Literatuur

• R.H. Allen , Starnames, Their Lore and Meaning, , [1990], 147, {Tycho's Star, 1572} This nova is said to have incited Tycho to the compilation of his starcatalogue, ... At all events, it created a great commotion in its time, and induced Beza's celebrated prediction of the second coming of Christ,¹ as it was considered a reappearance of the Star of Bethlehem.
  ¹ In the same way the comet of 1843 confirmed the Millerites in their belief in the immediate destruction of the world.
• Peter Barthel , The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi, Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy, [2015], ,
• Collins David , The Star of Bethlehem, , [2013], ,
• Werner Gitt , Was war der Stern von Bethlehem?, , [2015], ,
• Mark Kidger , The Star of Bethlehem, , [1999], ,
• Mark Kidger , Astronomical Enigmas, Life on Mars, the Star of Bethlehem, and Other Milky Way Mysteries, [2005], ,
• Mark Kidger , The Star of Bethlehem, An Astronomer's View, [2017], ,
• Ernest L. Martin , The Star that Astonished the World, , [1996], ,
• Michael R. Molnar , The Star of Bethlehem, The Legacy of the Magi, [2013], ,
• - - , Algemeen, , Cuneiform Star Tablet: The Babylonian Almanac of 8/7 BCE tabulating the movements of Jupiter & Saturn on the British Museum
• - - , Algemeen, , G. J. Goldberg, Josephus and The Star of Bethlehem, December 1999; The Star of Bethlehem described in the Gospel of Matthew has a number of similarities with a star that appeared over Jerusalem in 66 CE that was described by Josephus in The Jewish War (6.5.3 289). I investigate this resemblance, focusing on the idea that the war star influenced Matthew's account.
  In particular, both talk of a star that stood in the sky in an apparently miraculous way, contrary to the natural movements of the heavens. I argue that the terminology of a star that stands over Jerusalem is forced by the Biblical prophecies that link the star to Balaam and to David.
  I suggest, therefore, that this terminology was used by rebels in 66 CE to connect the star to Biblical prophecies of Balaam and David, and that Matthew, who is believed to have written only a few years later, borrowed their terminology, regarding it as an authentically Jewish way to describe a star predicting the imminent coming of the Davidic Messiah.
• - - , Algemeen, , Rev. Phil Greetham. The Nativity Pages, © Copyright 1996; On the Nativity and related questions (origin of Christmas, the date of Christ's birth, the Magi and their Star).
• - - , Algemeen, , John N. Harris, The Star of Babylon and Bethlehem, From a technical viewpoint the detection of the faintly visible major planet URANUS by Babylonian astronomers in 9 BC provides one of the more logical mechanistic explanations for the phenomenon.
• - - , Algemeen, , Donald Simanek, The Star of Bethlehem; Every Christmas planetariums across the country present a "Star of Bethlehem" show which breaks attendance records and balances their budget for the year. They are pandering to naive public fascination with the question, and generally trot out a whole parade of scenarios about astronomical events which might have been the stimulus for the Biblical story.
  But the Biblical account of this story is brief, unclear, and subject to multiple interpretations. So meager is the independent historical confirmation that it's hard to defend the view that the Christmas star is anything more than a fictional or metaphorical fable invented well after the time of the alleged events. Certainly every physical explanation has serious difficulties. Such speculations have negligible scientific or historical value.
• - - , Algemeen, , Griffith Observatory, Star of Bethlehem verzicht van verschillende weblinks.
• - - , Algemeen, , Susan S. Carroll, THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM: AN ASTRONOMICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; The Star of Bethlehem is one of the most powerful, and enigmatic, symbols of Christianity. Second perhaps only to the Cross of the Crucifixion, the importance of its role in the story of the Nativity of the Christ child is almost on a par with the birth itself. However, the true origin of the Star of Bethlehem has baffled astronomers, historians, and theologians for the past two millennia.
• - - , Algemeen, , Robert Massey, The Star of Bethlehem; Fact sheet
• - - , Algemeen, , R.H. van Gent, Star of Bethlehem Bibliography, 2003; Zeer waardelvolle site
• - - , Algemeen, , Henry M. Morris, Star Witness, Institute for Creation Research, 2004
• - - , Algemeen, , Mary Barron, Star of Wonder, National Catholic Reporter (27 December 2002)
• - - , Algemeen, , A.I.Reznikov, Sur les origines historiques possibles des légendes de la Nativité, 2005; De mogelijkheid dat de Ster van Bethlehem was Halley's komeet in 12 v.C.
• - - , Algemeen, , Bruce Alan Killian, Venus The Star Of Bethlehem, 2003-2005; Since the time of Kepler and Newton when it became possible to calculate the positions of the planets, many have searched the sky near the time of Jesus' birth attempting to identify the Star of Bethlehem. All of these efforts have failed to convincingly identify that star. The approach taken here was to study the Scripture, to identify that enigmatic star.
• - - , Algemeen, , John Mosley, What was the Star of Bethlehem?, 1987; Interactive website
• - - , Algemeen, , Patrice Guinard, L'étoile de Bethléem: Un scénario organisé par des astrologues, 2002
• - - , Algemeen, , David A. Pardo, A Statistical Solution to the Star of Bethlehem Problem, 2002
• - - , Algemeen, , R.H. van Gent, Dating the Death of Herod and the Census of Quirinius; 2005
• - - , Algemeen, , R.H. van Gent, The Wise Men in History and Tradition, 2005
• - - , Algemeen, , THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM

  Every year around Christmas reports appear in the papers or on television which claim to give an astronomical explanation of the Star of Bethlehem. They are all nonsense. St John Chrysostom in his homily on the story explains clearly why the Star could not have been a natural phenomenon, but that it was an angelic appearance, like the Pillar of Cloud in the Old Testament. The true source for the Star is in the Old Testament, in Numbers 24:17, where the Seer Balaam, who came from a town on the banks of the Euphrates, utters his great prophecy, 'I will point to him, but not now; I bless him, but he does not come near. A Star shall dawn from Jacob, a Man shall arise out of Israel'. This is what we read in the Greek Septuagint, which is the Orthodox text. The Hebrew has, 'a sceptre shall arise out of Israel'. St Justin, in his Dialogue with Trypho 106, cites the verse, though instead of 'man' he has the word 'ruler', which is the word used in Matthew 2:6 in the citation of Micheas. Origen links the Magi with the prophecy of Balaam, adding that the prophecy of Balaam had no doubt been preserved in the east. Eusebios does the same. St Gregory of Nyssa also links the Magi with the prophecy of Balaam. The real Star of Bethlehem is Christ himself, as St Amphilochios explains in a Christmas sermon. Saint Romanos takes this up in his Kontakion for the Nativity, Ikos 5 (the Magi are speaking):

  For Balaam laid before us precisely
  The meaning of the words he spoke in prophecy,
  When he said that a star would dawn,
  A star that quenches all prophecies and auguries;
  A star which resolves the parables of the wise,
  And their sayings and their riddles,
  A star far more brilliant than the star
  Which has appeared, for he is the Maker of all the stars,
  Of whom it was written of old, From Jacob there dawns
  A little Child, God before the ages.

  St John Chrysostom's words are:

  For if we learn what the star was, and of what kind, whether it was one of the common stars, or strange and quite unlike the others, and whether it was a natural star or a star in appearance only, we shall easily know all the other things too. From where will these things be clear? From the texts themselves. Thus, that this star was not an ordinary one, or rather not a star at all, in my opinion, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is in the first place evident from its course. For not one of the stars moves like this, but whether you take the sun, or the moon, or all the other stars, we see them going from east to west; but this one was carried from north to south -- for Palestine lies south of Persia. Next, one can also see this from the time. For it does not appear at night, but at midday, while the sun is shining; and no a star can do this, not even the moon. For when the sun appears the moon immediately disappears. But this star overcame even the beams of the sun by its own splendour, appearing brighter than them. Thirdly, from its appearing, and disappearing. For on their journey to Palestine it appeared leading them, but after they reached Jerusalem, it hid itself. But when they had left Herod and were about to leave, it shows itself; all of which is nothing like the motion of a star, but of some highly rational power. It did not even have a direction of its own, but when they moved, it moved; when they stopped, it stopped, like the pillar of the cloud for the Israelites. Fourthly, one can see this clearly, from its way of indicating. For it did not remain high up to point out the place -- for they couldn't have found it from that -- but it came down and did so. For you realise that such a small space, about the size of a hut, or rather of the body of a little child, could not possibly be marked out by a star. For because of its immense height, it could not accurately indicate so confined a spot, and reveal it to those who wished to see it. And this any one may see from the moon, which is far larger than the stars, yet seems equally near every one that lives on the whole wide earth. How then, tell me, did the star point out a spot so confined, just the space of a manger and a hut, unless it left that height and came down, and stood over the very head of the young child? And this is what the evangelist was hinting at when he said, 'The star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.' Do you see then, by what a large number of proofs this star is shown not to be one of the many, nor to have shown itself according to the order of the visible creation?

  Homily 6 on Matthew [PG 57:64}

• - - , Biblical-studies@yahoogroups.com, , Gerd Luedemann on Christmas [2005]
• - - , Algemeen, , 369 Star of Revelation

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