Would there have been a bright star in the east when Jesus was born?

Answer 1

We can look at history, and we can look at science, or we can simply accept uncritically what was written in Matthew's Gospel.

At the time, astrologers and scribes in Rome, Persia, Palestine, and as far away as China, recorded every unusual celestial event, yet none recorded any star or other celestial body that could have been the star described in Matthew's Gospel. Luke's Gospel, although not a history book, does not mention any such star, although its author no doubt would have mentioned it had he known of any such star. So, historically we have no evidence of the star of Bethlehem.

The ancients thought stars were placed in the firmament just above the earth, as described in the Book of Genesis, so it made sense that a star could lead the magi, or wise men, from the east to Jerusalem, then turn and lead them to Bethlehem, and stand over the very house where Jesus lay. However scientists now know that stars are incredibly distant and could not lead people in any direction. At most they can only provide a fixed point of reference for travellers, as does the North Star. So, scientifically, the story in Matthew is not possible.

Scholars often say that even the most imaginative ancient stories usually have a grain of truth in them somewhere; it is just a matter of thinking of other possibilities in order to find that grain of truth. Biblical scholars say that Matthew's Gospel was written in the 80s of the first century. Historians know of a bright star (probably a supernova) that appeared suddenly in the 60s of the first century. Although it could not lead people to a town or house, it was certainly awe-inspiring enough to be regarded as a portent of important things to happen. It was seen by some as foreshadowing the death of Nero and by Josephus as evidence that the Roman general Vespatian was the hoped-for Jewish Messiah and that Vespatian would one day become emperor of Rome. Such a magnificent and awe-inspiring star could easily have inspired the author of Matthew to write his account of the magifollowing a bright star.