Mythbusting the Magi Story (Jesus, priests, Earth, Messiah, gospel)

[Mercy Not Sacrifice]

Quoting from the NIV version of the Bible, in the book of Matthew:

MATTHEW 2--After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem (2) and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

(3) When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. (4) When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

Contrary to the popular depiction of the Star as a well-lit object in the sky that nobody could miss, this implies that only the Magi spotted it. In other words, to the ordinary observer, it appeared to be an ordinary starry night. This means that this star didn't hover in place or display some other unusual phenomenon. Keep that in mind as we discuss what happened later.

(5) "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:

(6)"'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rules of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.

(7) Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. (8) He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."

Thus confirming that the ordinary observer would have missed this star completely.

Now's where it gets interesting:

(9) After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. (10) When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

Since the passage implies that the star serves as their only indicator of baby Jesus' location, we have to assume that when it stopped (how does an ordinary star "stop"?) over the manger, it was directly overhead at the time. Now, let's think about the basics of star movement in the skies: Just like the sun, stars rise in the east and set in the west. Now, keeping in mind that a journey from sunrise to the next sunrise is a full 24 hours, and the journey from sunset to sunrise is somewhere on the order of 12 hours (a fairly safe assumption here because of Israel's geographic latitude and the notion that Jesus' birth is said to have occured sometime not that long before or after Spring Solstice, when day and night are of equal length), this means that a star's journey of half that length--from the horizon to the top of the sky--takes approximately 6 hours. Again, that's not exact, but even a rough approximation will work for the next calculation.

Also keep in mind that they were committed not to Herod's prediction that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem; the story indicates that their path was entirely dictated by the star. So for all we know, they could have been on their way to Timbuktu. In fact, verse 9 implies that they traveled eastbound--which is a problem, because Bethlehem is south of Jerusalem, not east.

According to wikipedia, an average human walks about 3 mph. This means that if they walked nonstop from the time they talked to Herod to the time they arrived at Jesus' manger, they traveled 18 miles. Now, this assumes two things: (1) that they did indeed walk nonstop for 6 hours, and (2) that they walked in a perfectly straight line. If either assumption fails, their net length will be less. So for all we know, they could have done laps around the walls of Jerusalem and hardly gone anywhere, and thus the 18-mile mark serves as an upper limit. Now, a group of set points that is a fixed distance around a point, cast in a geometric plane, defines a circle. What all that means in plain English is that Jesus' manger could have been located anywhere in an 18-mile radius from Herod's palace, which according to A=pi*r^2, is about 1000 square miles.

Let's put that number in a little context: New York City is slightly less than 500 square miles in size. Now, let's say that a couple persons who've never been to NYC before (1) get plopped in the heart of Brooklyn, (2) are supposed to find one specific home in all of NYC, (3) have to walk on foot to get there, (3) get no assistance from anyone (and considering the state of the countryside in Biblical times, the safety issue is definitely realistic here) other than each other, and (4) have only six hours to complete their task. Oh, and keep in mind that our search range is actually double the size of NYC.

Sound crazy enough? That's essentially what the Magi Story says, for those who believe it is a historical story. But folks, just by doing the numbers, I have real reason to cast doubt on this. In fact I think I've just pulled enough evidence to toss this part of the story out the window completely.

[yuvgotmel]

Two comments:

First of all, one of the "gospels" in the "new testament" claim that the wisemen or "magi" did not visit Jesus until he was about two years old.

Secondly, you make a good point about the movement of a star. How does a star "stop"?

Well, in mysticism throughout the Bible and elsewhere, the "stars" are another name for "angels". And the "angels" are also thought to be the equivalent to what is nowadays considered as "aliens" by some people. In lieu of that, a "star" could move and even "stop" at any location if the "star" was actually a description of a UFO.

It is probable that the ancient peoples called the angels as "stars" due to the fact that many of them were star-gazers; and in the nighttime skies they may have noticed that some of the lights were moving in anomalous directions. Stars don't "stop" or start. Therefore, any strange movement would cause the ancient peoples to puzzle over that, just like today.

By the way, there are some people who do believe that Jesus' birth can be explained through alien intervention too... How else would a virgin get pregnant except through insemination?

[Mercy Not Sacrifice]

Good questions.

And again, if the "star" was actually one or more angels, wouldn't have somebody other than the Magi noticed? It isn't every day that you see a ghost-like thing flying in the sky.

[yuvgotmel]

Originally Posted by Mercy Not Sacrifice

Good questions.

And again, if the "star" was actually one or more angels, wouldn't have somebody other than the Magi noticed? It isn't every day that you see a ghost-like thing flying in the sky.

Humm.. Yes and no. Think about all the reports of UFOs. There are some people who see things that others don't. And too, there might have even been a similar view to UFOs as there are nowadays, in that the skeptics and persons who had never witnessed such things would have prefered to deny that any such thing(s) exists.

[des]

Adler Planetarium in Chicago does this Christmas star program (well did not sure if they still show it). They concluded that the star could have been not really a humoungous star but what might have been interesting to the astronomers (astrologers) of the age. They thought that they were Zoroastrians (I think there that idea isn't unique). They took the planetarium stars back in time which they can do thru their technology. What they concluded was that the "star" could have been a conjunction (very close overlap in the sky) of Venus (signifying birth) and, I forgot Saturn or Jupiter (signifying kingship). So it would NOT have been something everyone would notice. They said they saw the "star at its rising" which means it would be very low in the sky, I think. This would allow of a trip of a few months (btw, 3 maji is not really likely,as it was dangerous to travel in small groups like this.) By the time they see it in Bethleham it is high in sky. I would not guess they "actually followed it" (followed in a more metaphorical sense) but interpreted other aspects, since the "star" is seen in Leo the Lion which had some relevance, in their eyes, to the Jews, so they head off in that direction. The "star" stops, only because they stop. They didn't describe this as an indicator beam. After all they would have known and not stopped by King Herod's place. If they had continued the star continues, due to parallax (which you can experience if you are in a car and looking out at the moon, it seems to "follow you".) the "star" would have also. As I recall they didn't really know quite where to go, which is why they stopped by dear King Herod.

Anyway, I find this a plausible explanation.

While not a conventional Christian I find the story meaningful in a metaphorical way. There are 3 very distinct "birth" stories, none of which overlaps despite the common source material (at least of Matthew, Mark and Luke). John doesn't mention birth at all. The stories are only meshed in our minds due to all the retellings, but the star is no where around the manger. The story is about, to me, promise, the possibly of new beginnings, etc. I realize this is not what the more typical Christian would think.

So did it really happen, no. But I think it is true anyway.

--des

[yuvgotmel]

To bring up another point, by the time that Jesus was born, the science of watching the movement of stars, creating calendars, even predicting eclipses was already a part of the human knowledge. It is difficult to believe then that the Magi, who were most likely trained in those sciences, would have incorrectly identified a "star." However, like I said, there are accounts, even in the "new testament" and throughout the Bible and elsewhere that attributes angels as the same as "stars."

The "stars" in the heaven were definitely known about, along with the planets and their movements. That is easily provable. I do not think that the ancient people would have mistaken a star "stopping" over a particular location on earth in the same way that most people nowadays define a "star." In fact, I believe the definition for "star" in the account of Jesus' birth is more likely to be of extra-terrestrial origin in the way of a UFO siting. How else would a star guide the way and then stop over a particular location?


ADDITION: Don't forget that Mary was "visited" and told that she would give birth. There are many people, even in high levels of government who are willing to testify, that there have been and are on-going project with ETs for hybridization and genetic mutation of human DNA, to include, some say, impregnating humans. That would also account for how a virgin could get pregnant--artificial insemination.

[yuvgotmel]

http://www.crystalinks.com/ufohistory.html

17th century fresco of the crucifiction - Svetishoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, Georgia.
Note the two saucer shaped craft on either side of Christ.

"The Baptism of Christ" A disk shaped object is shining beams of light down on John the Baptist and Jesus - Fitzwilliam Musuem, Cambridge, England - Painted in 1710 by Flemish artist Aert De Gelder. It depicts a classic, hovering, silvery, saucer shaped UFO shining beams of light down on John the Baptist and Jesus. What could have inspired the artist to combine these two subjects?

Painted by Paolo Uccello - circa 1460-1465.
The picture on the right shows a red saucer shaped UFO seen near Jesus.
The painting hangs in the Academy of Florence.

[Shadow Wolf]

The church I last went to tought the wisemen didn't get to Jesus until two or three years after his birth.

[cardero]

Originally Posted by Mercy Not Sacrifice

Since the passage implies that the star serves as their only indicator of baby Jesus' location, we have to assume that when it stopped (how does an ordinary star "stop"?) over the manger, it was directly overhead at the time.

Some interesting theories can be found on this site:
www.toolpantheon.com/the_star_of_the_magi.htm

EDIT: Darn, someone already beat me to it.