What Was the "Christmas Star"? When Can You See It?
Was the Star of Bethlehem a real astronomical object? Many religious scholars believe the bright star never existed as a physical object. Instead, when the account was written fifty years after Christ鈥檚 death, the star was meant as an astrological omen.
I take both religion and science seriously. In and of itself, the mixing of science and religion is shaky, but it can be helpful in specific cases; science should be present whenever it can be helpful. When the Shroud of Turin controversy raged, the use of Carbon-14 dating provided an unambiguous answer: The cloth that once supposedly covered the just-crucified body of Jesus proved to be less than a thousand years old. It wasn鈥檛 the genuine shroud but a hoax from the Middle Ages.
The Christmas Star is a different story. It鈥檚 not meant to be proven through science. You don鈥檛 need some scientific explanation for the Star. You have faith, or you don鈥檛.
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So, when astronomers have their Star of Bethlehem science show at the planetarium, it really doesn鈥檛 serve science or faith. Every backyard astronomer knows you can鈥檛 get anywhere by following something in the sky. Earth鈥檚 rotation quickly makes the contents of the heavens change position. Whether planet or supernova, everything rises in the east, arcs rightward during the night, and sets in the west. You鈥檇 go in a giant semicircle if you followed any celestial object. Plus, no astronomical body can come to a screeching halt over Bethlehem or anywhere else.
The only place where objects don鈥檛 move is in the middle of the northern sky, where Polaris hangs motionless (learn how to use Polaris to navigate!). But that eliminates planets, which are never in the north, and besides, the Magi weren鈥檛 going north to get to Bethlehem, but southwest.
What Was the Star of Bethlehem?
So, what was this Star that, according to Matthew, 鈥淲ent before them, and stood above where the Christ child lay.鈥 Most religious leaders believe the bright star never existed as a physical object. Instead, when the account was written fifty years after Christ鈥檚 death, the star was meant as an omen or sign.
After all, great kings were accompanied by auspicious astrological configurations; presumably, Jesus should also have one. At that time, the sign of Aries was linked with Judea, and Jupiter was its ruling planet; the merging of those two, as occurred in the year 6 BC when some (but not most) scholars tag the Birth, would have been precisely the kind of prophetic omen that should accompany the coming of a Savior. A further case against its existence is simply that Luke, generally regarded as the most historically accurate of the gospels, never mentions there being any star.
In any case, astrology eventually fell into total disfavor with both the church and, later, with science, so that explanation is popular with neither. Another problem with bringing up astrology is that it suggests that astrologers were correct in foreseeing the Birth. Such tacit support for pseudoscience is the last thing educators want to impart, nor does it win approving nods from religious leaders.
On the other hand, sticking with strictly astronomical explanations (a comet, a conjunction, a supernova, etc.) is so scientifically wrong that many planetariums are uncomfortable with it. But it鈥檚 been running more or less continuously since the 1930s when it was first introduced. The public keeps coming, and, as one director explained to me, 鈥淲e鈥檙e just giving them what they want.鈥
A Miracle Is Outside Laws of Science
All this has nothing to do with religious faith. If you believe the Magi were led by an actual star, fine: Why not a star only the Wise Men could see?
After all, suggesting that some natural celestial object, such as a comet, just appeared at the right place and then just happened to stop and hover over the manger is already indistinguishable from a miracle. Why introduce a scientific 鈥渆xplanation鈥 that has to unfold entirely outside the laws of science?
Faith in the Miraculous
Again, I ask: Why bother offering a scientific 鈥渆xplanation鈥 that has to unfold outside the laws of science?
Religion is similarly mistreated because the search for the real Christmas Star suggests that faith in the miraculous is unnecessary because there鈥檚 some rational scientific explanation for the Star. In short, neither science nor religion is well served.
The silver lining in this yearly December exercise is a marvelous confirmation of why science and religion make strange bedfellows. Their marriage always produces odd offspring, and in this case, it鈥檚 twins: a planetarium show with fictitious astronomy plus the implication that faith in the miraculous is superfluous because there鈥檚 a logical explanation for everything.
No matter. And as far as the planetarium programs go鈥 They have become a holiday tradition, so we might as well sit back and enjoy!
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Bob Berman
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Yes, the Bible is always true!
Religion is based upon faith and belief in the Divine and (hopefully) living by a moral code. Science is based upon hypotheses and the quest for proof of the physical and (hopefully) living by ethical scientific practices. Both have always had and always will have their own values, strengths and weaknesses, good seeds and bad apples, flaws and biases. It is called being "human."
Just like the overall world population statistics, there are more religious scientists (including medical and mental health research scientists and practitioners) than there are atheist scientists -- in spite of the continued myth/hypothesis/wives' tale that that the two can't coincide. It is like saying you can't have an id and an ego or are either always good or always evil. Humans miraculously are a very versatile, variable, and adaptable species with the ability to separate their profession/work from their private/family lives as well as to live by their personal and religious moral and ethical values/code/beliefs and able to apply them to how they act in both their work and personal lives.
Miracles happen in science and faith. Who cares about anything but love which is found in everything and everything.
This perpetual insistence to "prove" religion with science merely shows that people don't really believe their religion and are desperate for "proof".
It also shows that dumb people don't know the difference between teaching stories and science books.
Why did Jesus need to come to earth and why is that relevant to the 鈥榮tar鈥 according to the Bible?
Satan, an angel desired worship that belonged to God. Using a serpent as a tool he tempted Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:1-6.
Basically Satan challenged God鈥檚 right to rule over his creation and called Him a liar.
Adam and Eve, by disobeying God, began to die and lost perfection. They also lost the ability to give their offspring the opportunity to live forever and make the whole earth a paradise.
Genesis 3:15, tells us Jesus will crush Satan in the head or totally destroy him. Jesus dying as a perfect human would redeem mankind Matthew 20:28
Satan, the father of the lie (John 8:44) would try to do anything to prevent Jesus from being able to fulfill this prophecy.
Back to the Star.
鈥淲ise men鈥 鈥 how many 鈥 the Bible does not say. (check out the Encyclopedia Britannica)
Were the 鈥淲ise men鈥 kings? - the Bible does not call them kings. (check out the Encyclopedia Britannica) They were astrologers
When did the 鈥淲ise men鈥 visit Jesus? This was a number of months after Jesus birth and Jesus was a young child (Matthew 2:11) and no longer in a manger
The Astrologers went not to Bethlehem but to Jerusalem first, not to Jesus but to King Herod. (Matthew 2:1,2)
Matthew 2:3-6 鈥 King Herod told the 鈥淲ise men鈥 Jesus was in Bethlehem. So the star did not lead the 鈥淲ise men鈥 to Jesus first, the star led them to King Herod. After that the star led them to Bethlehem. Matthew 2:9
Is that significant? Yes because that appearance of the 鈥榮tar鈥 set in motion the events that threatened Jesus鈥 life and resulted in the murder of innocent children.
Matthew 2:12 鈥 Divine warning to not return to Herod
Matthew 2:16 鈥 Herod ordered all the boys in Bethlehem 2 years old and under killed.
So this 鈥榮tar鈥 was not from God.
I have NO DOUBT that a 鈥渓ight鈥 of some sort was shone to guide the ones that visited Jesus. God sent His son to give love, heal and forgive us of our sins if we believe in Him. God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days according to Genesis chapter 1. Therefore He had all power to send a light to guide them according to the scriptures. We have a sinful nature as descendants of Adam and Eve and were given free will to believe and receive the gift of eternal life as stated in the Bible in the book of John. John 3:16 鈥淔or God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever beliveth in Him may have eternal life.鈥
The star was from God. The evil tendencies of man do not diminish the truth of the Bible. You are in error with your perception.
I like your conclusion that there is
really no need to try and reconcile what would have to have been a miracle, with a scientific explanation. 鈥楴uff said!
Great article. Anyone who understands basic astronomy understands what you said. I do astro photography for fun and as you state, unless you do a time lapse around the North Star (giving that bullseye image when stacked) there's no way any star "points" to anything. Or a magical kid born of "virgin birth" by a woman who more known for "comfort". Or who flies above the clouds and allows boundless suffering in the world but wants the Dallas Cowboys to win a football game every Sunday. Its so utterly ridiculous when you actually think about it, there's gotta be a social/societal aspect about it.
This says WAY WAY more about the silly (and evil) humans and their rituals, used to reduce stress they feel when unable to explain nature re the former AND the need for those in power to continue to exert it over we "common people" in the later. Think all those ridiculous cautionary statements in airports where some bogeyman gives you a multimillion dollar box of contraband to take on airplane for them. Criminals are dumb but even they arent THAT dumb. Try explaining to a boss how you let some rube carry your $10 million box to some rube who got caught. No TSA, even we common folk arent THAT dumb.
I've often heard that Jesus may have actually been born in the spring. As for a star, God has the authority and power to use whatever He wants to lead and guide people to where He wants them to go. Merry Christmas to all!
