-♦
TRe Star of Bethlekem V 7 nat Were the. Starry Indications Referred T o B3) the Wise M en? Taken from “'T h e Gospel In The S tars” . B y DR. JOSEPH A . SEISS
Matt 2 :2 : “W e have seen H is star in th e east,, and a re come to worship H im .”
ly contemplated th a n th is so-called, “S tar of Bethlehem .” But when it comes to th e explanation of p articu lars, Christiáns have no t been so clear nor so well agreed as. we would expect in a m a tte r of SO much prom i nence and in terest. The diversities of opinion ' aré almost endless-, and the Christian world as yét has not séttled itself down upon any th eo ry as certain ly th e tru th or of sufficient clearness to be free from serious difficulties and ob jections on the one hand or th e other. As to th e sta rry leading spoken of, some th in k it was a m eteor or a comet. O thers th ink it was th e b rig h t light which shone upon the shepherds when th e angel made known to them Christ’s b irth , assum ing th a t to men a fa r off th a t rem ark ab le ligh t may have been m istaken for a star. Some th in k it was some unidentified su p e rn a tu ral ligh t in th e, sky which appeared to certain de vout men in some rem ote region, and which they could no b etter describe than, to liken it to a star. Some th ink it was a true, sta r among, th e stars, brough t into being, or a t least brought into view, for th e p articu lar purpose of giving token of the Saviour’s nativity, and then made to disappear, never more to be seen. Some th in k th e re was no real external m anifestation a t all, th a t no sta r was ever seen by any one, and th a t th e whole th ing was only a vision vouchsafed to these men alone. Of la te r years it is more generally supposed to have been a conjunction of th e planets Ju p ite r and Saturn, such as did actually occur about th a t time, and which h ave en tered somewhat into, the case, although the conjunctions referred
OR a thousand years and more Christendom has been inqu iring and wondering, Who were “ th e wise men from the E ast” th a t came to Jeru salem asking about a new-born J e w i s h Prince?
How came they to know about Him? W hat were those sta rry indications to which they referred as having induced them to make such costly and laborious search for Him? W h at were th e Sources of illum ination by which they were thu s brought to honor and worship Him in H is lowly in fan t couch?' F o r fourteen hundred years and more th e Church has been observing a festival in commemo ration of th e ir visit, and made it the initiation of a se a so n . of h er calendar scarcely in ferio r in prom inence to the g reatest of her sacred festivals and sea sons. All C hristian lite ra tu re from , the earliest centuries is full of comments and hom ilies and songs and liturgical prescriptions relating to th e same. The first book of the New Testam ent places it close to th e beginning of its account of th e Saviour as a special testimony to His dignity as the King of th e Jews and His worshipfulness as th e Son of God. The apocryphal Gospels of th e In fancy set it fo rth w ith g reat zest and circum stan tiality as one of th e divinest gems in thé testim onies to th e glory of Jesus of N azareth. And neith er in sermon nor in song is th ere any one thing, save and except th e Cross and. the Resurrection, which is. more joyous
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs