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V2 1999 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 02, Number 38, September 19, 1999, Article 5

STAR OF BETHLEHEM COMMENTS

Regarding Mike Molnar's book on a numismatic connection to the mystery of the Star of Bethlehem, Granvyl G. Hulse, Jr., writes:

"Scientists may not have had success, but any high school with a first rate planetarium can reproduce it. Ask one to program the conjunction of three planets (I think that they were Mars, Venus, and Saturn, but I can't remember) lined up one behind the other over Bethlehem. This occurs every 700 years if I recall. Programs nicely to 3 or 4 BC, to the day and month. Explains why the "Star" lasted very briefly. They did it for my son and I at the high school in Herndon, Virginia, back before we went off to Ethiopia in 1973."

Mike Molnar notes:

"As an astronomer I also thought that this planetary conjunction was the answer until I saw the coins of Antioch. They showed me that my colleagues were not only looking in the wrong part of the sky, but that they also did not know what signified a king's birth during ancient times. Those splendid planetarium programs show conjunctions, not omens. And I had to do a lot of research to understand the difference. I thank Ray Williams for his kind words about my book. If anyone is interested in learning how an ancient coin revealed the clue to understanding the Star of Bethlehem, see my web page, which also has information about the book:"

http://www.eclipse.net/~molnar/

Wayne Homren, Editor



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