De Ster Der Wijzen (1920): a Forgotten Early Publication About the Star of Bethlehem
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Chapter 6 De Ster der Wijzen (1920): A Forgotten Early Publication about the Star of Bethlehem Teije de Jong* Introduction In 1920 a modest little book of about 140 pages, entitled De Ster der Wijzen (The Star of the Wise Men), was published by the N. V. Uitgeversmaatschappij Paul Brand in Bussum, the Netherlands. The book was written by a Dutch catho- lic priest, Dominicus Sloet, who was at the time pastor in Abcoude, a village about 12 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. The book contains an astronomi- cal interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem based on the concept that the “wise men from the East” were Mesopotamian astronomers/astrologers who had reason to look for a “newborn king of the Jews.” This publication is unique in several respects: 1. It summarizes and partly builds on the work of the German scholars F. von Oefele,1 H. H. Kritzinger,2 and H. G. Voigt.3 This early research, in which the Jupiter–Saturn conjunction plays a central role, is almost com- pletely ignored in the modern (predominantly English) literature of the Star of Bethlehem.4 2. Contrary to most of his predecessors writing about the star, the author of this book suggests that the only function of the Jupiter–Saturn conjunc- tion is to accompany the planet Mars as the herald of the birth of Jesus, * I would like to express my thanks to Oscar Swijnenberg and Bernhardt Rengert for providing me with biographical materials, and to Marijke Duyvendak for valuable assistance in provid- ing copies of old and/or inaccessible publications. 1 “Die Angaben der Berliner Planetentafel P8279 verglichen mit dem Geburtsgeschichte Christi im Berichte des Matthäus,” Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellshaft 8 no. 2 (1903): 1–45; “Das Horoskop der Empfängnis Christi mit den Evangelien verglichen,” Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellshaft 8 no. 6 (1903): 1–15. 2 Die Stern der Weisen (Gütersloh: C. Bertelsmann Verlag, 1911). 3 Die Geschichte Jesu und die Astrologie (Leipzig: Hinrichse Buchhandlung, 1911). 4 For example, David Hughes, The Star of Bethlehem (New York: Walker, 1979); Michael R. Molnar, The Star of Bethlehem (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, 1999). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���5 | doi ��.��63/9789004308473_007 De Ster der Wijzen (1920) 139 consistent with its representing the king of the Amorites in cuneiform astrological literature. 3. In the book, the author quotes advice from and correspondence with the Jesuit priest Franz Xaver Kugler (1868–1929), one of the pioneers of the study of cuneiform astronomical texts and at the time the world’s expert on Babylonian astronomy and divination, who lived and worked in Valkenburg, the Netherlands, from 1894 until his death in 1929.5 In this essay, I will use the work of Sloet as a vehicle to summarize early research into the astronomical interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem. In doing so, I hope to convince the reader that his little book deserves to be saved from oblivion. The Author First, it seems appropriate to say a few words about Pastor Sloet, the author of this remarkable little book. Dominicus Andreas Willem Hendrik Sloet tot Everlo was born in Denekamp in the Dutch province of Overijssel on 29 October 1855. At the age of 12, he entered the Kleinseminarie in Culemborg, where he attended the Gymnasium followed by a one-year course in philoso- phy. Then he moved to the Grootseminarie Rijssenburg in Driebergen, near Utrecht, for his theological education. He was ordained priest in 1877. After early posts as chaplain in Oude Pekela (1877–1882), rector in Oldenzaal (1882– 1898), and pastor in Harderwijk (1898–1906), he spent most of his career as pastor in Abcoude (1906–1936). He died on 27 December 1938 at the advanced age of 83 in Abcoude–Proostdij.6 Dominicus Sloet, the descendant of an aristocratic family, is said to have been an unpretentious, devout, slightly autocratic man with a scientific tem- perament and a great interest in religious education. He developed into a bib- lical scholar of national renown and played an important role in the Catholic revival in the Netherlands during the first quarter of the twentieth century.7 5 See T. de Jong, “Babylonian Astronomy: 1850–1930” in Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of the History of Ancient Science (eds. A. Jones, Chr. Proust, and J. M. Steele; Dordrecht: Springer, 2015), in press. 6 For a short biography in Dutch, see O. Swijnenberg, Utrechtse Biografieën: van Angstel tot Kromme Mijdrecht: levensbeschrijvingen van bekende en onbekende mensen uit Abcoude, Baambrugge en De Ronde Venen (Utrecht: Stichting Publicaties Oud-Utrecht, 2001), 166–71. 7 L. J. Rogier and N. de Rooy, In vrijheid herboren. Katholiek Nederland 1853–1953 (The Hague: N. V. Uitgeversmij Pax, 1953), 492–585..