> This week, English Heritage shared a post on social media claiming that the date of Christmas derived from a pagan festival honouring the late Roman sun god Sol Invictus. The insinuation — that Christians appropriated this festival, rather than having a very real reason to celebrate on this date — is appalling.
The bible doesn't specify Jesus's birthdate. By the 2nd-3rd centuries, Christian thinkers tried to infer a date symbolically. One influential idea was that great prophets died on the same calendar day they were conceived. Jesus's crucifixion was placed on March 25 in Roman dating. If conception = Mar 25 then birth = 9 months later, on Dec 25.
This date was also useful because it aligned with existing Roman festivals: Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unocnquered Sun) and close to Saturnalia (a popular midwinter festival).
As Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, placing Jesus's birth on an already-festinate date made cultural adoption easier. Christ was also framed symbolically as the true light replacing the sun.
Not all Christians chose December 25. Some early Christian communities celebrated Jesus's birth on Jan 6 (now Epiphany) and some Eastern churches still observe Christmas on January 7 due to calendar differences.
> Britain is no longer a uniformly Christian country in terms of belief or practice, for better or for worse, but it remains a Christian country by its formation.
Christianity shaped Britain by:
- preserving literacy after Rome
- creating institutions of law, education, and governance
- legitimizing kingship and the state
- structuring time, landscape, and daily life
- embedding moral concepts still felt today
The original Britons were the ancient Celtic peoples who lived in Britain long before the Roman conquest. Major tribes: Iceni, Trinovantes, Brigantes, Catuvellauni, Dumnonii.
Rome conquered much of Britain (43 - 410BC), with Christianity spreading late in the Roman period. After Rome withdrew, Anglo-Saxons (Germanic peoples) settled in England, assimilating or pushing Brittonic peoples west (except certain regions where they remained dominant).
Christianity reshaped Britain slowly but profoundly. Christianity created English institutions: literacy & education, law & kingship, time itself (calendars), architecture.
Christianity shaped British culture: morality and social norms (charity, conscience, sin & repentance, marriage as a moral institution); social reform (abolition of the slave trade, education for the poor, hospitals and charities).
Christianity unified Britain culturally across ethnic divides, provided a shared story, symbols, and moral language. It shaped the English language itself (biblical idioms everywhere). Even modern secular Britain uses Christian legal frameworks, inherits Christian ethics, retains Christian ceremonies (coronations, oaths).
> This week, English Heritage shared a post on social media claiming that the date of Christmas derived from a pagan festival honouring the late Roman sun god Sol Invictus. The insinuation — that Christians appropriated this festival, rather than having a very real reason to celebrate on this date — is appalling.
The bible doesn't specify Jesus's birthdate. By the 2nd-3rd centuries, Christian thinkers tried to infer a date symbolically. One influential idea was that great prophets died on the same calendar day they were conceived. Jesus's crucifixion was placed on March 25 in Roman dating. If conception = Mar 25 then birth = 9 months later, on Dec 25.
This date was also useful because it aligned with existing Roman festivals: Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Birthday of the Unocnquered Sun) and close to Saturnalia (a popular midwinter festival).
As Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, placing Jesus's birth on an already-festinate date made cultural adoption easier. Christ was also framed symbolically as the true light replacing the sun.
Not all Christians chose December 25. Some early Christian communities celebrated Jesus's birth on Jan 6 (now Epiphany) and some Eastern churches still observe Christmas on January 7 due to calendar differences.
> Britain is no longer a uniformly Christian country in terms of belief or practice, for better or for worse, but it remains a Christian country by its formation.
Christianity shaped Britain by:
- preserving literacy after Rome
- creating institutions of law, education, and governance
- legitimizing kingship and the state
- structuring time, landscape, and daily life
- embedding moral concepts still felt today
The original Britons were the ancient Celtic peoples who lived in Britain long before the Roman conquest. Major tribes: Iceni, Trinovantes, Brigantes, Catuvellauni, Dumnonii.
Rome conquered much of Britain (43 - 410BC), with Christianity spreading late in the Roman period. After Rome withdrew, Anglo-Saxons (Germanic peoples) settled in England, assimilating or pushing Brittonic peoples west (except certain regions where they remained dominant).
Christianity reshaped Britain slowly but profoundly. Christianity created English institutions: literacy & education, law & kingship, time itself (calendars), architecture.
Christianity shaped British culture: morality and social norms (charity, conscience, sin & repentance, marriage as a moral institution); social reform (abolition of the slave trade, education for the poor, hospitals and charities).
Christianity unified Britain culturally across ethnic divides, provided a shared story, symbols, and moral language. It shaped the English language itself (biblical idioms everywhere). Even modern secular Britain uses Christian legal frameworks, inherits Christian ethics, retains Christian ceremonies (coronations, oaths).