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Jesus Not Born December 25th

Jesus was not even born in the winter season! When the Christ-child was born "there were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke
2:8). This never could have occurred in Judaea in the month of December. The shepherds always
brought their flocks from the mountainsides and fields and corralled them not later than October
15, to protect them from the cold, rainy season that followed that date. Notice that the Bible itself
proves, in Song of Solomon 2:11 and Ezra 10:9, 13, that winter was a rainy season not permitting
shepherds to abide in open fields at night.

"It was an ancient custom among Jews of those days to send out their sheep to the fields
and deserts about the Passover (early spring), and bring them home at commencement of the first
rain," says the Adam Clarke Commentary (Vol. 5, page 370, New York ed.)

Continuing, this authority states: "During the time they were out, the shepherds watched
them night and day. As ... the first rain began early in the month of Marchesvan, which answers to
part of our October and November [begins sometime in 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, and that, con-
sequently, 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 ... See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot."

Any encyclopedia, or any other authority, will tell you that Christ was not born on Decem-
ber 25. The Catholic Encyclopedia frankly states this fact.

The exact date of Jesus' birth is entirely unknown, as all authorities acknowledge -- though
if I had space in this article I could show you scriptures which at least strongly indicate it was in
the early fall -- probably September approximately six months after Passover.

If God had wished us to observe and celebrate Christ's birthday, He would not have so
completely hidden the exact date.

How This Pagan Custom Got into the Church

Then how did this pagan custom creep into the Western Christian world?

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge explains it clearly, in its
article on "Christmas": "How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia
(Dec. 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and
the 'new sun' ... cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too
deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence .... The pagan festival
with its riot and merrymaking was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its
celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near
East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ's birthday was celebrated, while

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