Changes

[[Augustine]] argued for a solstice date:{{cquote|Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.<ref>Augustine, "[http://www.dec25th.info/Augustine's%20Sermon%20192.html Sermon 192]."</ref>}}

[[Augustine]] argued for a solstice date:{{cquote|Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.<ref>Augustine, "[http://www.dec25th.info/Augustine's%20Sermon%20192.html Sermon 192]."</ref>}}

[[Isaac Newton]] wrote on this subject as well: {{cquote|The times of the Birth and Passion of Christ, with such like niceties, being not material to religion, were little regarded by the Christians of the first age. They who began first to celebrate them, placed them in the cardinal periods of the year; as the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, on the 25th of March, which when Julius Cæsar corrected the Calendar was the vernal Equinox; the feast of John Baptist on the 24th of June, which was the summer Solstice; the feast of St. Michael on Sept. 29, which was the autumnal Equinox; and the birth of Christ on the winter Solstice, Decemb. 25.<ref>Newton, Isaac, ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16878/16878-h/16878-h.htm Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John]'', "Chap. XI. Of the Times of the Birth and Passion of Christ," 1733.</ref>}}

Although Englishman [[Isaac Newton]] is best-known for his scientific work, he also wrote extensively on religious subjects. Like Augustine, Newton connected the date of Christmas to the solstice: {{cquote|The times of the Birth and Passion of Christ, with such like niceties, being not material to religion, were little regarded by the Christians of the first age. They who began first to celebrate them, placed them in the cardinal periods of the year; as the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, on the 25th of March, which when Julius Cæsar corrected the Calendar was the vernal Equinox; the feast of John Baptist on the 24th of June, which was the summer Solstice; the feast of St. Michael on Sept. 29, which was the autumnal Equinox; and the birth of Christ on the winter Solstice, Decemb. 25.<ref>Newton, Isaac, ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16878/16878-h/16878-h.htm Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John]'', "Chap. XI. Of the Times of the Birth and Passion of Christ," 1733.</ref>}}

===Introduction of the feast===

===Introduction of the feast===