The Star of Bethlehem

Yet another astronomer claims to have figured out what the Star of Bethlehem was. There was a comet in 5BCE documented in Chinese sources. The problem, as always, is the contradiction in the dating of Christ's birth. Matthew says "In the time of King Herod" which actually fits with this dating, given Herod the Great died in 4BCE. But Luke says, "This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria" and we know from Roman records that Quirinius was governor from 6CE to 12CE, too late to associate with this comet.

So it all depends on what dating you use. And to me, it also suggests that trying to find a "real" Star of Bethlehem is missing the point by a country mile. These stories need to be read for their meaning, not for their facts. They are well written mythology, fictitious but packed with meaning for the early Christians who told and eventually wrote them down. Instead of trying to "prove" them, lets read them for their meaning as stories and not worry about the truth. The truth is that they lay groundwork for how the early church viewed Jesus and how the church has viewed him since. I suspect the only real facts in them, because they are consistent in both, is his parents' names and that they were from Nazareth.

I got my husband a National Geographic subscription for Christmas. Along with the paper version comes access to digital archives. I was just reading an article yesterday on the Star of Bethlehem.

Mendalla said:

Yet another astronomer claims to have figured out what the Star of Bethlehem was. There was a comet in 5BCE documented in Chinese sources. The problem, as always, is the contradiction in the dating of Christ's birth. Matthew says "In the time of King Herod" which actually fits with this dating, given Herod the Great died in 4BCE. But Luke says, "This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria" and we know from Roman records that Quirinius was governor from 6CE to 12CE, too late to associate with this comet.

So it all depends on what dating you use. And to me, it also suggests that trying to find a "real" Star of Bethlehem is missing the point by a country mile. These stories need to be read for their meaning, not for their facts. They are well written mythology, fictitious but packed with meaning for the early Christians who told and eventually wrote them down. Instead of trying to "prove" them, lets read them for their meaning as stories and not worry about the truth. The truth is that they lay groundwork for how the early church viewed Jesus and how the church has viewed him since. I suspect the only real facts in them, because they are consistent in both, is his parents' names and that they were from Nazareth.

https://mitechnews.com/science/nasa-scientist-claims-star-of-bethlehem-not-a-star-at-all/

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Are there factors allowed for great stirring confusion? Just look up at night and you can see it slowly going around ... experts do not accept that we are going about something else with a misconception about who is going about what ... a' qui? Query is thus mounted ...

My view ----on the Star of Bethlehem

To all skeptics ---Jesus Might Say ------

O You of little Faith --Why do you Doubt ???????????????

Nothing is Impossible with God ---so ----says God -----

Science can only go so far ----then God takes over -------
AND
Creates the Super on the Natural ------

Just maybe that is what happened --in the case of the bright star that led the Magi to the house where Jesus was with his Mother -----

Matthew 2:9-11---Amp --the Magi follow the Star​

9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them [continually leading the way] until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

11 And after entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, after opening their treasure chests, they presented to Him gifts [fit for a king, gifts] of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.


I say ----
Actually this is fulfilling a prophecy from Numbers

Numbers 24:16-18 --verse 17
​

16 the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

17 “I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel.

He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of all the people of Sheth

18 Edom will be conquered;
Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
but Israel will grow strong.


Now the Star ---well apparently God didn't feel that the Star was important for us to have all the details about the Star and it's brightness ----except it was used as a guide to get the Magi to Jesus' house to give Him the gifts bestowing to a King ------there have been many speculations --about the star's brightness --but the main focus is the birth of Jesus not the Star -----


Strong's says this ----Greek word for star

Lexical Summary
astér: Star
from the root, star

Well who is the root star --Jesus is the root offspring of David ---according to this


Revelation 22:16, where Jesus declares, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.” The reward, then, is Christ Himself—sharing in His eternal rule and brilliance.


Was the star planets all put together -?????--was it God's Glory that was shining --????? -was it 7 stars put together ----etc --etc --????--we don't know -----what we do know is it was a guiding light for the Magi -----

One has to be awe Mused by literalist that cannot get the depth of myth of a dark shadowy pool ... with monsters to kick ... Las Ciel ... as it closes overhead!

Is a god-myth a dark shadowy thing that cannot be explained because of its ultimate extensibility? It can go on and on ... just because ... mortals needed something to observe ... in pure hammered material ... irony? Imagine that forged in Bethlehem ... then they lost the skills ... as they were sold on unproved information and data ...

Thus some of us search forever ... for the unmentionable ... under things? It is another fabrication in some zones and districts ... abstract?

Absolutism???? Can such things blow up in your eyes ...

Mendalla said:

And to me, it also suggests that trying to find a "real" Star of Bethlehem is missing the point by a country mile. These stories need to be read for their meaning, not for their facts. They are well written mythology, fictitious but packed with meaning for the early Christians who told and eventually wrote them down. Instead of trying to "prove" them, lets read them for their meaning as stories and not worry about the truth. The truth is that they lay groundwork for how the early church viewed Jesus and how the church has viewed him since. I suspect the only real facts in them, because they are consistent in both, is his parents' names and that they were from Nazareth.

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THis. I do not read the Nativity stories as historical narrative. It has been decades since I did so (like over 4 decades perhaps?). They are, I believe, the early story-tellers (I really suspect that the Nativity stories circulated as oral versions --likely multiple-- before they were ever written down and sort of codified) attempts to continue to explain who this Jesus was.
In fact they can't both be read as historical narrative because they contradict each other. Apart from the timeline issue that @Mendalla has already named there is a matter of where the family was first from. Luke has them in Nazareth and then travelling to Bethlehem for the census (which has always seemed odd to me, surely a census for taxation purposes wants to know where they are living now not where the family may have been from at one point) while Matthew reads as though Mary and Joseph are really Bethlehemites forced to relocate for the protection of their child (and ending up in Nazareth).

If the stories are not historic fact but are true in another way then we don't need to "prove" them or to try and find explanations for phenomena like the star. We accept them as saying something about Jesus the man and leave it at that.

A man by the name of Dr Heiser, looks at it in more general terms. While the Christian religious institution would prefer to avoid the reality of the times when this occurred, he does not and shows what the Jews believed at the time.

I once heard that Bethlehem was an old word for chaos! Thus some nut-houses adopted such titles ... sparks would ensue ...