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Show A amy Wt vmmrmz A -.HE reign of Herod had nearly ended I D when the Magi arrived in Jerusa-Pgj) Jerusa-Pgj) lem and asked: "Where is he that -fl Is born king of the Jews? For we JtjA have seen his star In the east, and JXj?t I 8-16 comQ t0 worship him." J The news that a true "king of the Jews," a possible rival, was born, fStJjrJSB and that his birth had been herald-at?tl33 herald-at?tl33 ed by celestial phenomena, caused tSaoVbiJ Herod much concern. He summoned to him the scribes and learned men. W hen they were questioned where the king was to be born they answered: "In Bethlehem of Judea; for thus It is written by the prophet, And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda; for out of thee shall come a governor, that shall rule my people lerael." According to the authorized version it Is then stated In- the New Testament that "Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, Inquired of them diligently what time the Btar appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when we have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they de. parted; and lo, the star, which they saw In the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great Joy." That is the whole story of the Star of Bethlehem Bethle-hem as It is simply and directly told in the second sec-ond chapter of the gospel according to St. Matthew. Mat-thew. It was a cloister fancy of the dark ages, handed hand-ed down through centuries, that led the Chris-tion Chris-tion world to regard the Star of the East as a miraculous luminary, akin to the pillar of Are that guided the children of Israel in the wilderness wilder-ness a luminary especially created for the sole purpose of leading the Magi to the birthplace of Christ. The modern Christian Is more apt to regard the star as a natural phenomenon and - .- . '' 1 mwwuiimiiii OTJiMinminiimiiiKagiflw mvu aj miiwiiii tiiwmi ,n t ' t i - t ' J e 1 K & ,-)'!' ',, ' '-xr:rzA: :r t? 7 ".- 7 v -"-' A&M ft 'f l r - C l I III s t;!) slaughter of the infanis was Issued Ml rLi I I L t' ill some time before Herod's dPath. Pro- lP I ft ' " i 'if fpssor StcceW advances tl:e suppo- M fVff 11 . V " siion that i bis ronjuiu ;i( ii w:is the mjA III I r"f f &TJI Star 01 Bethlehem. S.nce conjunc M Ik h ZZ&hlMffiftl tlonB occurred so frequenUy, it is ! X& ? yK A s 7 lilts difficult to understand why more oi m J A - C &h& 4f7 fJLl 3 Persian deputations. , lb , All yZLVI Because of these fatal objections lUU &h &jr&i 'til lV4 to any theory which regarded the IM I rt Istr t&i4J JLJAI star of Bethlehem merely as a con- 1 I k 7 js'i TV Ifi"- i fSA'fl Junction of two planets, the late hW $iyf t S?W t&kS Prof. R. A. Proctor cast about for VlllV M IWhiktehS l other celestial phenomena and final-M'f final-M'f feilWNlMrH1IM y decided that the wise men might Sfi&W WU'rK MlfZlW7: "ill bave been guided by a comet. There 7$ A 5Tf f' ill is much to be said in favor of the T Mtkp?r JI supposition. Comets are discovered HHl7ltU K CTi-V " nowadays at the rate of two or three H PM JM v if a year. Not all of them are particu- " "U'WLfHl WSMV? ceivable that in Biblical times com- f-yBk" MfMT!mlJ et occasionally, appeared that were y'Vlii V Sr S ' Wfl J brilliant enough to strike terror -intg JM Ztt.V Xl Jfkl r38 ' superstitious hearts. Indeed, before Wfc. Mi04:ll Edmund Halley proved that the law of gravitation applied to the comet WF ha3 revisited the earth at intervals -;2gfiy 0( seventy-one and one-half to sev- 7 enty-nine years, comets were regard- e(j "a3 divine messengers, as omena i t. i 1 .1 ir na Vi o r Viin cram I f J if toh i if I VI to seek a scientific explanation of iTf'1 its sudden appearance, not for. the 3 tt purpose of casting doubt upon the s': &n narrative of Matthew, but of giv- MSPiR0 Ing it astronomical support. j? r '"yJM Who were these wise men, these lS-SL- Magi, of whom St. Matthew speaks? r They came from the east, they . said, and the east, according to the geographical geo-graphical knowledge of Matthew's 't'jp'i slaughter of the infanis was issued ti Bomr; time fcefore Herod's rath. Pro-f Pro-f fpssor Srcckwell advances tl;e uuppo- .ill si'ion that i bis ronjuiuncn w:'-3 the '3ijj star of Bethlehem. Since conjunc-f conjunc-f tions occurred so frequently, it is IS W difficult to understand why more of Av them did not call forth Chaldean or 1 1 Persian deputations. "vS Because of these fatal objections I tW to any theory which regarded the IAI star o Bethlehem merely as a con- t1fl I Junction of two planets, the late Prof- R- A- Proctor cast aDOut for ItV other celestial phenomena and final- I ly decided that the wise men might dl have been guided by a comet. There nlll is much to be said in favor of the ill supposition. Comets are discovered ill nowadays at the rate of two or three a year. Not all of them are particu- 7 iariy brilliant; but It 1b not incon- ceivable that in Biblical times com ets occasionally appeared that were brilliant enough to strike terror -intq t&2Q4XW superstitious hearts. Indeed, before C Edmund Halley proved that the law jg2" of gravitation applied to the comet 'PTxrmnt wWch bears his name and which &P nas revisited the earth at intervals of seventy-one and one-half to seventy-nine years, comets were regarded regard-ed as divine messengers, as omena of good or evil, and particularly as harbingem of pestilence and war. To a poetic eastern pec pie who revered the stars as symbols especially set in the heavens for the guidance of men, comets were undoubtedly awesome visitors. The Chaldeans Persians and Jews were astronomically astronomic-ally no more enlightened than the mediaeval Christians, and if at the fall of Constantinople in 1453 all Christendom was alarmed at the appearance ap-pearance of a comet (a comet which we now know to have been Halley's), it is highly prob abl that the Orient was no less impressed by these sbaden visitations. Comprising, as It does, a nucleus, a "coma" or envelope surrounding the nucleus and measuring from twenty thousand to one million miles in diameter, and a long tail which streams behind the nucleus for sixty to a hundred million miles or more, a comet Is one ov the most mysteriously beautiful celestial apparitions ap-paritions that ever meets the eye. Rut whether or not the Star of Bethlehem really was such an apparition no one can affirm with certainty. An astronomer can aierely state that the idea Is not untenable and that it Is less objectionable than the conjunction hypothesis. Lastly, the theory has been proposed that the Star of Bethlehem was what is called a "new" star or "nova," a star which suddenly (lar?s up in the heavens and fades away again to its former magnitude after the lapse of weeks or months. Such new stars are not altogether rare. Ten appeared between B. C. 134 and the end of the fifteenth century. Since the fifteenth century cen-tury no less than sixteen have been recorded. In our own time they are discovered witli fair frequency. Even before the Invention of the telescope such new stars were studied by astronomers. Apart from the astronomical evidence in favor of the theory that the Star of liethlehem was a nova, poetically, at least, it seems singularly fit ting that a matchless orb blazing forth in sid den magnificence should havj marked not only the birth of a Messiah whose destiny it was fr save mankind by his own suffering and to makf this a new world by purging it of evil, but alsc the birth of a new sun with embryonic planetf wheeling about it in shining clouds of gas am' stellar dust. u to seek a scientific explanation of Tl1 its sudden appearance, not for. the 3 Sf purpose of casting doubt upon the s': &n narrative of Matthew, but of giv- MSPiR0 Ing it astronomical support. j? f liJV Who were these wise men, these lS-SL- Magi, of whom St. Matthew speaks? "' They came from the east, they . said, and the east, according to the geographical geo-graphical knowledge of Matthew's day, was Chaldea, Persia, and -that Arabian desert des-ert where the sons of Ishmael roamed. In that east of which they spoke, star-gazing was to some nations a religious observation, to others a mystical traditional rite. The pseudo-science of astrology out of which our modern science of astronomy was slowly evolved was thus engendered. engen-dered. Exegetes of the New Testament narrative narra-tive hold these Magi to have been astrologers, members of that strange, non-national, privileged privi-leged priesthood whose office It was to watch the sky each day and each night, to note the position and apparent motion of the sun from dawn to dark, and to predict those changes In planetary positions which, in that day of astrological as-trological superstition, were supposed to shape and reveal the destinies of kings and nations. In them science came an early worshipper at the feet of Christ. . To ancient as well as mediaeval astrologers, certain groupings of the stars and planets had a fixed prophetic significance. The planets were named In accordance with their supposed influence. . Mercury, always lurking near the sun, furtively gledming in the morning or evening, eve-ning, was the patron of tricksters, knaves, and thieves. Mars, flaming in red, was the symbol of war, the guardian of heroes and wanlors. If the Magi were astrologers who believad in stellar influences, the apparition of the Star of Bethlehem must have been an astronomical phenomenon. But no ordinary astronomical phenomenon could have enticed these practiced star-gazers from their temples. We must, therefore, there-fore, find some celestial event sufficiently extraordinary extra-ordinary to warrant a journey from Chuldea or Persia to Bethlehem. When the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, Herod was within a few weeks of his death. The massacre mas-sacre of the babes of Bethlehem was tine of his last cruel deeds. When he inquired diligently what time the star appeared, the reply was evidently evi-dently such that he felt it necessary to kill all male Infants "from two years old and under." It is probable, therefore, that the Magi first saw the star two years before their arrival In Jerusalem. Jeru-salem. Herod died in B. C. i. Hence the Star of Bethlehem must have appeared about two years before that date. W7e must discover, if we can, an exceptional stellar - event near B. C. 6 with which it may be identified. Johann Kepler, in his peculiar genius (for he showed that the births of Enoch, Moses, Cyrus. Caesar, Charlemagne, and Luther were preceded by important astrological events), led the way in calling attention to the astronomical phenomena that preceded the birth of Christ. He pointed out that there must have been a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn at about the time of Christ's birth, and even made a few preliminary pre-liminary calculations to prove his case. The conjunction con-junction occurred in the sign Pisces, from time immemorial identified with the destinies ol Israel. A conjunction in that sign always signified signi-fied the rising of some mighty master of the Jewish race. Such a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs once in about 800 years. It was. therefore, sufficiently extraordinary in Kepler's eyes to herald the birth of a Messiah. Not until 1826 was Kepler's suggestion seriously seri-ously considered by astronomers. In that year Professor Ideler, of Berlin, computed the positions posi-tions of Jupiter and Saturn and proved that they were actually in conjunction in 7 B. C. His calculations cal-culations showed that they at no time overlapped over-lapped to form a single star, but that they were separated by a distance equal to the apparent diameter of th roon. Accordingly. Ideler had the temerity to suipose that the wiff men saw the two planets as one sta,-, lecause "110;,' were miraculously near-sighted. In justice to eler. It must be stated that he abandoned his tftor7 when Encke, in 1831, repeated the calculations and found that the actual distance between Jupiter Jupi-ter and Saturn, when nearest each other in B. C. 7, was more than the apparent diameter of the moon. Apart from the fact that Jupiter and Saturn were never sufficiently near each other to be seen as one body, two planets in conjunction can hardly be called a star. Nor Is it likely that experienced Chaldean astrologers would so regard re-gard it. Moreover, there were other planetary conjunctions at about the same time. Professor Stockwell has demonstrated that a conjunction of Venus and Mars occurred on May 8th. B. C. 6, about fifty days less than two years before Herod's death. Becauso the mandate for the |