Christianity appropriated a number of existing beliefs and re-painted them as “Christian”. If you accept that the backstory of travelling to Bethlehem for a census count, then Jesus was most likely born in Summer or Autumn, not Winter. But, as the Winter solstice was already a time of celebration for the “pagan” Romans, Saturnalia was re-branded as the celebration of Jesus’s birth.
So those Nativity-scene Christmas cards with snow on the stable roof are inaccurate, but not for the reason you’d think: A former colleague who used to live there informs me that Bethlehem does actually get snow, but only in Winter.
So those Nativity-scene Christmas cards with snow on the stable roof are inaccurate, but not for the reason you’d think: A former colleague who used to live there informs me that Bethlehem does actually get snow, but only in Winter.