If the Star was a real historical event, why are we learning of the evidence only now? Why isn’t it common knowledge? A few minutes considering these things will intensify your experience and understanding of what you will learn on this site. We’ll look at three of the most important factors leading to modern rediscovery of the Star: Johannes Kepler’s discovery of how the solar system works, improvements in our knowledge of first century history and the spread of computers.
Kepler’s discovery
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the great mathematical minds of human history (1). As Arthur Koestler wrote in The Sleepwalkers, “Kepler and Galileo were the two giants on whose shoulders Newton stood.”
A German by birth, Kepler began his professional career in Graz, Austria teaching mathematics. His views in the Protestant/Catholic contest then raging got him banished from Graz after only a few years, but this actually worked for his good.
The reason is that about the time of his ouster, the earnest, middle-class, 28 year-old Kepler had attracted the attention of one Tycho Brahe (1546-1601). Apart from their advanced math skills, the two men had little in common. Brahe was a wealthy, eccentric, aristocratic, overbearing, hard-partying Danish nobleman who served in Prague as Imperial Mathematician. He was also the acknowledged “prince of astronomers” due to the unprecedented accuracy of his vast collection of astronomical observations. And he could be a wildman. When Brahe lost his nose in a college-years duel, he did better than our modern fashion of piercing noses. He had a complete replacement nose molded of gold with silver. This he wore the rest of his life.
Brahe invited the expelled Kepler to Prague to collaborate in study of the solar system, which at the time was still poorly understood. Many still thought of planets as “wandering stars.” Both men were brilliant and keen to unravel the mystery of planetary motion, but their temperaments were so different that they mixed about like cats and dogs. The professional relationship was decorated with verbal warfare and walk outs. The personality conflict was heightened by Brahe’s intent to remain the top dog astronomer—he would not allow Kepler full access to his library of observations. Instead, he dribbled out the data to maintain personal control. But when Brahe died suddenly of a urinary tract problem in 1601, Kepler found himself promoted to his master’s position. Kepler himself became Imperial Mathematician with full access to Brahe’s library. That changed everything.
Kepler set out to prove that the planets travel in perfect circular solar orbits. This presented a kind of mathematical beauty which particularly attracted him. But try as he might, he could not force the mathematics of circular orbits to align with what he saw in the sky each night. And Brahe’s meticulous records proved inconsistent with the theory of circles. In an inspirational flash, Kepler saw that the planets might travel in elliptical orbits and finally found the perfect mathematical fit. In 1609, he published the First and Second Laws of Planetary Motion and ten years later, the Third Law (2). These are still used by astronomers, NASA, the European Space Agency and everyone else studying the stars today. These laws do not change.
With his brand new mathematical tools, Kepler held keys to the heavens and time. He could do things no astronomer had ever done. With enough pens, ink and time he could calculate sky maps showing the exact positions of all of the stars and planets in the night sky. Not just for that evening’s observations, but for any day in history, as viewed from any place on the surface of the Earth. Being a religious man, Kepler soon set his equations grinding on the mystery of the Star of Bethlehem. It’s almost tragic that he didn’t find the phenomena discussed on this web site, because he pushed very hard in his search for the Star and even published on the topic (3). He would have been delighted to see what you will see. But Kepler was working from a flawed understanding of first century history, and that threw him off the track.
So the first piece of the Star puzzle is that, thanks to Kepler, we now have the ability to locate celestial objects with great precision at any point in history and from any viewing point. For example, we can calculate what the sky looked like over Jerusalem 2000 years ago. But that raises the question of dates. For what years should we be scanning the sky?
Dating Christ’s birth
The great majority of ancient chronographers held that Christ was born in 3 or 2 BC (4), and none held that Jesus was born before 4 BC. The ancients were correct, as we shall see, but by Kepler’s day that earlier and better understanding had been laid aside. Kepler and his contemporaries concluded (as have many present day historians (5)) that Christ was born before 4 BC. The reasons for that misunderstanding are complex and fascinating, but a major factor was their interpretation of the writings of the ancient Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus (37 AD-95 AD) (6).
Josephus’ life was a wild ride worth a little detour here. (Don’t worry, we’re getting where we’re going). Josephus was born just a few years after Christ’s execution. A member of the Jewish Pharisee sect, he rose to political prominence in Judea by the time he was in his late twenties. In 66 AD the Romans, who occupied Judea at that time, were thrown into a war rage by what they saw as growing Jewish arrogance and treachery. Josephus martialed Jewish forces to defend against an enemy that soon grew to the proportions of a tidal wave. Roman troops, horses and siege engines poured into the region in simply overwhelming numbers.
Resistance proved futile. Josephus and a fighting unit of 40 men were cornered by Roman forces and retreated to a cave where they made a suicide pact to avoid capture (7). 38 men died in that cave, but Josephus and one other had second thoughts and were taken prisoners. That’s a twist, but here’s a tighter one: Josephus wound up winning the favor of Vespasian (9 AD-79 AD), who was then commander of the Roman expedition in Judea. He was drafted into the Roman war effort against his own Jewish people, and ultimately served as the interpreter for Vespasian’s son, Titus (39 AD-81 AD). Titus had orders to besiege Jerusalem and destroy the Jewish temple. This he did in 70 AD, in apparent fulfillment of a 500 year-old vision recorded by the Jewish prophet Daniel (8).
After the war, Josephus could not remain in Judea. He would have been assassinated on sight. So he was taken to live in Rome. There, his attentions appear to have turned to regaining the acceptance of his Jewish countrymen. Perhaps to achieve this reinstatement, he wrote extensive histories of the Jewish people and ancient times. These histories offer important clues in the search for the Star. In one of his works, Antiquities, Josephus mentions Jesus, John the Baptist and other New Testament characters, including the murderous King Herod of the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2.
The Bible recounts that Herod learned of the Messiah’s birth from astronomers who had seen the Star of Bethlehem. He tried to kill the child, so, obviously, the Bible records that Herod was alive at Jesus’ birth. Remember that this mattered to Kepler, because historians of his time apparently inferred from Josephus’ history that Herod died in 4 BC (9). Necessarily, Kepler assumed Christ was born before that date, perhaps 5 BC or earlier. So, those are the years for which he scanned the skies for the Star. Even with the power of his newly discovered laws of planetary motion, he didn’t find the phenomena we will examine here. He searched the skies of the wrong years.
But modern scholarship has deepened our understanding of Josephus’ manuscripts. A recent study was made of the earliest manuscripts of Josephus’ writings held by the British Library in London, and the American Library of Congress. It revealed a surprise that allows us to target our mathematical telescopes better than could Kepler (10). It turns out that a copying error was a primary cause of the confusion about the date of Herod’s death. A printer typesetting the manuscript of Josephus’ Antiquities messed up in the year 1544. Every single Josephus manuscript in these libraries dating from before 1544 supports the inference that Herod passed in 1 BC. Strong recent scholarship confirms that date (11). Knowing this, and since Herod died shortly after Christ’s birth, our investigation turns to the skies of 3 and 2 BC.
So, we have the second factor allowing us to “find” the Star today. We newly know for which years we should examine the skies.
Enter the power of computers
One more factor accounts for your hearing about the Star now instead of long ago: computers. When Kepler calculated a sky map, it was laborious. Plenty of pens and ink. And when the calculations were complete, he had a picture of the sky at a single moment of time. If he had selected the wrong day to search for the Star, he might find nothing. More pens and ink. But Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion are playthings for a computer. The equations are solved almost instantaneously by modern astronomy software available to anyone for about $50 (12).
With software which incorporates Kepler’s equations, we can create a computer model of the universe. In minutes we can produce thousands of the sky maps which were a great labor before computers. We can animate the universe in real time at any speed we choose, make months pass in moments or wind back the clock. We can view the sky precisely as it moved over Jerusalem 2000 years ago.
And when we look up, examining the correct years, we find remarkable things.
Footnotes:
- The definitive biography is: Max Caspar, Kepler (trans. C. Doris Hellman; reprint, New York: Dover, 1993) ISBN 0-486-67605-6
- They are: (1) All planets move about the Sun in elliptical orbits, having the Sun as one of the foci. (2) A radius vector joining any planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal lengths of time. (3) The squares of the sidereal periods (of revolution) of the planets are directly proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from the Sun.
- De stella nova, 1606, and De anno natali Christi, 1614
- The ancients did not use our modern calendar system, of course, but the years they identified are in our system 3/2 BC. That is the dating of Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Africanus, Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus of Thebes, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Cassiodorus, Orosius and others.
See, Jack Finegan, The Handbook of Biblical Chronology (Revised Edition; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998) ISBN 1-56563-143-9. Just before his death, Finegan revised this standard 1964 Princeton University Press chronological work. His final revision is based on the latest scholarship and supports the chronology used on this web site.
- A typical statement from a reference work, perhaps uninformed by recent scholarship on this issue: “…Jesus’ birth happened before Herod the Great’s death, which was no later than March or April in 4 BC”, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1995) ISBN 0-8407-2071-8.
- An interesting historical novel first published in 1887 and in which Josephus is a central figure is: G. A. Henty, For the Temple (Reprint; Mill Hall, Penna.: Preston/Speed Publications, 1996) ISBN 1-887159-00-2.
- In this same war, the entire population of the Jewish fortress-city of Masada commited suicide to avoid capture.
Josephus tells that tale in The Wars of the Jews Book VII, Chapter 9. When most of the terrible work was done, “they then chose ten men by lot out of them to slay all the rest; every one of whom laid himself down by his wife and children on the ground, and threw his arms about them, and they offered their necks to the stroke of those who by lot executed that melancholy office… and he who was the last of all… with the great force of his hand ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell down dead near to his own relations. So these people died with this intention, that they would not leave so much as one soul among them all alive to be subject to the Romans.”
- Harold W. Hoehner, Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, Chapter VI: “Daniel’s Seventy Weeks and the New Testament Chronology” (Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1977) ISBN 0-310-26211-9.
- Josephus does not state the date of Herod’s death as we would today with our modern calendar system. Deriving the date of death from his writings necessarily involves inference. The primary bases for the inference are the date of a lunar eclipse mentioned by Josephus as closely preceding Herod’s death, the duration of his term in office, and the term of office of his son and successor, Philip. For thorough treatments of the date of Herod’s death as being 1 BC, see Finegan, at footnote 4 and Martin, at footnote 11. See also, Beyer, at footnote 10.
- David W. Beyer, “Josephus Re-Examined: Unraveling the Twenty-Second Year of Tiberius”, in Chronos, Kairos, Christos II, edited by E. Jerry Vardaman (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1998) ISBN 0-86554-582-0.
- Andrew Steinmann, “When Did Herod the Great Reign?” Novum Testamentum Volume 51, Number 1, 2009 , pp. 1-29
Ernest L. Martin, The Star That Astonished the World (Second Edition; Portland, Oregon: ASK Publications, 1996) ISBN 0-94-5657-87-0. This book is a “must have” reference work if you would like to study the Star. It contains a wealth of material corroborating the date of Herod’s death as 1 BC.
- For example: Starry Night, the program used for the present investigation, is available at www.space.com
This study has been the most fascinating study I have ever done in my whole life! That is, of course, because it’s not only fascination with the sky (I love astronomy) but because of the blessing of God in studying about His Christ.
Thank you for doing this.
Bonnye Dean
This is amazing. Our small finite minds can hardly comprehend the beauty and wonder of the skies. No wonder it is that way – our God lives there so the wonder and beauty is His to display.
Thank you for this website.
I borrowed some dvd’s from friends going on holiday and found “The Star” among them. I was profoundly astounded at what I discovered ! I have watched it five times in amazement and having become more familiar with the topic came to your website. I would like to teach my small congregation some aspects around this topic this christmas and have become increasingly excited. May God bless and prosper your work in his Kingdom.
Pastor, I think I responded to you by direct email. If I’m confusing you with someone else, please email me at ricklarson@mail.com
The DVD documentary “The Star of Bethlehem” and this web site is an absolute blessing to the EARTH! Truly the Body of Christ needs to send forth this truth as it brings the beauty of the Scriptures and Science together to confront the non-believer is an astonishment! I loved this! Thank you so much for producing such excellence in presentation! May our Father bless you and your family abundantly!
Dear Rick Larson,
‘The fault dear Brutus lies not in our stars but in ourselves, we are the underlings.’ (Julius Caesar) I invited a group of seafarers off their ship to watch the Star of Bethlehem at a local church. We were all blessed by the affirmation,confirmation and Celestial poem… truly astronomical! Sadly, many like Herod have the same reaction… only wise men seek Jesus…only wise men find Jesus. I have always thought that there are still discoveries to be made in the Bible.. and you have confirmed that. The website is on our wayside pulpit in the hope that many will follow the star of Bethlehem and find Jesus.Thank you.
What a wonderfull universe indeed… and by the hands of One who flung stars into space.
Have a blessed Christmas, John Burleigh, Greenock, Scotland
John, I had fun conjuring a mental image of you presenting for the sailors! I even tried out a Scottish brogue as I told my wife about it. God bless you, and thank you for sharing with all of us!
One of my amazing students just showed me your awesome site. I am reviewing it to use for my astronomy unit. The heavens declare the Glory of God! Blessings!!
Any thing about Jesus is lovely to know.
I think it’s so amazing what you did; and yes definatly God’s choice in using someone is not based on the natural abilties he/she may have but rather what is in their hearts.
GREAT JOB!!!
A cause for rejoicing! This is possibly the single most fascinating find of my lifetime aside from my conversion to the love of Christ Jesus. As is the case with Christianity these days hardly any of the Good News (pun intended) gets out where it needs to go. I have purchased the DVD (received it yesterday and have watched it 3 times already) and intend to use it to promote the glory of God through His own handiwork. Everyone must see this! Thank you and God bless you for your thoughtful research and perseverance in the project.
John, thank you so much for your kind encouragement!
You, and those like you, keep me going.
Blessings!
R.
I am in silent awe, praising God for his magnificent complex simplicity! The amazing truth of Christ’s birth and death was there all the time-now explained in such simple terms!
Thank you Mr Larson!
I have always wondered if the celestial pattern on the Virgin of Guadalupe’s veil has the celestial pattern that coincides with your findings. This image of her has her 9 months pregnant and standing on a new moon. The image caused so many Aztecs, who had an advanced understanding of astronomy, to immediately accept Chrisianity.
You really have me thinking! Thanks
I saw The Star on EWTN and find it fascinating! How awesome is our God.
I am browsing through your website that you mentioned during your presentation. Thank you so much & may God richly Bless you & yours for doing this & sharing your findings.
Indeed a wonderful and complete exposure of God’s handywork for all people to see and rejoice in.
It’s only going to get better too. For instance, in addition to Rick, whose not an Astronomer but a man trained
in pursuit of truth and a devout Christian ( His claim not mine ) he formulated a sound theory with evidence different
from Mike Molnar who says the Star was in Aries with a birth date of April 17th 4BC, Others indicate a Star in Pisces.
I’m not certain how devoted these individuals are regarding Christianity ? One needs to know the bible and Rick does for
that part, although I’m not in complete agreement with his interpretation of Apocalypse XII ” The women clothed with the
sun”, only because John wrote that decades after the crucifiction which John himself was present. So why would John
reveal as an apocalypse something that already came to pass? The retro grade motion of Jupiter around Regularis three
times in the Leo / Judah sign is the clincher for me. Also, the possibility of the Visitation of the Angel, and the first
Christmas on 12/25 is very noteworthy. Rick’s onto something.
Andrew: Many people miss that the book of Revelation deals with past, present and future.
Rev 1:19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
I am interested to know if what our pastor preached about recently is widely known. That being ‘ The Star of Bethlehem was seen all over the world. The ancient Greek writings tell of it . The American Indians saw it . Buddist writings tell of the star.
It was seen in India and Japan . After Pentecost when the apostles travelled to distant lands they were recognised as Gods people …the God of the star.
Missionaries hundreds of years later discovered that the people of fer distant shores knew of the star from their ancestors. I would like to read more about the others who recognised that this star was from God their creator…….all except the Jews.
I am not aware of historical documents or artifacts which corroborate these statements.
The original texts of the New Testament were written in Greek which has an alphanumeric alphabet so every word, verse, chapter etc. has a numeric value called gematria. Every page is saturated with intricate numeric designs which exceed the ability of man alone to produce or imitate. Therefore the original Greek texts are saturated with self verification factors in fact even the smallest spelling mistake when making Greek copies of the New Testament would destroy several numeric designs. Some say we do not even have a copy of a copy of a copy etc. of the original Greek scriptures but whether or not this claim is true is remarkably unimportant because we have the intelligent numeric designs therefore we have the original words because you can’t have one without the other. Lord Jesus Christ has a gematria of 3168 in the Greek scriptures and latitude 31.68° north crosses South Bethlehem 3168 yards south of the city centre which is 6 miles or 31680 feet from the Crucifixions site outside the old city of Jerusalem. You said it is 5 miles = 31680″ from Jerusalem to Bethlehem which is not wrong because each city is miles across. The number 3168 is used as the signature of the Creator throughout the design of our solar system. For example a 31680 mile perimeter square fits tangent around the 31680 furlong radius Earth and 31680 miles = the circumferences of the Earth and it’s Moon (via 22/7). My research demonstrates that where latitude 31.68° north crosses longitude 35.2° east in Bethlehem is the most strategic position on the surface of the Earth, your revelations concerning the Star of Bethlehem add more interest to my own research. The Sun has a 316800 megalithic mile diameter and a 31680 Roman league radius. Jim Heyworth
Mr. Larson,
I have encountered a data point that I do not recall having been referenced in your presentation but that may corroborate further your theory of the Star of Bethlehem. According to early church tradition, the Annunciation took place around Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. For example, in the first complete biography of Jesus’ mother, “The Life of the Virgin,” Maximus the Confessor, a seventh-century Greek Father of the Church, wrote of the Annunciation: “It was in the first month, when God also created the whole world, in order to show us that now he renews the old world again. It was the first day of the week, which is Sunday, on which day he dispelled the primeval darkness and created the primordial light…” (translation by Shoemaker, Stephen). I would be very curious to hear the extent to which these details are consistent with your theory and available evidence from the Starry Night software.
Jouney On,
Learned Foot
I have been a Christian for 30 years and there is nothing I love more than studying the Bible and History. I read nothing else and all my travels are only to places of Biblical and Historical relevance. That being said, I have never been so taken by a theory and watched it proven out with such detailed elegance. Thank you for allowing God to use you. Just when I thought I was mind blown – God said, “Oh wait! You haven’t seen anything yet!” This was amazing 🙂 Can’t wait for the Christ Quake. Let me know if you would like to get in touch with THE BEST guide known to man in Jerusalem.
Blessings, Lisa Faith-Gregg
Hello
I got the video as a gift. Once I went trough it, I wonder why there is no reference, so far I can see or read, to the 1893 work of Bullinger “The Witness of the Stars”.
The gentleman who introduced this DVD never mentioned him, even tough he uses that knowledge.
If anybody has heard or read that book, please let me know to compare to this study.
Regards
http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/preface.htm
I use none of Bullinger’s work. Bullinger’s zodiacal writing seems to be based upon the work of Rolleston http://philologos.org/__eb-mazzaroth/. She published 31 years earlier. Bullinger’s work was decades old, just as mine is not new. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before. My sources are linked in full text where possible at bethlehemstar.net/resources.htm so that all can see and judge where my facts are sourced. What I did is assemble the many clues others found, add my own findings, and then tell the story so that all can see the meaning of the whole.
Excellent and inspiring. Question – what about the events of Jesus’ life between his birth and death? Wouldn’t these be reflected in the “informing stars?” For example, we know Jesus was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem by his parents 40 days after his birth (Luke 2:22). Since you have calculated the very day of his birth, what was showing in the skies 40 days later? When Jesus was age 12, a date you can also calculate sufficiently to the very year, Jesus was taken by his parents to the Temple during that years’ Passover (Luke 2:41); again, what were the planets and constellations doing on that date? Is it possible the night skies were telling their own story by reflecting earthly events through “signs?” to reflect Jesus’ activities and miracles EVERY DAY of his early life? Maybe you could find the date for the miracle at Cana by what was shown in the skies? and all the other miracles (there would be much revealed symbolism in the skies!)… Of course, given the date for his birth, you could also go back in time to the Daniel visitation by the Angel, to the year if not the very day, and see what was “overhead” at that time.
Hellow Mr. Larson,
I love your work. It is very well done and a joy to watch. Also, I hope you get to create your earthquake movie as well. Loved the trailer for it.
Could I ask some clarifying questions? I see that you describe many of these astronomical events as rare. However, quantitatively, how rare? Don’t conjunctions happen all the time? Don’t triple conjunctions happen several times in a given century? It would be helpful to understand just how rare these events were, especially how rare the interrelationships between the triple conjunctions are. Does this happen once a century? Once a millennia? Once ever?
What was the tipping point that would have made the magi ride for Jerusalem? It’s not clear to me which event was so rare to cause them to get on their horses and ride. Or, were these astronomical signs only relevant within the prophetical context of Daniel 9:24-27, the 70 7’s. Perhaps they would have known 70 generations would lead to the messiah, and perhaps the star events served as a confirmation and not necessarily their only catalyst for riding? Maybe they knew they were generally in the time of the Messiah, and the stars helped target them exactly in on the year of the Messiah’s birth?
Thanks for helping me view the star and events within the proper context.
🙂 John
Hey, John! You have thoughfully answered your own questions! There’s a bit more that will interest you in the FAQ. Blessings!
Hello Mr Larson,
What is exactly the mistake made in the Josephus’ manuscripts in 1544 ? What are the real dates written by Josephus ? I suppose that those dates concern the duration of Herode’s term in office, or the term of office of his son and successor, Philip.
Blessings.
Please see Steinmann on the Academic Resources page.
hello,
your work is very well but can i have it in french? i am in Ivoiry Cost and i want to study your work.
thanks.