Conventional wisdom for years has asserted that the December 25th date for Christmas is borrowed directly from the Roman Saturnalia (winter solstice celebration). But Mark Shea defies this by claiming that the Saturnalia was not celebrated until long after Christians were celebrating Christmas on December 25th. In fact, he argues that it was the pagans that stole it from us, in an attempt to restore the dominance of paganism. He points out, for example, the exacting arguments from the Fathers who argue from Scripture and history for the date of Christ's birth, not from the Roman Saturnalia.
I always wondered, anyway, why it seemed so late for a winter solstice celebration. I can see calculation inaccuracies pushing it to the 22nd or thereabouts, but four days seems to be quite late for an advanced society to celebrate the solstice. You'd think even by measuring the length of the day you'd get a hint by the 23rd that light was increasing.
In any case, I'm going to reserve judgment on this one until I see more solid evidence. The Saturnalia theory has been around a long time and no doubt reviewed by many objective historians and anthropologists (if that's the right word). I'd like to see those same experts start to formally recognize the validity of this theory.
