CIM Briefing Papers
C.I.M. Outline #19(V.3)
THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM: WHAT WAS IT?
I. Introduction
A. One of the most important aspects of the Christmas
story is the Star which lured the Wise Men from their
homeland to visit the Christ Child. The emblem
overwhelms us; it appears on Christmas trees, cards,
decorations, at nativities, and is the subject of
carols. It is a prominent feature in the story of
Christ's birth. Was the star a totally supernatural
occurrence? Or, if it was an astral event, can it
throw light on a more precise date for the birth of
Christ? This has been a question of much speculation
over the centuries. New light from the science of
astronomy and archaeology may indeed give us insight
into an event that was undoubtedly the supernatural
event of all time, but it may have been accompanied by
some interesting providential handiwork of the Creator.
B. Important Passages of Scripture:
1. Matthew 2:1-12. The Story of the Magi. Several
things can be noted from the text:
a. It was a star which had "newly appeared." It
could have been something wholly
supernatural, or an entirely natural
phenomenon. if it was natural it could have
been a new or strange configuration of
planets or a combination of stars and
planets. There are two other natural
possibilities: a nova (or supernova), which
is an exploding star that all of a sudden
appears brighter, sometimes to the point
where it can even be seen in the daytime, or
a comet. The Greek word aster, can be used
for a number of heavenly bodies including
planets, stars, comets, or meteors.
b. The text seems to indicate that the object
traveled slowly through the sky against the
star background in an east to southwest
direction because of the earth's rotation.
If we assume it was a natural phenomenon we
can rule out the normal movement of planets since
their motion was well known. A conjunction
of two or more planets could be a
possibility. More likely it was a comet
since a nova does not move.
c. It "stood" over Bethlehem. This could easily
be understood if a supernatural event were
being described, but could conceivably be a
comet (See below). That the star pointed out
the very house is a popular tradition, but
the text does not make it that specific.
What it does seem to say, is that viewed from
Jerusalem, it stood, or appeared to point
over Bethlehem. Bethlehem was a very tiny
village. It would not have been hard to find
a house with a newborn.
2. Numbers 24:17 is a prophecy which states that a
Star will come out of Jacob who will rule.
3. Daniel 9:20-27 is a prophecy which predicts the
time of the Messiah's coming. If the seventy
sevens are weeks of years, that works out to 490
years. The prophecy clock began ticking with the
command to rebuilt Jerusalem in approximately the
middle of the 5th Century B.C. It is very likely
that this prophecy was known in the east, i.e.,
Babylon, at the time of Christ's birth since it
was where Daniel received the prophecy. Certainly
the large colony of Jews who remained there after
the captivity were aware of it, and copies were
possibly in the possession of the Magi.
4. Revelation 12:1,2 is a prophecy about a sign in
heaven having to do with Messiah's birth. Ernest
Martin believes this is a description of the
constellation Virgo (the Virgin)(See his book: THE
STAR THAT ASTONISHED THE WORLD). According to his
calculations the sun and moon were in the right
positions in this constellation on September 11th
of 3 B.C. In the Jewish calendar this would have
been Tishri One, the Jewish New Year and the Feast
of Trumpets. While his case is impressive it has
major problems in that the year, 3 B.C., seems to
be too late. (See the later discussion about
Herod's death.)
5. In Revelation 22:16 Jesus calls Himself a "Star".
II. There are two basic views of the Star of Bethlehem
A. The Supernatural View
1. Stated: This view holds that the Star was a wholly
supernatural occurrence seen only by the Magi. In
addition to seeing something, they also must of
necessity have had some sort of accompanying
revelation as to its meaning. This revelation may
have been prophecies from the Old Testament along
with a message from an angel, and/or dreams.
2. Strengths of the Supernatural view:
a. It can more readily account for the fact that
the "star" guided them to the child. It is
difficult to understand how a remote star in
the sky could do this.
b. The text seems to indicate that the star
appeared, disappeared, and reappeared again.
This is the reason for their rejoicing because
of the reappearance of the star in Matt. 2:10.
c. The "star," if it was supernatural, may have
been a similar phenomena to the Shekineh Glory
cloud in the Old Testament which guided the
Children of Israel in the wilderness. See
Exodus 13:21.
d. No one else seemed to be aware of it. If it
had been a natural phenomena others would have
seen it.
3. Weaknesses of the Supernatural view:
a. The language of the original in Matt. 2:2
(literally: "We saw his star at its rising,"
and the "star stood,"), is used exclusively in
ancient literature to depict natural stellar
phenomena.
b. Most scholars believe the Magi were a priestly
group skilled in astronomy and astrology who
interpreted signs and portents. It is now
known (from Herodotus) that at the time of
Christ there were guilds of magi located in
Persia and in what is now Saudi Arabia, both
East of Palestine. Because of recent
archaeological discoveries, scholars now favor
Arabia because the gifts given by the Magi were
known to have their origin there.
c. This view seems to be based more on traditions
and works of art (Nativity scenes) rather than
the text. The text does not say the star gave
them specific directions.
d. There is much argument from silence. Because
the text does not mention that the star was
seen by others does not mean it was not so
witnessed. The text is also silent on any
additional revelation they would have needed,
though it is conceivable that it may have
occurred this way. There just seems to be a
better explanation.
B. The Natural View
1. Stated: The Magi had some sort of prior knowledge
and expectation of a coming Jewish Deliverer.
Being skilled astronomers and astrologers they did
not fail to notice the unusual natural phenomena
they observed. In fact they may have been watching
for it. There were three spectacular events in the
eastern skies in the years 7, 6, and 5 B.C.
a. Kepler, the famous astronomer of the 17th
century, discovered a rare and very unusual
triple conjunction (May, October and December)
of two planets (Jupiter and Saturn) which
occurred in 7 B.C., and again in 6 B.C. another
conjunction of three planets This last
conjunction of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn occurs
every 805 years. This rare event occurred in
the sign of Pisces which ancient astrologers
called the house of the Hebrews and the sign of
the last days! The planet Jupiter was regarded
as the star of the ruler of the universe.
Saturn was known as the planet of Palestine.
If Jupiter encountered Saturn in the sign of
Pisces it could mean that a notable ruler of
the last days would appear in Palestine.
b. The appearance of a spectacular comet in the
spring of 5 B.C. in the constellation Capricorn
may have signaled the birth of the Jewish king
and may have been the signal for the Magi to
make their pilgrimage. Since this comet lasted
an unusually long period of 70 days it may have
taken them this long to make the trip (about
right from either Arabia and Persia). After
the visit with Herod the comet then re-appeared
as it came around the sun. Such a comet was
described and documented by the ancient
Chinese. A comet can appear to stand and point
because of its tail. Josephus notes that a
comet appeared like a sword pointing over
Jerusalem in 64 A.D. The same language and
phenomena is described elsewhere in antiquity.
That the star was a comet goes back as early as
Origen in the 3rd Century. He says their
appearance often signaled the commencement of a
new dynasty. To the mindset of the ancients,
comets were portents of major changes in the
established order. It could signal the death
of a great king or the birth of one. One
Chinese writer in 300 B.C. stated "a comet is
like a broom, it signals the sweeping away of
evil."
2. Strengths:
a. The Magi were of the same order as Daniel the
Prophet. They knew from his prophecies (Dan.
9:24-27) when the Jewish Messiah would come and
were looking for the signs. When they
witnessed the unusual sight in the heavens they
then knew that Daniel's prophecy was from God.
This motivated them to want to worship the
child "born king of the Jews". This view more
readily takes into account their occupation as
observers of stellar phenomena.
b. This view seems to account more for the
language of the Greek text in vs. 2 which
indicates it was a natural event.
c. This view accounts for the fact that there was
apparently world-wide knowledge and
expectations (even in the pagan world) of a
coming ruler who would bring peace to the
world.
d. While the precise date of Christ's birth is
unknown presently, scholars are fairly certain
He was born sometime between 7 and 4 B.C. The
Bible tells us He was born before the death of
Herod the Great who died in 4 B.C.
e. The comet in the spring of 5 B.C. harmonizes
nicely with all the other Biblical and extra-
biblical data about the birth of Christ. For
example, Luke tells us the shepherds were in
their fields at night. This fits well with
what we know about the weather in Palestine.
This is also the time of the celebration of
Passover. Not only is there a Jewish tradition
that the Messiah would be born on Passover, but
it makes Biblical sense if He is the antitype
of the Passover Lamb. John's gospel refers to
Jesus as the "Lamb of God". The date also fits
well with the death of Herod, one of the best
attested dates in antiquity. Josephus says he
died between an eclipse of the moon (March
12/13) and passover. It fits well with the
flight to Egypt, and the return during the
reign of Archelaus. It also fits well with
Luke's estimate of his age when he began his
ministry--"about 30 years of age." (This may
mean anywhere from 26-34). It is reasonable to
conclude that Jesus was born somewhere around
April 13-27 in 5 B.C. (Interesting note: He
would have also died on Passover--his 37th
birthday in 33 A.D.!) If Jesus was born in 5
B.C. then this year (1996) is the 2002nd
anniversary of His birth (5+1+1996=2002. You
have to add 1 going from B.C. to A.D.).
3. Weaknesses:
a. This view does not adequately explain how the
Star indicated where the Babe was to be found
in Bethlehem. But the text does not say
explicitly that the star indicated the exact
house like in the paintings. Bethlehem was a
small town; only an inquiry was probably
needed.
b. It doesn't explain the appearing, disappearing,
and reappearing again. A comet, however, could
easily describe the phenomena due to its orbit
around the sun and it's characteristic of
moving across the sky and ability to point with
its tail. If the Magi, after seeing Herod,
left early in the morning while it was still
dark, the comet would have appeared in the
southwest with its head pointing at Bethlehem.
c. That this view involves the use of pagan
astrology is probably the main objection.
However, it must be pointed out that the signs
of the constellation are not in themselves
pagan. In fact, there are many references to
them in the Old Testament (See Genesis and
Job). Some scholars believe the Gospel was
originally revealed to Adam in these signs but
fallen men later corrupted them into the occult
science (at Babylon). It is interesting to
note that the word used in Revelation 12:1
"sign" is the same word used in the ancient
world for the signs of the Zodiac.
d. If the Magi departed for Palestine immediately
after the comet's appearance, it does not
adequately explain why Herod commanded all male
babies two years and younger to be killed. The
major proponent of this view, Colin J.
Humphreys (See his article: "The Star of
Bethlehem, A Comet in 5 B.C. and the Date of
Christ's Birth." TYNDALE BULLETIN, 43.1.
pp.31-56.), believes Herod may have reckoned
from the first signs in the sky in 7 B.C. to
cover all his bases.
IV. Summary: The important thing to note is that God gave a
sign and the Magi exhibited great faith in traveling a
great distance to worship a baby who was born a King. They
were not Jews, yet they bowed to His authority. They gave
expensive gifts which they brought at great risk as travel
in those days was not exactly safe. John said "He came
unto his own and his own received him not" (Jn. 1:11).
These men, however, must have been anticipating His arrival
and they not only received Him gladly, they worshipped Him.
For Further Reading:
Brown, Raymond E. THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH.
Hoehner, Harold W. CHRONOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST.
Humphreys, Colin J. TYNDALE BULLETIN. 43.1 (1992) "The Star of
Bethlehem, A Comet in 5 B.C. and the Date of
Christ's Birth."
Maier, Paul L. FIRST CHRISTMAS: THE TRUE AND UNFAMILIAR STORY.
See Chapter 7.
Martin, Ernest L. THE STAR THAT ASTONISHED THE WORLD.
Vardaman, J., and Yamauchi, E.M. eds. CHRONOS, KAIROS, CHRISTOS.
"What was the Star of Bethlehem?" CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Dec. 18,
1964.
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