‘Jesus was a June baby’
Published 09 December, 2008, 12:13
Edited 21 November, 2009, 15:24
Forget December 25 or January 7, Jesus Christ’s real birthday is June 17, says an Australian astronomer. He bases his claims on research into how the night sky looked over the Holy Land 20 centuries ago.
According to Dave Reneke, who is news editor of Sky and Space magazine, the ‘Christmas star’ that led the three wise men to a stable in Bethlehem was most likely a conjunction of planets Venus and Jupiter.
Together they formed a bright single ‘beacon of light’ suddenly appearing in the sky. Previous theories speculated that the celestial phenomenon mentioned in the Gospels was a supernova or even a comet.
“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,” he told the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Reneke used astronomy computer software to trace the movement of planets back 20 centuries. And it revealed the exact date of Christ’s birth as June 17 in the year 2BC.
“December is an arbitrary date we have accepted but it doesn't really mean that is when it happened,” the astronomer explained.
He added: “This is not an attempt to decry religion. It's really backing it up as it shows there really was a bright object appearing in the East at the right time.”
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