Saco, not even in the NWT does the name Satan appear. I also wonder why, if this was Satan's ploy to kill Jesus, God allowed the wise men to find Jesus...and why God did not tell Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt until after the wise men visited and gave them expensive gifts.
The Star of Bethlehem
by sacolton 39 Replies latest watchtower bible
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snowbird
It is erroneously thought by some that the Magi went straight to Herod, but no such thing happened.
2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. KJV
Google Magi, and you will find out they were scholars of the highest order,
Were they aware of Numbers 24:17?
It would seem that they were.
Syl
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james_woods
I heard the Satan/Star theory all through the JW times, never really believed it. One problem I always had was mentioned above - can Satan really just create a star (at will) and move it around?
My secret inner thinking on it was that this was simply another JW effort to put down Christmas - much like saying Santa Claus was the incarnation of the Devil because he wore a red suit. Just like them to try to find something evil in the nativity story which is not actually in the bible.
The Watchtower has proven to be remarkably anti-Jesus in trying to make themselves different from the mainstream christian religions which are incidentally hundreds of years older than they are.
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ProdigalSon
As saviors go, it seems someone is always trying to kill them as an infant. Take Moses for example, or the child in Revelation that has to be snatched away from the Serpent. It's part of the mythology.
Jesus was taken to Egypt so he could study in the Mystery Schools. They couldn't put that in the Bible though, because "God" would automatically know everything....
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sd-7
Yeah, that's the story I remember. I didn't believe Satan created the star--or at least it never occurred to me. I just assumed he had the ability to move a stellar object that was already in the sky somewhere. Really, it could've just been something that looked like a star. It is a good point--the Bible doesn't say the star led the astrologers to Herod; it just says they came to Jerusalem and were asking around and it got back to Herod that they were doing so. Herod and 'all Jerusalem' were agitated at hearing about the inquiries of the wise men. They obviously didn't have a clear sense of where they were going. In Matthew 2:7, Herod "secretly summoned" the astrologers--which states flat out that they did not look for Herod. And if they didn't look for Herod, we can safely conclude that that was not the intention of whoever put that star out there. Herod went looking for THEM, and TRICKED them about his intentions.
It was obvious that they had some kind of faith and were therefore rewarded with the chance to honor the Christ with gifts. When you just read the Bible, you'll never draw the conclusion that Satan had anything to do with this. If anything, if we believe in this Bible account, it would be foresight on God's part that caused the wise men to find Jesus. He would've known that Jesus would be in danger as a child if people even believed he was meant to be King of the Jews.
If indeed, the star was from Satan, then another question: couldn't the star have just stayed there and led HEROD'S men to find Jesus? A big, satanic, BABY KING OF THE JEWS IS HERE!! neon sign would've been more logical, I should think. The fact that only these astrologers found Jesus in the first place indicates this star wasn't something just anyone could've tracked. If it was, it should've been an easy matter for Herod to find Jesus.
A step further, Herod wasn't a stupid man; why didn't he just send TROOPS to TRACK these wise men and find and assassinate Jesus on the spot?? He was willing to kill children, clearly, so...why didn't he just do that? If Satan was pulling the strings here, I would think...that's a bit of a no-brainer to do, isn't it?
Wow, it's amazing what you can figure out once you get your brain out of cold storage...
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snowbird
Wow, it's amazing what you can figure out once you get your brain out of cold storage...
-sd-7
Amen.
Syl
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james_woods
Just as a matter of interest, the date Archbishop James Ussher came up with for the birth of Jesus WAS decided on the basis of a celestial event: a partial Lunar eclipse - not the Star of Bethlehem, which is not well recorded in the history of the time.
According to the scholar Josephus, at the very end of Herod's reign, he had put to death a certain Mathias and his followers for sedition. On the night they were burned, he records that there was an eclipse.
Ussher had Oxford astronomer John Bainbridge help him figure out possible dates for that eclipse. According to Josephus, this eclipse took place in the spring. Two dates for the eclipse were suggested - 1 B.C.E. or 4 B.C.E. Astronomer Johannes Kepler placed the even in 4 B.C.E. because the 1 B.C.E. event did not take place in the spring.
Ussher went along with Kepler, and thus set the date of Christ's birth in 4 B.C.E. Later historians agreed, and although there is still some contraversy, 4 B.C.E. is still considered to be the most likely date of birth by most historians.
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undercover
although there is still some contraversy, 4 B.C.E. is still considered to be the most likely date of birth by most historians.
Assuming that he even existed...
It's kinda like arguing over what year Luke Skywalker was born.
Give George Lucas a couple of thousand of years and his whole Star Wars universe will be "historical" and a religion... (and not just to nerdy geeks who cant get a date and masturbate to Leia in her slave girl outfit)
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AnnOMaly
The difference with Star Wars is that it was set in a galaxy a long, long time ago and the story was, by George Lucas' admission, his own invention. The 'Jesus events' in the Gospels are tied to certain historical time frames and are claimed to be 'true accounts.'
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james_woods
Assuming that he even existed...
I wasn't going there, Undercover, being this is Christmas and all...