The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 33
PT. 16 MARYAM writers of the New Testament itself. Writing about the time of Jesus' birth Luke says: "And there were shepherds in the same country (Judaea) abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flocks (Luke 2:7, 8). Commenting on this statement of Luke Bishop Barns in his book, Rise of Christianity, on page 79 says: "There is, moreover, no authority for the belief that December 25 was the actual birthday of Jesus. If we can give any credence to the birth- story of Luke, with the shepherds keeping watch by night in the fields near Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus did not take place in winter, when the night temperature is so low in the hill country of Judaea that snow is not uncommon. After much argument our Christmas day seems to have been accepted about A. D. 300". This view of Bishop Barns is supported by writers of the articles on "Christmas" in Encyclopaedia Britannica and Chambers Encyclopaedia. In Encyclopaedia Britannica we have: The exact day and year of Christ's birth have never been satisfactorily settled; but then the fathers of the Church in A. D. 340 decided upon a date to celebrate the event, they wisely chose the day of the winter solstice which was firmly fixed in the minds of the people and which was their most important festival. Owing to changes in man-made calendars, the time of the solstice and the date of Christmas day vary by a few days (15th edition, vol. 5, pp. 642 & 642A). Chambers Encyclopaedia says: In CH. 19 the second place the winter solstice was regarded as the birthday of the sun, and at Rome 25th December was observed as a pagan festival of the nativity of Sol-invictus. The Church, unable to stamp out this popular festival, spiritualized it as the feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness. two These statements of the Encyclopaedias are further supported by Peake's "Commentary on the Bible". In this book on page 727 Peake says: "The season (of Jesus' birth) would not be December; our Christmas day is a comparatively late tradition found first in the West. ' Thus recent historical research into the origins of Christianity has established the fact beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus was not born in December. " How in the light of historical research into the origins of Christianity and Luke's statement that Jesus was born at a time when "there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night" (Luke 2:7-8) the belief ever came to be entertained by Christians that Jesus was born in December, seems very surprising indeed. According to this statement of Luke, Jesus certainly was born in summer when shepherds abide in the field in Judaea, keeping watch over their flocks at night which is only possible in summer. The incident referred to in Luke very probably took place in the month of August or September when fresh dates are found on palm-trees in 1947