Why Sol Invictus Did Not Come Before Christmas

Every December, the claim resurfaces that Christmas is rooted in the Roman cult of Sol Invictus—the “Unconquered Sun”—and that Christians chose December 25 because it was already a pagan festival. It’s a bold idea that’s been repeated widely online.

But when you look at the actual ancient evidence, the opposite is true.

The celebration of Jesus’ birth on December 25 came FIRST, and the appearance of Sol Invictus on that date came later.

Here is the historical case, presented simply and accurately.

1. No Ancient Pagan Festival Existed on December 25 Before Christianity

Before the birth of Jesus, and for the first 200 years of the Roman Empire, there is no record of any Roman, Greek, or Eastern Mediterranean festival held on December 25.

Rome kept detailed festival calendars called Fasti, which listed:

• Saturnalia (Dec 17–23)
• Consualia (Dec 15)
• Larentalia (Dec 23)
• Kalends of January (Jan 1)
• Sol’s festivals in August and October

But nothing appears on December 25.[1]

Christmas was not imposed on a preexisting pagan holiday.
There wasn’t one.

2. Christians Used December 25 Long Before Sol Invictus Appeared on That Date

The earliest Christian writer to connect Jesus’ birth with December 25 is Hippolytus of Rome (c. A.D. 180–235). In his Commentary on Daniel, he explicitly identifies Dec. 25 as the birth of Christ.[2]

This is:

• 120–150 years before any pagan source places Sol Invictus on that date
• Before Constantine
• Before the Christianization of the empire

So the Christian date is older.

Where did early Christians get the date?

The “Integral Age” theological calculation:

• Jesus was believed to have been conceived on March 25, the same day He died[3]
• Add nine months → December 25

This theological reasoning—not pagan borrowing—produced the date.

3. Sol Invictus Was Important, But Its December 25 Date Is Late

The sun-god was indeed popular in Rome:

• The emperor Aurelian (A.D. 274) elevated Sol Invictus as an official imperial cult
• Sol imagery appears on coins and in artwork of the period
• Constantine was familiar with the cult

But here is the key:

No ancient source before the 4th century places Sol Invictus on December 25.

None.

The first time “December 25 – Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” appears is in the Chronography of 354, a Roman almanac written 80 years after Christmas is known to have been celebrated on that day.[4]

Historians are nearly unanimous:
The pagan date is later than the Christian one.

4. Modern Scholarship Has Overturned the Old Theory

In the 1800s and early 1900s, scholars such as James Frazer and Alexander Hislop sought to connect every Christian holiday to pagan origins. They speculated freely and often without evidence.

But late 20th- and 21st-century academic work—Christian and secular—has corrected the record.

Roman religion scholar Steven Hijmans concluded:

“There is no evidence that the feast of Sol Invictus on December 25 preceded the celebration of Christmas.”[5]

Yale historian Andrew McGowan:

“The idea that Christians adopted the date of December 25 from a pagan festival collapses when the sources are examined.”[6]

Today’s consensus is clear:

The idea that Sol Invictus influenced Christmas is unsupported by evidence.

5. Sol Invictus May Have Copied Christians, Not the Other Way Around

Because Christians had already begun celebrating December 25, many scholars believe that pagan Rome may have:

• added the Dec. 25 Sol Invictus festival in response to Christianity
• attempted to provide a competing alternative
• sought to strengthen imperial pagan identity

This fits Rome’s pattern of responding to Christian influence in the 4th century.

Ironically, the only historical borrowing may be
pagan Rome copying the Christians, not Christians copying pagan Rome.

6. So Why Do People Still Believe the Pagan-Origin Story?

Three reasons:

1. Old scholarship sticks around (Frazer, Hislop, 19th-century encyclopedias)
2. Internet repetition reinforces myths
3. “It feels plausible”—even if unsupported

But popular-level summaries are not a substitute for the ancient sources.

Conclusion

The historical record makes the timeline unmistakable:

• ❌ No pagan festival existed on December 25 before Christ
• ❌ No ancient writer accuses Christians of borrowing from Sol
• ❌ No evidence connects Saturnalia or Sol Invictus to Christmas
• ✔️ Christians chose December 25 first
• ✔️ Sol Invictus appears on December 25 only in the late 4th century
• ✔️ The Christian date was based on theological reasoning, not pagan imitation

Christmas did not come from Sol Invictus.
The evidence shows the opposite.

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Footnotes

[1] Beard, North & Price, Religions of Rome, Vol. 1; Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic.
[2] Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel 4.23.
[3] Thomas Talley, The Origins of the Liturgical Year (Liturgical Press, 1991), 88–90.
[4] Michele Renee Salzman, On Roman Time: The Chronology of the Chronography of 354 (University of California Press, 1990).
[5] Steven Hijmans, “Sol Invictus and the Origins of Christmas,” Mouseion (2003).
[6] Andrew McGowan, “How December 25 Became Christmas,” Biblical Archaeology Society.