The Star of Bethlehem

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Shem Tov Matthew says:

"It came to pass when Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Yudah in the days of Herod the King, behold astrologers came from the East to Jerusalem saying: Where is the King of the Jews who has been born. We have seen his star in the East and we have come with important gifts to worship him. ... Then King Herod called the magicians in secret and asked them well concerning the time the Star appeared to them. ... They harkened to the King and went, and behold the star which they saw in the East was going before them until they came to the place. When they entered Bethlehem it stopped before the place where the child was." Matthew 2:1-2, 7, 9.

Professor David Hughes, one of the leader astronomers in the United Kingdom has studied the account and the skies of that period and has concluded that what the Magi were seeing was Jupiter and Saturn in an unusual conjunction which occurred three times in 7 B.C. and during which the conjunction would appear to move due to the retrograde appearance of the planets during the conjunction. This would have occurred during the spring and summer of 7 B.C. This event would occur in the sign of Pisces which was associated with the Jewish people by Zoroastrian astrologers.

Dr. Michael Molnar of New York, a leading American astronomer, is an authority on astronomically related coins. He has a coin from Antioch which shows a star in the sign of Aries. He found that on April 17, 6 B.C. Jupiter would have been occulted in the early morning by the Moon in Aries and the appearance would have been noted by expert astronomer-astrologers. He concludes that this event is the Star of Bethlehem.

Dr. Mark Kidger, an authority on supernovas, believes that at the time of the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C. a nova event occurred on or near Dio Aquila. It was observed in 1927 to have another nova event and he was able to predict that a similar event had occurred in 7 B.C. So he believers that this nova event occurring with Jupiter and Saturn made a very bright star that would move.

The Arian Archbishop of York Most Reverend Brian Mackenzie-Hanson said this about his belief:

‎"A star rising in the East" (Matthew 2:2): Jupiter (the King Planet) and Regulus (the King Star: "Prince" or "Little King") came into conjunction for the first time on 11-Sep-3BC. Then over a period of 9 months, two more conjunctions of Jupiter and Regulus took place in the constellation Leo (the Lion, which the Old Testament of the Bible specifically associated with the Jewish people) for a total of 3 conjunctions. Because Jupiter goes into retrograde, its apparent motion through the background stars draws a halo (or Crown) over Regulus. Then, at the end of this nine month period on **17-June-2BC** appears the Star of Bethlehem in the western skies when looking from Babylon toward Jerusalem as Jupiter with Venus (the Planet of Love, harmony and Beauty; also Nativity when associated with Jupiter) and Regulus come into conjunction. Babylon being where the Magi where looking from.
- The Magi (the Wise Men, Matthew 2:1-12), being the Astronomers and Astrologers of the time were in no doubt as to what these signs (Genesis 1:14) in the sky meant!

There has not been a brighter, closer conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Leo so near to Regulus in the 2,000 years before or since.

The problem I have with Archbishop Mackenzie-Hanson's theory is Herod the Great was dead in 4 B.C. Although he argues that there is a minority view allowing Herod to have lived until 2 B.C. or 1 B.C., the vast majority of scholars put his death at 4 B.C. The problem I have with the astronomical theories is that they are looking for an actual star in the sky. Everyone acknowledges that the observers were astrologers. But no one seems to know anything about astrology.

The astrologers ask Herod: Where is the King of the Jews who has been born. We have seen his star in the East. Everyone on earth has a Star in the East. The question that they ask is an astrological one. One must know that exact moment of birth in order to determine where to set the beginning of a horoscope. That place is called the Star in the East. My star is in Libra. In the seventh verse, Herod asks the astrologers "well concerning the time the star appeared." That question is also an astrological question. Herod did not know that the Meshiach had been born. He deduced that in watching the predictive horoscope the Magi had concluded from what was on the chart that a king had been born in Yudah. So, he asked the time. By knowing the time, he could deduce the moment of the child's birth in his area and theoretically could predict the exact place. He then acting on insufficient evidence had some boys killed in Bethlehem.

Many will claim that Josephus, who was no lover of Herod, did not mention a massacre in Bethlehem, but it might not have been a massacre. Herod knew the characteristics of the child. One, it must be a descendant of David; two, the child must have been born in the last two years; three, the child might have other indications of importance. According to one source, Herod had killed Zachariah in order to discover where St. John the Baptist was hiding. It is therefore likely he was already aware of the Bethlehem as a potential trouble spot and no stupid man, he already had spies on the ground.

So my conclusion is there never was an actual Star in the sky. The Star was on a predictive horoscope and predicted the coming of King.

It is important to note that St. Luke's Gospel which shows some Marian knowledge and is said to have originated at least partially from discussions with Mary makes no mention of the Magi. Mark, the earliest Gospel, does not make mention of the Magi. And, of course, John makes no mention of the Magi. So where do we get the Magi. I think that can be deduced from another scripture. Isaiah 60 specifically mentions the bringing of three gifts from kingdoms in places to the east and south of Bethlehem; it mentions camels; and it mentions sheep. I think that Matthew, so interested in proof-texts merely invented the Magi to give Yeshua a fantastical origin.

I could go on and on about other problems with the Infancy Narratives, but this blog is about the Star.