The accepted Scriptures tell us that the birth of the Savior of mankind
was heralded by the appearance of a remarkable star in the sky. Taking
this assertion to be true, it might be a matter of some interest to
consider what explanations have been made of this phenomenon. A large
majority of religious teachers, we admit, even to the present day, have
attempted no explanation whatever, but have settled the subject by
calling the star a miraculous appearance, concerning whose true nature
we can know nothing. But two solutions of the phenomenon have been given
by well-known astronomers, either of which, if accepted, will place the
miracle in the list of purely natural occurrences.
Kepler held that the Star of Bethlehem was simply a conjunction of the
planets. Astronomy, which, more fortunate than history, can bring
unimpeachable witnesses to its record of past events, assures us that
there was a remarkable conjunction, or rather three conjunctions of the
planets Jupiter and Saturn, in the year of Rome 747, or seven years
before the Christian era. It is now generally admitted that Christ was
probably born at least four years before the date fixed upon as the
first "year of our Lord," and remembering how much uncertainty hangs
about this date we might consider ourselves fully justified in placing
it, as Kepler did, in the year 7 B.
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