The Great Christ Comet (23 page)

No member of the starry host is more equipped to communicate meaning (“for signs”) than the comet. As comets move across the sky through the constellations, they are susceptible to being interpreted as conveying all kinds of messages, even complex ones, to human observers. While the Hebrew Bible has a very negative view of astrology, it does hold out the possibility that God could at certain times communicate messages through comets.

An important example is found in Numbers 24:17, a text we shall explore in detail in
chapter 8
. Here we find a striking prophecy from the Mesopotamian seer Balaam: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” Balaam's mysterious reference to a celestial body identified as “a star” and “a scepter” (note the synonymous parallelism) is most naturally interpreted as speaking of a long-tailed comet. He is envisioning the Messiah as a cometary scepter, strongly intimating that his coming will be attended by a great comet. Balaam seems to imply that this comet would do something extraordinary in connection with its rising to announce the Messiah's coming. In particular, the oracle appears to prophesy that the comet would look like a scepter at a key stage of its apparition.

A second prophetic oracle that declares that a cometary apparition would convey a positive message from God is found in Isaiah 9:2, another verse that we shall examine closely in
chapter 8
: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” Isaiah's description is strongly suggestive of a great comet. “Deep darkness” most naturally refers to the time when the Sun and the Moon are absent from the sky. “Great light” implies that the celestial body was, like the two great lights of Genesis 1 (the Sun and the Moon), large and bright. The only large and bright object with a steady beam that can light up the night in the absence of the Moon is a great comet. Isaiah is therefore, it would seem, prophesying that an extraordinary comet that shone during the deep darkness of night would be the heavenly signal of the coming to fulfillment of God's plan of salvation through the Messiah. Like Balaam, Isaiah portrays the Messiah himself in terms of the comet that coincided with his birth.

We can see, therefore, that the Hebrew Bible assigns comets a positive, hopeful role in salvation-history.

Conclusion

Comets have fascinated and mystified humans since the dawn of civilization. They
are remarkably diverse icy balls of dirt and dust. To ancient sky observers, they turned the heavens into something akin to a celestial movie screen conveying divine messages. In ancient thought, they were often understood to be negative portents, but could also be interpreted positively. The Hebrew Bible reflects a positive view of comets, even prophesying that one will appear to signal the Messiah's coming, and portraying him in terms of it. The question to which we must now turn is whether a comet might have performed the role of the Star in the story of the Nativity.

6

“A Stranger midst the Orbs of Light”

The Star as a Comet

Having evaluated the other major hypotheses put forward to explain the Bethlehem Star in
chapter 4
, and having then introduced comets in
chapter 5
, we must now turn to the key question: Could the Star of Bethlehem have been a comet?
1

In this chapter we will consider the two comet proposals currently on the table—the Halley's Comet and the 5 BC Comet theories—before making a more robust case for the view that the Star is to be identified as one of the icy balls of dirt and dust zipping around the solar system in eccentric orbits.

A Brief History of the Comet Hypothesis

The comet hypothesis has a long history, stretching back into the first three centuries of the Christian era. At the start of the second century, Ignatius, probably drawing on an established and authoritative hymn from the first century, referred to the Star in terms that were strongly suggestive of a comet. According to this tradition, the Star was new, “brighter than all the stars,” and provoked astonishment because it was so unlike anything else in the heavens (
To the
Ephesians
19:2).

The
Protevangelium of James
(
Gospel of James
) dates to around AD 150. According to it, in response to Herod's question regarding what celestial sign the Magi saw that related to the newborn King, the Magi answered, “We saw an immense star [
astera
pammegeth
ē
] shining among these stars and causing them to become dim, so that they no longer shone; and we knew that a king had been born in Israel” (21:2–3).
2
As Olson and
Pasachoff point out, here, “the Protevangelium of James describes the strange new star in language only befitting a comet.”
3

Then, in the first half of the third century, Origen made explicit his conviction that the Star was a comet, in
Contra Celsum
1.58–59:

We consider that the star that was seen “at its rising” was a new star, and not like any of the normal celestial bodies, either those in the fixed sphere [above] or those in the lower spheres. Rather, it should be reckoned with the celestial bodies which occur from time to time, known as “hairy stars,” “beams,”
4
“beards,” “wine-jars,” or any other such name by which the Greeks like to describe their various forms. We establish this point in the following way:

It has been noticed that at the occurrence of momentous events and at the most profound transitions on earth, stars of this kind appear, announcing changes in dynasties or the breaking out of wars, or the occurrence of some phenomenon in the human realm that shakes affairs on earth. We have read in the book called
Concerning Comets
by Chaeremon the Stoic that at times comets have appeared when good events were about to occur. He has given an account of such occurrences. If, then, at the commencement of new dynasties or on the occasion of other momentous events on earth, the so-called “hairy star” or some similar body [namely, the “beam,” “beard,” “wine-jar,” or some other type of comet] appears, why would it be a great surprise that a star should have appeared at the birth of the one who was going to introduce new ideas to the human race and to reveal his teaching not only to Jews, but also to Greeks, and to many barbarian nations in addition? Now I would point out with respect to comets that there is no prophecy about comets in circulation stating that such and such a comet would appear at the rise of a particular kingdom or at a particular time. However, the star which appeared at Jesus' birth had been prophesied by Balaam, recorded by Moses, when he said: “A star shall appear out of Jacob, and a man shall rise up out of Israel.”
5

Probably no one has done more to promote the comet hypothesis than Giotto di Bondone (1266/1267–1337), the medieval Italian artist. At the turn of the fourteenth century he painted a fresco entitled “The Adoration of the Magi” in Padua's Arena Chapel, in which he portrayed the Star of Bethlehem as a comet (
fig.
6.1
). Many have thought that he was inspired by the apparition of Halley's Comet in 1301, although that is questionable.
6
In memory of this depiction of the Magi's Star, the European Space Agency named the robotic spacecraft sent to explore Halley's Comet, as well as the whole mission,
Giotto
.
7

In recent decades, advocates of the comet hypothesis have fallen into two groups: those who identify it as Halley's Comet,
8
and those who maintain that it is the 70+-day “broom star comet” of spring 5 BC mentioned in Chinese astronomical records.
9

The Halley's Comet Theory Evaluated

The view that the Star was Halley's Comet is often the only version of the comet hypothesis that is evaluated by those criticizing the position.
10

Halley's Comet (officially designated 1P/Halley) has historically been one of the most consistently impressive comets. For more than 2,000 years it has faithfully returned every 75–80 years, gracing our skies as recently as 1985–1986. As mentioned in the last chapter, the Chinese
Han shu
preserved the record of a comet that was regarded as of great astrological significance: in August of the year 12 BC a “bushy star comet” was observed near Canis Minor. It remained in the skies for some 56
days before finally disappearing, last being seen between Ophiuchus and Scorpius.
11
It is generally accepted that this was an apparition of 1P/Halley.

The Chinese record of Halley's Comet in 12 BC was the most exhaustive comet report up to the sixth century. It reveals that it was seen from August 26, when it was in Gemini in the eastern morning sky, to October 20, when it was in Scorpius, low in the western sky. Significantly, the comet came to within 0.16 AU of Earth on September 9, permitting Earth-dwellers to see an approximately 25-degree tail around that time, although unfortunately this was a month before perihelion (October 10) and so the comet's brightness was only first magnitude. The comet, with its striking tail, was standing up near-vertically over the western horizon from September 11 to 15.

There are, then, a couple of interesting points of comparison between this apparition of Halley's Comet and the Star of Bethlehem. First, Mark Littmann and Don Yeomans point out that, just as the Star of Bethlehem was seen in the eastern sky and then led the Magi westward to Jerusalem, so also, viewed from the Middle East, Halley's Comet beamed brightly over the eastern horizon at the start of September and then over the western horizon later in the month.
12
Second, for a few days in mid-September, the comet, with its sizable tail, could readily have been described as standing over the western horizon.

The temptation to identify Halley's Comet in 12 BC with the Star of Bethlehem has proved too great for some. James Fleming tried to support this hypothesis by arguing that there was a census in 12 BC that would qualify as Quirinius's first census (Luke 2:2), which brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem for the birth.
13
According to Nikos Kokkinos, the Magi departed for Judea shortly after seeing the comet for the first time and arrived in Jerusalem “by mid-September 12 B.C.”
14

However, upon close examination this hypothesis quickly disintegrates.

First and foremost, a date of 12 BC is impossibly early for the birth of Jesus. Those who argue for the 12 BC Halley's Comet apparition end up having to undertake a radical revision of the chronology of Jesus's life. Jerry Vardaman, for example, dates the commencement of Jesus's ministry to AD 15 and the crucifixion to AD 21.
15
This naturally raises a whole raft of serious problems, for example, with respect to Luke 3:1–3 (John the Baptist began his ministry in “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius,” who came to the throne in AD 14); John 2:20 (“it took/has taken
16
forty-six years to build this temple”); the established chronology of Pontius Pilate (AD 26–36); and the history of the early church. The evidence strongly favors the view that Jesus was born in 6 or 5 BC and then died in AD 30 or 33. The fact that Halley's Comet appeared in 12 BC means that it simply could not have been the Star.

Second, unlike the Star seen by the Magi, Halley's Comet, although it did appear in the east, did not at any stage rise heliacally (namely, after being invisible because of proximity to the Sun) in 12 BC.

Third, this hypothesis fails to offer a credible explanation for the behavior of the Magi. One must assume that the Magi and their predecessors had seen a number of comets, including bright ones like Halley's, come and go without undertaking major treks in search of a newborn King of the Jews. Why, then, would they have responded any differently in 12 BC? The Chinese were deeply impacted by this apparition of Halley's, but they had a completely different way of reading the heavens than the Bab­ylo­nians and Greeks. What might have caused the Magi to think that a new king had been born and that he was Jewish and divine? An examination of Halley's behavior in 12 BC on astronomical software fails to shed any light on the issue.

Fourth, Halley's Comet did not remain visible for anywhere near as long as the Star of Bethlehem. Halley's 56 days do not compare well with the Star's minimum apparition of one year.

Fifth, the chronology of the Magi's journey set out by Kokkinos allows less than 3 weeks (from August 26, when the comet attained to naked-eye visibility, to mid-September) for the Magi to travel to Judea. Even if they had traveled an average distance of 20 (indeed 28!) miles per day, they would not
have completed the journey from Bab­ylon that quickly.

Sixth, at no stage did Halley's Comet during its 12 BC apparition ever appear in the south. It first appeared in the east before slowly moving to the north and then to the west, at which point it disappeared from the sky. This is in contrast to the Bethlehem Star, which was seen in the southern sky, when it led the Magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

It is clear that the Halley's Comet hypothesis is fundamentally flawed and untenable. It is puzzling that, of the entire comet population, so many scholars discussing the Star of Bethlehem have zeroed in on it.
17
As impressively bright as it has been over recent millennia, Halley's is scarcely the only great comet in history. Indeed, long-period comets, like the Great Comets of 1680, 1843, 1880, 1882, 1910, 1996, and 1997, are often even more stunning than Halley's (particularly in its 12 BC apparition)—appearing brighter, sporting larger comas and/or greater tails, and remaining visible for longer.