science and the Bible by Bolton Davidbetser, Chairman, Sciane« Dividan,
Presenting
farAMERICAN BOYS and GIRLS A child'* picture book An adaptation In beautiful color
1 A gospel story written by request for the children of Korea. Over 15,000,000 pam phlets In more than 12 longuages and dia lects of "T H E H EAR T OF PAK” have trav elled around the world and have been widely used of God. by MaySundell Browe lllustrotad by Doria VanStona
S t a s i
S e tú te / íe tH
Singla captai 11.75 Spacial ratai 4orciara
eastern morning sky, it would now be very small in apparent size, for it would actually be far away on the other side of the sun. In either case it would be an object most unlikely to be observed in the manner postulated. Furthermore, if Venus disappeared as the men approached Jerusalem, due to its proximity to the sun, and was still close to the sun when they reached Bethlehem, it could not have appeared to them between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Finally, these men were apparently professional star- watchers and the movements of Venus would have been well known to them. Nothing unusual occurs in the move ment of Venus which would have started them on such a journey from their homeland.. The favored theory is that the star of Bethlehem was the apparent close approach of two or three planets. John Kepler figured out that there was such an approach of Jupiter and Saturn about the right time. Later in vestigations have revealed that at their closest approach on this occa sion they were about as far apart as twice the apparent diameter of the moon, and thus they by no means looked like a single star. The follow ing year these two slowly moving planets were joined by the rapidly moving Mars, forming a triangle, but subsequent calculations have shown that they were so near the sun at this time that they could not have been observed. Even if one does accept this conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn as “ a star,” there still remains the fact that they would not disappear and reappear and direct the men to a particular place, remaining over it as a marker. As all natural explanations fail, the only answer which remains is that this celestial phenomenon was a supernatural one. Note: With the receipt of a long stamped and self-addressed envelope, a list of the articles which have appeared in this column during the past three years, together with a brief description of each, will be sent free. Address request to the Biology De partment, Biola College, 13800 Biola Ave., La Mirada, California.
T h e r e h a s been much speculation as to what the star of Bethlehem really was, especially on the part of those who desire a natural explana tion of things Biblical. It has been suggested that it was a meteor or fireball, but this is not acceptable, for these phenomena last but a few seconds at the most. A comet has been another sugges tion. Halley’s comet appeared in 11 B.C., somewhat too early. The next comet to appear was somewhat too late. Some favor the theory that it was a “nova” or a “ super nova,” a star which suddenly flares up to many times its former brilliance. Some have even thought the super nova observed by Tycho Brahe in 1572 was a peri odic reappearance of the star of Bethlehem. But besides the lack of evidence that super novae recur, this one appeared in the constellation Cassiopeia, which is far north of Pal estine. Others have questioned that an ordinary nova would last long enough and have pointed out that a super nova would have attracted sufficient notice that its occurence would have been recorded. The planet Venus has been given much serious consideration. Someone has gone so far as to explain the fact that the star “ stood over where the young child was” by postulating that Venus was at that time close to the sun, and that as one of the wise men was getting water from a well in Bethlehem about noon he saw its re flection in the water. Thus he knew the star was overhead and that they had reached their destination. There are serious difficulties with this in genious theory. At the time of the summer solstice the sun attains a position closer to overhead than at any other time of the year, and at Bethlehem it is still more than eight degrees away at this time. A deep well would need to be wide to reflect a bright object near the sun even at this time, and Venus is not bright when it is near the sun. If it had been seen by the wise men in the evening sky, it would now be present ing its dark side to the earth. On the other hand, if they saw it in the
Mail your order to THE OMAHA GOSPEL TABERNACLE 2006Douglas St., Omaha, N«br.
moiiccut- FMESSIANIC FELLOWSHIP Founded in 1887 by W. E. Blackstone
A progressive Gospel work among Jews in the cities of middle-west and south-east U.S. and Jerusalem. Special Broadcast to the State of Israel from ELWA in Liberia and Trans-World Radio, Monaco daily. You too can be an active missionary. Send for free tracts and A.M.F. Monthly. Milton B. Lindberg Archie A. MacKinney General Director Superintendent 7448 N. Damen Ave., Chicago 45/ Illinois
MOODY'S NEW , , C O L O R , S O U N D F ILM .. . "THROUGH THE ARCH” Length, 20 minutes • 16mm The story of student life and study at Moody Bible Institute. An excellent film fo r ... • Christian Education Conferences
• Youth Meetings • College Nights
Prints are limited so we urge that you make arrangements for the showing in your church well in advance of date needed. For more detailed information
MAIL COUPON TODAYI
MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE 820 N. LaSalle Street Chicago 10, III. Dept. K-0-856 Please send me descriptive folder on film, *‘Through the Arch,** with in formation on scheduling.
« i p
Name- Address—
___
City
-Zone— -S tate-
37
DECEMBER/ 1960
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker