The historical roots of Valentine's Day trace back to ancient times, with a significant connection to January 6, believed to be the birth date of Nimrod, a figure central to the festival's origins. This date was also chosen in antiquity as Jesus' birthday, a tradition still observed in the Eastern Orthodox Church, though it lacks factual basis. Nimrod, described as a mighty hunter in defiance of the LORD, lived a life opposed to God's way of love, and his association with January 6 ties into the broader narrative of pagan celebrations that later influenced Valentine's Day through syncretism with Christian elements.

January 6 is believed to be the birth date of Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, who is the original biblical name behind "Saint Valentine." Nimrod was a vicious murderer and abuser of women and stood wholly against God's way of love. By custom, his mother presented herself for purification 40 days after the birth, which falls on February 15. That date became the day of the pagan Roman festival Lupercalia, celebrated from the evening of February 14 in honor of Lupercus, the deified hunter of wolves, who is of the same origin as the Greek god Pan and the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites. The festival encouraged sexual immorality. Roman church leaders later absorbed it, and in AD 496 Pope Gelasius renamed it St. Valentine's Day and moved it to February 14. So the date traces back to Nimrod's supposed birth and carries the pagan roots that make the holiday unfit for those who worship God in spirit and truth.

According to historical records, the annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25 in most churches, with the exception of the Church of Armenia, which observes it on January 6. The actual date of Jesus' birth remains unknown, and there is no evidence of the nativity being celebrated before the third century. Furthermore, no scriptural command exists to support the celebration of Christ's birth on any specific date, including January 6.

January 6 is the date on which Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas, while most other mainstream Christians in the West keep December 25. By the fourth century, December 25 in the Roman West and January 6 in Egypt and the East had become competing dates for the Nativity. Earlier Christian writers did not recognize either as the date of Christ's birth. Origen, who lived into the latter half of the third century, mocked Roman birthday celebrations as pagan, which indicates that Jesus' birth was not marked by festivities in his time and place. Clement of Alexandria, around AD 200, wrote that Christian teachers had proposed various dates for the Nativity, and most of them fell in the spring. Proof for a winter date, whether December 25 or January 6, is scanty, and most people who observe these dates do not think the date matters. The biblical details instead narrow Christ's birth to a two-week period in early autumn, aligning with the fall holy days, particularly the Feast of Trumpets, and not with the short days of early winter.