What was the Bethlehem "star"?

Question

Also, was it only visible to certain people (shepherds and Magi) or was everyone able to see it?

The Bible also mentions that it stopped over the place where he was. How would something like happen if it was in outer space? Planets don't zip around dramatically enough to account for anything like that. Even stars stay in place if you watch them. I've sat outside at night a few times and watched the moon move around but I've never seen any other celestial bodies do that except maybe meteor showers or shooting stars. Comets appear still to the naked eye even though they are moving in space.

You can't use Dec 25th as the date though. Because Jesus was a child, not a baby when they came to see him. Also Biblical scholars agree that he was not born during the winter because shepherds would never be watching flocks during winter.

Answer 1

The Bible does not say it was visible to the sheppards, only to the magi or astrologers from the east. What was it could be hypothesized based on who it attracted and where it led them to.

The sheppards were invite, but the magi were astrologers who predicted the future based on the movement of the stars. They went bearing gifts for the children of significant births, such as when Augustus Cesar was born.

In studying the Jewish traditions, and seeing the Star, they followed it. The Star appeared on the night of the birth of Christ, sometime in early fall, so they couldn't have arrived to find a babe in the manger, as mythology states. All Bibles state that they found a boy in a house.

It should be noted that the star did not lead them first to Bethlehem, but to Jerusalem, where they met with King Herod, who desired to kill the Christ child. It has always been funny to me that people say it led them to Bethlaham. If it had, so many kids would not have been killed. Herod's advisers told them to check Bethlehem. The movement of the star led to the death of every first born child under the age of two, so the Star was not of God, but of Satan.

There have been many theories about what the star was, but personally, I think it was Satan or one of the fallen angels, appearing in the sky. Remember, Christ said they can appear as angels of light and this was a time before telescopes. All they would have known was that it was a bright light in the sky. There would have been no way to determine its size or distance from the planet.

Answer 2

I have heard one very plausible explanation. Using a special astronomy program, modern-day astronomers have calculated two very bright planetary conjunctions around the time of Jesus Birth and the visit of the Magi. Not knowing the difference between "stars" and "planets", everything back then was a star.

Mesopotamian scholars in this era were very well-versed in astronomy and astrology. They watched the stars all the time for portents and signs of things going on on the earth. So did the Romans and the Greeks. Meteor showers portended death, planetary conjunctions or "new" stars suggested birth, especially of royalty. Where that star was located would indicate into "what nation" the new royal child was born.

Try typing "Star of Bethlehem" into your search engine, along with "astronomy", to find out some interesting facts and theorys.

Answer 3

It was Jupiter, they followed it west ward from Iran to Jerusalem. Once they got there the planet moved south and then they followed it to Jesus. There is scientific fact on this.

Science has already proved most of the bible as fact other than Genesis, Revelation and a few other parts where the dates are off but the facts of what actually happened have already been proven.

Science at the present time has just showed how Moses parted the red sea and then closed it on the pursuing Egyptians.

It took them nine months to get from Iran to Israel, to avoid going through the desert where there was no water they went up into turkey then dropped down into Israel.

Planets do move across the sky faster than stars plus Jupiter actually from their point of view stopped and went the other way.

I'm trying to remember the dates. I believe science feels Jesus was born around April or May I don't remember the exact date because I learned this about a years ago.

But there are two dates one in April, May and the other is November, one was the birth of Christ and the other is when the wise men showed up.

I think Jesus was born in April or May but the wise men had already started going to Israel before he was born and didn't get there til November, I think that's right.

Answer 4

The Star of Bethlehem is a common topic of questions asked to astronomers, especially around Christmas time because it is a special astronomical phenomenon that occurred around the time of the birth of Jesus the Christ. What was the Star of Bethlehem? The first reference to the Star of Bethlehem is in the New Testament of the Bible in the second chapter of the book called ``Matthew''. Here are the relevant verses from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV, note that references are annotated as book chapter:verse(s))
Matthew 2:1--2:
Matthew 2:7--10:
Matthew 2:12:
Everyone saw it but payed no heed, just like now, the miracle of life is being un-noticed!!!!

Answer 5

I think the best answer would come from someone who really witnessed the star. Any way referring to the scientific analysis of stars locations since 2006 years on 25 December using a computer program ... it was dark, cloudy and rainy in bethlehem that night and the people who know Bethlehem's weather during that part of the year surely they know this fact ....

God ... I wonder what type of telescope the sheperds used to see the STAR ... unless they have seen a rock star ... :)

Answer 6

From what i have briefly read, according to astronomy records, there appears to have been a unique alignment of planets at that time. The alignment would have intentsified the brightness of the evening planet viewed, and shined like a star. This would have been visible over a large geographic area, so that the "wise men of the east" would have seen this from far away. These planets would also have been in position for a certain time, and it would have taken time to travel to get there.

Answer 7

The 'star' brought astrologers to Herod.
The Bible is against astrology and Herod wanted to kill what he saw as a future king.
These 2 factors should lead one to believe the 'star' was NOT from God.
2 Corinthians 11:14 says Satan can transform himself into an 'angel of light' ....both literally and figuratively.
Would Satan try to kill Jesus while Jesus was in baby form?
Sounds like a plan.
Matthew 2:12 says these 3 were given DIVINE warning not to return to Herod.
Sounds like a fight between good and bad.

Answer 8

On May 29, 7 BC there occurred an extraordinary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pices. It was this that was made into the ledgend of the star of Bethlehem. Urantia book P 1352

Answer 9

It may have been an astrological event, in which case others would have seen it, but no one would necessarily feel the need to make anything of it. Slightly more to the point, though, people may very well have seen it. The only report of the Magi having to explain it is their explanation to the King, a man very possibly too removed from seasonal cycles and anything other than the duties of his court to need or to be able to go stargazing.

Answer 10

Don't you believe me? Get a star projection program and dial in the date. I think it's 6 BC. It'll show Saturn and Jupiter come together in Pisces two or three times, one after the other.This was understood by the maji for what it was: A sign that a great King was born in Judea. The shepherds didn't see stars, they saw angels. That's different.