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The Star of Bethlehem : The Legacy of the Magi, by Michael R. Molnar
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Could the $50 purchase of an ancient coin by a Rutgers astronomer have unlocked the mystery of the Christmas Star? For years, scientists have looked, with little success, to astronomical records for an explanation of the magical star that guided the Magi to Christ’s manger. Intrigued by the image he found on the latest addition to his coin collection, Michael Molnar thought there might be more to learn by looking, instead, at the teachings of ancient astrologers.
Molnar argues in his book that the Star of Bethlehem was not a star at all, but rather a regal portent centering around the planet Jupiter that was eclipsed by the moon. He bases this theory on the actual beliefs of astrologers, such as the Magi, who lived around the time of Christ. Molnar found some intriguing clues to the mystery while researching the meaning of astrological symbols he found an ancient coin, which bore the image of Aries looking back at a star. He found that Aries was a symbol of Judea at the time, and that ancient astrologers believed that a new king would be born when the moon passed in front of Jupiter. Molnar wondered, could the coin have been issued as a response to the Great Messianic Portent, the Star of Bethlehem?
To match the story of the appearance of the Christmas star, Molnar also knew the event had to happen when Jupiter was “in the east.” Using these criteria and a computer program, he was able to chart an eclipse of Jupiter in Aries on April 17, 6 B.C., a day when Jupiter was precisely “in the east,” which confirmed his theory. Moreover, he found that a Roman astrologer described the conditions of that day as fitting the birth of a “divine and immortal” person.
According to Harvard University Professor Owen Gingerich, “this is the most original and important contribution of the entire 20th century” about the Magi’s star. Using clues from astronomy, astrology, and history, Molnar has created a provocative, fascinating theory on the Christmas Star. He weaves together an intriguing scientific detective story which resolves one of the world’s greatest mysteries: The Star of Bethlehem at the birth of Christ.
- Sales Rank: #1214994 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Rutgers University Press
- Published on: 1999-09-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .77" h x 5.88" w x 8.80" l, .91 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 208 pages
Features
- Used Book in Good Condition
From Booklist
Christian scholars have expended considerable ingenuity in providing scientific glosses for the scriptural account of the Star that shone above Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth. Astronomer Molnar disputes such explanations precisely because they derive from a modern perspective far removed from the outlook of ancient stargazers, who eagerly scanned the heavens for signs of the Messiah's birth. Ancient texts show conclusively that no portent would have excited greater expectations of a divine birth in Judea than a lunar occultation of Jupiter in the constellation Aries. And because sophisticated computer calculations reveal that such an eclipse did occur on April seventeenth in the year 6 B.C., Molnar fixes this as the celestial event that signaled the Christ child's birth. This assertion does require pushing Christ's birth back two years earlier than the commonly accepted 4 B.C. But evidence gleaned from early Roman and Jewish sources makes an earlier Nativity plausible. The uncanny fit of all the ancient and modern pieces of this puzzle makes for a highly persuasive argument. Bryce Christensen
Review
"Michael Molnar offers the first revolution in Star of Bethlehem research since Kepler's days. Molnar's big advance comes by considering what the Magi themselves would have deemed important. . . . Don't buy any other book on the Star of Bethlehem, because the old astronomical views are guaranteed to be irrelevant. Second, the new astrological paradigm forces the realization that astrology was an important force in historical times so that the disregard of the topic by most historians is blatant chauvinism. Third, the existence of a stunning astrological horoscope for April 17, 6 B.C, announcing the birth of a great king in Judea will now force scholars of religion to reconcile the event with their own beliefs." (Sky & Telescope)
"Mr. Molnar takes a different tack, arguing that [the star of Bethlehem] was not an astronomical event that guided the wise men on their journey, but an astrological one. He may not have the best theory, but he certainly has the best story." (Economist)
"And because sophisticated computer calculations reveal that such an eclipse did occur on April seventeenth in the year 6 B.C., Molnar fixes this as the celestial event that signaled the Christ child's birth. . . . The uncanny fit of all the ancient and modern pieces of this puzzle makes for a highly persuasive argument." (Booklist)
"[The Star] was an alignment of stars and planets that ancient astrologers would have recognized as significant. No portent would have excited greater expectations of a divine birth in Judea . . . than a lunar eclipse of Jupiter (the 'kings' planet) in the constellation Aries. . . . [A] fresh theory providing new scientific support for the biblical story, making the 'star of wonder' a little less of a mystery." (U.S. News and World Report)
"The explanation that appears in Molnar's new book . . . unfolds like a detective story: a clever scientific analysis woven into a cultural and historical fabric. . . . Molnar reports that the Magi considered the planet Jupiter to be the royal star. He argues that their astrological readings predicted that on April 17, 6 B.C. a remarkable alignment would occur when the sun passed into the northern sky, entering the constellation of Aries. Jupiter, Saturn, the sun and moon would appear briefly in close alignment�an event that occurs no more than once a lifetime." (Nation)
"This book has stunning new insight and approach, which finally gives a confident answer to a question that has fascinated all Christians through the ages." (Bradley E. Schaefer Yale University)
"Molnar's The Star of Bethlehem is a fascinating contribution to the immense literature that attempts to come to terms with the Christmas Star represented in Matthew's Gospel. In my opinion, this book is the most original and important contribution of the entire twentieth century on the thorny question of how events recorded there should be interpreted." (Owen Gingerich Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
"In support of an original interpretation of the Star, Molnar has assembled an impressive range of astrological and numismatic data, much of which will be new even to expert readers." (Virginia Trimble author of Visit to a Small Universe)
From the Inside Flap
Could the fifty-dollar purchase of an ancient coin by a Rutgers astronomer have unlocked the mystery of the Christmas star? For two millennia, scientist have searched the heavens in vain for an astronomical explanation of the Star of Bethlehem. Intrigued by the image of a ram looking back at a star that he found on the latest addition to his coin collection, Michael Molnar thought there might be more to learn by looking, instead, at the theories of ancient astrologers.
Aries the ram looking back at the stars, he argues, is connected to astrological beliefs of the Magi, the Three Wise Men, and has much to tell us about this regal portent. At the time of Christ's birth, Aries was a symbol of Judea. Ancient astrologers, such as the Magi, believed that a new king would be born when the moon passed in front of Jupiter-an eclipse that would herald the Messiah's coming. Could the coin have been issued as a response to the Great Messianic Portent, the Star of Bethlehem?
Molnar combined his training in astronomy with his knowledge of astrology and deduced that the Star of Bethlehem could have appeared only when Jupiter was "in the East." Modern-day computer wizardry enabled him to chart an eclipse of Jupiter in Aries on April, 6 B.C. a day when Jupiter was, in fact, in the east, thus confirming his theory. The hypothesis was supported by additional findings as well. A Roman astrologer, he found, had described the conditions of the day as those befitting the birth of a "divine and immortal" person.
Molnar has woven together an intriguing scientific detective story using astronomical, astrological, and historical clues to resolve one of the world's greatest mysteries: What led the Magi to Bethlehem?
Most helpful customer reviews
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
A novel approach to a perennial enigma.
By Mark E. Miller
The Star of Bethlehem is a perennially favorite topic for planetarium shows, articles, musings, sermons, and books. What could be left at this late date to say about it? Quite a lot, actually. Enough so that two new books, both titled "The Star of Bethlehem" (How original!) and both copyright 1999 are on my desk as I write.
The story about the Star is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. There are three possibilities: 1) The star was a myth - invented by the writer of Matthew or earlier Christians whom he followed, in order to give Jesus appropriately royal auspices for his birth. 2) The star was a miracle provided by God to guide the Magi, even perhaps visible only to them. 3) The star was a natural astronomical event or events. These three are obviously mutually exclusive and exhaustive. If either of the first two possibilities are correct, there is little more to be said; therefore both of our authors give them short shrift.
Both books cover some of the same material in about the same way. Jesus was *not* born on December 25 of 1 BC as worked out by the Scythian monastic scholar Dionysius Exiguus (Denny the Dwarf) in 525 AD. King Herod, of whom the Magi inquired about the birth, died in 4 BC. For other reasons, the birth is fairly firmly dated to between 6 and 4 BC. If the shepherds were `abiding with their flocks by night', the birth did not take place in December. For various reasons, these authors agree that Spring is more likely.
"The Star of Bethlehem - An Astronomer's View", by Mark Kidger, gives a review of all the various suggestions that have been made over the years, finally settling on a combination of events being the sign: a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces (the sign Kidger says is associated with the Jews - more on this later) between May and December of 7 BC, with Mars approaching this pair in February of 6 BC, followed by a near-occultation of Jupiter by the Moon in Pisces in February of 5 BC, and then, possibly a nova in March/April 5 BC, as suggested by some Korean and Chinese records.
I would have found this scenario plausible were it not for the second, and to my mind more interesting, book: "The Star of Bethlehem - The Legacy of the Magi" by Michael R. Molnar. There are two problems, as pointed out by Molnar, with the kinds of solutions reviewed, and those eventually suggested, by Kidger. Firstly, they tend to focus on what we as moderns would find to be visually compelling sights in the heavens. But this neglects the fact that the Magi were certainly *astrologers*, most likely Hellenistic rather than Babylonian in their astrological theories. Most of the events put forward would not have been significant to contemporary astrology. Kidger himself makes this point but does not seem to follow through with a close study of Hellenistic astrology as Molnar has made. Secondly, we have the advantage over the Magi of *knowing*, at least approximately, what the correct time frame is, then sifting through a small number a years to find the most significant events during those years. We have to imagine an ongoing community of astrologers, scanning the skies for generations perhaps, and imagine what would have been absolutely unique over many years, and compelling enough to make them undertake an arduous journey. In this light, Kidger's series of events are not so special.
Molnar made a key discovery, beginning with a study of ancient coins, which often incorporated astrological symbols, that Aries was the constellation contemporary astrologers believed controlled the Levant, of which Judea was a part. The identification of Pisces with the Jews is Medieval and hence anachronistic in this context.
When the Magi say "...we have seen his star in the east...", they would have been referring to the helical rising of a star or planet - that is, when it is newly visible in the morning sky rising ahead of the sun. Jupiter had its heliacal rising on April 17 of 6 BC in Aries. On that same day, the moon occulted Jupiter for the second time in a row (previously on March 20). This would have greatly increased the astrological significance of kingly Jupiter. Molnar covers about half a dozen other astrological portents for this day, involving rulers of the trines, exaltations, attendance, and beneficent planets, that space does not permit me to explain in detail. In terms of astrological import, this day is absolutely unique for hundreds of years, and Molnar makes a strong case, to my mind, that he has indeed found the origin of the curious story in Matthew.
Astronomers tend to be instantly dismissive of anything having to do with astrology, even to the extent of neglecting its proper application to a historical problem such as this one. Astrology, like it or not, is an important part of the history of human thought, and of the history of astronomy itself, which grew out of it. Michael Molnar is to be congratulated for shedding light on this ancient way of thinking.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Very objective, very well researched.
By R. Boyd
Michael Molnar has produced a superbly researched book. Easy to read and informative, yet with enough technical detail to impress any expert; historical or astrological. Personally I was enthralled by his presentation of the astrological data; the horoscope for the day April 17, 6 B.C.; the actual planetary alignments and the meanings conveyed to astrologers of the time. Totally impressive. I myself do not study astrology, but I would immediately recommend this book to anyone who has,or to anyone who has ever wondered about the biblical story as I have. His research is extremely relevant to our cynical modern age, giving confident and entirely convincing answers to a story which for me always raised questions. His objectivity is impressive; one cannot determine from the writings whether or not the author is himself a religious man. Very well laid out, logically presented, a superb read. Two thumbs way up!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
The Birth of Christ - When it probably happened.
By Raymond Flanigan
A great story- you can even do your own research using this as a base.
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