It is false to say that Jesus could not be born in December.  Those who are engaged in putting down Jesus use several tricks. Sadly many brothers have been taken into these traps. This is written to help those brothers.

     I am not saying that I can prove that Jesus was born in December, however I am saying  that it is a lie that others can prove that Jesus was not born in December. The month of December can not be excluded, as many "scholars" endeavor to  "prove".   This is one of the many lies spread by the Russellites, wrongly called Jehovah's Witnesses, because they are not.  Sadly many gullible Christians just swallow these lies without thinking.

     In  1998-1999 winter issue of "Life & Work Pursuits", a Christian quarterly, on page 35, lines 33-35 it says:

      "The Bible does not indicate the time of year Jesus was born. Most likely, since
          shepherds were in the field, his birth was in spring."

     On what basis is it said Jesus was not born in December as tradition states?  Is there any proof ? No, they are just repeating what someone else invented. Tradition should be rejected when it opposes what the Bible teaches, the facts or the logic  but not just because someone else tells us to reject it.

     Mohammed's Hegira occurred on Friday July 16, 622 AD, according to tradition. No one disputes it, because this tradition does not contradict facts or logic. Buddha, according to tradition, lived from 563 to 483 BC, nobody says any thing contrary to such tradition, they just simply believe it. There are hundreds of traditions that are accepted.  Why not accept the tradition that Jesus was born December 25th?  It does not harm anybody. It does not oppose any fact. It does not oppose logic. It does not oppose the Bible. Then, again, why do they go to such great lengths to oppose it ? Because everything that has to do with Jesus prompts the opposition of God's enemies.

     Russellists say that Jesus couldn't be born in December because the fields were covered with snow at that time.  That is a big lie. Jesus' enemies take advantage of the ignorance of others to spread their lies. Israel is a long narrow country that extends along 390 miles from North to South.  You can verify the data I state here in the Encyclopedia.  The World Book Encyclopedia, copyright 1974, volume 10, page 390, when describing the climate of Israel says:

     "In January, the coolest month, temperatures average 45º F ( 7º C ) in Northern Galilee, and 60º F ( 16º C ) in the Rift Valley. The Northern uplands have some days of freezing weather almost every winter.  Rain falls almost entirely in winter, and generally decreases from North to South. Snow sometimes falls in Northern and central parts of Israel."

     As stated, January is the coolest month, not December. In the coolest month temperatures average 45º F ( 7º C ) just in the North. That temperature is not so cold that the shepherds can't stay outside. But more to the South, it averages 60º F ( 16º C ), still a more comfortable temperature even in January the coolest month. Therefore, December must be even warmer, because January is the coolest month.

     Only in the Northern uplands do freezing temperatures occur some days, not every single year, but almost every winter. Regarding snow it says that sometimes, ( not every year), snow falls in the Northern and central parts of Israel. Not in the South where Bethlehem is located.

     If we now go to volume 11, page 77, of the same encyclopedia we see that the temperature in Jerusalem, in January, which is the coolest month, average 55º F ( 13º C).   Logically, December has to have a warmer temperature. Since Bethlehem is located about five miles South of Jerusalem (volume 2, page 214) it must have the same temperature.

     What wisdom is there in saying that the shepherds could not be in the field in December? Where is that field "full of snow" that Russellists are always saying that existed?  Why do Christians have to be so gullible with falsehoods?  I can not prove that Jesus was born in December, but that is what tradition says, and neither the Bible nor logic oppose to this tradition. Why then is it so fiercely attacked?  Because they want to destroy Christianity from the inside out.

     Let us suppose that Bethlehem did have such cold winters.  Padanaram, the region Rebekah was from, is located much more to the North than Bethlehem,  where it is much  colder.  Let us see if the shepherds over there stayed with their cattle on winter nights.
    When a problem arose between Jacob and Esau, Rebekah convinced Isaac to send Jacob to Padamaram for awhile.

     "And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel
         the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother."   (Gn 28: 5)

     Jacob stayed there for twenty years tending Laban's cattle. When he left he had an argument with Laban, his father-in-law, to whom he said:

            "38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have
        not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. 39 That which was
        torn of  beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou
        require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. 40 Thus I was; in the day the
        drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes."
                                                                                                              ( Gn 31: 38- 40 )

      From the words of Jacob we understand that even during extremely cold nights he stayed with the cattle in the field.  And this happened for twenty years.  Jacob says he used to do what Russellists say Bethlehem shepherds could not have done. And remember that this was not in Bethlehem with the temperature of just 60º F, ( 16º C) but it was up North, in a much colder climate. Therefore, it is not illogical that in Bethlehem the shepherds stayed in the fields at night in December.  So it was not such a "difficult thing" for shepherds to stay with their cattle in the fields of Bethelehem even in cold winters.

      Another pseudo argument that is used to discredit Christmas, is saying that formerly it was the winter solstice pagan feast.  This is also false.  Christmas is on December 25th, while the winter solstice occur from the 21st to 22nd of December.
      It is clear that all they want to do is to find fault so as to make Christians think that they are celebrating on a wrong date or welcoming a pagan feast.  There have been hundreds of pagan countries through history, therefore there are thousands of pagan feasts.  Every day of the year is the anniversary of some pagan feast.  If it is not a feast of ancient Greeks, it is a feast of ancient Mayas, Aztecs, Incas, Chinese, Persians, Celts, Romans, etc., etc..
        If tradition, instead of celebrating Christ's birth on December 25th, they would celebrate it on any other day, they would also find some other pagan feast with which to smear and discredit it.  What really hurts them is that even nominal Christians recognize Jesus' name.
      It is sad brethren who go to seminaries to learn how to serve our Lord let themselves  be cheated and be led astray by those who plot the "dischristianization" of Christendom.

       The "proof " that Jesus was not born in December, that Russellists and others try to hammer into the minds of many Christians, is not proof at all, it is just a lie.