The Star of Bethlehem
In my book Fireballs I devote a whole chapter to the Star of Bethlehem. For over two thousand years the star of the Magi has fascinated people. There have been many theories that have surfaced over the course of that time that have tried to explain what "the star" might have been. It has been said that "the star" could have been a comet, a supernova, a conjunction of the planets, or even Polaris. There is also the belief that "the star" was one of God's many miracles, and therefore does not need any explanation that requires science to answer. However, if "the star" happened to be some natural phenomena this would not in any way negate the divine aspect of it. There are many examples in the Old and New Testament that suggest that God used natural phenomena to get a point across. One only needs to look at the flood of Noah in the book of Genesis to see a fine example.
In Fireballs, I attempt to show that "the star" was a meteor that was seen in the middle eastern sky sometime around the year 7 B.C. Historically, meteors and meteorites have been either venerated or feared since ancient times. It was not until the early 19th century that mainstream science finally accepted the fact that rocks fell from the sky, although it had been known by some possibly as early as the time of Aristotle in the 4th century B.C.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
