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Newsletter : 9fax1224.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Dec. 24, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 235
Two Infiltrators Apprehended Near Allenby Crossing
By IsraelWire
Israel Radio reported Thursday that two infiltrators who crossed into Israel Thursday morning were apprehended near the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan. The two are reported to be of Iraqi nationality. They were turned over to IDF forces in the area.
"The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomer's View"
By Nancy Beardsley (VOA-Washington)
Theologians have pondered the story of Jesus' birth for centuries, but one key detail of that story has attracted the scrutiny of scientists as well. In a book called "The Star of Bethlehem," British astronomer Mark Kidger explores what he calls one of astronomy's most enduring mysteries-the identity of the star that's said to have appeared when Jesus was born.
The Star of Bethlehem is mentioned in only one of the New Testament Gospels. In his account of Jesus' birth, Matthew describes how Magi, or wise men, came from the east to Jerusalem, saying they'd been alerted by a rising star and wanted to pay homage to the King of the Jews. That same star led them on to Bethlehem, where it stopped over Jesus' birthplace.
"I've spoken to people who think it's just a myth, and then there are other people who believe very strongly the biblical scriptures, and think it's almost blasphemous to try to find an explanation for the star. And then there are the people in the middle like me who would like to be able to demonstrate that it existed or didn't exist, and if it did exist would like to be able to say what it was."
Kidger, on the side of the skeptics, notes that the births and
deaths of Roman leaders were traditionally said to be accompanied by
a miraculous sign. Matthew might have felt obligated to include
a sign of his own in describing Christ's birth. He might also have
wanted to satisfy an Old Testament prophecy that a star would
signal the arrival of the Messiah. To add to the doubts, Kidger
says Matthew describes the star acting in a way no astronomical
body would ever behave:
"You've got a star that appears in the east. It goes before the
Magi. It stops and stands over Bethlehem. Now some people have gone
to tremendous lengths trying to explain how the star could appear
and disappear, could move, could stop, could point the Magi the way
in different directions at different times. But real stars don't do
that."
Yet there's also reason to believe some kind of heavenly body was
observed around the time Jesus was born. Kidger says that because
of calendar changes over the centuries, that date came well before
the time Christians celebrate as his birthday:
"We believe he was born probably around 5 (BCE) around March or
April. But we can look at old records and see that just about the
time when we think Christ must have been born, Chinese astronomers
did see something in the sky, and they saw it for something like
two and one-half months."
To understand what it might have been, Kidger believes it's necessary to know something about the identity of the Magi. Assuming they existed at all, they most likely came from Persia or Babylon, he believes, and they probably belonged to a priestly caste that prepared horoscopes. That means they would have been familiar with the constellations, and wouldn't have mistaken the planet Venus for a star, as some people have suggested. There have also been theories that the star was Halley's Comet, but the comet was visible in 12 BCE, too early for Jesus' birth.
With the aid of computer technology that allowed him to calculate the position of the stars and planets at different dates in time, Kidger concludes they may actually have observed a series of astronomical events. First came what scientists call a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BCE:
"The two planets came close together, and then separated again three times in a period of about 6 or 7 months. To the Magi it would have told them something was happening. Then a couple of months later, in February of 6 (BCE), the planet Mars joined Jupiter and Saturn in the sky. Mars is the bringer of war; Jupiter is the king of planets. Now if you're an astrologer, that would have had some very interesting associations."
Then came the more dramatic sign recorded by Chinese astronomers. Kidger believes it most likely was a nova-a temporary flash of light that occurs when a large and small star come together:
"Some of the stuff from the big star flows down onto the small star, and after a time the material gets very hot, and there's an explosion on the surface of the star. Now if you're watching from the earth, one day there's nothing there, and the next day you've got a bright star, a million times brighter than it was before. If you want it to be miraculous, somebody touched off that star at just the right moment. If you want a scientific explanation, you've got a scientific explanation which is very plausible indeed."
And Kidger believes that's what makes his explanation so satisfactory. Readers can decide for themselves whether the Star of Bethlehem was the result of divine intervention or natural coincidence.
(Editor: "The Star of Bethlehem" is published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540)
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