Following Jewish tradition, which gave March 25 as the date of creation and of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, the early Christians reasoned that the same crucial date would be fitting for the redemption — Good Friday. And if for the redemption, then the Incarnation too.
In the ancient world there was a widespread belief that the lives of great persons would be brought to a close in the perfect fulfillment of their years; they would die upon the same date as they had once been conceived. So the Church Fathers argued backwards. Jesus was crucified on March 25, thus he was conceived on that date, too. Christmas would follow nine months later.
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