Which Date Was Set First: Christmas or Annunciation?

Whether the Annunciation’s date was fixed before Christmas or vice versa is impossible to know. Exactly why certain dates were chosen for certain feasts has been lost to history.

Many early Christians believed that Adam was created and fell from grace on March 25 and that Jesus came into the world and died on that same date. If this reasoning was the basis for the feast days, then it would appear that the date of Christmas was set on December 25 because the Annunciation was first set on March 25.

The selection of December 25 as the date of Christ’s birth has its own independent and ancient tradition, which would appear to render the selection of March 25 for the Annuciation as chosen because the date of Christmas was already set.