cjh (01/04/83)
If we take some of the Gospels seriously ("there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night")
Jesus was born in late Winter or very early Spring, since the only time
shepherds would stay up is the lambing season (or so I've been told).
The interesting thing about the Christian calendar is the compromises
visible in the mix of solar (Xmas) and lunar (Easter) influences---with a
twist put into the lunar calculations so that Good Friday doesn't always come
right after Passover (as the first one did).