Philosophy
We wish a chappy Chanukkah to all our Jewish playfriends and a merry Christmas to all our Christian playfriends...well, sort of a merry Christmas. Astronomers are now saying that Christmas, the day of Jesus' birth is not December 25th, but June 17th. Hopefully, we all got a good look at Venus and Jupiter the other week as they appeared close together by the moon in the early evening sky. Well, in the year 2 B.C. the same sort of astronomical event occured, except that the two stars were so close together that they would have seemed like a single new star, brighter than anything else in the sky and something completely novel. This, they argue, was the Christmas star that supposedly guided the three wise men.
And if it were to be true, would it matter? Two words: Santa and Speedo.
- The War On Christmas Continues
Our friends Scott Aikin and Bob Talisse have a post up over at 3 Quarks daily called, "The War on Christmas, To Save Thanksgiving." Seems as good a time as any to re-run this: 'Twas the month before Christmas and all through the malls everything...
- Returning Fire In The War On Christmas
So we got a War on Christmas e-mail today to which TheWife decided a response was required. Here's the original and then our response: 'Twas the month before Christmas when all through our land, Not a Christian was praying nor taking a stand....
- "star Of Bethlehem"...literary Device
"Star of Bethlehem a literary creation, says Ohio State physics scholar" by JoAnne Viviano December 20th, 2013 The Columbus Dispatch Aaron Adair received his first taste of the Star of Bethlehem mystery when he worked as a planetarium-show presenter...
- Santa Confirms Pluto As A Planet
Excerpt from an interview... "Pluto... now that's the one that really interests me. It's the most distant planet by far, 39 times farther from the Sun than Earth. It takes 247 Earth years to go around the Sun just once. Think of it -- only one...
- "star Of Bethlehem"...astronomical Data
With no integration of the religious significance other than "tis the season", it is interesting to discover the event associated with the birth of the historical Jesus--the alleged "Star of Bethlehem". Real or an addition to add to the story? Sorting...
Philosophy
Merry (Sorta) Christmas
We wish a chappy Chanukkah to all our Jewish playfriends and a merry Christmas to all our Christian playfriends...well, sort of a merry Christmas. Astronomers are now saying that Christmas, the day of Jesus' birth is not December 25th, but June 17th. Hopefully, we all got a good look at Venus and Jupiter the other week as they appeared close together by the moon in the early evening sky. Well, in the year 2 B.C. the same sort of astronomical event occured, except that the two stars were so close together that they would have seemed like a single new star, brighter than anything else in the sky and something completely novel. This, they argue, was the Christmas star that supposedly guided the three wise men.
Generally accepted research has placed the nativity to somewhere between 3BC and 1AD.We have here, what Charles Sanders Peirce called a retroductive explanation, an explanation that if it were true, would explain a surprising phenomenon. The question is whether this is the best explanation, the most likely explanation.
Using the St Matthew's Gospel as a reference point, Mr Reneke pinpointed the planetary conjunction, which appeared in the constellation of Leo, to the exact date of June 17 in the year 2BC.
The astronomy lecturer, who is also news editor of Sky and Space magazine, said: "We have software that can recreate exactly the night sky as it was at any point in the last several thousand years.
"We used it to go back to the time when Jesus was born, according to the Bible.
"Venus and Jupiter became very close in the the year 2BC and they would have appeared to be one bright beacon of light.
"We are not saying this was definitely the Christmas star - but it is the strongest explanation for it of any I have seen so far.
And if it were to be true, would it matter? Two words: Santa and Speedo.
- The War On Christmas Continues
Our friends Scott Aikin and Bob Talisse have a post up over at 3 Quarks daily called, "The War on Christmas, To Save Thanksgiving." Seems as good a time as any to re-run this: 'Twas the month before Christmas and all through the malls everything...
- Returning Fire In The War On Christmas
So we got a War on Christmas e-mail today to which TheWife decided a response was required. Here's the original and then our response: 'Twas the month before Christmas when all through our land, Not a Christian was praying nor taking a stand....
- "star Of Bethlehem"...literary Device
"Star of Bethlehem a literary creation, says Ohio State physics scholar" by JoAnne Viviano December 20th, 2013 The Columbus Dispatch Aaron Adair received his first taste of the Star of Bethlehem mystery when he worked as a planetarium-show presenter...
- Santa Confirms Pluto As A Planet
Excerpt from an interview... "Pluto... now that's the one that really interests me. It's the most distant planet by far, 39 times farther from the Sun than Earth. It takes 247 Earth years to go around the Sun just once. Think of it -- only one...
- "star Of Bethlehem"...astronomical Data
With no integration of the religious significance other than "tis the season", it is interesting to discover the event associated with the birth of the historical Jesus--the alleged "Star of Bethlehem". Real or an addition to add to the story? Sorting...