- Dear Jeff,
-
- Every year at this time there are theories in the media
which speculate on the Star of Bethlehem. Almost without exception the
theories revolve around a rare planetary conjunction, a comet, or some
other sort of rare astronomical phenomenon.
-
- I've always had trouble with these theories, partially
because of references to the Star in the Bible itself, and partially
because
of some references I ran across in the apocryphal literature many years
ago.
-
- Maybe you're aware of them, maybe not. So, in case of
the latter, here they are.
-
-
- 1) Responding to the enquiries of Herod about why they
came to Jerusalem, the Magi replied: "We saw an extraordinary large
star shining among the stars of heaven, and [it] so out-shined all the
other stars, as that they became not visible, and we knew thereby that
a great king was born in Israel, and therefore we are come to worship
him."
-
- Then Herod said to them, "Go and make diligent
enquiry;
and if ye find the child, bring me word again, that I may come and worship
him also."
-
- "So the wise men went forth, and behold, the star
which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over
the cave where the young child was with Mary his mother." (The
Protevangelion
by James the Lesser (Jesus' brother), 15:7-9)
-
- 2) When the wise men were ready to return from whence
they came, "...there appeared to them an angel in the form of that
star which had before been their guide in their journey; the light of which
they followed till they returned into their own country." (The First
Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, 3:3)
-
- 3) "How then was our Saviour manifested to the
world?
A star shone in heaven beyond all the other stars, and its light was
inexpressible,
and its novelty struck terror into men,s minds. All the rest of the stars,
together with the sun and moon, were the chorus to this star; but that
sent out its light exceedingly above them all. And men began to be
troubled
to think whence this new star came, so unlike to all the others."
(The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 4:11-12)
-
-
- Well, there they are. They,re from an anthology entitled
The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden. It,s a
Meridian
publication, and the Library of Congress Catalog Card Number is 63-19519.
I can send you more details if you like. For now, I'll just point out
that these lost and forgotten books are considered by many scholars to
be just as authentic as those contained in the Nag Hammadi Library or the
Dead Sea Scrolls.
-
- Anyway, it's interesting stuff, n'est-ce pas? For
starters,
according to these passages the "star" was very, very bright
(although it would seem that its brilliance was confined to fairly
localized
areas).
-
- Then, as it is written in one or two of the New Testament
passages, the star led the magi all the way to Bethlehem...where,
mysteriously,
it had the apparent common sense to stop! Not just over Bethlehem, but
over the exact location of the infant Jesus.
-
- Now, that's a detail which really grabs my attention.
Planetary conjunctions don't lead travelers to a specific location and
then, for good measure, emphasize the location by hovering directly above
it. What,s more, wouldn't the "star,s" altitude have to be pretty
darn low to avoid confusion between the surrounding towns and villages
with Bethlehem? Not to mention the precise location of Jesus within
Bethlehem.
-
- Finally, we learn from these ancient manuscripts that
the star not only led the magi to Bethlehem, it ALSO served as a beacon
for their return voyage. Imagine that!
-
- In my mind, therefore, this was no astronomical
phenomenon.
It was either a supernatural manifestation from the Father or, perhaps,
a real, genuine UFO. Or maybe both.
-
- Anyway, there it is. Hope I'm not rehashing stuff you're
already are aware of.
-
- _____
-
-
-
- From J. Watkins 12-23-00
-
- The following excerpt from the Urantia Book has been
confirmed by various computerized astronomy mapping software.
-
- Excerpt:
-
- These wise men saw no star to guide them to Bethlehem.
The beautiful legend of the star of Bethlehem originated in this way: Jesus
was born August 21 at noon, 7 B.C. On May 29, 7 B.C., there occurred an
extraordinary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of
Pisces.
-
- And it is a remarkable astronomic fact that similar
conjunctions
occurred on September 29 and December 5 of the same year. Upon the basis
of these extraordinary but wholly natural events the well-meaning zealots
of the succeeding generation constructed the appealing legend of the star
of Bethlehem and the adoring Magi led thereby to the manger, where they
beheld and worshiped the newborn babe.
-
- Oriental and near-Oriental minds delight in fairy
stories,
and they are continually spinning such beautiful myths about the lives
of their religious leaders and political heroes. In the absence of
printing,
when most human knowledge was passed by word of mouth from one generation
to another, it was very easy for myths to become traditions and for
traditions
eventually to become accepted as facts.
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