Current Bethlehem Temperature

It is now after dark on Christmas Eve, here in the Philippines. I just checked the current temperature in Bethlehem, in Palestine. It is 21 degrees Celsius.

I try to do this every year, because folks trying to debunk the Christmas story rely heavily on the fact that shepherds were out watching their flocks by night. They argue this means Jesus could not have been born in the bleak midwinter.

Right; perhaps not in Winnipeg; but I say they are simply ignoring weather conditions in the Middle East. So far, the reported ambient temperature when I've checked it has never been to cold to make a bit out out-of-doors herding impractical. Even in this winter of record cold temperatures in much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Interestingly, it turns out that the popular modern notion that the date of Christmas was selected in order to match the time of the Roman Saturnalia is full of large holes. There is, in fact, a more plausible and historical explanation, and it is entirely Christian.

http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/christmas.asp#location1

Merry Christmas.