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WHEN WAS JESUS BORN?: M. M. NINAN<br />
CHAPTER SIX<br />
THE SHEPHERDS?<br />
One argument raised against the December date is that there were<br />
shepherds keeping watch at night at that time in the field (Luke2:8).<br />
December is pretty cold and normally shepherds would not be out<br />
there.<br />
+++++++++++++++++++++><br />
Werner Keller in his book The Bible as History presses this point hard<br />
thus: “Meteorologists as well as historians and astronomers have<br />
something of importance to contribute to this question of fixing the date<br />
of the birth of <strong>Jesus</strong>. According to St. Luke: ‘And there were in the<br />
same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their<br />
flock by night’ (Luke 2:8).<br />
“Meteorologists have made exact recordings of the temperature at<br />
Hebron. This spot in the southern highlands of Judah exhibits the same<br />
climatic conditions as Bethlehem, which is not far distant. The<br />
temperature readings show over a period of three months that the<br />
incidence of frost is as follows: December – 2.8 degrees; January – 1.6<br />
degrees; February ---0.1 degrees. The first two months have also the<br />
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