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We Three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar. . . . Who were these gift-bearing kings, these Wise Men of the East? What has their mission meant to Christians across the ages? The Wise Men—not yet called kings—make only a single appearance in Holy Scripture. St. Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 2:1-12) tells of their arrival in Jerusalem shortly after the birth of Jesus. In ancient texts of Scripture the Wise Men are Magoi in Greek and Magi in Latin. The singular form, Magos/Magus, is the source of our English word “magician” but had multiple meanings in Biblical times....

Archaeologists Identify Remains of Site Where Bible Says Jesus Restored Blind Man's Sight By Ramit Plushnick-Masti Associated Press Writer JERUSALEM (AP) - Archaeologists in Jerusalem have identified the remains of the Siloam Pool, where the Bible says Jesus miraculously cured a man's blindness, researchers said Thursday - underlining a stirring link between the works of Jesus and ancient Jewish rituals. The archaeologists are slowly digging out the pool, where water still runs, tucked away in what is now the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. It was used by Jews for ritual immersions for about 120 years until the year 70, when...

Early Christians hid the origins of the Bethlehem star 13:15 21 December 01 Marcus Chown A US astronomer claims he has found the first mention of the star of Bethlehem outside the Bible. The reference is in a 4th-century manuscript written by a Roman astrologer and Christian convert called Firmicus Maternus. Photo: Bridgeman Art Library Michael Molnar, formerly of Rutgers University in New Jersey, is the originator of the idea that the star of Bethlehem was not a spectacular astronomical event such as a supernova or a comet but an obscure astrological one. The event would nevertheless have been ...

Bethlehem's legacy Posted: December 25, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Bethlehem is a sacred city to both Jews and Christians. It is sacred to the Jews because its greatest King, David, was born there. It is sacred to Christians because Jesus, the Messiah, was born there, as was predicted some 700 years before: But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be numbered among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.– Micah 5:2, NASB Ironically, the real legacy...

Researcher has theory on the 'Star of Bethlehem' - By Rachel L. Toalson San Antonio Express-News 12/13/2003 All she did was ask him to hang a star above the three wise men adorning their lawn that Christmas in 1998. But Marion Larson's request launched her father into a project that, after hours of research, would carry him across the world. "I was tricked into it," said Rick Larson, a former law professor at Texas A&M University in College Station. "I'm not an astronomer, I'm a lawyer. But when you tell a lawyer he has to have a star, he's got...

Ruins of Manichean center discovered in West Azerbaijan Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN (MNA) –- The ruins of what is believed to be the center of Mani (216-276 C.E.), the founder of Manicheanism, was discovered during the seventh stage of excavations at the ancient site of Qalaychi Hill in West Azerbaijan Province which began last month. Experts used to believe that Hasanlu Mound was the major early Manichean center, but the recent excavation seems to prove otherwise. An inscription found at Qalaychi Hill last year showed that Qalaychi Hill, not Hasanlu Mound, was probably Mani’s early center. After the most...

The opening bars of Richard Strauss’ composition “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” became famous as the theme for Stanle Kubrick’s 1968 movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” But apart from academics and some 300-thosuand believers, few people know much about ancient Iranian prophet Zarathustra and his teaching. “Yet only one thousand years ago, millions, millions espoused Zarathustra’s monotheistic percepts in nations which stretched from (the ancient Chinese city of) Sian (western China) to the Eastern China across central Asia, northern India, Iran, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia up Greece in the west and Arabia, north Africa and Ethiopia in the south,” says Adi Davar, a...

<p>FOUR GIs arrested and charged with stealing nearly $1 million in cash from money found hidden in Baghdad had intended to filch another $12 million, The Post has learned.</p> <p>Army investigators yesterday discovered three aluminum boxes - each holding $4 million in $100 bills - that they believe the sticky-fingered soldiers stashed away to be recovered by them at a later time when the coast was clear, sources said.</p>