In part three of my series of Christmas posts I thought I’d tackle a bit of the history surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. While I personally believe him to be my Savior I will be taking more of an academic slant in this post, examining the historic Jesus.

Specifically I will be offering some thoughts on the origins of the Christmas Star (per astronomy) and thus offering thoughts on when he was really born.

To begin with, I think even the most conservative Christians will accept that he was not born on December 25th nor was he born in the year 1. The current calendar was calculated by a monk who thought he’d properly accounted for the timing back to the birth of Christ but most experts agree he was off. As to December 25th that was chosen by the Church well after the event.

Looking to the text of the Bible we know a few things. We know Augustus was Emperor of Rome, we know Herod was King of Judeah and we know there was a census. Augustus was on the throne from at least 28BC until 14AD so there is a wide time frame. We know he ordered a census in 8BC but the order was implemented in various provinces over a period of many years. So that gives us a range of about 8BC to 3BC.

We know Herod died in about 1BC and that the governor who oversaw the census was in power from 5BC-3BC so we now have a basic range. (some of the details can be found here).

So with this range we can start to look for events. The star could have been one of four things. It could have been a comet, it could have been a nova, it could have been a conjunction or it could have been a one time supernatural event.

Looking at the facts it seems to me the best choice is conjunction. If it was a nova or supernatural event then we would have seen it recorded and noted by others. The Chinese in particular kept detailed astronomical records and there is no event that falls into this time range on record. Further the Bible does not state that God made any effort to hide the star from others, and yet few people noted it.

It is also unlikely to be a comet because they were omens of evil, not of good.

Finally, the Magi, who saw the star were most probably astrologers. Indeed in that era being an astronomer and being an astrologer were virtually identical. So they would have placed great significance in conjunctions. Further, the Bible says the star prompted them to go see the new King and that it continued to signal them as they travelled.

In Biblical times travel was a major event. You did not just hop on a plane and head out, it took months to plan a trip and months to take a trip. So we need an event that would take place over an extended period of time. This fits with a series of conjunctions.

So do we have record of such a series ? Yes we do.

Starting on June 12 in 3 B.C., the planet Venus was seen near the planet Saturn.Venus was considered to be the star of woman, a symbol of birth while Saturn was connected with prophecy.  Then on August 12th Venus moved to the planet Jupiter in the constellation Leo, which was the constellation of the Jews.

So to the Magi this meant prophecy, birth, king, Jews. It was also a morning event, which fits both the Biblical story of a morning star and the connection of morning with birth and evening with death which fits into many astrological doctrines.

Then during 3BC and 2 BC there was a series of conjunctions where Jupiter passed by the star Regulus in Leo then seemed to stop, back up and pass Regulus a second time, then again stopped and reversed to pass Regulus a third time. All in the constellation of Leo

Jupiter is the King planet, Regulus the King star. So this would have meant KING KING KING to the Magi.

Then on June 17, 2BC there as a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter that was so close it would appear to be a single star in the sky, in the constellation of Leo. This would have screamed birth and king and Jews to the viewers.

Further this series of conjunctions is rare. While each individual event may occur with some regularity, the combination only occurs on the every thousand years time frame, and it happened right in the period that would fit the other stories in the Bible. An MSNBC video on the events is seen here.

So was Jesus really born in June of the year 2BC ? Is this really the year 2011 ? Are we 6 months late for Christmas ?

I don’t know but I do think the story is quite interesting from a historical standpoint.

And Merry Christmas !