CHRIST WAS "NOT" BORN IN DECEMBER

How do we Know ?

"There is no certainty as to the month or day
of the birth [of Jesus]. The Christmas date,
December 25...was...borrowed from a pagan festival.
'December'... seems unlikely, as unsuitable
for the pasturing of flocks.  A more probable date -
 is a couple of months earlier"
-(The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,   
     1986, "Jesus Christ," p. 1628).

A far more likely scenario is that Jesus was born
in the early autumn, around the time of the biblical
Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:34-36), when Joseph
and Mary would have traveled to Jerusalem to keep
the Feast along with thousands of other Jewish families.
This also helps us understand why in the town Bethlehem,
a few miles to the south of Jerusalem, "there was no room
for them in the inn" (Luke 2:7)- the town would have been
crowded with other travelers keeping the Feast at this
time of year.

CHRIST BIRTH - "NOT" IN THE WINTER

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,
keeping watch over their flocks at night."
(Luke 2:8)(NIV)-BibleGateway

The Biblical account says that the Shepherds and their
sheep were still sleeping outdoors at the time of
Christ's birth.  Winter-time would have been too Cold.

"...the last week of December corresponds to the tenth
month of the Jewish sacred calendar known as Tebeth,
when there are frequent frosts and occasional snow
florishes in Jerusalem..."
- The Geography of the Bible; by Denis Baly

JESUS WAS PROBABLY BORN
IN LATE SEPTEMBER - OR EARLY OCTOBER

"It was an ancient custom among the Jews of those days
to send their sheep to the fields and deserts about
Passover (early spring)and bring them home at
commencement of the first rain...
During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them
night and day, as... the first rains began early
in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to part of our
October... we find that the sheep were kept out
in the open country during the whole summer,
and as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks,
it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet
commenced(begun), and consequently, our Lord was not born
on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the
fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December
should be given up."
- Adam Clark Commentary, Volume 5, page 347

"It is evident that Jesus was not born
during the middle of winter, for at the time of his birth,
the shepherds were living out in the fields with their
flocks. As the bible says: 'There were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night" (Luke 2:8). As is well known, the shepherds
in Palestine do not "abide in the fields" during
the winter season because of the extreme, cold
temperatures. The shepherds always bring their flocks
in from the mountain slopes and fields no later than
October 15th! "
- Mede's Works, 1679. Discourse xlvii

THE WEATHER IN JERUSALEM / BETHLEHEM -
IS BITTER COLD IN DECEMBER

"Israeli meteorologists tracked December weather patterns
for many years and concluded that the climate in Israel
has been essentially constant for at least the last 2,000
years... "broadly speaking, weather phenomena
and climatic conditions as pictured in the Bible
correspond with conditions as observed today"
-The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
 (R.B.Y. Scott, Vol. 3, Abingdon Press, Nashville,
  1962, p. 625).

"The temperature in the area of Bethlehem in December...
can drop to well below freezing, especially at night.
Describing the weather there, Sara Ruhin,
chief of the Israeli weather service, noted in a 1990 press release
that the area has three months of frost: December with 29 F."

Snow is common for two or three days in Jerusalem and
nearby Bethlehem in December and January. These were the
winter months of increased precipitation in Christ's time,
when the roads became practically unusable and people
stayed mostly indoors. A common practice of shepherds
was keeping their flocks in the field from April to
October, but in the cold and rainy winter months they took
their flocks back home and sheltered them.

"as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks,
it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet
commenced(begun), and that, consequently, our Lord was not born
on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields;
nor could He have been born later than September,
as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this
very ground the nativity in December should be given up.
The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact,
which casts considerable light upon this disputed point"
- (Adam Clarke's Commentary, Abingdon Press, Nashville,
      note on Luke 2:8).

SCHOLARS AGREE  ---

JESUS WAS "NOT"  BORN IN DECEMBER

"These humble pastoral folk are out in the field at night
with their flock - a feature of the story which would
argue against the birth of Christ occurring on Dec. 25
since the weather would not have permitted it"
- (The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary,
     Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1971, note on Luke 2:4-7).

"Shepherds and their flocks would not be found
"abiding" (Gr. agrauleo) in the open fields at night
in December (Tebeth), for the paramount reason
that there would be no pasturage at that time.
It was the custom then (as now) to withdraw the flocks
during the month Marchesven Oct.-Nov.) from the open districts
and house them for the winter."
- The Companion Bible, Appendix 179

"The temperature in the area of Bethlehem in
December averages around 44 degrees Fahrenheit
but can drop to well below freezing, especially
at night. That area has three months of frost:
December with 29 degrees Fahrenheit."
-Sara Ruhin,
chief of the Israeli weather service,
a 1990 press release

Evidence of the harsh nature of the weather
in the Middle East in December can be found
in recent history.

(Time Magazine, Jan. 11, 1993, pp. 10-22).
"The news reports in Israel at the time were
filled with pictures of men huddling around
campfires and tents covered with snow."
There would have been similar weather conditions
in Bethlehem in December - in the year of our
Savior's birth. Clearly, Jesus was NOT born
in December.

"BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Dec. 24, 2004(AP)-
Several thousand pilgrims celebrated Christmas
Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Friday.
Many of Friday's visitors were local Palestinians,
and in a cold, bitter rain, shopkeepers lamented
that business remained in the doldrums."
-CBS News
A Merrier Christmas In Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Dec. 24, 2004
By HAITHAM HAMAD
©MMIV, The Associated Press.

JESUS BORN DURING THE CENSUS

Other evidence - against a December birth
is the Roman census recorded by Luke.

"And it came to pass in those days that a decree
went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world
should be registered... So all went to be registered,
everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee,
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem..., to be registered
with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
So it was, that while they were there, the days were
completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth
her firstborn Son..." (Luke 2:1-7).

The Roman and Judean rulers knew that taking a census
in winter would have been impractical and unpopular.
Generally a census would take place after the harvest
season, around September or October, when the weather was
good and the roads were still dry enough to allow easy travel.

This census "could hardly have been at that season
[December 25], however, for such a time would surely NOT
have been chosen by the authorities for a public enrollment,
which necessitated the population's traveling from all parts
to their natal districts, bitter cold, snow storms and rain -
making journeys both unsafe and unpleasant in winter..."
- ("Christmas at Bethlehem," Holy-Days and Holidays;
         Cunningham Geikie).

DECEMBER 25TH -
A COMPROMISE WITH HEATHENS

"The important fact then which I have asked you to get
clearly into your head is that the fixing of the date
as December 25th was a compromise with paganism."
- The Evolution of Christmas; Published in 1909

"December 25th was the day the Romans celebrated
the birth of their (pagan) sun-god."
-The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 6, pg. 623.

"to facilitate the acceptance of the faith by the pagan
masses, the Church of Rome found it convenient
to institute the 25th of December as the feast
of the birth of Christ...from the pagan feast,
celebrated on the same day in honor of the pagan god,
Mithras..."
-(Manual of Liturgical History, 1955, Vol. 2, p. 67).

"In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast
or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners
who make great rejoicings over the day in which they were
born into this world"
- (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908 edition,
     Vol. 3, p. 724, "Natal Day").

"...the day of one's death is better
than the day of one's birth.
The end of a matter is better
than its beginning..."
(Ecclesiastes 7:1,8)(NASB)-BibleGateway

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