The Star That Astonished the World

Ancient philosophers studied the earth, water, air, fire and the heavens to help them make sense of their world. The first four elements were mutable, corrupt. They were a part of this world. The stars were something completely different. The fixed and "wandering" stars were predictable. They were made out of something unchangeable, something from the realms of the gods. In his book The Star That Astonished the World, Ernest L. Martin uses ancient astronomical events to pinpoint not only the Star of Bethlehem, but to ascertain the exact date of Christ's birth. He postulates that Christ's star was Jupiter, the King's Planet as it danced through the night sky from 3 to 2 BC forming conjunctions first with Venus and then with Regulus, the little king -- the brightest star in the constellation Leo. He supports his theory with historical research that touches on the Herod's death, Quirinius' census and Josephus' chronology. I found the presented history fascinating! For that reason alone, I think the book is worth reading.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ~ Revelations 12:1

Using this verse and ancient astrological charts, Martin theorizes that Christ, the Lion of Judah, was born on September 11, 3 BC. On that day, the sun was in position to "clothe" the constellation Virgo and the moon was positioned under her feet. In 3 BC, September 11 corresponded with Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpet. Yom Teruah (the Day of Shouting), better known as Rosh Hashana (the head of the year), is the first month in the Hebrew secular calendar and the 7th month of the religious calendar. Do the shofar blasts herald the birth of the king? Traditionally, the first Adam is said to have been created, or born, on this day. Was the second Adam born on this day too? It was interesting to ponder. There was order that seem predestined and almost too coincidental to brush aside.

Our family attends a church which follows a traditional, Western calendar. We celebrate Christ's birth on December 25th. Because I also believe that Christ gave universal meaning to the feasts described in Leviticus 23, we celebrate those in our home too. Because our family "liturgy" includes these biblical feasts and I blog, I have met a lot people online who identify themselves as Torah observant, Messianic Christians or even Hebraic/Judeo-Christians. Some have become dear blog friends. Others, I wouldn't necessarily consider friendly. I have been accused of participating in pagan festivals for celebrating Christmas in December.

After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. ~ Matthew 2:9

Because our planets travel at different speeds the Earth "laps" Jupiter. During that time, it appears as if Jupiter stops and then travels backwards for a time. Because of this retrograde motion, Jupiter does appear to stop in the sky. "And precisely on December 25, 2 BC, Jupiter 'stopped' in the abdomen of Virgo, the Virgin (in the middle of the constellation)." The toddler Jesus was no longer in a stable; he was in a home. According to Martin, the Magi, who like me were non-Jews, recognized the King of the Jews on December 25th. In 2 BC, Hanukkah began on December 23rd and continued eight days, ending on December 30. If he was born on September 11th, he was conceived in December. I believe life starts at conception. I think I will continue to celebrate with my church and family.

Introducing a New Favorite

I have read two books, but I am overwhelmed by the idea of sitting down and reviewing them. I am beginning the process of tough love. So far, it has been toughest on me, the parent. But, I found a neat little, no longer active blog that I thought was still worthy of sharing on my book blog.

Your Home Library

... because I am always in need of book storage ideas!

The Unknown Sanctuary

I have finished a book! It is hard to read when you find no joy in doing so. Life has been overwhelming. Reading, for a time, became obligation. Thinking deeply on any one topic became work. Life is more settled now. I hope that I can update this blog more frequently.

The Unknown Sanctuary: A Pilgrimage from Rome to Israel

Perhaps many people will find my choice of book odd -- an out of print autobiography by Aimé Pallière, a 19th century Frenchman who ideologically left Catholicism and became a Noahide. He continued to take the Eucharist and participate in the life of the Catholic church despite the fact that:

"Do you believe in the real Presence, in the Sacrament , as the Church teaches it to you? I asked myself, and with implacable clearness I was forced to answer: No, I do not believe it. Do you believe in the incarnation, in the divinity of of Christ? No, I no longer believe it. I had at that moment an absolute emptiness. I felt with a sudden and amazing clarity that nothing of my Christian faith remained. "

I have struggled with the concept of the Trinity. I heard a sermon recently in which the man sharing the gospel emphatically stated that Christianity only has one God, the Father. Then, there was confusing and convoluted logic about deity and divinity. I wondered how his explanation fit with the idea of the Theotokos, God-bearer. I wondered if this man like Aimé Pallière and myself has struggled to fit the trinity into their understanding of Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad - Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One!

I had hoped in this autobiography to find a way to balance my own understanding of God with the teaching of the church. I didn't find it in this book. In a church where the members believe and confess the real presence of Christ in communion, there is no way I could sit by and dishonor their beliefs by participating in their church in that way. I have attended a Protestant Church all my life, most recently, my family and I have been attending a Baptist church. Our church's communion is open to everyone who confesses Jesus and the elements are considered symbolic. I do take communion. I teach Sunday school to preschoolers. There isn't much of a chance that I will need to discuss abstract concepts like the Trinity to my class of 4 to 6-year-olds. I am most comfortable describing God as one God who has acted in three ways in history -- as Creator/Father, the Spirit who enlightens the world and in his incarnation as Christ. I found myself standing silent as the rest of the church sang, "God in three persons, blessed Trinity." I am not at home. 

One of Aimé Pallière's contemporaries and confidantes was Père Hyacinthe. I suspect I would agree most with him when he said of Jesus:

The chief reason why the Jews do not accept Christianity is that the latter departed from its origins in creating a God of secondary importance, as Justin Martyr said. And little by little, after having made Jesus equal to the Heavenly Father, have we not practically substituted him for the Heavenly Father? As to Jesus, there is still a difference between us concerning him. If I mistake not, he occupies a minor place for you, and even in this place is subject to much criticism. For me, Jesus remains a mystery which I cannot explain to myself, but he also remains an object of admiration and of love. I know him by the footprints, incomplete though they may be, that he has left on history, and also by the poetic radiance of his person, in the legends of his birth and of his death. I know him again by the profound effect that this enigmatic being has exercised over me, throughout the course of my life, and above all, since my priesthood. In order to detach myself from him I must renounce my very self, and have torn from me a large part, not only of my feelings, but of my mind, I was almost about to say my very flesh and blood. This is why I am a Christian despite the many reservations that I make, not only regarding Catholicism, but regarding Christianity itself. If I am mistaken God will come to the help of my weakness and my integrity. If Loetmol [Aimé Pallière wrote under the pen name Loetmol] is right on the subjects on which we differ, though they do not divide us, he will obtain for me a ray of the Shekinah. The gods, said the ancients, give to men only the light as they need for each day.

For me, Jesus remains a mystery which I cannot explain to myself ~

Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in the Country Contrasted with Real Christianity

While reading this book and researching a completely unrelated topic, I ran across the General Laws of the State of Minnesota that had been published in 1895.William Wilberforce wrote Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the Higher and Middle Classes in the Country Contrasted with Real Christianity in 1829. It appears that the 50 years that separated these two books saw little change in publication standards for law texts. Wilberforce, a politician familiar and apparently comfortable with writing laws, used the exact same format to write this book. Truthfully, he could have used a good editor. The style of writing detracts from the over all message of the book and a book that could have been great and timeless is made mediocre. Wilberforce's arguments are unnecessarily wordy and poorly written.

This is a worldview book. And, despite being hard to read, I found myself interested in knowing what Wilberforce believed to be true about God, the world around us, humanity, death, evil and suffering, right and wrong and human history. It gives the reader a clue into the heart of the politician, philanthropist and abolitionist.

Apparently, there were many nominal Christians -- Christians who had an inadequate view of God, an inadequate understanding of their own guilt and whose lives did not reflect God's power. I was well into the book when I concluded that this treatise could have been written by some modern day church leader. Many of the conclusions and arguments are true today; I have complained about many of the same things. So, I was amused to read this about dueling:

But, it seems hardly to have been enough noticed in what chiefly consists its essential guilt; that is is a deliberate preference of the favour of men, before the favour and approbation of God, in articulo mortis, in an instance, wherein our own life, and that of a fellow creature are at stake, and wherein we run the risk of rushing into the presence of our Maker in the very act of offending him. (page 174)

That certainly doesn't fit into my thoughts about this book being timeless! It seems there wasn't a golden age of Christianity. The problems facing the church today aren't a new; there is nothing new under the sun.

So, what motivated Wilberforce?

He had a relatively high view of man. While Wilberforce recognized man as having "fallen from his high original, degraded in his nature, and depraved of his faculties," he also states:

Examine first with attention, the natural powers and faculties of man; invention, reason, judgment, memory; a mind "of large discourse," "looking before and after," reviewing the past, thence determining for the present, and anticipating the future; discerning, collecting, combining, comparing; capable, not merely of apprehending, but of admiring the beauty of moral excellence: with fear and hope to warn and animate; with joy and sorrow to solace and soften; with love to attach, with sympathy to harmonize, with courage to attempt, with patience to endure, and with the power of conscience, that faithful monitor within the breast to enforce the conclusions of reason, and direct and regulate the passions of the soul. Truly, we must pronounce him majestic though in ruin.(page 22)

His salvation theology wouldn't have fit neatly into the grace-based, sloppy agape, say and pray and be saved salvation that is taught in many evangelical churches: 

Again we see throughout, in the system which we have been describing, a most inadequate conception of the difficulty of becoming true Christians; and an utter forgetfulness of its being the great business of our life to secure our admission into Heaven, and to prepare our hearts for its service and enjoyments. The general notion appears to be, that, if born in a country of which Christianity is the established religion, we are born Christians. We do not therefore look out for positive evidence of our really being of that number; but putting the onus probandi (if it may be so expressed) on the wrong side, we conceive ourselves such of course, except our title be disproved by positive evidence to the contrary. (page 231)

Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- and How We Can Fight It

"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: 'O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.'" (Nehemiah 1:5-7)

Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade -- and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone tells the story of modern slavery through first person accounts of horror and degradation. Oh, that we could all be like Nehemiah! Upon reading these stories, we would sit down, weep and mourn for several days. We would fast, pray and confess our corporate sins; we have not valued human life. We do not view and treat each person as the crowning glory of God's creation -- image bearers. Then we would act.

I chose this book to read during the preparation time for Pesach/Pascha/Easter. I realize that season has come and gone. I am not quite finished with my reading. I put more books on my reading list than I had time to read! I am a Christian who has traded in bunnies, bonnets and dyed eggs for a Passover Seder. During this season of preparation, I chose to focus on slavery. I cannot tell the Passover story without using the word slave. The original Passover is the story of how God heard the afflictions of the Hebrews in bondage in Egypt and miraculously their freedom. The Passover in Jerusalem is the story of how God heard the afflictions of mankind in bondage to sin and death and miraculously freed us.

The ancients understood slavery in a way I do not. Slavery is illegal and hidden. I read this book to better understand what slavery is. Although the author makes reference to several Christian individuals and groups who act as modern abolitionists, the book is mostly secular. Still, this book, more than any of the other books I read, has acted as a catalyst to thinking differently about the Passover story. In each chapter, Batstone tells the story of a slave, their owner and the person or group who is responsible for helping the slave find freedom. It is an excellent book.

As I read through this book in light of Passover, this book opened my eyes to two distinct spiritual truths.

First, the Bible teaches that like the Israelites awaiting the Passover in Egypt, we are born into slavery.

"When the matriarch of the family was asked, where she was from originally, she gave a puzzled look and replied, 'The rice mill.' She explained that her father had been pressed into labor when he was in his twenties, so she had worked in the rice mill her entire life. She raised her own children as laborers in the same mill." (page 92)

We are born into slavery and we don't know how to live as free men.

The story of the Passover in Egypt is dramatic and fully reveals the power of God. The story of the Passover in Jerusalem, the death of Christ - the Lamb of God, motivates even nominal Christians to go to church once a year to worship. The stories begin in degradation and end in praise. All of us want to be rescued. Sadly, the Christian community as a whole doesn't value "aftercare" nearly as much. International Justice Mission defines victim aftercare as, "access to material, emotional, and spiritual aid that can help them transition into new lives that they can sustain long into the future." (page 85)

I think God is smart enough to figure this out. Aftercare is what Pentacost, the giving of the Torah and the descent of the Holy Spirit is about. It was what the forty years of desert wandering provided for the Israelites; it taught them to be free. Halakhah, the rules that define our religious traditions are not legalistic. They are designed to spiritualize even the most mundane parts of our day making our life an act of worship and a daily reminder of who we are. 

The book mentions other groups involved in the modern abolitionist movement. They are listed here for those interested in learning more about what you can do to fight slavery.

• NightLight
• Hagar Shelter
• World Vision's work in Northern Uganda