Have you ever wondered when Jesus was really born? It’s interesting to ponder, and you’re not alone in wondering it. Many ancient civilizations have placed their deities’ birthdays on December 25th, because of the symbolic association with the triumph of light over darkness. These include the deity Mithra (identified with Sol Invictus, and a Roman feast time), Tammuz the Babylonian Queen of Heaven, Horus the Egyptian Queen of Heaven, and Nimrod son of Baal. So, that choice was a logical one, even though it doesn’t match the story. The story has shepherds with their flocks outdoors by night. Shepherds wouldn’t be sleeping outside with their flocks by night in the dead of winter – brrr! – that just isn’t the custom, even today! But it is certainly the custom of shepherds, in other seasons. So the Bible itself gives us a clue that the season of Christmas is a symbolic one, and not a literal one. The bible gives us other clues as well.
We know Jesus was born on or before 4BC, because that’s when the first king Herod died [[OR in 6AD when the Census of Quirinius was undertaken]]. These are conflicting dates.
At Jesus’ actual birth, something must have been going on in the heavens that would have been significant enough to capture the three magi’s attention and set them on their way. One researcher, astronomer Michael Molnar, has some very interesting evidence pointing to astronomical conjunctions that astrologers of the time would have taken as a sign of a king, on April 17th of 2010. He believes this was enough to set the magi on their way to the Jewish capital: Jerusalem. There, they would have been advised that Jewish prophesy said the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. What could it have been, and when?
To Molnar, the star was really a planet: Jupiter. It was in the “house” of the astrological sign of Aries, the Ram. This theory works better than a big comet or solar eclipse, which everyone would have noticed. The Jewish people at the time didn’t believe in, or practice, astrology, but it was practiced in Persia, which would explain why Herod didn’t know of the birth but the magi did. Molnar further writes, on his website, that: “Firmicus Maternus, an astrologer of Constantine the Great’s time in AD 334, described the conditions I found to be those for a world ruler with a divine and immortal nature. We know that Firmicus converted to Christianity close to when he wrote his Mathesis on astrology.” Molnar argues, in Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi, argues that he was referring to his new found faith in Jesus Christ[1].
look at the sky
If Molnar is right, then April 17th might just be Jesus’ actual birthday. Considering that December 25th was an ancient pagan feast for Mithras, as well as the birthday of Tammuz, Horus, Nimrod and others, why not continue to celebrate on December 25th (since it’s near the winter solstice, as the symbolic triumph of light over darkness), but add April 17th as a true likely birthday, as well?
We can even take his logic further, to discover information about the annunciation. Counting backwards nine months, August 17th would be a likely day for the annunciation to Mary that she would become Theokotos, (or God bearer). This is traditionally celebrated around the vernal equinox, which is correct and beautiful, from a symbolic standpoint but wouldn’t work well if Mary had been pregnant nine months and Jesus had been born in Spring.
________
[1]Molnar, Michael. Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi. pp101-109.
