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A Question of Christmas
A question asked on the Whirligig Message Board recently elicited the following responses!
Jeremy (Question) - I'm not going to start any arguments here, but how do we know that Jesus was born on Christmas day, as in those days there weren't any calendars?
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Jim
(Answer) - I think you may very well start some good
arguments with this subject, because it IS all very subjective
and very much allied to one's beliefs.
There certainly were calendars in use long before the time of the
supposed birth of Jesus. They just weren't the same as the one we
use today. People just didn't suddenly start counting from the
supposed date of birth. And they certainly weren't counting
backwards to some supposed future event.
The Romans had a 10 month year, which explains why we have months
called September (septem = 7, and was the seventh month), October
which derives from octo meaning 8, and November from novem
meaning 9. Also, July and August were added in celebration of
Julius and Augustus.
August was originally called Sextilis, as the sixth month, and
was renamed in 6 BC in honour of Augustus, the first Roman
emperor, whose "lucky" month it was. July was
originally called Quintilis, the fifth month, and was renamed
July by Mark Anthony in honour of Julius Casear. As you can see,
both of these changes were effected before any holy birth.
Any definitive answer to the possible birthday of Jesus, if there
is a birth date, would be unlikely to be forthcoming. The current
date of Dec 25 was only decided in 440 AD, by the Church, and was
the then day of the winter solstice and had been a day of
festival among heathen peoples. In England, this day was also the
start of the new year for the Anglo-Saxons.
The Church decided it was better to take over an existing day of
celebration for the non-believers and let their religion take
over old religious practices.
I would also think that any attempt at working out the correct
date would be compounded even further by the fact that much of
what one reads in the bible is amassed from many disparate
sources, most written long after any event that may have taken
place.
I think many religious scholars have come to their own
conclusions about events from the Christian calendar and possible
dates. I recall one seventeenth-century Archbishop, James Ussher,
who claimed that he had analyzed all of the writings and texts
and had worked out that the final day of the creation of this
world occurred on October 28th, 4004 BC. How accurate is that?
Ussher calculated the dates of other biblical events, concluding,
for example, that Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise on
Monday 10 November 4004 BC, and that the ark touched down on
Mount Ararat on 5 May 1491 BC 'on a Wednesday'.
As I said, all very subjective and very much allied to one's
personal beliefs. I'm sure we'll get many more postings on this
subject.
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Stephen (Question) - Message to Jim: l've learned something today. So how many years ago is 4004 BC?
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Jim (Answer) - 6006 years ago, Stephen. Certainly b*ggers up the dinosaur theory, doesn't it?
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Stephen (Question) - How did you work that out?
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Jim
(Answer) - Well, I considered using Planck's Quantum Theory but
decided that it was too hypersensitive to space/time continuum
deviations. I next thought of following the tenets of Descartes,
who by his usage of the credo, cogito ergo sum, allowed for the
influx of nebulous prognostications in complex and higher
additions. However, his sum proved to be a total failure in this
particular avenue of theoreticisation.
Most other formulaic routes proved inconclusive, but a reference
to the embryonic works of Pliny the Elder led me to a more
rational method of primary calculation. I worked on the premise
that constant progression of positive time references within a
sphere of circumlutory annual single-digit accumulation, when
cross-referenced to a single-point timeframe encapsulation,
should in theory be semi-complementary to an alternate, yet
reversed annual time reflux.
I then thought, s*d that for a game of soldiers and I added 2002
to 4004 and did it the easy way.
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Robin
(Question) - Jim, Having read, and been deeply impressed by your
posting - I would be really pleased if you could help in solving
a couple of small, but somewhat technical problems? Unfortunately
these has been bothering me for some considerable time.
With Reference the Ark landing on Mount Arafat on Wednesday, May
5th 1491 BC, it would be of immense help if you are able to let
me know whether this event took place in the A.M. or P.M. Also,
was British Summertime in force during May that year?
This information would help to enhance my reputation as a Noah
all.
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Jim
(Answer) - Recent research into the arrival of Noah’s Ark at
Mount Ararat has revealed some startling facts. Although arriving
on the afternoon of the Wednesday, it had actually been scheduled
to arrive some thirty-six hours earlier. It would appear that an
ongoing industrial dispute at Spanish Ark Traffic Control had
caused the vessel to remain on the apron at Mount Sinai
International Arkport.
Loss of its sailing slot meant a delay of some six hours while
EasyArk staff attempted to reschedule its launch. Leaving Mount
Sinai some ten hours after its proper departure time meant that
it was rerouted via Caesarea and Judaea, with resultant loss of
in-flight olives and this led to an unfortunate incident where
all of the duty-free wine was turned into water.
The ensuing riot caused by fans returning from the annual Sodom
and Gomorrah Champions’ League match, meant further hold-ups
while the ship was cleared of locusts and frogs. Further delay
ensued when they encountered Moses and the Tribes of Egypt who
were attempting passage across the Red Sea and had collected at
the Sangatte Camp while awaiting deliverance from unbelievers and
a package of benefits.
Finally arriving at Ararat late on Wednesday morning, it was
discovered that they were to be put in a holding pattern as UK
One was due to touch down, containing the President of the World
and his twelve disciples, Prescott the Philistine, Blunkett the
Bashful and Cook the Incomprehensible.
Once this vessel had cleared customs, Noah and Co were finally
allowed to touch down. However, an unfortunate mix-up concerning
pet passports meant that the whole cargo had to be shot and
burned in case they were suffering from foot and mouth.
As a footnote to the whole sorry affair, Noah made enquiries at
Lost Property as to the whereabouts of the raven that he had
released earlier and was pointed in the direction of Prescott the
Philistine who was belching loudly and spitting out black
feathers.
In answer to the second part of Robin’s query regarding the
use of summertime in our calculations, I would point out that the
whole episode took place in 1491 BC – Before Clocks!
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