TruthBook Religious News Blog

The story of Biblical star aims to instill in us hope, joy and spirituality.

The Christmas story with the angels, shepherds, wise men and the star has gripped people all over the world in the last 20 centuries.

The history of the Christmas star is simply found in two Biblical accounts, one in Matthew, and one in Luke. They provide the basic information needed to reconstruct Mid-Eastern history and astronomical events in order to discover exactly what occurred in the night sky on that first Christmas day when Messiah was born in the cave at Bethlehem among the cattle and horses.

Church historians and theologians have often concluded that the Christmas Star was a mighty angel. An event as momentous as the incarnation of the Son of God at Bethlehem would surely merit a unique "sign" the heavens.

The Gospel of Matthew says the star informed the magi of the birth of the King of the Jews and actually led them to Bethlehem once they had arrived in Jerusalem. The star of Bethlehem has been the subject of scholarly discussion ever since the first centuries after Jesus' birth.

Some believed it was a supernova explosion, others a comet or a conjunction of planets associated with specific constellations that would herald the birth of a king in Israel. Some have suggested that none of these astronomical events can adequately account for all that Matthew tells us within the context of his worldview.

The stars that appear in the sky today are the same ones that were there two thousand years ago.

Some star gazers suggest that if we move the birth of Jesus to the springtime of 6 B.C., we can attribute the star to the time the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were close together in the heavens. They formed a triangle in the group of stars known as Pisces.

Still, many people prefer to believe that the strange star did appear, and that it was simply a miracle and throughout the world today, the Christian holiday has usually begun with the appearance of the first star of Christmas Eve.

Today, a Christmas without stars hung around the houses, streets, shops and churches is unimaginable.

There are countries, where the festival of star is celebrated along with Christmas. The Festival of the Star is held in Poland. Right after the Christmas Eve meal, the village priest, acts as the "Star Man" and tests the children's knowledge of religion.

In Alaska, boys and girls carry a star shaped figure from house to house and sing carols in hopes of receiving treats. In Hungary a star-shaped pattern is carved in a half of an apple and is suppose to bring good luck.

The Christmas star symbolizes high hopes and high ideals - hope for good fortune, hope for reaching above selfish thoughts. For all human beings, regardless of religion, stars have special meaning for all share the heavens, no matter what barriers keep them apart on earth.