Mithras to Christ: The December 25th Connection

The Birthday They Borrowed

Every year, billions celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th. Churches hold midnight masses. Families exchange gifts. The date is so embedded in global culture that few question it.

But here’s what the scholars know and rarely say:

The Bible never mentions Jesus’s birth date.

Not Matthew. Not Luke. Not any Gospel. The December 25th date appears nowhere in scripture.

So where did it come from?

Mithra. The Zoroastrian deity whose birthday was celebrated on December 25th centuries before Christianity existed.

Who Is Mithra?

In Zoroastrian theology, Mithra (Avestan: Miθra) is a yazata — a divine being worthy of worship, subordinate to Ahura Mazda. Mithra represents:

• Covenant and oath
• Light and truth
• The sun and celestial order
• Justice and divine contract
• The mediator between heaven and earth

Mithra is not Ahura Mazda, but serves Ahura Mazda — a divine figure who bridges the gap between the supreme God and humanity.

Sound familiar?

The Roman Cult of Mithras

As Zoroastrian concepts spread westward, Mithra evolved into Mithras — the central deity of a Roman mystery religion that flourished from the 1st to 4th centuries CE.

Mithraism was enormously popular among:

• Roman soldiers
• Merchants
• Imperial administrators
• The Roman elite

Mithraic temples (Mithraea) have been found across the Roman Empire — from Britain to Syria, from Germany to North Africa.

Key Features of Mithraism:

1. Born on December 25th — the winter solstice (by the Julian calendar)
2. Born of a virgin — from a rock, symbolizing miraculous birth
3. Shepherds witnessed his birth — and brought gifts
4. Performed miracles — especially involving light
5. Had 12 companions — representing the zodiac
6. Celebrated a sacred meal — bread and wine with initiates
7. Promised salvation — eternal life to followers
8. Died and was resurrected — ascending to heaven
9. Would return at the end of time — to judge humanity

Every single element appears in Christianity. Every single one predates Christian usage.

The December 25th Evidence

The Chronography of 354 CE

The earliest documented Christian celebration of December 25th as Jesus’s birthday appears in the Chronography of 354 — a Roman calendar compiled for a wealthy Christian.

This is over 300 years after Jesus’s death.

Before this, early Christians celebrated various dates:

• January 6th (still used by Eastern Orthodox)
• March 25th or 28th
• Various spring dates

There was no consensus because no one knew the actual date.

The Coincidence Problem

The Chronography of 354 also records that December 25th was the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti — the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.”

This was a Roman festival honoring:

• Sol Invictus (the sun god)
• Mithras (whose birthday was the same day)

The winter solstice — when the sun “dies” (shortest day) and begins its “rebirth” (days lengthen) — was sacred to solar deities across the ancient world.

Christianity adopted the date precisely when it needed to compete with established solar worship.

What the Church Fathers Admitted

Early Christian writers acknowledged the connection:

Augustine (354-430 CE): “We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of him who made it.”

Why would Augustine need to make this distinction unless Christians were celebrating on a day already associated with sun worship?

Pope Leo I (440-461 CE): “It is so much the custom for some to worship the sun… that before entering the basilica of St. Peter, they turn round and bow down to the rising sun.”

Even after centuries of Christianity, Roman Christians still reflexively honored the sun on this date.

The Parallel Features

Virgin Birth

Mithras: Born from a rock (petra genetrix) — miraculous, non-sexual origin Christ: Born of a virgin Mary

The “rock birth” may seem different, but the function is identical: divine figure enters the world through miraculous, non-natural means.

Shepherds at the Birth

Mithras: Shepherds witnessed his emergence and brought offerings Christ: Shepherds came to the manger and worshipped

This parallel is so exact that scholars have debated it for centuries.

Twelve Companions

Mithras: Often depicted with twelve figures (zodiac signs) Christ: Twelve disciples

Sacred Meal

Mithras: Ritual meal of bread and wine with initiates Christ: Last Supper; Eucharist of bread and wine

The Mithraic sacred meal was called a “sacramentum” — the Latin word Christianity adopted for its rituals.

Death, Resurrection, Ascension

Mithras: Killed the cosmic bull, ascended to heaven, will return Christ: Crucified, resurrected, ascended, will return

Mediator Between God and Humanity

Mithras: Bridge between Ahura Mazda and the world Christ: “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)

The Scholarly Consensus (That They Whisper)

Mainstream scholars acknowledge:

1. December 25th has no biblical basis — the date was chosen centuries later
2. The date coincides with pagan solar festivals — Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, Mithras’s birthday
3. Christianity adopted pagan elements — to ease conversion and compete with existing religions
4. Mithraism and Christianity competed directly — in the same Roman cities, for the same converts

What they avoid saying clearly:

Christianity didn’t just borrow a date. It borrowed an entire symbolic vocabulary from a Zoroastrian-derived religion.

The Direction of Influence

Some Christian apologists argue: “Maybe Mithraism borrowed from Christianity.”

This fails for several reasons:

1. Timeline: Mithra appears in the Avesta centuries before Christianity. The Roman cult of Mithras was established before the Gospels were written.
2. Geography: Mithraism spread from Persia westward. Christianity spread from Palestine westward. Mithraism arrived in Rome first.
3. Archaeology: Mithraic temples predate Christian churches in many Roman cities.
4. Logic: Why would a Persian-origin mystery religion borrow from a small Jewish sect?

The influence flowed from Zoroastrianism → Mithraism → Christianity.

Why This Matters

1. Christmas Is Persian

The most widely celebrated holiday in the world — Christmas — is built on a Zoroastrian foundation:

• The date (Mithra’s birthday)
• The symbolism (light conquering darkness)
• The virgin birth narrative
• The shepherds and gifts
• The sacred meal

When you celebrate Christmas, you’re celebrating a Zoroastrian-derived festival.

2. Christianity Competed by Absorbing

Early Christianity faced a choice: fight existing religions or absorb them. It chose absorption.

December 25th wasn’t an accident. It was strategy. Take the popular festival, keep the date, change the name.

3. The Pattern Repeats

This is the same pattern we see with:

• Jewish absorption of Zoroastrian theology after the Exile
• Islamic absorption via Judaism
• Western civilization’s absorption via Christianity

The source is always obscured. The borrowed elements are always renamed. The debt is always denied.

The Light Returns

There’s a deeper truth here that transcends the borrowing.

The winter solstice really is when light “returns” — when days begin to lengthen after the longest night. Ancient peoples marked this moment because it mattered. The sun’s return meant survival.

Zarathustra taught that Ahura Mazda is Lord of Light and Wisdom — that light represents truth (Asha) and darkness represents the lie (Druj).

Mithras, as a solar deity, embodied this light.

When Christians celebrate the birth of the “Light of the World” on the winter solstice, they’re participating in a truth older than Christianity:

Light returns. Truth persists. The darkness does not overcome it.

This is Zoroastrian theology. Whether people know it or not.

Conclusion

December 25th was Mithra’s birthday first.

The symbolism — light conquering darkness, miraculous birth, sacred meal, death and resurrection, final judgment — was Zoroastrian first.

Christianity didn’t create this framework. It inherited it, adapted it, and claimed it as original.

Two billion people celebrate Christmas. They’re celebrating a Zoroastrian holy day with the names changed.

The fire of Mithra still burns in every Christmas candle. The light of Ahura Mazda still shines in every nativity scene.

They just forgot who lit the flame.

Asha prevails — even on December 25th.

Sources

Ancient Sources

• Avesta (Mihr Yasht — Hymn to Mithra)
• Plutarch, Life of Pompey
• Justin Martyr, First Apology
• Tertullian, De Corona, De Praescriptione Haereticorum

Primary Documentation

• Chronography of 354 CE
• Calendar of Philocalus

Scholarly Sources

• Cumont, Franz. The Mysteries of Mithra. Dover, 1956
• Clauss, Manfred. The Roman Cult of Mithras. Routledge, 2000
• Beck, Roger. The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire. Oxford, 2006
• Boyce, Mary. Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Routledge, 1979
• Roll, Susan K. Toward the Origins of Christmas. Kok Pharos, 1995

On Christian Adoption of Pagan Elements

• Hijmans, Steven. “Sol Invictus, the Winter Solstice, and the Origins of Christmas.” Mouseion, 2003
• Talley, Thomas. The Origins of the Liturgical Year. Liturgical Press, 1986

At eFireTemple, we trace the light to its source. On December 25th, remember: Mithra was born first. The fire came from Persia.