Actually, No. The Jews had a tradition that prophets died either on the anniversity of their births or the anniversity of their conception. Christians, not knowing the actual date of Christi's birth, adopted this tradition.The celebration of the Nativity has been either 25 December or 6 January, depending on which date one assigns to the Crucifixion.
>> Actually, No. The Jews had a tradition that prophets died either on the anniversity of their births or the anniversity of their conception. Christians, not knowing the actual date of Christi's birth, adopted this tradition. <<
Why do you presume that the Jews were wrong? The Catholic Church still follows this belief, setting the date of the Immaculate Conception on Marsh 25. You've really only demonstrated another prophetic proof of the date of Jesus' birth.
By the way, I had a housemate who had been big into astrology. She one day asked me, "Is there any chance they put Christmas on the wrong day?" I asked her why and she told me: "Because from what I figure about Jesus' personality [she had just watched The Passion of The Christ] and who he was and all that, I worked out when the planets seem to predict something big like that. But I get March 25th, 4BC. "
I long ago renounced astrology, and she has since, also. (I think the movie had a BIG impact on her.) But hey, the wise men were astrologers...
Oh, yeah... and you do know that Saints' feast days are on the "heavenly birthday." IOW: the day they died.