Katie and I went to church again yesterday evening. We are going every other Sunday evening in order to qualify for our presence on the electoral role, our banns to be read and have our wedding at that particular church.
The topic of last nights discussion was the three wise men and the story relating to the birth of Jesus. In a QI style Q+A, the reverend asked us to think of the points we could remember about the story (the gifts, the wise men themselves, the fact they followed the star etc) and he would point out whether they were indeed half truths or referenced in the Bible.
As we progressed, I found that the reverend was clutching at different facts to make the story seem real for himself and obviously make us believe it too. I don’t go to church as a non-believer, I attend to know more about the stories that Christians relate to and educate myself so I can enter a debate and raise relevant points.
In this instance, he was talking about the “Star” that guided the three wise men to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Jesus. The reverend told us that researchers had found that at around 7BC (700 hundred years before the birth of Christ), there was a celestial event which caused three of the planets in our solar system to eclipse with one another, and that it could have been the star that they may have followed. He explained that the person who had taken the time periods from the Bible and equated them to modern day lengths of time, had miscalculated the event that happened at 7BC, which had infact taken place on or around the birth of Jesus.
The Bible is the foundation of a Christians faith, the fact it was written by first hand eyewitnesses, but to non-believers, this is also something that cannot be tangible evidence that there is infact a God. In this case, I found the reverend to be grasping at events and relating them to verses in the Bible and also to historical fact, feeling to me like basing a suggestion upon another suggestion (how can we be so sure the eclipse of the planets did happen then?!).
The reverend then suggested we shouldn’t look to Astrology for answers as it was out of the question that science could explain what was essentially God’s work. I thought that was a tad weird, but if he wasn’t reliant on Astrology, how comes he was using a researchers notion that an eclipse happened in 7BC and that it was what may have led the wise men to Israel?
I’m not here to dispel the fact there is no God, I believe there maybe something that governs over all of us. I am very interested in the events that happened, I am even more so captured by stories of the Knights Templar and other religous secret societies. I just feel exasperated by the hearsay that religious leaders use to base theories on.
Perhaps all that we hear from ancient times is hearsay, they didnt have the internet, they only had messengers on horses. I believe Jesus existed and that the book was probably written about him, I just believe he was what we would know as a modern day magician, a psychologist who could manipulate and cast doubt on other people. Who knows?
If you are interested, here is the Bible passage we read:
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.â€
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
6 ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’â€
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.â€
9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
From this, we could deduce that the following were “false”:
- They were not kings. (Referred to as Magi, they may have been priest like.)
- They didn’t have camels (for some reason all Christmas cards have them on camels!)
- There were no donkeys or lambs at the birth (refers to the point above).
I find that side of it very interesting, it helps me grasp an idea of other peoples beliefs. If I have offended, I am sorry. It’s just one man’s view on what is put in front of him.
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