Finding God in the Star of Bethlehem

By Dianne E. Butts

Was the star of Bethlehem a myth created by the early church? Or a real astronomical event? The DVD “The Star of Bethlehem: Unlock the Mystery of the World’s Most Famous Star” explores the science behind finding God in the star of Bethlehem. 

When attorney Rick Larson’s daughter asked him about the Bethlehem star,  he set out to find answers. What he found astounded him. Because the story of the star in the Bible includes King Herod, much of the research is dependent on when Herod died. The events that involved him obviously must have occurred previous to that date. Many scholars dated “Herod the Great’s death…no later than March or April in 4 BC”, but Rick Larson found Herod may have died a few years later, opening up an additional couple of years to search the celestial skies for an event that might have been the Star.

Larson combined a careful search of the book of Matthew with use of astronomy software he purchased to run on his computer. He discovered what those in pre-computer generations never could view: an astronomical event that may have led the Magi to Jesus.

The FAQ page, which appears on both the www.Bethlehemstar.net web site and The Star of Bethlehem Facebook’s “Extended Info” page  says this:

“Christ’s Star, described in the Book of Matthew, correlates precisely with celestial events we know occurred in 2 and 3 B.C.”

Viewing the skies from ancient Babylon (where the Magi may have originated), Larson says:

“A magus watching Jupiter that September saw two objects moving so close that they appeared to touch. This close approach of celestial bodies is sometimes called a ‘conjunction.’ Our Middle Eastern viewer saw Jupiter coming into a close conjunction with the star, Regulus. Regulus takes its name from the word root which yields our word ‘regal.’ The Babylonians called Regulus Sharu, which means ‘king.’ The Romans called Regulus Rex, which means ‘king.’ So to start things, at the beginning of the new Jewish year, the Planet of Kings met the Star of Kings.”

Rick Larson talked about how this conjunction moved through the constellation Leo the Lion, and that Jesus’ earthly ancestry is the tribe of Judah, known as the Lion.

Here on Finding God Daily back on November 16, 2011, we talked about how this very same star, Regulus, is currently in conjunction with Mars in our article “Finding God in Mars.”

I viewed “The Star of Bethlehem” DVD with friends the other night and I loved it. Rick Larson’s research shows, once again, that God’s universe is crafted with the precision of the most accurate watch and everything is ticking away just as He determined it to do from the beginning.

I highly recommend the DVD or the live presentation of “The Star of Bethlehem.” Much of the information is also on the web site. If you view the DVD with your friends and family, I’m sure you will see them finding God in the Star of Bethlehem.

See here “The Star of Bethlehem” DVD promo video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLqzKYmTGcc

Related articles:  Finding God in the Sounds of the Universe.