This time of the year always brings popular articles about Biblical topics, often rehashing the same information year after year with a tone of surprise at the newness of it all. The Star of Bethlehem is a popular topic among these. For instance, this news reporter seems to have discovered the issue for the first time:
What Was the Star of Bethlehem? Oakland Tribune 12/25/03
He came up with this expert opinion from an astronomy professor: "What the star probably was, was something of significance to the wise men." Well, duh! That's pretty obvious from the story: wise men, bright star, led them to the Baby Jesus.
This US Naval Observatory site, The Star of Bethlehem (09/23/03), gives a concise summary of some of the astronomical events that may have become associated with the Christ Child story:
The description of the 'star' in the Gospel of Matthew (the only mention of the star in the Gospels) is too ambiguous to make possible a definitive identification with known astronomical phenomena of that era. Astronomers have proposed conjunctions of some of the planets as a likely explanation of the 'star.' Possible conjunctions involve Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC; Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars in 6 BC; and Jupiter and Venus in 3 BC. Other possibilities are appearances of comets in 5 BC and 4 BC, and a nova (exploding star) in 5 BC. Alternatively, there may have been a sighting of the then unknown planet Uranus, which, though faintly visible to the naked eye, was not discovered until AD 1781. lf the appearance of the 'star' was a miracle or a myth, astronomical explanations are unnecessary and invalid.
It also has several references to scientific literature on the Star.
This literalistic approach is fascinating. But in some ways it misses the point. The Star of Bethlehem story is part of the story of the "three kings" - the Magi, the Babylonian astrologers - which is bound up with the related story of King Herod's horrific slaughter of the innocents.
(Cont. in Part 2)
1 comment:
Seems I remember an Arthur Clarke short story about a doomed alien civilization whose sun supernovaed to provide the light in the East????
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