---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Eddie Stinson <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 4:18 AM Subject: The Christmas Story To: [email protected]
*STAR OF BETHLEHEM – the Christmas Story* * * ** The Christmas story of the Magi and the Star is found only in the Book of Matthew. With only the one source to substantiate it, how true is this story? Throughout Matthew’s Gospel we find many errors on other events! Scholars and modern theologians are now saying that parts of Matthew’s Gospel often reads like a hodgepodge of fact and fancy, especially when prophesies from the Hebrew Scriptures are cited with the observation that they were fulfilled with the birth of Jesus. The Nativity story could not have developed without the "STAR". There would have been no point for the Magi or "wise men" to come to Bethlehem without the presence of the "star." Who were the Magi? They were an aristocratic priestly caste in ancient Persia, successors of the Chaldaean wise men of ancient Babylonia, whose obsessive study of the skies had developed knowledge of advance astronomical science. Because of this knowledge they were astrological consultants to the Persian Emperors. Matthew writes that wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying to King Herod; "for we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him". The "star" appeared in the east and these wise men came from the east (Matthew 2:2. In other words, the Magi did not follow any star to Jerusalem. The star appeared in the east and stayed there until the Magi arrived in King Herod’s city two years later. Question: If this star did not move from Persia, how did the Magi know in what direction to travel? Christians answer that the Magi followed the star to Jerusalem. But this is not what Matthew wrote. The star appeared in the east and only after they departed from King Herod’s palace did the star appear again for them to follow to Bethlehem (Matthew 2:9). In Matthew’s story, the wise men appeared to have lost sightings of the "star" and had to ask King Herod for directions so that they could worship "the newborn King of the Jews’. The king didn’t know and had to ask his priests and scribes where this baby would have been born. Wouldn’t you think that if the Magi from Persia knew about the newborn King of the Jews’ that King Herod would have also known? But then, how else could Matthew explain his misinterpreted prophesy. Also, have you ever wondered why this bright star all of a sudden vanished, just long enough to cause the wise men to go to Herod and ask about the new born baby and then, all of a sudden, reappeared to shine leading them to Jesus in Bethlehem? Why wasn’t the star over Joseph and Mary’s house shinning all the time? But then, Matthew couldn’t have gotten Herod so involved in his far-out fable. Matthew tells the story of the "wise men" (being astrologers) coming to Bethlehem. These men were not just men on camels, but instead, being wealthy (as they carried gold and perfumes); they would have been traveling with a small amount of guards, servants, flocks and herds to feed everyone along with their household goods. In other words, Bethlehem would have become a scene of major activity. For men having traveled for two years to see this "god", they didn’t stay long. Have you not wondered why nothing is ever mentioned of these Magi’s after that? You would think that after worshipping this "godchild" they would go home and tell everyone about their long trip and finding the predicted Jewish messiah. It seems this would have been VERY BIG news everyone would be excited about! Yet nothing was ever written about it, even by Persian historians. Even Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth never mentions any wise men. But then Luke never knew Jesus. Another question comes up, how did Matthew know the details of something that happened thirty years before he met Jesus? Another important question. Logically, why didn’t the king send spies to follow the "Wise Men" to the location of Jesus instead of killing all the children under the age of two? Or why didn’t the king follow the "star" to Bethlehem himself, just as the Magi did? With such an array of wealth and pageantry entering into this small town of Bethlehem, not to mention that "magic" bright star that stood gleaming over Joseph and Mary (like a giant neon road map), Herod did not even need his spies, the whole town would have been buzzing with curiosity about what was going on. But the town was silent. Most biblical historians agree that the "wise men" or "magi" would have been from Persia, the land of the religion — Mithraism. This is very interesting because as the biblical historian T.W.Doane notes, according to Mithraism, hundreds of years before Jesus, three Wise Men of Mithrais, came to visit the baby savior-god Mithra, bringing him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Strange, at the time of Matthew’s gospel Mithraism was the leading pagan religion of Rome. Could Matthew, not being Jewish, have been writing about an event which happened within another faith? According to Mithraism, before Mithra died on a cross, he celebrated a "Last Supper" serving bread and wine with his twelve disciples, who represented the twelve signs of the zodiac. The Catholic Encyclopedia admitted that the similarities between Mithraism and Christianity disturbed the early church fathers. Summation: Matthew plagiarized Mithraism stories and inserted the name Jesus where Mithra was, then added even more fiction. Mark never mentioned Jesus’ birth. John never mentioned Jesus’ birth and Paul and Peter also never mentioned Jesus’ birth. Luke never claimed to have met Jesus, or even near Jesus, never was a disciple. Common knowledge among theological scholars is no one can believe anything that Luke says as fact - it is all hearsay. It would never stand up in a court of law. Matthew should have stuck with writing fiction, he certainly can’t write information shared by his fellow Christian authors! Strange, huh? *Links:* - Christmas' pagan origins<http://www.essortment.com/all/christmaspagan_rece.htm> - Christmas' customs and their pagan origins<http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/pagan.htm> - Christmas celebrated in different days & dates!<http://www.kencollins.com/> -- Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (evil) with what is better; then the enmity between him and you will become as if it were your friend and intimate! Visit: sultan.org Subscribe: [email protected] Post to group: [email protected]
