Interesting, thank you for posting.
Thanks. But I did catch an error, a case of my thoughts outrunning my hands.
What I said was, “December was the date most closely approximating the Jewish feast of the Dedication of the Temple. “
What I meant was, “December was the month most closely approximating the month of the Jewish feast of the Dedication of the Temple.”
It’s important, because although the feast of the Dedication of the Temple, the first day of Hannukah, *can* be as late as Dec. 25th, it rarely is, and was not during the candidate years for Jesus’ birth. It’s the difference between early Christians having said “well, that certainly would be a good time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, finding a Christian meaning in a day we know God has already ordained to be celebrated” and saying, “No way that’s only a coincidence! That HAS to be Jesus’ birthday!”