Star of Bethlehem coin

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Revealing the Star of Bethlehem

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The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi "The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi has stunning new insight and approach, which finally gives a confident answer to a question that has fascinated all Christians through the ages. ... don't buy any other book on the Star of Bethlehem, because the old astronomical views are guaranteed to be irrelevant." — Prof. Bradley E. Schaefer, Yale University Could the purchase of an ancient coin have led to an important clue about the Star of Bethlehem? The above illustration is a Roman coin from Antioch, Syria which shows the zodiacal sign, Aries the Ram. In trying to understand the meaning behind this coin, I found that Aries was the sign of the Jews. Realizing that this is where ancient stargazers would have watched for the Star of Bethlehem, I embarked on searching for the celestial event that signified the birth of the Messiah in Judea. Superposed on the photograph of the coin is what I found: Jupiter underwent two occultations ("eclipses") by the Moon in Aries in 6 BC. Jupiter was the regal "star" that conferred kingships - a power that was amplified when Jupiter was in close conjunctions with the Moon. The second occultation on April 17 coincided precisely when Jupiter was "in the east," a condition mentioned twice in the biblical account about the Star of Bethlehem. In August of that year Jupiter became stationary and then "went before" through Aries where it became stationary again on December 19, 6 BC. This is when the regal planet "stood over." - a secondary royal portent also described in the Bible. In particular, there is confirmation from a Roman astrologer that the conditions of April 17, 6 BC were believed to herald the birth of a divine, immortal, and omnipotent person born under the sign of the Jews, which we now know was Aries the Ram. Furthermore, the coins of Antioch and ancient astrological documents show that there was indeed a Star of Bethlehem as reported in the biblical account of Matthew.

The Book

Now Translated into Italian and Czech! See End of this Page.

The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi can be examined by clicking HERE.   "The Star of Bethlehem is a fascinating contribution to the immense literature that attempts to come to terms with the Christmas star reported in Matthew's Gospel.  In my opinion, this book is the most original and important contribution of the entire 20th century on the thorny question of how events recorded there should be interpreted." - Prof. Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi is published by Rutgers University Press. (ISBN: 0-8135-2701-5) In the book you will see why the star was not a comet or supernova. Nor was it the famous "triple conjunction." The practices and beliefs of astrologers during Herod's reign show why Jupiter and the planets in Aries the Ram on April 17, 6 BC signified a Messianic birth. You will also find confirmation by a Roman astrologer, Firmicus Maternus, that the conditions of that day when Jupiter was in the east were those for the birth of a "divine and immortal" person. The evidence is that Firmicus was a Christian convert, and I argue that he had the birth of Jesus in mind. The book also explains how astrologers interpreted Emperor Nero's horoscope to predict that he was to survive his overthrow and rise up in Judea - a story that evolved into tales about the antichrist. Finally, I explain the relationship of the coins of Antioch to the Star of Bethlehem and the census of Quirinius described in Luke. "In support of an original interpretation of the Star, Molnar has assembled an impressive range of astrological and numismatic data, much of which will be new even to expert readers." - Prof. Virginia Trimble, University of California, Irvine and University of Maryland, and author of Visit to a Small Universe.

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Italian Translation ISBN 88-344-1238-9

Czech Translation ISBN 80-200-1473-X

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