

The volume itself is a contribution to the advancement of astral science and to the progress of biblical criticism. (.) Most essays are forceful and will exert influence in their relevant fields of study. Tim de Zeeuw, Director General, European Southern Observatory (ESO) "The book raises vital problems of transmission of astral knowledge.

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.” This book summarizes the views of world-experts in a variety of fields presented at a multidisciplinary conference in Groningen in 2014. ‘The Star’ has attracted the attention of artists, astronomers, historians, science fiction writers, theologians and others. Coyne, S.J., Director Emeritus, Vatican Observatory “The nature of the Star of Bethlehem has fascinated our society for many centuries.

Since Matthew is not here to tell us, the reader will have the interesting task of judging among the expert views.” 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. 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. 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.” However, what had been missing so far was a multi-disciplinary approach. Church Fathers and scholars alike have debated the ‘when’ and ‘what’ for almost as long, resulting in very different interpretations. We have provided you with a horoscope chart of.“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. For those of you who want an example of one, please look at Figure 3K at the end of this chapter. To master the contents of this book, it is not necessary to understand what horoscope charts are. They were meant to be used in addition to the alignment style of charts, but they are not as useful as the original alignment charts.

It was the Babylonians themselves who also designed the original horoscope charts. You cannot easily visualize the important alignments and Planetary Geometry made by the planets, the way you can with a Babylonian Alignment Chart. The major problem with such charts is that you cannot look at them and easily pick out a symmetrical pattern of planets. But the 12 parts represent HOUSES and are usually not equally divided into 30-degree segments. It still has the Babylonian circle with its 12 parts. A horoscope chart is the type of astrological chart that is used today in virtually all astrology magazines and books.
