And by the light of that same star
Three Wise men came from country far
To seek for a King was their intent
And to follow the star wherever it went…
This star drew nigh to the northwest
O’er Bethlehem it took its rest
And there it did both pause and stay
Right o’er the place where Jesus lay.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!
Was the star of Bethlehem only a legend? Just a nice touch to embellish the Christmas story? A bit of magic added to spice up the the “myth?” Or was it actually a real, historical event…
Reaching back to the 17th century, and building on Johannes Kepler’s sky-mapping, and his laws of planetary motion, today’s computer technology makes it possible to fully chart the dance of the stars. We can view not only the present, and predict future astronomical movements, we can also peer back at the distant past. For instance… two thousand years ago.
Using star-mapping software, Rick Larson did just that, and discusses his findings in “The Star of Bethlehem,” a DVD and accompanying website. The evidence he presents for an extremely bright star (actually a star and a planet aligned) over Bethlehem, around the time of Jesus’ birth, is quite compelling.
I highly recommend the DVD – or at least a visit to the website (facebook page). If you’re already a believer, you’ll find your faith confirmed and strengthened.
If you’re a skeptic, I suggest you suspend your disbelief for a moment… and consider the evidence in the heavens. God is there – reaching out to you.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
And their words to the ends of the world.
~ Psalm 19:1-4 ~
