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Home , Herod the Great, Magi, Star of Bethlehem

December 1996 Volume 25, Number 12

IMPRIMISBecause Ideas Have Consequences

24th The Star of year Craig Chester Past President, Monterey Institute for 720,000 subscribers Research in Astronomy

For nearly two thousand years, the Star of raig Chester is a co-founder and Bethlehem has been a powerful symbol of the Cpast president of the Monterey Christian faith. Its unique story, told here by (California) Institute for Research in astronomer Craig Chester, was originally pre- Astronomy (MIRA). Founded more sented at Hillsdale College’s Center for than two decades ago, MIRA is the only American profes- Constructive Alternatives seminar, “Man and sional observatory Creation: Perspectives on Science and Religion,” established in this in the fall of 1992 and was published in the century that is inde- December 1993 issue of Imprimis. pendent of universities and of the federal gov- ernment. Its observa- The Story of the Star in tory (at one of the best sites in the U.S.), its the East educational programs, and its state-of-the- omeone once observed, “The universe is art research are fund- composed of stories, not atoms.” The Star ed almost entirely by of Bethlehem is certainly a story, as is most private donors who of the , first and foremost. It is also a wish to support basic Smystery, involving not only theology and astrono- science at a unique institution. my but also history and even . What do we As a software con- know about the ? The popular sultant, Dr. Chester has worked on a conception is summarized in the carol: variety of U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force projects, developing ground equip- of Orient are ment and software tools for satellite communications. Bearing gifts we traverse afar, He holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from Field and fountain, moor and mountain, Case Western Reserve University. Following yonder star. O star of wonder, star of night, Star of royal beauty bright, Westward leading, still proceeding, Guide us to thy perfect light.

Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan 49242 IMPRIMIS Because Ideas Have Consequences

We all know this carol as the story of the Star, It is also the only account we have of the Star in which is fine–except for the fact that almost our Bible. Admittedly, later non-canonical everything in it is wrong. The actual New sources like the Protovangelium of James and an Testament account of the Star of Bethlehem of Ignatius did elaborate on the story, call- comes from the second chapter of the of ing the Star the brightest star in the sky, brighter Matthew: than all other stars combined, even including was born at Bethlehem in Judaea the sun and the moon, which bowed down before during the reign of Herod. After his birth it. But Matthew is very matter-of-fact. It has also astrologers [] from the East arrived in been suggested that this is a commentary by , asking, “Where is the newborn Matthew, always fond of referring to Old king of the Jews? We observed the rising of Testament prophecies, on Balaam’s oracle in the his star, and we have come to pay him that “a star shall come forth homage.” King Herod was greatly perturbed out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of when he heard this, and so was the whole of .” But it would be uncharacteristic of Jerusalem. He called together the chief Matthew to refrain from pointing out this priests and scribes of the Jews and asked prophecy explicitly, had he had it in mind. them where the was to be born. “At Bethlehem in Judaea,” they replied, “for this The Historical is what the wrote: ‘Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means least Perspective among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler to be the shepherd of my o understand this story, we must view it people Israel.’” in the context of its time. Who were Then Herod summoned the astrologers to these Magi? Where did they come from? meet him secretly, and ascertained from Magi is the plural of Magus, the root of T our word , and “court them the exact time when the star had appeared. He sent them to astrologers” is proba- Bethlehem, and said, “Go and bly the best transla- make a careful search for tion, although “wise the child, and when you men” is also a good have found him, bring term, descriptive of me word, so that I the esteem in may go myself and which they were pay him homage.” widely held. The After hearing group of Magi in what the king question came had to say they “from the East.” set out; there They might have before them been Zoroastrians, was the star , Persians, they had Arabs, or even Jews. seen rising, They probably served as and it went court advisors, making ahead of them forecasts and predictions for until it stopped their royal patrons based on above the place where the child lay. their study of the stars, about They were overjoyed at the sight of it and, which they were quite knowledgeable. Magi entering the house, they saw the child with often wandered from court to court, and it was Mary his mother and bowed low in homage not unusual for them to cover great distances in to him; they opened their treasure chests and order to attend the birth or crowning of a king, presented gifts to him: , , paying their respects and offering gifts. It is not and . Then they returned to their own surprising, therefore, that Matthew would men- country by another route, for they had been tion them as validation of Jesus’ kingship, or warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. that Herod would regard their arrival as a very serious matter. This is not a fabulous tale. It does not conjure When might these Magi have appeared in up fantastic details or images, and it is told in a Judaea? Obviously, determining the story’s date rather mundane fashion, not at all like a fable. is important if we are to look for astronomical 2 connections. We might assume that it was “house” of an infant (brephos in the Greek) around 1 B.C. or 1 A.D., since that is when, by but of a paidion, or toddler, indicating that conventional reckon- some months may ing, Jesus was born. have elapsed since But the calendar on In 3 B.C. and 2 B.C., there was the birth itself. which these dates What are the astro- are based was set by a series of close conjunctions nomical possibilities? the Roman monk This question has Dionysius Exiguus in involving , the been asked many the year 525 A.D., that represented kingship, times since the long after the fact. Christian apologist Scholars writing in coronations, and the birth of first raised it the first and second around 250 A.D. It is centuries A.D. assert- kings. In Hebrew, Jupiter was safe to say that every ed that Jesus was astronomical event born between what known as Sedeq or known to have we now call 4 B.C. “Righteousness,” a term also occurred during, say, and 1 B.C. They were the decade of interest living much closer to used for the Messiah. has at some point the event and had been proposed as the access to thousands Star of Bethlehem. of historical records in many excellent libraries, The key point to answering this question is to note and their opinions probably should be given that it is not just any astronomical event that is of much more weight than has been common. interest. We can restrict our inquiry to those How about the time of the year? The best clue appearances that would have had astrological sig- is a passage in the Book of Luke: nificance to the Magi, who declared:

And there were in the same country shep- “We observed the rising of his star, and we herds abiding in the fields, keeping watch have come to pay him homage.” over their flock by night. An astrological event may not have been very If the reference to “fields” is accurate–not pas- obvious at all; certainly it was not obvious to tures or holding pens–we might guess at a date in Herod. Had it been an incomparably bright late summer or early fall, for it was customary for object, as later writers thought, there would be farmers to allow sheep and cattle to graze the stub- numerous written records of it. It is much more ble in the fields following the harvest. This clue is plausible that the Star of Bethlehem went unno- suggestive, but hardly definitive. ticed by all but a few experts such as the Magi. One difficulty in seeking a precise date is the fact that Matthew reports two different sightings, possibly separated by a substantial time. First, The Death of Herod the Magi saw the Star rising en anatole, best translated as “rising in the East,” the ancient major key to the chronology is the date of technical term for an acronical rising, when an the death of , the father object rises at sunset and is visible all night. of another Herod–, who After they come to Jerusalem–we do not know executed and who ruled Aat the time of the Crucifixion. Herod the Great how long that took, and there is no indication that the Star was in any way involved with the was alive when the Star of Bethlehem appeared, journey–they see the Star again as they travel the and the commonly quoted date for his death is 4 few miles to Bethlehem: B.C. Thus dates of 7 B.C. through 4 B.C. are often given for the birth of Jesus. The political There before them was the star they had seen events of this period are best known from the rising, and it went ahead of them until it writings of Flavius, the Jewish historian stopped above the place where the child lay. who lived from 37 A.D. to about 95 A.D. His tes- timony has always been considered vital in deter- There was no need for a bright or supernatu- mining these dates. But the accounts of Josephus ral guiding light to find Bethlehem from and the entire history of this period have been Jerusalem; it lies just five miles south on the main road. There is a reference not to the 3 IMPRIMIS Because Ideas Have Consequences reassessed recently, with important new results, had been received, arrived to protect the royal by Ernest Martin, whose book, The Star that treasury. Finally, Herod’s son Archelaus was Astonished the World (ASK Publications, 1991), crowned king and had time to issue a few decrees has become the authoritative source on the prior to the celebration of . subject. The 29 days between the of 4 B.C. and According to Josephus, on the night of a lunar the following Passover simply did not allow eclipse Herod executed enough time for all of two rabbis. They were this to have happened. A accused of inciting some Could the Star have minimum of ten weeks young men to climb up would have been on the wall and tear stopped over Bethlehem? required. But on January down the golden eagle 10, 1 B.C., there was a that the king had ordered The answer is yes. total lunar eclipse visible placed on the gate to the in Palestine, and it . This eagle was, of course, occurred twelve and a half weeks before Passover. an abomination to the Jews because it was a As Martin points out, there are other com- graven image. Soon after this incident, Herod pelling reasons to regard 1 B.C. as the true date died and was buried. One of his sons inherited of Herod’s death. For example, the War of Varus, his throne shortly before Passover was celebrated. known to have followed Herod’s death, can be It was long believed that the lunar eclipse in redated to 1 B.C., where it fits the other known question occurred on March 13 in 4 B.C. But this facts perfectly. As a clincher, it has recently been was only a partial eclipse (40 percent total) and discovered that Josephus himself dated Herod’s fairly hard to detect. And it occurred only 29 days death to 1 B.C.; a sixteenth century copyist’s error before Passover. Here is is responsible for the what would have had to incorrect date, which has happen in those 29 days: Was God’s purpose ful- been propagated to mod- Herod was sick at the ern editions of Josephus. time of the execution of filled by the great celes- If we conclude that the rabbis, and his con- tial dance that we call the Herod did die in the dition worsened almost spring of 1 B.C., we are immediately. He was Star of Bethlehem? free to add the years 3 treated for a time by his B.C. and 2 B.C. to our physicians, to no avail. search for the Star of He then decided to pack up the royal household Bethlehem. What was happening then? The year and move to to take the baths. He tried 2 B.C. marked the 25th anniversary of Caesar the baths unsuccessfully for some days and then ’s rule and the 750th anniversary of the returned to Jerusalem. Believing that he soon founding of . Huge celebrations were would die, Herod came up with a diabolical plan planned. The whole empire was at peace. The to insure that all of Israel would mourn his doors of the temple of Janus were closed for only death, in spite of his unpopularity. He com- the third time in Roman history. To honor their manded the leading men from around the coun- emperor, the people were to rise as one and name try to come to Jerusalem; there he imprisoned him pater patriae, or “Father of the Country.” them in the Hippodrome and ordered the army to Now, getting the people of an empire to do some- execute them as soon as he was dead. Israel thing “spontaneously” requires a great deal of would indeed mourn, he vowed. (Fortunately, organization. And so an enrollment, or census, the order was not carried out.) was ordered: In the meantime, word arrived from Rome that Herod finally had the Emperor’s permission In those days, a decree went out from Caesar to execute his rebellious son Antipater, and he Augustus that all the world should be promptly complied. Five days later Herod died, enrolled....And all went to be enrolled, each but not before decreeing that his was to be the to his own city. largest ever held in the history of the world. His body was embalmed. The army was This enrollment, described in the Book of assembled to carry his body in the funeral pro- Luke, which brought Joseph and Mary to cession to a burial site some 25 miles away. The Bethlehem, has always been a mystery since no soldiers walked in bare feet, as was required regular census occurred at this time. But the when in mourning, traveling one mile a day. A pater patriae enrollment fits perfectly. legate from Rome, where word of Herod’s death 4 The Astronomical between Jupiter and was repeated, not once but twice, in February and May of 2 B.C. Perspective Finally, in June of 2 B.C., Jupiter and , the two brightest objects in the sky save the sun and hat astronomical events, possibly in the moon, experienced an even closer encounter the years 3 or 2 B.C., might have when their disks appeared to touch; to the naked been related to the Star of eye they became a single object above the setting Bethlehem? A –the unexpected, sun. This exceptionally rare spectacle could not suddenW brightening of a star from invisibility have been missed by the Magi. into a bright object for a period of days or In fact, we have seen here only the highlights weeks–has been suggested. But there is no his- of an impressive series of planetary motions and torical record of such a nova, nor is it clear what conjunctions fraught with a variety of astrological a nova’s astrological significance would be. meanings, involving all the other known Origen himself suggested a , for of the period: Mercury, Mars, and . The appear sporadically, move, and can even seem to astrological significance of these impressive point down to the earth. But the recorded events must surely have been seen by the Magi comets around this time, even Halley’s Comet in as the announcement of the impending birth of a 12 B.C., were not very great king of Israel. impressive; astrologi- September 11, 3 B.C., cally, they were con- is perhaps the most sidered ominous. In September of 3 B.C., interesting date of Meteors and fireballs all. Not only was are even less likely Jupiter came into Jupiter very close to candidates. Regulus in the first of Conjunctions of with Regulus, the star of their conjunctions, planets have also but the sun was in long been considered kingship, the brightest star in the constellation of good possibilities. A the constellation of Leo. Leo Virgo (of obvious conjunction is a close symbolism), together apparent approach was the constellation of with the new moon, between two celestial in a configuration objects. Technically kings, and it was associated that fits a plausible speaking, a conjunc- interpretation of a tion occurs at the with the Lion of Judah. The passage in the Book moment when both royal planet approached the of Revelation describ- objects have the same ing the birth of a celestial longitude; royal star in the royal constel- male child who is to one is due north of be the ruler of the the other. The closer lation representing Israel. universe. Significantly, the objects, the more September 11, 3 B.C., visually impressive also marked the the event and the beginning of the more significant astrologically. In 3 B.C. and 2 Jewish New Year, traditionally regarded as the B.C., there was a series of close conjunctions anniversary of Noah’s landing after the Great involving Jupiter, the planet that represented Flood. kingship, coronations, and the birth of kings. In But if the planet Jupiter was the Star of Hebrew, Jupiter was known as Sedeq or Bethlehem, or was a component of the events “Righteousness,” a term also used for the Messiah. that triggered the visit by the Magi, how do we In September of 3 B.C., Jupiter came into con- view the final appearance of the Star on their junction with Regulus, the star of kingship, the journey to Bethlehem? It would have been in the brightest star in the constellation of Leo. Leo southern sky, though fairly high above the hori- was the constellation of kings, and it was associ- zon. Could the Star have stopped over ated with the Lion of Judah. The royal planet Bethlehem? The answer is yes. The word “stop” approached the royal star in the royal constella- was used for what we now call a planet’s “sta- tion representing Israel. Just a month earlier, tionary point.” A planet normally moves east- Jupiter and Venus, the Mother planet, had almost ward through the stars from night to night and seemed to touch each other in another close con- junction, also in Leo. Then the conjunction 5 IMPRIMIS Because Ideas Have Consequences month to month, but regularly exhibits a “retro- These are examples of the kind of questions grade loop.” After it passes the opposite point in we are faced with daily. No theologian can say, the sky from the sun, it appears to slow, come to a in a way convincing to a scientist, that some full stop, and move backward (westward) through event required an act of God outside natural law. the sky for some weeks. Again it slows, stops, and Similarly, no scientist can say that some event resumes its eastward course. was merely (a dangerous word) an act of natu- It seems plausible that the Magi were “over- ral law working itself out with no other mean- joyed” at again seeing before them, as they trav- ing. That is, no one is forced to believe that eled southward, “his star,” Jupiter, which at its sta- what happened in the heavens two thousand tionary point was standing still over Bethlehem. years ago was a simple, natural event devoid of We do know for certain that Jupiter performed a meaning. The Star of Bethlehem was an excel- retrograde loop in 2 B.C. and that it was stationary lent example of an event that occurs right at the on December 25, interestingly enough, during intersection of Christianity and science, in a , the season for giving presents. world created by a God who chose to institute natural laws but who nevertheless continues to What Room for God? carry out His own purposes. here has this search for the Star of Christmas Past and Bethlehem taken us? There has been much discussion in recent years Christmas Present about the “God of the gaps”–finding George Roche WGod in the gaps between the portions of some President, Hillsdale College subject that we feel we understand scientifically. It seems to me that this is a dangerous position, n 1897, an eight- for science by definition cannot admit to such year-old girl named gaps and must search continually to fill them IVirginia O’Hanlon with its understanding, and it often will succeed wrote a letter to Francis in so doing. Here the situation is different. The Church, editor of the question is: What meaning, what room for God, New York Sun: “Some do we find in the events that we know to of my little friends say have occurred? that there is no Santa If we have correctly identified the Star of Claus. Papa says, ‘If you Bethlehem, the science is clear and simple. see it in the Sun, it’s so.’ (1571-1630) was the German Please tell me the truth. astronomer who discovered the physical laws Is there a ?” describing planetary . These orbits are so “Yes, Virginia,” answered Church, “there is a predictable that we can deduce quite accurately Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and what the sky looked like two thousand years ago. generosity and devotion exist....Alas, how dreary Even the ancient Magi understood apparent the world would be if there were no Santa Claus! It planetary motions quite well. Predictions of the would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias! conjunction of 3 and 2 B.C. were made 400 years There would be no childlike faith, then, no poetry, prior to the birth of , and they were in error no romance, to make tolerable this existence.” by only a few days. There is no need to invoke Then he explained that he thought Virginia’s God or divine to explain what happened friends had been affected by the skepticism of a in the heavens above Judaea. Natural laws are skeptical age. They did not believe what they could sufficient. not see. “Nobody sees Santa Claus,” he said, “but But is this kind of sufficiency really enough that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The for us? The significant question raised here is most real things in the world are those that neither not what happened, but why it happened. What children nor men see.” And Church concluded, does it mean? Was Matthew right in seeing this “No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives and he lives event as divine confirmation of a central forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, moment in God’s plan for mankind? What room ten times ten thousand years from now, he will is left for God, not as an agent filling in the gaps continue to make glad the heart of childhood.” between what we can understand as physical Almost a century has passed since Virginia wrote causes, but as the creator of purpose? Was God’s her famous letter. What do the Virginias of today purpose fulfilled by the great celestial dance that believe? Do they have faith in the kind of Santa we call the Star of Bethlehem? Claus and the “love and generosity and devotion”

6 Church described? Or do they only believe in what they see—that is, in the dreary, ugly, and violent world that is so often portrayed on television, in films, and on the radio? I think it is likely that many of our chil- dren have become hardened skeptics like Virginia O’Hanlon’s little friends. Why? As PBS film critic Medved argues in a forthcoming book, there has been “a national assault on innocence” in our cul- ture, our schools, and our public square. Instead of teaching about Santa Claus and all the wonderful (and nonsectarian) virtues that this jolly old Christian saint represents, we have chosen to introduce sex education in public elementary schools, to televise graphic depictions of thousands of murders, beatings, and robberies, and to endorse single-parent families and “alternative lifestyles.” We have been so worried about preparing our children for what we think of Santa Claus visits the Hillsdale Campus. as adulthood that we have destroyed their childhood. Oh, to believe in Santa Claus again! Perhaps if we adults can regain our faith, our children can, too.

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