SWNID expresses sympathy for Mr. Weece's difficult position and empathy (something that does not come easily to SWNID) with his obviously hurt feelings. We are not sure that we would have reacted any differently under similar circumstances.
We are, however, also not sure we would recommend that others follow this mode of response in dealing with criticism from outside the congregation. Sometimes the best public response is the most measured. In regard to its critics, Southland might consider the wisdom related to SWNID earlier today about an entirely different matter: Don't ascribe to malice what stupidity will explain. We needed to hear that at the time. So, maybe, do the megachurches under fire.
And for purposes of historical honesty, let's clear up a couple of points in the remarks as reported:
- There's no more reason to think that Jesus was born in January or April than any other month. Arguments based on shepherding practices (when were shepherds out at night with their sheep?) are entirely conjectural: shepherds didn't leave documents, and the Mishnaic rabbis and apolcalyptic sectarians, our sources on Jewish customs of the period, didn't much discuss shepherding practices. (Side note: when told that X was customary in Jesus' time, always ask about the evidence in primary sources).
- The justification that the Jewish calendar reckons the day from sundown only matters if such a practice is widely recognized in the culture in which the post-Jewish church is operating, as the reckoning of days of the week are, after all, a social construct (remember that the British invented the International Date Line, for instance, and the railroad companies devised Standard Time).
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