C. This being granted, let us see how
the occurrence of the conjunctions in this year explains the miracle of
the "Star."
In the first place, note that the Magi, or Wise Men, of the East
(presumably the country of Chaldea) were the first to call attention to
the star as indicating the birth of the "King of the Jews." The
Chaldeans were devoted to astrology, and it is only reasonable to infer
that whatever remarkable appearance they saw in the sky, they would
endeavor to explain it by their astrological laws. On the 29th of May, 7
B.C., a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred, in the 20th degree
of the constellation Pisces, close to the first point of Aries; on the
29th of September of the same year, another conjunction of these planets
took place, in the 16th degree of Pisces; and on the 5th of December, a
third, in the 15th degree of the same sign. (These are not conjectures
or inferences, but known astronomical facts.) If we suppose that the
Magi, intent on their study of the heavens, saw the first of these
conjunctions, they actually saw it _in the East_, for on May 29, it
would rise three and one half hours before sunrise.
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