Some early Christian writers connected
the sun to the birth of Jesus, which Christians believe was prophesied in
Malachi 4:2 as the "Sun of Righteousness."[6]
"O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun
was born...Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote.[6]
In the fourth century, John Chrysostom commented on the connection:
"But Our Lord, too, is born in the month of December ... the eight before
the calends of January [25 December] ..., But they call it the 'Birthday of the
Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord ...? Or, if they say
that it is the birthday of the Sun, He is the Sun of Justice."[6]
One ancient source mentioned Dies
Natalis Solis Invicti in the Chronography of 354, and Sol scholar Steven
Hijmans stated that there is no evidence that the celebration precedes that of
Christmas:[88]
"[W]hile the winter solstice on or around December 25 was well established
in the Roman imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious
celebration of Sol on that day antedated
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means "the birthday of the
unconquered sun". Sol Invictus
Click on x to see picture
Mosaic of Jesus
as Christo Sole (Christ the Sun) in Mausoleum M in the
pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peter's Basilica in Rome.[104]
For for history of open http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas#Pre-Christian_background