Posted on 12/20/2007 3:32:58 PM PST by shield
The information posted there is the basis for his presentation and is somewhat complicated and wordy. Rick makes it much more interesting in his presentation.
It gives a whole new meaning to Christmas for me. He takes you from the star over Bethlehem to the Day of the Cross and back it up with fact and science.
Where does he do his presentation?
I thought that was Asimov
Hmmm. . .
a ) I don’t think God was busy dealing in astrology; and
b ) the celestial event was apparently not visible to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who became expectant and excited when told that the star had been seen; ergo, it doesn’t appear to have been something that everybody clearly saw.
See post #20 that gives the link to that site.
See post #20, that his site...it gives the different presentation times.
Those aggies you gotta love em.... or is it gig em?
I’m having a bit of trouble relating your comments to my recommendation of a short story by Arthur Clarke
Right. But a conjunction of one or more planets with a single star can occur several different times over a period of months or a couple of years -- due to the phenomenon called "retrograde motion" where planets appear to reverse the direction of their orbit around the sun (due to changes in the motion of these planets relative to the motion of the earth).
And there's no reference anywhere in the New Testament to a star or group of stars sitting in one place in the sky for months on end. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the magi did not use the so-called "Star of Bethlehem" to guide them to Bethlehem. They didn't need a star to guide them anywhere.
1. Set your location to Bethlehem (in the Mid East, not Pennsylvania...)
2. Set the date to August 12, 3 B.C.
3. Set the time to 4:30 a.m.
4. Look East
5. You should see a bright star just above the horizon.
6. Turn on planet labels. The bright star is really Venus and Jupiter in conjunction.
A favorite segment, more so today than those decades ago:
God has no need to justify His actions to man. He who built the universe can destroy it when He chooses. It is arrogance--it is perilously near blasphemy--for us to say what He may or may not do. .
And I would add: "or just how He may do it."
Even the inhabitants of Jerusalem of that time would not have been as familiar with the night sky as eastern astrologers. Something that might not be all that obvious as something unusual, would look quite " out of place" to those who really studied the night sky".
As far as the "star" remaining stationary over Bethlehem, I suspect that is a little literary license, or misunderstanding of the way such events are spoken of, and whatever it was merely appeared in the same place relative to the other stars for a long time, which I tend to think discredits the conjunction hypothesis, especially involving Venus. Jupiter and/or Saturn and a "background star", perhaps.
Skymap has Jupiter and Regulus together on the night of Apr 2, 2 B.C. but no Venus. Venus, Mars, and Saturn are fairly close as well. Hmm....
Yes indeed...the arrogance of man...he’s in for a surprise.
I don't believe it. Fired up my Starry Night and set it for that date. There was a new moon on April 5th (April 3rd wasn't fully new yet). Jupiter is pretty close to Regulus but not a conjunction. Venus was almost at the horizon and in Auriga while Jupiter was in Leo (near Regulus).
Now new moon and Jupiter near but not conjuncted with Regulus could be errors in calculations. However with Venus being basically in a completely different sector that blows his "finding" out of the water.
I still consider the Star of Bethlehem to be a comet (which would last in visible sky for a week or so) or other temporary celestial occurance like a very bright supernova (which would only last a few days).
Should have read thread first. Recalibrating. Be right back.
You sound like someone who believes this legend. Tell me, even if I give you the existence of Jesus (I don’t), and even if the miracles and all that were true (I believe the whole thing is legend), who was sitting around about the time of his birth saying, “I ought to take note of this stuff, this kid’s definitely going to be worth writing about!”???
Much closer to what the article describes but too close to the sun. It would only be visible for a few hours in the day before the sun came up, and not visible at all over night as Jupiter/Venus don’t rise till shortly before sun up and go down before the sun does.
If you go to the website www.starofbethlehem.net there's a link on the first page, click it and it gives the dates, locations and times.
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