Definitely not, if we can believe the gospel of Luke. "And there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night."
Not in Palestine in December, and certainly not at that elevation. It was apparently within quick walking distance of Bethlehem (unless the angels provided a helicopter). In December, there is snow on the ground up there. The sheep are brought in from the fields in middle-to-late September. Otherwise, they would starve, a result no shepherd would approve of.
The best estimate I have seen for the date of Christ's actual birth was based on a very skillful study of the texts. The researchers arrived at a date of Sept. 11, 3 B.C.E. Unfortunately, the chain of reasoning is too long to enter into here. Sorry.
I hope this is helpful.
Adastra, the Wizzard of Jacksonville
2006-08-18 04:57:12
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answer #1
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answered by jaxwizz 2
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One of the popes started this, in order to compete with the Roman Saturnalia.
Noboby knows when Christ was really born, but some think it was around the Feast of the Tabernacles, usually in October. That was because important dates in Jesus' life usually took place around Jewish feasts (Hanukkah doesn't count because it is not a Biblical holiday).
Incidentally I"ve noticed that the traditional manger scene looks a lot like one of the Tabernacles booths. Could this be the last remnant of an earlier festival?
2006-08-18 04:56:00
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answer #2
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answered by freelancenut 4
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Christ was born around April.
The december holiday that was before Christmas was a pagan holiday, and to help convert them, someone decided to use that holiday as the day we celebrate Christ's birthday.
2006-08-18 04:51:59
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answer #3
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answered by mike i 4
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no. dec. 21 was and still is the winter solstice which was an important day in many pagan religions. so the early church put the birth of christ in december to ease the conversion of the pagans. there's proof of such in the bible if you sort of read between the lines. the bible mentions the sheperds tending their flock (Luke 2:8-9). sheperds would not have a flock in winter because they would have to feed them the whole time. flocks were always slaughtered in the fall to avoid winter feeding. there's also no mention of cold temperatures or weather extremes in the bible.
most likely jesus was born in late spring or summer. the link below has a great explanation.
2006-08-18 04:57:46
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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Most theologians agree Christ was born in the spring. Throughout the centuries, the Catholic church adopted many secular traditions into Christianity to make it more palpable for those they were trying to convert. I believe celebrating Christ's birth in December was the result of incorporating Druid beliefs into Catholic doctrine.
2006-08-18 04:52:34
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answer #5
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answered by dzfetter 2
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I read that it was a pagan holiday, and Constantine? used the pagan holiday date for celebrating Jesus' birth so they would accept it better. For most people, change bad. So they used all kinds of pagan stuff to symbolize different parts of the Christian story so it would be familiar to the peeps. Even Christmas gifts were actually originally some part of the pagan festival thing. Hey, I love Jesus, I celebrate his birthday on Christmas, I give and get (yay) gifts in honor of that, and I really don't think Jesus minds. I hope he doesn't! I know Wal-Mart is really happy about it. :P
2006-08-18 04:56:14
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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If you study the customs and daily lifestyles of the people in that time and in that part of the world you would find that the shepherds were not in the field in December....they were in the fields generally late August (or what translates to late August based on our calendar) through September. So the general concensus is that He was born sometime in the Autumn...Say mid to late September. He was definitely not born in December.
2006-08-18 04:53:00
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answer #7
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answered by onyxunicorn 2
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umm he was born in the spring. IF you look at Luke 2 it says that the shepards were in the field. this would be in the spring. The reason why christmas is during december was to try to rub out any wicken hollidays. For example the Christmas trees do not have anything to do with Christmas actually but to a wicken holliday. I forgot the one but hopefully a Wicken can help me out.
2006-08-18 04:53:40
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answer #8
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answered by KrazyK784 4
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Not according to most historians on the subject. March is what I heard. Christmas is celebrated in Dec. because the Christian church had to incorporate some pagan celebrations into Christianity to help win them over.
2006-08-18 04:51:31
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answer #9
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answered by Phoenix, Wise Guru 7
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I heard it used to be a pagan holiday. However, nobody knows exactly what season Christ was born in - only that the shepards were herding at the time.
Isaiah 29:24: "They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine."
2006-08-18 04:51:16
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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