The North Star's Meaning

[Lavarat]

Ok for someone who knows their bible, I do not. I know that the north star shined down I believe on the day Jesus was born.

Does anyone believe that this might mean something, that has to do with the stars and bringing life to this planet i.e. Jesus?

 

[Aponi]

Hmmm...I don't have a bible handy (I'm in a hotel room, and believe it or not, no bible!) to check, but I didn't think the star in question was actually identified as the north star. It's just often assumed. I have heard speculation that it was venus, or even a comet. Anyway, it's an interesting question. Whatever star it was, it does seem reasonable to think there is some significance there. Also, weren't the wise men actually astrologers?

 

[Lavarat]

I think its interesting that we all have a star on top of the Christmas tree and most have a beam from the bottom of the star coming down into the nativity scene. It sure is interesting.

I would like to understand more about it

 

[Don Keyhoe-Ti]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeZB2EsPqGE

 

[PamiP]

We discussed the star during an astronomy course I took in college. The astronomers brought up the possibility of a convergance of two of our brighter planets, possibly Venus and Jupiter, in the constellation Pisces, which was considered the constellation of the Hebrews in ancient times by astrologers. The bright "star" represented the birth of a very important king to the Hebrew people, and the wise men went in search of this king.

It was a very interesting discussion!

 

[CapnG]

We discussed the star during an astronomy course I took in college. The astronomers brought up the possibility of a convergance of two of our brighter planets, possibly Venus and Jupiter, in the constellation Pisces, which was considered the constellation of the Hebrews in ancient times by astrologers. The bright "star" represented the birth of a very important king to the Hebrew people, and the wise men went in search of this king.

That is my understanding of it as well. Bear in mind that in the quasi-poetic language of the Bible, "star" could refer to literally any kind of cosmic body, be it a planet, comet or literal star. I think you'll find most modern scholars tend to lean towards the Jupiter covergence thing though.

It's definately NOT polaris though. I think if you check you'll find that the scriptures says the great star first appeared in the east and moved westward until it "settled" over Bethlehem.

Oh and Don, I wouldn't give to much credence to Zeitghesit. The more I look into this stuff, the more it appears to be just another collection of paranoid ramblings and conveniently mis-interpreted data.

 

[pixelsmith]

who seriously believes in the bible anymore? i thought most humans were beyond that BS.

 

[CapnG]

who seriously believes in the bible anymore? i thought most humans were beyond that BS.

Well, you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, pixel. Astronomers using computer models determined the Jupiter convergence thing and one did occur around the time period it would have had to in order to validate the biblical account. Plus the core concepts it presents (that whole "try to be a good person and not kill each other" schtick) has merit. It's the ceremonial, dogmatic, liturgical and punitive aspects of the book that need examining and perhaps excising. As George Carlin calls it: "Spooky, authoritarian language that has no bearing on modern humans living in the 21st century." That shit we could definately do without.

 

[pixelsmith]

the bible is full of contradictions, absurdities and atrocities. it has been reduced to pure stinkin BS. it is more of a comic/fairy tale book. i love the shit sandwich parts tho. yes, there are several references to shit sandwiches in the bible.

 

[CapnG]

it is more of a comic/fairy tale book.

And...? We use comic books and fairy tales to illustrate basic principles of morality too. Often with the same themes. A children's illustrated bible would qualify as all three!

 

[pixelsmith]

basic principals of morality? c'mon... the bible is the last place to look for morality. is it moral to beat your wife? the bible condones it.

 

[CapnG]

Hence basic... BASIC! Really just the ten commandments and the golden rule... even then they should be considered guidelines, not absolutes.

Leviticus is mess though... makes radical Islam seem like a 60s love in.

 

[Chuckleberryfinn]

Read: "Letters From the Earth," by Mark Twain.

 

[PamiP]

As a follow up to this thread, I found an article the research a Professor from the University of Notre Dame has been doing on this subject.

http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/12804447.html

 

[BrandonD]

Hence basic... BASIC! Really just the ten commandments and the golden rule... even then they should be considered guidelines, not absolutes.

Basic guidelines? I don't know about that... Though shalt have no other gods before me? Though shalt not worship graven idols? Though shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain? Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy? The first 4 commandments are completely unnecessary rules for any sort of basic morality... as George Carlin said, they're just utilization of "spooky language" for the purposes of control. And it's unnecessary to have both "Though shalt not covet" and "Though shalt not steal". If you don't covet, then you don't steal.

Those 10 could've easily been shaved down to "the 3 commandments". But it probably wouldn't have sounded quite so official, hehe.

 

[Lavarat]

What I was originally wondering which star system the star on top of all the Christmas trees originated from. I was looking at a Christmas tree yesterday and realized an astrological symbol or star is associated with the birth of Christ in the bible as it shined down to Mary

 

[Mothra]

Hi I'm the Noth Star and I'm really getting a kick out of these replies