Oh Snap! Jesus Was Born in June?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, December 15, 2008
- Viewed 379
- (14) comments so far
Mr Reneke says the wise men probably interpreted it as the sign they had been waiting for, and they followed the ‘star’ to Christ’s birthplace in a stable in Bethlehem, as described in the Bible.
Generally accepted research has placed the nativity to somewhere between 3BC and 1AD.
Using the St Matthew’s Gospel as a reference point, Mr Reneke pinpointed the planetary conjunction, which appeared in the constellation of Leo, to the exact date of June 17 in the year 2BC.
Mr Reneke, who is editor of Sky and Space magazine, said: ‘We have software that can recreate the night sky exactly as it was at any point in the last several thousand years.
‘Venus and Jupiter became very close in the the year 2BC and they would have appeared to be one bright beacon of light.
‘We are not saying this was definitely the Christmas star - but it is the strongest explanation for it of any I have seen so far.
‘Astronomy is such a precise science, we can plot exactly where the planets were, and it certainly seems this is the fabled Christmas star. There’s no other explanation that so closely matches the facts we have from the time.
‘This could well have been what the three wise men interpreted as a sign. They could easily have mistaken it for one bright star.’
He added: ‘December is an arbitrary date we have accepted but it doesn’t really mean that is when it happened.
What do you think? What is the likelyhood that Christmas actually happened in December… and… does it matter?
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Seems like you here this type of thing every few years... but according to the DailyMail UK website, researchers have tracked the appearance of the Christmas Star to June 17.
According to the newspaper, Australian stargazer Dave Reneke used complex computer software to chart the exact positions of all celestial bodies and map the night sky as it would have appeared over the Holy Land more than 2,000 years ago. He discovered that a bright star really did appear over Bethlehem 2,000 years ago - but pinpointed the date of Christ's birth as June 17, and not December 25.
Scientists claim the Christmas star was most likely a magnificent conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter, which were so close together they would have shone unusually brightly as a single 'beacon of light' which appeared suddenly...
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Brent H on Mon, December 15, 2008
There aren’t really people who believe Jesus was born on December 25th, are there? The date most likely isn’t arbitrary, having more to do with winter solstice and pagan holidays than belief that Jesus was actually born that day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
Peter on Mon, December 15, 2008
Doesn’t make a whole lot of difference to me - I think it’s been widely suspected that the birth was more likely towards the summer for some time and we’ve always known that our calendar isn’t accurate to the year. As Brent noted, we pretty much placed it close to the solstice time on purpose.
Cool bit of research, though. I’ll need to read more on that as it just sounds interesting. The more important piece of information is that Jesus was born at all - the exact date might be cool to know, but isn’t that important. (at least not to me)
Adam George on Mon, December 15, 2008
I could care less what the “date” was when Jesus was born…all I care about is that He WAS born.
Dave on Mon, December 15, 2008
Doesn’t even matter! in addition to the points made in the previous posts about solstice, The Bible NEVER instructs us to celebrate the event of the incarnation. We are given baptism to remember His death and resurrection and we are given communion to “proclaim his death until he comes again” The truth of the Gospel and the validity of the Faith does not rise or fall based upon the date (or even If) we celebrate Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying there is anything sinful about celebrating the first advent, I’m just saying it is not biblically necessary.
Lynn on Mon, December 15, 2008
Makes no difference. My friend married an Asian woman who was brought to this country as a toddler with no one knowing her birthdate or exactly how old she was. She was adopted. Her age was estimated and a birthdate set accordingly. She has been celebrating that date with family and friends for nearly 40 years. We don’t stop every year and say, “Well, this really isn’t your birthday, so we can’t celebrate.” We don’t celebrate the date, we celebrate her. We don’t celebrate December 25, we celebrate Him!
Lex on Mon, December 15, 2008
If anyone’s really interested in the star, there’s a GREAT documentary called The Star of Bethlehem. Similar software is used, but it goes into such depth about what the stars were doing when Jesus was born and as the magi traveled - it even takes you to some cool stuff the day Jesus was crucified.
The Star of Bethlehem
It’s seriously amazing.
Chris F on Mon, December 15, 2008
This is one of a few different theories regarding the Christmas star. There is another compelling theory that Christ was born on Sept. 11, 2 B.C. based on the conjuction of the star Regulus and Jupiter in the constellation Leo. Others have pointed to Halley’s comet in 6/7 B.C., assuming a 4 B.C. death for Herod; or Jupiter and Saturn in Pices, etc.
For those who are interested in Incarnation chronology, there are a few good books which discuss this further, such as Chronos, Kairos, Christos (1989, numerous essays and competing theories on the Incarnation date), Chronos, Kairos, Christos II (1998), Calendar and Chronology, Jewish and Christian (Beckwith, 1996), or see the article by astronomer Craig Chester (http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=1996&month=12)
Specifically regarding the comment, ‘This could well have been what the three wise men interpreted as a sign. They could easily have mistaken it for one bright star’: The wise men were magi, astronomers/astrologers who carefully track stars; they would not have ‘mistaken’ this to be one star. They would have known exactly what it was and what the conjunction meant.
As for December 25, there are two possible reasons why Christians celebrate the Incarnation on this day, both dating back to the 4th century: (1) This was an attempt to Christianize or compete with the Roman winter solstice festival (Dec. 25 on the Julian calendar), (2) early Christians scholars believed great prophets lived in whole years (died on the date of their conception), thus if Christ died at the Spring solstice (ca. March 25), then he must have been conceived on this date, thus born on Dec. 25. For more on this, see Toward the Origins of Christmas (Roll, 1995).
Jerry on Mon, December 15, 2008
So, let me get this straight. Jupiter and Venus lined up one day and that’s what the Magi were supposed to follow? They didn’t even get there until well after His birth and found Him in a house, not in a stable manger. This looks like another instance of science not wanting to acknowlege a supernatural event.
Sure, the birth probably happened at a different time than we set aside for the celebration, but I believe that with the vast, unfathomable capabilities of our Creator, He could have made a star to show for a short time, in galactic terms. The star, according to Matthew 2:9 “went ahead of them” as they searched for the Christ Child. So, to say that this was an alignement of planets doesn’t align with scripture at all.
Lex on Mon, December 15, 2008
Jerry - Check out BethlehemStar.net
This guy’s conclusion is that Jupiter was the star. It does amazing things nine months before the Nativity (when Mary would have conceived) that would have gotten the magi’s attention.
Nine months later it aligns with Venus to create the brightest light in the night sky, and from where they are in Babylon it’s in the eastern sky. As they travel south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem months later, it can be seen in the southern sky.
I swear I don’t work for the BethlehemStar.net guy or anything, but I saw his report and it’s just astounding.
Al on Mon, December 15, 2008
I am glad we have his birthday in December, otherwise having a flocked tree would look lame in the summer!
lulu on Mon, December 15, 2008
how long did the star stay over bethlehem, and how long did it take the men to make the trip to see jesus?
Jermayn on Mon, December 15, 2008
Can we have two Christmas’ then??
Stretch Mark Mama on Tue, December 16, 2008
Well, I’m pretty sure the Inn would have been decorated with “Christmas” lights…and in order to see them it would have had to been dark early in the day… so… December.
Star, schmar.
IT WAS TWINKLY LIGHTS AND WE KNOW IT.
Peter Hamm on Wed, December 17, 2008
Who cares!
I actually believe that the star of bethlehem was not a celestial event that can be tracked or dated astronomically. I think it’s more likely that God put a huge light in the sky, totally miraculously, at just the right point and in just the right place.
Just seems the way He’d do it.
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