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WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?: M. M. NINAN<br />
Thus unlike what is generally stated – even from learned pulpits –<br />
Bible clearly indicates the date of birth of <strong>Jesus</strong> in terms of the Hebrew<br />
Calendar – in terms of both the Civil and the Religious Calendar.<br />
Vision of Zachariah could not have been on any other day than the Day<br />
of Atonement and the birth of <strong>Jesus</strong> 430 or so days after that. In any<br />
given year if we follow the Hebrew Calendar this falls in our modern<br />
calendar rendering in December/ January period. Calendars have<br />
always in modification and differed from culture to culture that it will<br />
be impossible and meaningless to state a day and date.<br />
The Orthodox Churches continues to follow the older Julian calendar,<br />
according to which Christmas falls on Jan. 7. which is 13 days ahead of<br />
the Gregorian Calendar.<br />
Hippolytus (170–236) gave the date of <strong>Jesus</strong>’ birth as December 25<br />
which must have been a long cherished tradition, which <strong>was</strong> taken up<br />
by Dionysius.who really remade the calendar for the churches.<br />
Dionysius’ argument went as follows:<br />
His contemporaries claimed that God created the earth on March 25.<br />
Therefore <strong>Jesus</strong> must have been conceived on March 25.<br />
This meant that he must have been born nine months later—<br />
December 25.<br />
<strong>When</strong> the calendar system of Anno Domini <strong>was</strong> first introduced by<br />
Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of the new<br />
year to March 25, since according to Christian theology, the era of<br />
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