Prologue, Peter Barthel and George van Kooten
PART I: FROM KEPLER TO MOLNAR – THE HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION
OF THE STAR
1. Kepler’s De Vero Anno (1614), Owen Gingerich
2. The Historical Basis for the Star of Bethlehem, Michael R.
Molnar
3. A Critical Look at the History of Interpreting the Star of
Bethlehem in Scientific Literature and Biblical Studies, Aaron
Adair
4. An Astronomical and Historical Evaluation of Molnar’s
Solution.Bradley E. Schaefer
5. Astronomical Thoughts on the Star of Bethlehem, David W.
Hughes
6. De Ster der Wijzen (1920): A Forgotten Early Publication About
the Star of Bethlehem, Teije de Jong
PART II: THE STAR – WHAT, WHEN, AND HOW
7. What, If Anything?, Peter Barthel
8. The Astronomical Resources for Ancient Astral Prognostications,
Alexander Jones
PART III: ANCIENT NEAR-EASTERN ASTRONOMY AND THE MAGI
9. Mesopotamian Astrological Geography, John M. Steele
10. The Story of the Magi in the Light of Alexander the Great's
Encounters with Chaldeans, Mathieu Ossendrijver
11. Pre-Islamic Iranian Astral Mythology, Astrology, and the Star
of Bethlehem, Antonio Panaino
PART IV: ASTROLOGY IN THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
12. Matthew’s Magi as Experts on Kingship, Albert de Jong
13. Greco-Roman Astrologers, the Magi, and Mithraism, Roger
Beck
14.The Star of Bethlehem and Greco-Roman Astrology, Especially
Astrological Geography, Stephan Heilen
PART V: ASTROLOGY IN THE JEWISH WORLD
15. The World Leader from the Land of the Jews: Josephus, Jewish
War 6.300–315; Tacitus, Histories 5.13; and Suetonius, Vespasian
4.5, Jan Willem van Henten
16. Stars and Powers: Astrological Thinking in Imperial Politics
from the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba, Kocku von Stuckrad
17. Balaam’s ‘Star Oracle’ (Num 24:15–19) in the Dead Sea Scrolls
and Bar Kokhba, Helen R. Jacobus
PART VI: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN WORLD
18. The Star of the Magi and the Prophecy of Balaam in Earliest
Christianity, with Special Attention to the Lost Books of Balaam,
Darrell Hannah
19. Matthew’s Star, Luke’s Census, Bethlehem, and the Quest for the
Historical Jesus, Annette Merz
20. Matthew, the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of
Matthew’s Gospel in Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries
BCE and CE, George van Kooten
Epilogue, Peter Barthel and George van Kooten
Peter Barthel (PhD 1984) is Professor of Astrophysics at the
Kapteyn Institute of the University of Groningen, researching
active galaxies and quasars in the near and distant universe with
ground- and space-based telescopes. He has a keen interest in
science communication and education, and has won prizes as well as
a Royal Distinction for his original efforts in these areas.
George van Kooten (PhD 2001) is Professor of New Testament & Early
Christianity at the Faculty of Theology & Religious Studies at the
University of Groningen, researching the Bible in its historical
and cultural context. He holds degrees from the universities of
Leiden, Durham and Oxford, and was visiting fellow at the
universities of Cambridge (2013-14) and Göttingen (2015).
“The Star of Bethlehem is known to almost everybody, whatever their
personal faith - be it through the Nativity story told in Matthew’s
Gospel or through art and material culture where the depiction of
the Star has played a hugely important role for centuries. Church
Fathers and scholars alike have debated the ‘when’ and ‘what’ for
almost as long, resulting in very different interpretations.
However, what had been missing so far was a multi-disciplinary
approach. The Groningen symposium has done just that, for the first
time ever asking experts in very different fields to answer the
same four questions about the Star, namely ‘What?’, ‘When?’, ‘How?’
and ‘Why?’ The learned, surprising, thought-provoking answers in
this fascinating volume are a must-read for anybody interested in a
phenomenon that has influenced our culture like few others.”
— Silke Ackermann FSA, Director, Museum of the History of Science,
University of Oxford
“When one considers that the source of the material treated in this
book consists of only twelve verses of the Bible (Matthew 2: 1-12),
this is a remarkable collection of research papers. Throughout the
book there appears a wide range of judgments on the nature and
historicity of Matthew’s story, from the claim that it is midrash,
a rabbinical commentary which tells a beautiful story to interpret
events to gentiles by the use of texts from the Old Testament, to
the description of an historical happening. Since Matthew is not
here to tell us, the reader will have the interesting task of
judging among the expert views.”
— George V. Coyne, S.J., Director Emeritus, Vatican Observatory
“The nature of the Star of Bethlehem has fascinated our society for
many centuries. ‘The Star’ has attracted the attention of artists,
astronomers, historians, science fiction writers, theologians and
others. This book summarizes the views of world-experts in a
variety of fields presented at a multidisciplinary conference in
Groningen in 2014. While there is no clear consensus on the nature
of ‘The Star’, the twenty chapters provide an intriguing and
eminently readable assessment of an enigmatic event that is
directly connected to the advent of one of the major religions in
our world.”
—Tim de Zeeuw, Director General, European Southern Observatory
(ESO)
"The book raises vital problems of transmission of astral
knowledge. (...) Most essays are forceful and will exert influence
in their relevant fields of study. The volume itself is a
contribution to the advancement of astral science and to the
progress of biblical criticism. Altogether it warrants considerable
approval. Congratulations to each author for their vigor and
industry, and for the stimulus which prompted their incisive
analyses and thorough researches."
—The Ds Commentary, 2017
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