birth was several years before.” Pope Emeritus mentioned that the actual date will fall before 1AD. This coincides with the Bible Atlas, “Making it likely that Jesus was born between 7 and 6 BC”. (Bible Atlas, Page 217)
Holman Bible Atlas
WHY ALL THESE CONTRADICTIONS?
Let it be clear that there was no official teaching on the exact year of the Nativity. There may have been proposals but those were not in the scope of the Pope’s infallibility. What we know is that Jesus was born — THAT is the point!
The Gospels and its writers never bothered to be specific on the year. Why? Because what they are telling us is that there was a man named Jesus and that He is the Son of God – and that He saved us! Forget about the exact year. That is not the aim of the evangelists. Although with the help of some scholars and yes even science, we can somehow have an idea of when it could have occurred. But it does not mean that we will just disregard the traditions handed down to us. As St. Paul writes,
“So then brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” [2 Thess 2:15]
So when somebody from a cult asks, “When was Jesus born?”, just tell them that everybody knows that that information is not supplied in the Bible. So, no one knows for sure. Therefore, the question is irrelevant and immaterial. For the exact year of the Holy Nativity is a question of WHY and not WHEN.
Let me end with this bible verse:
“Huwag mong hangaring maunawaan ang mga bagay na lampas sa iyong kakayahan,huwag mong saliksikin ang hindi mo kayang malaman. Sundin mo ang Kautusang bigay sa iyo ng Panginoon;huwag mong pagkaabalahan ang inilihim niya sa iyo. Huwag mong pakialaman ang di mo saklaw, sapagkat marami sa mga itinuro sa iyo ay lampas sa pang-unawa ng tao.”(Sirac 3:21-23)
ADVANCE MERRY CHRISTMAS PO! 
Mabuhay si Hesus, ang Haring Tagapagligtas na isinilang sa sabsaban!
Photo Credit: lelandvelasco.deviantart.com
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