Every year, millions of Christians across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa mark Christmas on January 7. It can sound like there are âtwo Christmases,â but the reality is much simpler: Orthodox and Coptic Christians donât believe Jesus was born on a different day. Theyâre celebrating the same feastâjust using a different calendar.
The short answer: itâs a calendar difference
Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar (the one on your phone and on modern wall calendars). But many Orthodox and Eastern Christian churches still use the older Julian calendar for religious feasts.
Today, the Julian calendar runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. So when a church following the Julian calendar celebrates Christmas on December 25, it lands on January 7 on the Gregorian calendar.
Why the Julian calendar âfell behindâ
The Julian calendar was introduced in ancient Rome and worked well for centuries. The problem is that it slightly miscalculates the length of the solar year. That tiny error adds up slowlyâso slowly that people didnât notice the drift at first, but over many centuries it caused dates and seasons to slip out of alignment.
By the 1500s, that drift was significant enough that a reform was introduced: the Gregorian calendar. It improved leap-year rules to keep the calendar closer to the solar year. (If you want a quick, clear reference on the reform, see Encyclopaedia Britannicaâs overview of the Gregorian calendar.)
So why didnât everyone switch?
Countries gradually adopted the Gregorian calendar for civil use, but some churches kept the Julian calendar for liturgical life to preserve long-held tradition and continuity. This is why the same religious date can appear on two different days depending on which calendar a church follows.
In simple terms: itâs not that Christmas movedâitâs that calendars donât match. Britannica also has a helpful overview of the older system under the Julian calendar.
Who celebrates Christmas on January 7?
The January 7 celebration is commonly associated with:
- Russian Orthodox communities and several churches in the Slavic tradition
- Serbian and Georgian Orthodox churches
- Coptic Orthodox Christians (especially in Egypt)
- Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches
Some countries and churches have adopted a revised calendar for fixed feasts (including Christmas), which is why youâll see Orthodox communities celebrating on December 25 in certain placesâwhile others remain on the âOld Calendarâ date.
Will January 7 always be Orthodox Christmas?
Not forever. The Julian calendar continues to drift very slowly, and the gap between the calendars increases over time. If a church continues using the Julian calendar unchanged, the âDecember 25â it observes will eventually fall on a later Gregorian date in future centuries.
The bottom line
January 7 Christmas isnât a different belief about Jesusâs birthdate. Itâs the same feastâDecember 25 on the Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to January 7 on the Gregorian calendar.
Written by Swikriti Dandotia
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