9 Scientific Explanations For Famous Bible Stories
6. The Guiding Star Of Bethlehem
It's the part of the story that most of us know best: The Nativity.
There have been a lot of investigations into the story of the birth of Christ, with everyone from theologians to archeologists picking it apart in an attempt to find out the truth. A couple of things have come to light about it.
One of these is that it almost certainly didn't happen in December, as the shepherds were out at night tending their flocks, suggesting that it was lambing season in the Springtime.
It is also unlikely that Jesus was born in a stable, it is much more likely to have been a comfortable family home. Traditional Palestinian buildings of the time were one-room structures that had a section for humans and a section for animals in them, with mangers (feeding troughs) set into the floor of the living area from which the animals could feed and would make an excellent makeshift crib.
But, anyway, one of the most potent symbols of the nativity is the bright star that guided the wise men to the infant Jesus' side, this is despite the fact that it is only mentioned briefly in Matthew and not at all in Luke, but what could it really have been?
It is unlikely to have been a comet as these events were often fleeting and were regarded as bad omens at the time. A supernova or a hypernova would be another good candidate as these appear suddenly without warning and can burn brightly before fading away. Remnants of these events in different galaxies are difficult to find, however, so we can't be sure.
Stars, generally speaking, remain in fixed positions throughout a human lifetime, so a change in the skies is more likely to be down to something like a planet, which were sometimes known to ancient astronomers as "wandering stars". The Wise Men would have been philosophers and polymaths, steeped in a mixture of astrology and astronomy and well used to interpreting the heavens.
It's also perfectly possible that the idea of a star "guiding" the Magi to the right spot might not have been physically leading them there, but instead their interpretation of the heavens as astrologers will have "led" them to the place, in the sense that their reading of the heavens gave them their directions, as it were.