"None of these explications would be very likely even if it could be assumed that the Infancy Gospels dealt with astronomically identifiable scientific facts, but the previous findings would make one feel doubtful in this respect. And what kind of a star, let alone conjunction of planets, could be followed from the Orient to Jerusalem, then for a few miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, where it would signal precisely the house among many houses where Jesus happened to be?" (Vermes, 2006, p. 94) |
The idea of a celebrity’s birth being announced by celestial events is not original to Jesus. Alexander, Augustus, and Abraham all had stars accompany their births, as did Buddha and Krishna. So why not Jesus? If it were true, Halley’s comet was a good candidate for the celestial event, but the comet was seen in that area in 11 to 12 B.C. which is a little too early for Jesus’ birth. A better candidate is the 70+ day supernova observed by Chinese astronomers of the Han Dynasty in 5 B.C., yet we can’t be certain that this same star was seen in the region of Galilee. The best candidate was the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces, in 6 B.C., first elaborated by a Sixteenth Century German astronomer, John Kepler in 1603. Apparently the two planets came into conjunction three times during that year: May 27, October 6, and December 1 (Fidler, 1993, p.169). The one that fits our hypothesis best (i.e., shepherds in the fields) is May 27.
The real problem with Jesus and the “Star of Bethlehem” is that mythology has come to associate the star with his birth, but in fact it is clear from Matthew (2: 1-16) that the wise men from the East followed the star two years after Jesus was born. This is why King Herod “killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years or under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men (Matthew 2:16).” This event, while listed in Matthew, has no corresponding mention in any of the histories of that period. Which isn’t to say that Herod wasn’t capable of such an act, but its omission questions the veracity of Matthew’s claim.
So the appearance of the star would be about 4 B.C., for which there is no known astronomical event. We do know, however, that the presence of a star illuminated the arrival of the Queen of Sheba, who bore among her gifts myrrh for King Solomon (1 Kings 10:1-13), and we may have here the origins of the Christmas star as the writers of Matthew once again try to tie Old testament stories into Jesus’ life.
In summary, it’s unlikely that there was a star heralding Jesus birth, and then hanging around Bethlehem for two years while the Magi sought Jesus out. Our only possible candidate, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces, did not hang around long enough. In fact, for the writers of the Gospel of Matthew, “…stars were living beings, intelligent and powerful, exercising great impact on lands over which they move (Malina, 2001, p.104).” This means that the writers of Matthew were implying that the Magi were inspired by angels, rather than following an actual physical entity. Thus, our inability to find a physical entity which fulfills the demands of Matthew’s description is not a problem, since a physical entity was never truly meant.
02/05/2008 |