India, Dec. 22 -- Why December 25 became Christmas Day has less to do with a confirmed birthday and far more to do with belief, symbolism, and centuries of calendar debates. According to Why Christmas, the date Christians now associate with the birth of Jesus Christ was shaped by early theology, Roman calendars, and older solar festivals that already marked this moment of the year.

The Bible never gives a date for Jesus's birth. Early Christians argued about when to mark it, and for several centuries, different communities celebrated it on different days. According to Britannica, the first recorded celebration of Christmas on December 25 appears in the year 336, during the reign of Emperor Constantine. It was not yet a state festival, bu...