Show OF BETIE BETHLEHEM LEIZEA 3 A curl curi curlious carious idus discussion has been I 1 going on in the london papers respecting the nature of the light or rather the hi minous luminous appearance called a star which guide gulde athe the wish men to bethlehem as narrated in the second chapter of st mathews gospel the controversy is by no means a new one indeed it has furnished a subject for speculation and philosophical hi I 1 investigation for eighteen huner hundred e d years but it seer heer seems riff to have sprung up ined into vitality again just now for sonie some reason or other to those who accept the scriptural narrative literally and believe in its plenary inspiration such a discussion may seem irreverent if not profane yet it has been entered upon in all seriousness and with the conviction that whatever throws light upon ahr true meaning of the cheno mena menn record d in iti the bible promotes reverence of that volume in this is all people who accept the holy scriptures are interested so areail aro are all ali christians in ascertaining the exact date bf bathe the birth of the savior and one of the objects of this controversy is to decide that those who are unfamiliar with witha such tich topics will perhaps be surprised ut at the number or explanations given respecting 11 rhe fiah star of bethlehem 1 I there are no fewer than ten hypotheses there vmay moa mma bemore be more however and these are 1 thad that it was literally a star out of the heavenly bodies anti auti selected se for the purpose of guiding the wise men ae 2 that it was a new now star created expressly 3 that it was an i old star blazing forth into sudden brilliancy as has happened more than thau once 4 that it ib was one of df the planets 5 that it WAS a aton ti on of the planets 6 that it was a comet 7 that it was a meteor 81 8 thatis that it was atmospheric lumi luminosity 9 that it was an angel 10 that it wasa wass was a celestial manifestation ancient 1 legends e 9 ends favor the last two but modern science prefers to deal with the astronomical aspects of the question and some bome of theae thead are interesting C enough the tha idea of an arl actual star being employed in the manifestation is by it at onca dis discarded added A star is an immense sun or centre of a planetary system placed place diat dint at an inconceivable distance from this globe and to move it out of its orbit would produce changes of such magnitude in the system of the universe as to require a series of mira miracles clesi greater far tham the star of bethlehem for this reason science rejects the littral literal interpretation was wab it then abud a sudden stellar eruption similar to that witnessed by tycho brahe in 1572 when a star mor appeared suddenly and swelled out to such extraordinary magnitude and brilliancy that it wab was visible at noon this body maintained its splendor for seventeen months then died out and has never chown forth since another ansta instance u ce occurred in 1604 a third in 1670 when the atar star faded out and revived several i times during two years yeara and then vanished a fourth occurred in 1866 when a star of the ninth magnitude rose within a few hours to the second magnitude i or about one hundred times its original brighon and remained visible though gradually diminishing about four months borne home such phenomenon may inay have been witneL witnessed ased by the wise men it could not have been one of the planets although the narrative says the star went wont before them which means only that it apparently di did d so just as the sun is said to move when in reality it remains still and it is wa the earth which moves was it a conjunction of planets this was keilers Kep lers theory adopted by the learned chronologist dr ideler of berlin who calculated the places of the larger planets baek laack to the time of the nativity to determine termine whether r there was a conjunction at that time he found that in the year yeara 7 B 0 therel there was one between jupiter hud and saturn but his calculations ae we re subsequently revised by professors pritchard and ana mask dlask maskelyne elyne and found to be faulty the two planets not having ap approached ched each iba mthm nearer than thuu two lunar unar diameters they must therefore have appeared as two stars andthil and this disposes of the conjunction theory was it then a comet many leave have supposed that etwas it was the chinese astronomers whose observations are noted for their accuracy and extend back thousands of years record that a bright comet did appear in the year 4 B C and remain visible seventy days during the vernal equinox this is a curious fact and it corroborates the assertion enade enada by most that the nativity occurred four years before the titue ume u usually assigned to it so that we should now be in A A 1876 instead of 1872 tb the e com oom comai comal theory is the most fe feasible a e of f all ali alberts asserts that tha tho the star wasa was a meteoric phenomenon at a sufficient elevation in the atmosphere abere to be taken by the them uneducated eye for a star and not cot too toos high to serve as a guide that its motion was waa slow enough to sult suit the rate of af travel traveling ing common at that day and alid that its appear appearance audd was not sufficiently conspicuous to attract the attention of any but bose those who were specially informed as to its object why yby not accept it is a sim bim simpie simple pie miracle then burely surely such a would be scientific explanation as this is rifa riat ridiculous culous luminous voluminous no lumi noua meteor ha hag ever yet been known to toi last for so itna a time and these bodfis move with preat great velocity the ascertained laws which govern their movements woud have to be ut rutx terly perverted to make this theory fit and an atmospheric will o ol the wisp wiep would nut nub answer the purpose any bete ter of the ten theories alluded to td those numbered three aud and six alx ha haye have v t the h e i best claims to i a scientific s clenti nic fic basis assuming that science has anything to do with the question PIti philadelphia ladelphia ledger L |