Although the birth of Jesus Christ is presently celebrated throughout the world on December 25th, the true date of His birth is not known and in fact is not even likely to have occurred during the winter months.
The calendar in use today is inaccurate by at least four years. Most scholars believe that Jesus was born earlier than 4 BC, given the biblical and historical records of Herod the Great (Mt. 2:19), who died in 4 BC. Others believe He was born during the first term of Cyrenius (Quirinius) as governor over Syria (Lk. 2:2) – which was from 4 BC to AD 1.
So when was Jesus born? No one knows. There seem to have been too many calendar errors for anyone to be exact. The traditional date of the year AD 1 for his birth stands greatly in need of correction. Before the mode of reckoning time by the "Year of our Lord", or AD (Anno Domini), which was introduced by Dionysius Exiguus, a Roman monk, in AD 531, time was computed from the founding of the city of Rome, usually designated by AUC (Ab Urbe Condita, meaning "from the foundation of the city"). Dionysius made his New Era to begin on the first day of January in 753 AUC, because that was the year he supposed Christ to have been born. Mt. 2:1 says Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King. According to the best authorities, this monarch died a short time before the Jewish Passover of 4 BC. Some thus place the birth of Jesus between the years 5 and 6 BC; others go as far back as 8 BC.
Unfortunately, the bible does not give an explicit date for Christ's birth, so December 25th is no more the correct historical date for the birth of Jesus Christ than any other date.
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