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An Early Christmas Hymn in the New Testament?

Kenneth Samples — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 13:00:00 +0000

I love the Christmas season and can remember hearing and singing Christmas carols my entire life. The Christian church calendar season known as Advent (“coming”) celebrates the great Christian doctrinal truth of the incarnation (God coming in the flesh). And one of my favorite passages concerning God the Son taking on a human nature and becoming man is found in the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Here is that remarkable passage that has been called the Carmen Christi (“Hymn to Christ”):

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5–11)

An Ancient Jewish-Christian Hymn
New Testament scholar and historian of ancient Christianity Larry Hurtado explains the prevailing view of modern scholarship concerning this passage:

“Although the idea does not seem to have occurred to anyone prior to the early twentieth century, it is now the dominant view of New Testament scholars that Philippians 2:6–11 preserves (or derives from) an early Christian ‘hymn’ or ‘Christological ode’ whose original provenance was in the setting of corporate worship.”¹

New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg describes the basis in which scholars have identified these primitive hymns and creeds that appear to have been embedded into parts of Scripture:

“Numerous texts of highly poetic Greek, filled with tightly packed formulations of fundamental Christian doctrine, in styles that often differ from those of the epistle writers themselves, and which seem to be set apart as self-contained entities within the letters in which they appear, prove likely candidates for early Christian creeds or confessions of faith.”²

This awareness of hymns and creeds in the New Testament is considered a new perspective as it relates to the identity of Jesus. The clearest and most commonly cited examples of primitive hymns and creeds are reflected in the epistles written by the apostles Paul and Peter in such passages as Philippians 2:6–11, Colossians 1:15–20, and 1 Peter 3:18–22. Other creedal passages are thought to include John 1:1–18 with fragments of hymns seen in Ephesians 2:14–16; 5:14; 1 Timothy 3:15; and Hebrews 1:3.³

Let’s briefly unpackage this Philippian pericope (section of text) from a doctrinal perspective and then we’ll consider its profound apologetics implications.

A High Christology
This apparent hymn (Philippians 2:6–11) taken from the corporate and liturgical worship of the primitive Jewish-Christian church in its earliest devotion to Jesus reveals what is known as a high Christology (a “high” Christology is one in which Jesus is portrayed as fully divine). For example, verse 6 speaks of Jesus preexisting in the form (Greek: morphē) of God which “denotes the outward manifestation that corresponds to the essence.”⁴ In other words, Christ in his preincarnate state possessed “the sum of those qualities that make God specifically God.”⁵

It’s also important to note that the other two common primitive creeds or hymns also convey a high Christology: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19); “Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him” (1 Peter 3:21–22).

Continuing with verse 6 this song states that Christ “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage” (Greek: harpagmon: “something to be grasped”⁶). In contrast with Adam, who was made in God’s image but through disobedience sought to be God, Christ the new Adam was in the form of God but did not exploit his exalted state.

An Incarnate Servant
Philippians 2:7 says Christ “made himself nothing (Greek: ekenōsen: “emptying”⁷) by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” This is not a divestment (kenosis) of deity (God minus) but a laying aside of his prerogatives—glory and high position—and gaining a new nature (God plus), which involved “submitting to the humiliation of becoming man.”⁸ The incarnate Lord (God in human flesh) reflected the ultimate humility (the mindset Christians are to follow as revealed in verse 5) in becoming a bondservant or slave for the purpose of redeeming sinners.

Humiliation Then Exaltation
Verse 8 of the ancient Jewish-Christian hymn states: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” For God the Son who is equal with the Father to lay aside his heavenly prerogatives and humble himself by taking a human nature is an unprecedented act of servant humiliation. But to undergo crucifixion—that is, to suffer excruciating pain and to be cursed with public disgrace, only heightened this selfless act of humiliation.

The ninth verse of this Philippian worship ode to Christ states: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” Though Christ suffered the ultimate ignominious public death at the hands of Roman soldiers, through his glorious resurrection God the Father has granted Christ the ultimate exaltation.

Verses 10 and 11 reveal the divinely exalted status “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Here the worship song of primitive Christianity quotes Isaiah 45:22–23, which states that Yahweh alone is God and to Yahweh alone all people will bow the knee and every tongue confess his Lordship. Yet that Lordship is, extraordinarily, given to Jesus Christ.

Hurtado explains the unprecedented biblical meaning of this exaltation:

“The climactic lines in verse 11 predict a universal acclamation, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ which almost certainly confirms that ‘the name above every name’ given to Jesus (v. 9) is the divine name itself. ‘Lord’ (Greek: Kyrios) most likely functions here as the Greek equivalent of Adonay, the familiar reverent substitution for the sacred Tetragrammaton in Hebrew [YHWH]. In short, Jesus is here linked with God in ways that, rightly understood, are startling and unequaled.”⁹

Theologian Peter Toon concurs, stating:

“So for Paul to call Jesus ho Kyrios [the Lord] was to identify him in the closest possible way with YHWH, the LORD, and in so doing also identify Jesus in the closest possible way with God the Father, who is YHWH.”¹⁰

Early Jewish-Christian devotion to Jesus represented a progression of traditional Jewish monotheism in which Jesus Christ became an equal extension of Yahweh (a recognition of diversity of persons within the single Godhead). This change represents a theological movement away from a strictly unitarian view of God.

The uniqueness of historic Christianity is that out of Christ’s utter defeat by the powers of this fallen world on the Roman cross comes victory over all powers in the Lord’s glorious resurrection.

New Perspective on Jesus’s Divine Identity
This Philippian passage is not only a great section to read for appreciating the truth of the incarnation during the Christmas season, but it has significant apologetic implications as well.

For example, many skeptical New Testament scholars believe that neither Jesus nor his apostles believed he was God. Instead, they claim that the belief that Jesus was God came about through a centuries-long evolutionary process where gentile Christians deified Christ.

Yet, in light of the new perspective that these hymns and creeds come from the earliest period of Jewish-Christian worship, which is significantly earlier than the New Testament books they appear in (likely within the first couple of decades following Jesus’s death), New Testament scholars now reject this evolutionary view.

Blomberg says, “Such beliefs [in Christ’s deity] thus emerged early in the history of the church, not at some advanced stage of the ‘evolution’ of Christian doctrine.”¹¹ He adds: “Oldest of all are passages used by Paul and Peter in their letters that scholars have identified as most likely predating the epistles in which they appear.”¹² And Hurtado states: “I simply want to emphasize that the origins of the worship of Jesus are so early that practically any evolutionary approach is rendered invalid as historical explanation.”¹³

Contrary to the lengthy evolutionary explanation, Hurtado adds: “The evidence [for the speed and early nature in which the primitive church worshiped Jesus as God] is a more explosively quick phenomenon, a religious development that was more like a volcanic eruption.”¹⁴

Apologetic Takeaways
Consider these three significant apologetics applications:¹⁵

1. While the books of the New Testament take us back to the apostolic age, the primitive creeds, confessions, and hymns contained in certain New Testament books press back to the earliest period of Jewish Christianity.

2. These primitive creeds, confessions, and hymns illustrate that the earliest Christians viewed Jesus as divine (a high Christology) and serve to falsify the claim that belief in Jesus’s deity went through an extended period of evolution.

3. The earliest Christians, though staunch Jewish monotheists, nevertheless almost immediately worshiped Jesus Christ as an extension of Yahweh and thus exhibited a mutation of traditional monotheism.

These insights on this early Jewish-Christian hymn give me greater appreciation for the first line of one of my favorite Christmas carols: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”

Reflections: Your Turn
What are your thoughts about the Carmen Christi?

Resources

Larry W. Hurtado, How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus

Craig L. Blomberg, Making Sense of the New Testament: Three Crucial Questions, see chapter 1.

Peter Toon, Our Triune God: A Biblical Portrayal of the Trinity, see chapter 6.

Kenneth Richard Samples, God among Sages: Why Jesus Is Not Just Another Religious Leader, see chapter 4.

Endnotes

1. Larry W. Hurtado, How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), 84.

2. Craig L. Blomberg, Making Sense of the New Testament: Three Crucial Questions

(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2004), 63–64.

3. Peter Toon, Our Triune God: A Biblical Portrayal of the Trinity (Vancouver, BC: Regent College Publishing, 1996), 118.

4. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 5, Psalms—Song of Songs, gen ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991), 123.

5. The NIV Study Bible, gen ed. Kenneth Barker (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 1805.

6. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 123.

7. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 123.

8. The NIV Study Bible, 1805.

9. Hurtado, How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God?, 50.

10. Toon, Our Triune God, 169.

11. Blomberg, Making Sense of the New Testament, 64.

12. Blomberg, 63–64.

13. Hurtado, 25.

14. Hurtado, 25.

15. Kenneth Richard Samples, God among Sages: Why Jesus Is Not Just Another Religious Leader (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017), 75.

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Christmas Date: Was Jesus Born on December 25?

Guest Writer — Thu, 25 May 2023 12:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered if Jesus was actually born on December 25? Or why some countries celebrate Christmas in January? Or how long Christians have been celebrating on December 25? Does it matter? A skeptic could argue that if Christians don’t know the birthdate of the founder of the faith, then maybe other tenets of Christianity or the Bible itself may not stand up to scrutiny.

Identifying Birthdates Is Not So Straightforward
Today, the birthday is one of the most basic pieces of information that identifies a person. But it wasn’t so basic as recently as a century ago. When my father moved from a small village in China into the Western world, he knew his birthdate only in the lunar calendar, which is based on the cycles of the Moon. Even today, his identification card issued by the government shows only his birth year, with no month or day. He still prefers that his family celebrate his birthday in the lunar calendar. As a result, his children remember his birthdate only in the lunar calendar and we look up his birthdate in the Western calendar every year. This process can lead to confusion—and my father was born within the past 100 years!

Jesus was born over 2,000 years ago into the Jewish culture, which also used a lunar calendar. The Roman Empire at the time, however, adopted the Julian calendar. Today’s Western calendar, the Gregorian calendar, was adopted only within the past few hundred years. Thus, I can imagine confusion about “converting” Jesus’s birthdate twice: (1) from a lunar calendar to the Julian calendar; and (2) from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Although this second conversion should be straightforward, the differing adoption dates of different countries have nevertheless caused great confusion.

Julian Calendar
In 46 BC, Julius Caesar reformed the calendar system based on the perceived cycles of the Sun. The Julian calendar included a leap year every four years, resulting in an average of 365.25 days in a year. However, because Earth orbits the Sun in 365.24219 days, a Julian year was slightly longer than it should be.¹ This difference of 0.00781 days in a year might not mean much initially, but it accumulated to 7.81 days after 1,000 years. Astronomical events like the equinoxes and solstices drifted on the Julian calendar. For example, with Easter tied to the first full moon after the spring equinox, it drifted slowly into early March.

Gregorian Calendar
Recognizing this drifting problem, Pope Gregory XIII modified the Julian calendar by proposing two changes in 1582. First, 10 days would be skipped when switching from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. This skipping would account for the drifting caused by the Julian calendar since the third century. Second, beginning in 1582, the Gregorian calendar would include a leap year every four years, like the Julian calendar. But it would not have a leap year for the years ending in 00, unless divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, 1900, and 2100 would not be leap years, but 1600 and 2000 would be leap years. Effectively, there are 365.2425 days in a Gregorian year on average, making it a much better approximation of the number of days Earth orbits the Sun.

Drifting of Christmas Day
Here comes the confusion. Only certain countries (including France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain) converted to the Gregorian calendar in 1582. The later a country converted, the more days it would have to skip to account for the drifting difference. For example, when the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada converted in 1752, they had to skip 11 days. To them, the day after September 2, 1752 (the day the Gregorian calendar was adopted), was September 14, 1752. Bulgaria, Estonia, Russia, Greece, and Turkey skipped 13 days when they converted after 1900.²

Each of these countries consistently celebrated Christmas before and after the conversion: on December 25 of the Julian calendar before its conversion, and on December 25 of the Gregorian calendar after its conversion. However, to the people who know only the Gregorian calendar, the converting country would appear to have moved its Christmas from January 5, 6, or 7 to December 25.

The timing differences are confusing even now. Churches in a small number of countries still use the Julian calendar today. They celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the Julian calendar, but to the world using the Gregorian calendar, they appear to celebrate Christmas on January 7. The table below shows how Christmas Day of the Julian calendar drifts on the Gregorian calendar over centuries.

Julian Calendar	Gregorian Calendar	Days Drifted
Dec 25, 1582	Jan 4, 1583	10
Dec 25, 1600	Jan 4, 1601	10
Dec 25, 1700	Jan 5, 1701	11
Dec 25, 1800	Jan 6, 1801	12
Dec 25, 1900	Jan 7, 1901	13
Dec 25, 2000	Jan 7, 2001	13
Dec 25, 2100	Jan 8, 2101	14

December 25 since the Second Century
Therefore, since 1582, Christians have been consistent when celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25. What about the years before 1582? Here are some ancient accounts—starting in the second century—that recorded Jesus’s birthday on December 25:³

The early church father Irenaeus, who lived from 130 to 202 AD, wrote in the second century that Jesus was born on December 25.⁴ Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John, who was closely affiliated with Jesus’s mother (John 19:26–27). To me, this seems to be the most reliable source.
The historian Sextus Julius Africanus (160 to 240 AD) recorded in the year 221 AD that Jesus was conceived on March 25, extrapolating forward nine months that Jesus was born on December 25.⁵
The early church father Hippolytus (170 to 236 AD) wrote that Jesus was born on December 25.⁶

These ancient accounts demonstrate that December 25 was recorded as Jesus’s birthday as early as the second century. Was Jesus’s birthday initially remembered in the Jewish lunar calendar and subsequently converted to the Julian calendar? Probably. Was it converted accurately before the invention of paper or the smartphone? We don’t know. But these very early manuscripts suggest that the birth of Jesus probably occurred on or around December 25.

Did Christmas Replace a Pagan Festival?
One of the most common criticisms of December 25 as the plausible date for the birth of Jesus was that this date was originally a Roman festival of Saturnalia honoring the god Saturn. After Christianity was legalized, according to this myth, Christians chose December 25 to replace this festival.

However, Saturnalia was celebrated from December 17 to 23, not on December 25. There was no replacement. Furthermore, when Christians of the second century recorded December 25 as Jesus’s birthday, they were still being persecuted by the Roman emperor and sought to distance themselves from the imperial cult. Finally, according to historians, the idea of Christians choosing Christmas to replace a festival first appeared in the twelfth century—10 centuries after the historical records. This idea was then popularized by new studies of comparative religions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.⁷

Ironically, the conversion of countries from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar appears to support this myth of replacing a pagan festival with Christmas. To people who are not aware of the calendar drifting problem and the calendar conversion, it seems that countries in the world moved Christmas from January to December 25 over centuries, thus allegedly supporting this myth.

Shepherding in December?
Skeptics argue that December would have been too cold for shepherds living out in the fields as recorded in Luke 2:8. However, ancient shepherding in areas much colder than Bethlehem, such as the Himalayas and Mongolia, was not uncommon. Furthermore, Bethlehem is relatively warm in December, with a high of 14°C (57°F) and a low of 8°C (46°F). One can still see shepherding near Bethlehem in December today.

Significance of Christ’s Birth
Ancient manuscripts in the second century recorded Jesus’s birthday as occurring on December 25. These manuscripts were written when Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire and before Christianity was legalized in the fourth century. Christians have been consistently celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25 until today, though the use of different calendars might have caused some confusion. While nobody knows for sure what date Jesus was born, December 25 remains the most plausible date after two conversions involving three calendar systems.

Not knowing the exact date of Jesus’s birth (scholars debate the year as probably between 8 and 2 BC) should cause no loss of confidence in the truth of the events surrounding his birth. Just as nobody in my family doubts that my father was born in the last century, Christians have no reason to doubt that Jesus was born under the reign of Caesar Augustus. The Gospel of Luke records specific details of his birth, but Scripture doesn’t provide a date. Yet the Bible provides ample evidence to demonstrate why Jesus was born, lived, died, and was raised from the dead. He accomplished atonement for sin on behalf of those who place their trust in him.

Endnotes

NASA Science, “Julius Caesar and Leap Days,” February 29, 2020.
Konstantin Bikos and Aparna Kher, “Gregorian Calendar Reform: Why Are Some Dates Missing?” Time and Date, accessed April 29, 2023.
Titus Kennedy, Excavating the Evidence for Jesus: The Archaeology and History of Christ and the Gospels (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2022).
Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, archive.org/details/SaintIrenaeusAgainstHeresiesComplete.
Sextus Julius Africanus, The Extant Fragments of the Five Books of the Chronography.
Hippolytus of Rome, Commentary on Daniel, trans. T. C. Schmidt (2010), book 4, 23.3.
Andrew McGowan, “Dating Christmas,” academia.edu, accessed May 9, 2023.

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What Was the Christmas Star?

Hugh Ross — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Question of the week: What was the Christmas star?

My answer: The relevant Bible text is Matthew 2:1–12. The Greek word used in the text for star is aster. Aster can be translated as star, planet, comet, asteroid, or meteor. The text specifically refers to a single star, a single star that appeared to the Magi, disappeared from view, and then reappeared roughly a year and a half later. The roughly year and a half is discerned from the fact that Herod, in an attempt to kill Jesus, had all the boys two years of age and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity killed.

The text also indicates that Herod had to question the Magi carefully to find out the nature of the star. That Herod was unfamiliar with the star and the fact that there is no record of the star in the annals of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, or Parthians indicates that the star was not a bright object. Thus, a bright comet, supernova, planet(s), and nearly all Christmas card depictions apparently are ruled out. Likewise, the reference to a single star rules out conjunctions of a planet with another planet, star, or the Moon.

A dim comet or asteroid is highly unlikely since it is extremely improbable for such an object to reappear about a year and half later in the exact same location. The only remaining candidates are either a recurring nova or a cataclysmic variable star. When I first suggested a recurring nova as a possible explanation for the Christmas star some forty years ago, several of my astronomer friends were skeptical since astronomers had never observed a recurrence that was under 10 years.

However, within the past three years astronomers have discovered two recurring novae with recurrence times under 1.5 years. You can read much more about the Christmas star and recurring novae in these two articles that I have written (The Christmas Star and Astronomy Sheds New Light on the Christmas Star).

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Why Celebrate Christmas Since It Originated from Pagan Traditions?

Hugh Ross — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 19:00:07 +0000

Question of the week: The Bible doesn’t mention anything about early believers celebrating any event other than baptism and communion. Therefore, shouldn’t Christians refrain from celebrating Christmas especially since it
originated from pagan traditions?

My answer: While the Bible mentions nothing about early Christians celebrating Christmas or Easter, to me, it seems only natural that Christians would want to celebrate the incarnation (God becoming human and dwelling among us) and the
resurrection. That the dates for Christmas and Easter approximately coincide with pagan celebrations of the winter solstice and the spring equinox I see as Christians co-opting the unrighteous for the righteous as a means of encouraging
non-Christians to consider becoming Christians. This co-option is similar to Christian musicians transforming drinking songs into beautiful hymns with lyrics that teach sound biblical doctrine. Some of the most doctrinally accurate and
uplifting hymns are Christmas carols.

Having said all this, I believe we need to be on guard against reverse co-option. For example, it bothers me a great deal that today images of Santa, snowmen, elves, and reindeer far outnumber images of Jesus, Joseph, Mary, and angels on peoples’
lawns and in store displays. I also am bothered by how small a percentage of “Christmas music” actually celebrates the coming of Jesus Christ and what the coming means for human beings. One reason why Kathy and I wrote our
book, Always Be Ready,1 was to counter reverse co-option by encouraging Christians to be more active in sharing their faith.

Endnote

Hugh Ross with Kathy Ross, Always Be Ready (Covina, CA: RTB Press, 2018), https://support.reasons.org/purchase/always-be-ready.

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Merry Christmas

Hugh Ross — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I grew up in Canada during the 1950s and 1960s. A Christmas tradition during that time in Canada for both Christians and non-Christians was to sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. Thus, though I was not raised in a Christian home, every Christmas Eve I was exposed to the rich Christian doctrines that are present in the lyrics of so many Christmas carols.

Sadly, Christmas music has evolved. Today, Christmas music is heard not just on Christmas Eve but 24/7 from Thanksgiving (or earlier) to New Year’s Eve. The music, however, does not bring glory and honor to the Creator who came to us as a baby to bring salvation to the world. Instead, nearly all the attention is heaped on Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, mistletoe, sleigh bells, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, dreams of a white Christmas, love gone sour, and even cold weather. The Christmas music I hear in stores, airports, hotels, and other public places will, on rare occasions, feature a Christmas carol but always without the lyrics.

The rationale I hear for avoiding Christmas carol lyrics is that they may offend people of different faiths. However, in my experience people of different faiths enjoy Christmas carols, too. Christmas carols really do bring “joy to the world.”

In Psalm 137 we learn that even the pagan Babylonians demanded songs of joy from their Jewish slaves. They said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Psalm 137:3).

For me, Christmas carols are the epitome of joyous music. At this Christmas season, as you and your loved ones celebrate the coming of our Creator, Lord, and Savior I encourage you to take time to listen to the great Christmas carols of our faith. Sing them to your friends, relatives, and neighbors. Consider the rich doctrine in the lyrics. In the context of doctrinal content, my favorite Christmas carol is Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. The words of the third stanza always bring me to tears:

Hark! the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

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God Reveals Himself in Christmas and in Creation

Jeff Zweerink — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 20:52:00 +0000

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (John 1:14, ESV).

During Christmas we celebrate how God made himself known to humanity very personally by sending his Son to live among us. As Christ walked the Earth, his presence revealed God’s glory in a special way. The Bible also tells us that God reveals himself to all, in a more general way, through the universe he created and fashioned for us to live in. Investigation of the natural world helps us know God better. Here are some recent examples that show how God continues to display his glory through his creation.

1. The Regularity of the Universe Reveals God’s Reliability

RTB argues that the Bible describes a universe characterized by constancy and reliability. In fact, the regularity of the created order (day and night, the fixed patterns of the heavens; see Jeremiah 33:25) provides an appropriate metaphor for God’s faithfulness in keeping his promise to the nation of Israel.

Researchers have looked for changes in the physical constants that govern the universe. Past research limits any changes in the proton-to-electron mass ratio, μ, to less than one part in 10 million over the last 7 billion years.¹ A study published in October 2015 established the utility of a new method that will give even tighter constraints.² These measurements, coupled with similar observations regarding the fine-structure constant, α, and violations of the Lorentz invariance, really do show that we live in a universe governed by constant physics. Such findings also show the unchanging nature of the God who created the universe.

2. Unique Exoplanets Reveal God’s Creativity

Astronomers continue to find bizarre planets that make our solar system look almost quaint by comparison. First on the list is HD 189733b. Using high resolution spectroscopy on this planet, astronomers determined that HD 189733b experiences winds blowing over 5,400 miles per hour! For comparison, the fastest wind speeds ever measured on Earth register just over 300 mph for the strongest tornadoes (Jupiter experiences similar wind speeds). While this windy exoplanet demonstrates the variability of planet environments, the more remarkable fact is that astronomers are developing the ability to measure weather-related information on distant planets. This information reveals God’s incredible creativity, while also reaffirming his special care in making Earth habitable for humans.

3. Our Fine-Tuned Earth Reveals God’s Care for Us—Right Down to the Details

Of all known exoplanets, Kepler 438b ranks near the top of the Earth Similarity Index (ESI). However, it orbits a star with flaring activity exceeding the Sun’s by a factor of 10. Kepler 438b orbits in the habitable zone around a red dwarf. The smaller amount of energy radiated by red dwarfs means any planet in the habitable zone orbits pretty close to the star. For Kepler 438b, this proximity means that the radiation from the star’s flares likely blasted any atmosphere clean off the planet. Obviously, such a situation dramatically affects any chance for life. In comparison, Earth has been created to host an abundant array of life, and it’s being sustained because of the great care God has taken to ensure our survival.

Pondering these discoveries about the universe, I must agree with Paul when he declares that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made,” (Romans 1:20). I am thankful that God chose to reveal himself so that we could have a personal relationship with him. Take some time to appreciate this incredible fact as we celebrate the birth of Christ.

Endnotes

Julija Bagdonaite et al., “A Stringent Limit on a Drifting Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio from Alcohol in the Early Universe,” Science 339 (January 2013): 46–48, doi:10.1126/science.1224898.
A. Owens et al., “Accurate Prediction of H3O+ and D3O+ Sensitivity Coefficients to Probe a Variable Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 454 (December 2015): 2292–98, doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2023.

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Daniel: A Christmas Hero

Hugh Ross — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

When we consider Christmas heroes, Joseph, Mary, the wise men, and the shepherds immediately come to mind. For me, one of the great overlooked Christmas heroes is the prophet Daniel.

Why Daniel? Daniel is the only Old Testament prophet to predict the timing of the Messiah’s coming (Daniel 9:24–27). An angel told Daniel how many years would transpire between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Messiah’s arrival.

The angel’s visit raises a question: Why Daniel and nobody else? Three times the angel explains that Daniel was “highly esteemed” (Daniel 9:23; 10:10, 19). Specifically, the angel noted Daniel’s unswerving commitment to gaining understanding, grieving over committed sins, and humbling himself before God (Daniel 10:12). He was the wisest man of his time, one whom everyone trusted. Daniel’s wisdom and trustworthiness were so great that two of the most powerful emperors who ever lived both made him prime minister over their realms. What made these appointments remarkable and unprecedented in human history was that these emperors ruled kingdoms that were at war with one another.

God used Daniel to bring His message to the most powerful rulers and, through them, to their citizens. Because of Daniel’s outstanding virtue and character, God entrusted him with insights and understanding about future events. Consequently, Daniel greatly influenced not only his own generation but also all subsequent generations.

As the wisest, godliest, and most trusted of all wise men (magi), Daniel influenced the wise men who lived at the time of Christ’s birth. So great was the respect these magi had for Daniel that, based on less than 100 words of his prophecy, they launched a major expedition to seek out the newborn Messiah and present gifts that guaranteed His survival.

How about wise men and women today? The Messiah is coming again. Many Bible texts tell us He will return. The most specific say His return will occur immediately after His followers take the message of redemption to all the people groups of the world. Will you, like Daniel, humble yourself before God, grieve over the sins being committed both within and without the church, and prepare for opportunities to share the gospel with anyone God brings to you? I can think of no better time than Christmas to bring lost souls into an eternally redeemed relationship with the Messiah and thereby hasten the ultimate celebration—the Messiah’s return!

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Astronomy Sheds New Light on the Christmas Star

Hugh Ross — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 17:36:00 +0000

The star that appeared to the Magi, indicating the promised Messiah’s arrival and prompting a pilgrimage to Judea, has sparked much speculation.¹ The Magi saw the same star reappear one to two years after its first appearance while on their short journey between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, following a consultation with King Herod and his court. This stellar event is recorded nowhere else in ancient literature—so it must have been just dramatic enough to catch the attention of the watchful Magi, but too subtle to warrant the notice of other astronomers and astrologers of that time.

The question is, what kind of celestial event or object fits the timing and description provided in Matthew?

As I noted in a previous article, it is best to hold explanations for the star of Bethlehem tentatively. Matthew 2 gives us few, albeit interesting, details. To complicate matters, the Greek word translated as “star” (aster) can indicate a number of different astronomical bodies, including a star, planet, comet, asteroid, or meteor.² Fortunately, recent discoveries published in Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Astrophysical Journal have shed new light on the possible explanations for the Christmas star.

Narrowing Down the Possibilities

Most Christmas star explanations claim the phenomenon was some kind of conjunctionin which two celestial objects—two bright planets or a bright planet and the Moon or a bright planet and a bright star—appear close together in the sky. The problem is that the objects in a conjunction typically remain distinguishable as two distinct bodies, but, in Matthew 2, aster appears in the singular form. Of all the conjunctions that occurred within a five-year window of 5 BC (the date most favored by scholars for Christ’s birth), only in the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter (June 17, 2 BC) did the two objects draw close enough together to appear as a single object. However, this blending of the two into one lasted just an hour and was visible as a blended object only in the Americas and in southern and western Africa.³ Furthermore, this conjunction took place following the death of King Herod, which places it too late for the account of the Magi.

Others have speculated that the Christmas star was a bright comet or supernova. But if this were the case, we could expect that Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman scholars would have noted it. All of these cultures were diligent about recording dramatic events in the sky, especially comets and supernovae. Such an event would not fit with Matthew’s implication that the star went unnoticed by all except the Magi. It must also be noted that conjunctions, comets, asteroids, and bright meteors do not reappear one to two years later as the same image in the same location in the sky.

There are those who argue that the star was of a supernatural origin, such as an angel or God’s Shekinah glory. The text, however, does not seem to support this conclusion. Though these popular theories seem to be on shaky ground, I would suggest that there is another possibility that is both scientifically and biblically plausible.

Was the Christmas Star a Recurring Nova?

Even before I became a Christian, the Christmas star held some fascination for me. During my teenage years, when I was director of observations for the Vancouver chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, I gave a lecture on the star of Bethlehem in which I argued that the star was a recurring nova. The brighter novae (see figure 1) are rare enough that they could catch the attention of the Magi (who, it seems, were waiting for a sign), yet also dim enough to escape the notice of other observers. And, unlike supernovae, a few novae actually can erupt several times.

Figure 1: Artist’s Rendition of a Nova
The white dwarf star (right) over time accretes enough mass from a red giant star companion to undergo an eruption where the luminosity of the system increases by several hundred times. For some white dwarf-red giant systems the eruption recur.
Image credit: NASA

There was one snag with my hypothesis. All the recurring novae that astronomers had observed did not recur until more than 10 years later and most did not recur for a century! Nevertheless, as an astronomer, I believed it sufficiently possible for a nova to recur in less than two years and stuck to this explanation (see here and here), although I also suggested that cataclysmic variable stars as an alternate hypothesis.⁴ But this year, new research provided exciting validation of the short-period recurring nova idea.

Astronomers observed nova M31N 2008-12a recurring within a period of only one year.⁵ Following this discovery, a team of four astronomers demonstrated that a certain kind of white dwarf star could exhibit recurring nova eruptions with a period as short as two months.⁶ Such a white dwarf star’s rotation rate would need to be close to zero and its mass would need to be 1.38 times the Sun’s mass. It also would need to be accreting mass from a companion star at a rate of 0.00000036 solar masses per year. The team also showed that a one-year nova eruption period requires a white dwarf with a mass = 1.30 solar masses and an accretion rate = 0.00000015 solar masses per year.

Though rare in our Milky Way Galaxy, such high-mass, high-accreting white dwarfs are expected to exist in numbers sufficient enough to lend more than adequate credence to the account of the star of Bethlehem. Christians can continue to embrace the Christmas star as the sign that led the Magi to the Messiah who brings light and hope to a dark and weary world.

Endnotes

For example, see Mark Kidger, The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomer’s View (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999); Courtney Roberts, The Star of the Magi: The Mystery That Heralded the Coming of Christ (Pompton Plains, NJ: New Page Books, 2007); and Michael R. Molnar, The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2013) to name just a few. The Star of Bethlehem (2009) hosted by Frederick Larson is the bestselling DVD on the subject.
Joseph Henry Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1977): 81–82.
“A Christmas Near Occultation – Venus and Jupiter, June 17, 2 BC,” accessed November 21, 2014, https://www.nature1st.net/bogan/astro/occultations/2bcocclt.htm.
A cataclysmic variable star briefly brightens by a hundred times or more. Astronomers have observed several cataclysmic variables where successive bright eruptions are separated by less than two years. Unlike recurring novae, however, cataclysmic variables very rarely re-erupt at the same approximate brightness.
M. J. Darnley et al., “A Remarkable Recurrent Nova in M31 – The Optical Observations,” Astronomy and Astrophysics 563 (March 2014): L9; M. Henze et al., “A Remarkable Recurrent Nova in M31 – The X-Ray Observations,” Astronomy and Astrophysics 563 (March 2014): L8; Sumin Tang et al., “An Accreting White Dwarf Near the Chandrasekhar Limit in the Andromeda Galaxy,” Astrophysical Journal 786 (May 1, 2014): id. 61.
Mariko Kato et al., “Shortest Recurrence Periods of Novae,” Astrophysical Journal 793 (October 1, 2014): id. 136.

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Three Reasons I Love the Christmas Season

Kenneth Samples — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:00:00 +0000

As the song goes “Christmas time is here.” People are busy shopping, baking, and reliving their special Yuletide traditions. For many churches, the Christmas traditions include Advent ceremonies.

Advent, which means “coming,” is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s first coming into the world to rescue sinners from God’s inevitable just wrath and the anticipation of his hoped for second coming. For congregations that follow a traditional Christian calendar, the church year is a cycle that celebrates the great events in Jesus’ life. Because the believer’s life is now wrapped up in Christ’s life, part of the church’s purpose is to commemorate the glorious events of Jesus Christ’s time on Earth.

One of the most recognizable features of Advent is the traditional wreath and candles. To commemorate each of the four Sundays of Advent, churches light a candle in the wreath, culminating with a special Christmas candle. At my church, Advent also includes special readings from Scripture and carol singing.

Many people, believers and nonbelievers alike, cite Christmas as their favorite time of year. I’m no exception. I look forward to Christmas, or Advent, for three reasons.

1. I love what Christmas reminds me about my faith.

Christmas is about celebrating the great truth about the Incarnation (God has come in the flesh). The baby of Bethlehem was Immanuel (“God with us”). Christmas commemorates the truth that the second person of the Godhead, the eternal Word and Son, left his lofty estate of heaven and entered the world of time and space and became man. As the Apostle John notes, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Christmas, therefore, reminds me of the logical order of my faith.

The triune nature of God makes the Incarnation possible. God’s three-in-oneness (one What and three Whos) makes it possible for the second divine person to take a human nature and become the God-man.

The Incarnation makes the atonement and resurrection possible. Because Jesus is both God and man (a single person with both a divine and human nature), he is able to serve as the redeemer of lost sinners by representing and reconciling both parties (holy God and sinful man). And because our Savior is the God-man even death cannot hold him (thus, resurrection power and victory over sin, death, and hell).

The Advent season consistently reminds me of the great doctrines of my faith including the Trinity, the Incarnation, the atonement, and the resurrection.

2. I love what Christmas reminds me about my culture.

As an American citizen, my nation and broader culture by-and-large celebrates the Christmas season together. I see it in the Christmas decorations and in the general celebratory mood of society. Yes, it often suffers from crass commercialization, but it is still evident that America has been deeply shaped by the truths of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. I consider myself blessed to be part of Western civilization with its deep indebtedness to the Christian world-and-life view. The Christmas season reminds even the post-Christian European culture of its powerful theological and moral foundations that find their roots in historic Christianity.

3. I love what Christmas reminds me about my family.

My happiest childhood memories are mostly connected to the Christmas season. The thrill of decorating the Christmas tree, the giving and receiving of gifts, celebrating with family, and attending church on Christmas Eve. My wife and I have taken great enjoyment in the utter joy that our children experience during Christmas, especially when they were very young. Our children could feel the holiday spirit in the air and they could hardly sleep a wink on Christmas Eve anticipating the morning’s events.

The Advent season clearly reminds me how much I have to be thankful for in terms of family. I had caring parents. In fact, I’m especially grateful that my father survived the Battle of the Bulge, fought in Europe during the Christmas season of 1944. It was the coldest winter in Europe in 100 years.

I also have a loving and devoted wife, and three children that fill my life with love and satisfaction. None of my professional accomplishments have been as fulfilling as my roles as husband and father.

When I was gravely ill eight years ago just before the start of the Advent season, I asked God to let me see just one more Christmas with my family. I tend to count the years of my life according to the number of Advent seasons the Lord’s grace has allowed me to enjoy.

As a Christian, I’ve found the true meaning of my life by seeing my life wrapped in Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. As the Apostle Paul states in Colossians 3:3–4, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

The Advent season calls us all to remember when Christ first appeared on Earth and to rejoice. As my favorite Christmas carol extols, “Joy to the world the Lord is come!”

Merry Christmas and a Happy Advent Season!

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The Christmas Star

Hugh Ross — Sun, 01 Dec 2002 19:52:00 +0000

For centuries people have wondered what kind of “star” led the magi from the East to Jerusalem in search of Israel’s “Anointed One.”

The only known account of the wise men and of the astronomical event that spurred them to action is found in the book of Matthew. This dramatic story has generated numerous articles, books, songs, and films, some of which have gained huge popularity.

Let me begin by saying that all explanations for the Bethlehem star, including my own, must be considered speculative, no matter how much certainty an author may claim. With such limited data to go on, even including insights from other potentially relevant biblical texts and from astronomy software, no conclusive argument can be made. That’s why, as an astronomer and Christian apologist, I refrain from “proving” the reliability of the Bible on the basis of the Christmas star. An abundance of compelling evidence is available. However, I can offer what I hope are some helpful comments.

Does the story of the wise men lend credence to astrology?

In a few English translations or paraphrases of Matthew 2—the Living, the New English, and the Phillips—the Greek word for the magi (plural of magos) is rendered “astrologers.” A quick check of Thayer’s Greek lexicon shows that the word springs from a Babylonian root meaning “oriental scientist, wise man, astrologer, or seer.” That ancient Babylonian word would have been used to describe Daniel, as well as his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who served as advisors in the royal court of Babylon (Daniel 2:48).

This word had a much broader and higher meaning than the term “astrologer” as used today. It applied to the most highly educated individuals of their time and place. As a student of Hebrew Scripture, highly respected for both his character and his wisdom, Daniel, the Jewish captive, served as Babylon’s intellectual and spiritual leader. To this highly esteemed man God sent word, via the angel Gabriel, of the time when Israel’s longed-for Messiah would come:

Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary (Daniel 9:25-26).

Daniel received and recorded this prophetic revelation while serving as Chief Counsel in the Persian court. We can safely guess that the sages of Persia heard about it. According to Daniel 4:16, 23, 25, and 32, each “seven” in the vision represents seven years. This is the only detail Daniel received, but this one detail provided a critical clue for later generations.

Persia’s king Artaxerxes issued the long-awaited decree (actually two decrees) to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. These have been dated at approximately 444 or 445 BC and 457 BC, though some minor dispute over possible calendar error remains. Nevertheless, this fact that Daniel’s vision provides only a projected date fits the picture we see in Matthew 2. The magi knew the identity of the one they awaited and the time of his coming, but little about the place of his coming, other than it would be in Daniel’s homeland.

The appearance of an extraordinary stellar event to the watchful magi confirmed that the momentous arrival was at hand. Expecting the leaders of Israel to be equally watchful, they went straight to the capital city to learn the Anointed One’s location: “Where is the one who has born king of the Jews?” they asked (Matthew 2:2) The “chief priests and teachers of the law” (Matthew 2:4) informed the magi, based on Micah’s prophecy (Micah 5:2), that “the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem in Judea” (Matthew 2:4–5). Imagine the travelers’ surprise at the locals’ apparent obliviousness to their Messiah’s coming.

Rather than being led by astrology and its spurious forecasting techniques, the magi more likely represent the legacy of Daniel and his three friends—trained in all the “wisdom of the East” and eager to worship the one true God.

What might the Christmas star have been?

The Greek word aster, translated “star” in Matthew 2:2–10, has a more general meaning than the English term. It can refer to any kind of heavenly body—star, planet, asteroid, comet, meteor, or other. Most of the books and DVDs produced by astronomers, theologians, and laypeople claiming to have determined the identity of the Christmas star focus on one or a combination of these objects.* The five most widely known and accepted explanations include:

a conjunction of planets (two planets coming close together in the sky)
a conjunction of a planet with a bright star
an “occultation” in which the Moon passes in front of a planet
a comet
a supernova

More imaginative suggestions include a flying saucer, an angel, and the Shekinah glory (the light or radiance of God occasionally made visible to humans).

Although we see aster in Revelation 1 as the symbol for a messenger, or angel, nothing in the Matthew 2 passage indicates a symbolic or metaphoric usage. Likewise, though New Testament references to Shekinah can be found (Matthew 17:1–3; Luke 2:9, Revelation 1:12–16), none is associated with the word aster. The “glory of the Lord” mentioned in Luke 2:9 refers to the radiance that surrounded the shepherds outside of Bethlehem, apparently seen by no one other than the shepherds. Thus, it seems reasonable to propose that the aster followed by the magi refers to an astronomical object or phenomenon.

One challenge to the supernova explanation is that such a phenomenon can be so spectacular as to be visible in broad daylight. Nearly all sky watchers everywhere would have seen and recorded it. Observers in China, India, and Egypt kept meticulous records of supernova events, and yet the Christmas star received no mention in their extensive documentation. King Herod and the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem seemed oblivious to the star (Matthew 2:1–3). The shepherds outside of Bethlehem “keeping watch over their flocks at night” on the eve of the Messiah’s birth made no note of any astonishingly brilliant star (Luke 2:8–20). Perhaps they would have been less startled and terrified by the angels’ visit (Luke 2:9–10) had a dazzling stellar object presaged that visit.

The explanation offered by lawyer Rick Larson in his DVD presentation encounters a similar challenge. Larson asserts that the star is a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus (the two brightest planets in the sky), a meeting so close that they merged in the sky to appear as a single object. Such an event, while brief, would have been so bright as to be visible in the daytime. Close conjunctions of Jupiter and Venus did occur in 2 BC (a separation of 1 arc minute at its closest moment, or one-thirtieth of the Moon’s diameter in the sky) and also in 3 BC (closest separation = 4 arc minutes, or one-seventh of the Moon’s diameter in the sky). However, such events would have made an indelible impression on the shepherds as well as on King Herod and the Jewish religious leaders. Further, they would have been observed as two objects, rather than one aster, and as two events, rather than as one and the same aster indicated by the text.

Another difficulty for Larson is that the dates for these two conjunctions by most scholars’ calculations come too late. The best historical scholarship places the date of Herod’s death at 4 BC. Further, the two conjunctions occurred only ten months apart. Herod’s command to kill boys “two years old and under in accordance with the time he had learned from the magi” (Matthew 2:16) seems out of alignment with this explanation.

Comets, too, seem unlikely candidates. They are typically so familiar as to warrant no special response from the magi. Further, comets are so well documented throughout history that if one did occur, especially an unusually bright one, at the time of Christ’s coming, it would likely show up in the records of Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, and Greek astronomers.

The lunar occultation explanation meets with the same difficulty. The Moon frequently passes in front of, or occults, a planet. In such an event the planet disappears from view only briefly—ranging from a few seconds up to 55 minutes. Such events seem too common and unspectacular to create a stir among the magi.

Does any other option seem plausible?

From an astronomical perspective, one remaining candidate would be a recurring nova. The nova (plural, novae) is a stellar explosion that produces a sudden increase in brightness followed by a gradual dimming (within a few months or years). This type of event lacks the brightness of a supernova and yet would be clearly noticeable to a careful observer. The brightest novae are about as bright as Polaris, the North Star.

Nova events are sufficiently uncommon to catch the attention of observers as alert and well trained as the magi must have been. However, nearly all novae that occurred during the Roman Empire era were sufficiently unspectacular as to escape the attention of casual observers. Chinese astronomers recorded a nova in the constellation Capricorn in March-April of 5 BC, and Korean astronomers noted something in 4 BC that could have been either a nova or a comet. These two sightings are the only ones on record near the estimated time of Christ’s birth.

Most novae experience a single explosion, but a rare few undergo multiple explosions separated by months or years. This repeat occurrence would seem to fit the Matthew 2 indication that the star appeared, disappeared, and then reappeared. According to Herod’s murderous decree, the time separation between the first and second appearance of the star would have been somewhere between 15 and 30 months. Unlike other suggestions for the identity of the Christmas star, a recurring nova would appear and then reappear in exactly the same location on the celestial sphere.

Let me emphasize again that my suggestion represents nothing more than a possibility. Matthew provides the only record of this star, and his record gives us insufficient data to make a definitive conclusion.

How could a star guide the magi to the right house?

The King James translation of Matthew 2:9–10 says that upon leaving Jerusalem the wise men again saw the star they had seen in the east, and it “went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.” This wording has led many to conclude that the star must have been some kind of light beam, like a celestial spotlight, directing the pathway to the dwelling where Jesus and His parents resided. Or, perhaps the star was moving along the route from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, pointing to the house of Joseph and Mary. No known astronomical phenomenon can function in such ways, and on this basis some interpreters have suggested that the Christmas star was a manifestation of the Shekinah, or the divine radiance.

The New International translation says the star “went ahead of them [the magi] until it stopped over the place where the child was.” This wording suggests that the star may have become clearly visible as the wise men approached Bethlehem and then dimmed when they neared the house where the Joseph, Mary, and Jesus lived. Other interpretations also seem possible.

The word-for-word Greek reads, “Behold the star, which they saw in the east, went before them until coming it stood over where was the child.” The key word in this sentence is the Greek verb histemi, for “stood.” Its range of meaning is too broad to distinguish between illumination of a geographical route and a supernaturally timed brightening and fading. It may be worth noting that the star as first seen by the wise men did not geographically guide them, or they would have gone straight to Bethlehem rather than to Jerusalem.

Possible conclusions?

Only the Bible describes the star and the visit of the magi to the child Jesus, and only one passage in the Bible describes these events. This limitation on data indicates the need for caution in offering explanations and interpretations. A recurring nova provides at least one plausible astronomical option. Eastern scholars familiar with Daniel’s teaching and submitted to Daniel’s God seem to fit the profile of the magi.

What strikes me as the most important point of the story is its illustration of the hope the magi placed in the promised Messiah. When I consider the magnitude of their commitment of time, energy, and treasure to seeking him out in order to bow before him, I pray that my response and yours will match theirs.

*A partial list of videos and books includes The Star of Bethlehem, by Frederick “Rick” Larson; Mystery of the Three Kings by Questar Studio; The Star of Bethlehem, by Mark Kidger; The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the magi, by Michael Molnar; The Star of Bethlehem, by Jeanne Hanson; The Christmas Star, by John Mosley; and The Star of Bethlehem, by Sir Patrick Moore.

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