Do you really want to know??

Star of Bethlehem « on: December 13, 2007, 11:56:33 »

The world has debated whether the Star of Bethlehem was fact or fiction... Many believed that it was just a legend created by the early Christian church to help mark the Advent or Birth of the Christ child! But if you are a seeker of the Truth and have a open mind read on!!

We will never absolutely know because the earliest written description dated at least 80 and probably over 96 years after the event. Worse, those first writings have long since disappearedand the only existing written shreds are from the third century; that’s over 300 years after the event. While this discrepancy seems insurmountable, but then recall that the Iliad and the Odyssey were passed verbally over many centuries before being put on paper. Although those great classics are filled with exaggerations, mythology, mysticism and spirituality, the events they depicted actuallyhappened and the people involved actually lived. Scientists have separated myth from reality in those classics and since the “Star” is more recenthistory by comparison, we should be able to do the same.

In 1604 Johannes Kepler was first to try and identify the “Star.”Scientific insight results when knowledge,experience, data and events come together in a mind that’s prepared. In 1604, Johannes Keplerhad been sifting through prodigious data while attempting to explain the motions and periodicity of the solar system objects when a nova appeared in the middle of a spectacular planetary conjunction. Kepler’s insight enabled him to identify the “Bethlehem Star” within the science of the time and moved the “Star’s” identification from faith-based belief to fact-based inquiry. Kepler came to a preliminary erroneous conclusion but then identified and corrected his mistake. His conclusion stood into the 20th century. It clearly ranks him as a great scientist and his interest in astrology (in modern terms) helps us realize the Magi are the people we must understand to identify the “Star.”

As Jupiter, Mars and Saturn conjunction and Nova-1604 that led Kepler to identify the Star of Bethlehem. He accurately predicted a similar planetary conjunction 1,610 years earlier which was identified as the “Star” into the 20th century. Come with an open mind and check preconceptions at the door.The number of books, articles and webpages on the Bethlehem Star are difficult to count let alone read; for instance, starting with the idea that it’s just a story contrived to jumpstart a new religion and ending with the notion that the “Star” was an undiscovered (by modern astronomers) planet known only to those who can read certain obscure Sumerian texts made infamous by the 1960’s book, “Chariots of the Gods.”

However, beginning with Kepler, there have been some serious investigations which have provided some excellent candidates to explain what the right people saw. Interestingly, serious astronomers who investigate the phenomenon must delve into astrology although it was probably the astronomy of the day. It requires us to think in terms of people who thought the sun, moon and planets were embedded in spheres, closer than the fixed stars, rotating over Earth. More over, they believed these heavenly bodies had powerful influences on mortals. Does it sound familiar? It’s the stuff you find in astrology columns today.

Our inquiry begins by accepting that it was a real astronomical event that meets the criteria found in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke.This places many possibilities on our table because between about 6 and 1 BC, several spectacular astronomical events occurred that any modern professionaland amateur astronomer would have observed and imaged. One of them meets the criteria that would have caused the “Wise Men of Matthew,” the Magi, to make the journey from Persia or was it Babylon? to Judea and to the area of Bethlehem. However, to do an adequate job we’ll explore aspects of population demographics,astrology, astronomy and even some sociological issues to objectively explore the question. Nevertheless, no matter how compelling a case anyone makes, no eyewitness account, including Sumerian texts, has ever been found that yields an unequivocal answer. That leaves us to take our own personal conclusion. I sincerely hope that my exploration provides sufficient information to help youto reach a personal conclusion or encourages further searching on your own. Either way, I will have succeeded.

BTW: Then there is a DVD " The Star Of Bethlehem " by Rick Larson; MPOWER Pictures #80676plus a web site @ http://www.bethlehemstar.net....
« Last Edit: December 13, 2007, 08:52:07 by Weknoz »