Wait a little while, just under the star! Then if a child comes to you, and if he laughs, if he has golden hair, you’ll know who he is.
St. Exubery’s “The Little Prince”
During part of my 1992 sabbatical in India, I had the great privilege of sharing food and living quarters with “Saint Thomas” monks. These Christians trace their lineage back to the Apostle Thomas, who allegedly came to Southwest India and converted, without any interference from Hindus, large numbers of Indians. Until the Portuguese forced their priests to swear allegiance to Rome at the point of their swords, these good Christians reported to a patriarch in Syria.
As early as the Second Century, a Syrian Christian penned a remarkable work entitled “The Revelation of the Magi.” The text relates that the Apostle Thomas visited the Wise Men in their home country of Shir, “located in the extreme east of the world, at the shore of the Great Ocean.”
A further reference to Shir “as a place where silk comes from,” leads us to believe that the Wise Men’s country was China. The New Testament Greek “magoi” is literally translated as “magicians,” but “The Revelation” renders it as “those who pray in silence.” Buddhist and Daoist monks meditated in silence, and Syrian Christian monks prayed in silence as a means to induce ecstasy.
Medieval Text: 12 Kings Came to Bethlehem
“The Revelation” was well known and honored by Medieval Christians. The great theologian Thomas Aquinas cited its authority in “Summa Theologica,” and dozens of artists depicted details from the text in their paintings of the sage kings.
The Gospel of Matthew leaves the number unspecified, but “The Revelation” states that there were 12 Chinese kings. Matthew does not make the Magi royalty, but in “The Revelation” they lay down their crowns when they bow to the Christ Child.
In the “The Revelation” Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, predicted that “a star of indescribable brightness will someday appear, heralding the birth of God in human form.” Seth also relates that the star stood over the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, but it disappeared when his parents ate of the Tree of Knowledge. One of the Magi has a vision of a redemptive lamb hanging on the Tree of Life (=Cross).
Star Child Guides Kings from China
In China a Star Child appeared to the Magi in a mountain cave, and he told them that he was to be born in a far away land. Hinting that there was more than just Old Testament prophecy, the child declares that he will “fulfill everything that was spoken about me in the entire world and in every land.”
The Magi set out on their long journey and the Star Child protected them from danger and miraculously restored their provisions. When the Magi arrived in Bethlehem, the star appeared as the Christ Child in a cave near the house of Mary and Joseph. The early Church preserved a tradition that Jesus was born in a cave, not a stable.
Much ink has been spilled about the Star of Bethlehem as an actual celestial event. Was it a supernova or was it a conjunction of planets? The latter lasts only as long as the planets converge in our perception.
Star Dust Links All Children to Sacred
A supernova would move as the stars do, slowly through the cycle of the heavens, not offering much specific direction. Furthermore, no heavenly body stops suddenly and remains over a specific place. We are obviously talking about myth not astronomical events.
According to modern cosmology, we are all made of star dust, so we are all star children. In this season let us adore all children, for as Unitarian Sophia Fahs says, “Every night a child is born is a holy night.”
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
Nick Gier lives in Moscow, Idaho. He holds a doctorate in philosophical theology from the Claremont Graduate University. His major professors were James M. Robinson, New Testament scholar and editor of the Gnostic Gospels, and John B. Cobb, the world’s foremost process theologian. He taught in the philosophy department at the University of Idaho for 31 years. He was coordinator of religious studies from 1980-2003. He has written five books and over 70 articles and book chapters. Read his articles on religion at nfgier.com/religion. He's enjoyed two sabbaticals and one research leave in India for a total of 22 months in that country. He can be reached at ngier006@gmail.com.
Thanks,Nick, for this illuminating account of a wondrous tradition and for offering a humanistic interpretation.
Paul Graves
4 months ago
Thanks, Nick, for taking me behind the Christmas curtain. I learned there’s more to the biblical narrative than I thought there was.
Peace,
Paul
Janet Marugg
4 months ago
I was just writing about the science of our stardust atomic connectedness as an exploration into our innate human empathy. The universe is a closed system and we share atoms breathed by everybody who has ever lived (not always a pleasant thought) and who is living. Harm others, harm yourself. (I don’t have it all worked out yet).
Confession: I’m skeptical of a single 2nd century account (I’m hyper-skeptical) and reluctant to accept it as reliable historical authority but it’s not automatically excluded either. Best thing for me is the 2nd century bridge of East and West without pulling out the universal ethical standard of the golden rule. Not that anything’s wrong with the golden rule bridge, I just love a good alternate route. Nicely done.
More East meets West, please! I can hardly get enough common ground these days.
Yvanna
4 months ago
If these 12 came from China, they could not be “kings” in any sense other than sacerdotal. The Warring States period had already ended over 2 centuries before that time and no Chinese king ever existed under the Emperor. It was an absolute monarchy. If these Magoi were kings, they would have to be more on the level of “Magister Templi” (Temple Masters) as high-ranking Magians would often be called today. If together in a cave, this version of “king” would be far more reasonable. They would not have worn mianguan as that would have been reserved for the Emperor. But Daoist garb may have had something comparable to daopao, though the form we know today dates from the Ming period, far too late for Matthew’s narrative when the Han ruled. It was the Han who extended the Lapis Road to become the Silk Road. The Lapis Road was so called because lapis lazuli was mined entirely in the Hindu Kush where our best lapis comes today. It was traded as far west as Egypt and Ionia. It’s even mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh as “precious”.
Daoists have long had their mystics, even alchemists comparable to the Achemaenid Magoi of which Herodotus wrote. The idea of there being 12 and not 3 Magoi is reasonable when one considers that, in the Subcontinent the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were considered proper gifts to give to a holy man. Indic peoples had long held a brisk trade with the Hadramaut kingdom where the best frankincence and myrrh have been produced– as it is so today. Omani frankincense burns cleaner and longer lasting than varieties from Somalia. But the star? None of the claims that it was an astronomical event were ever convincing to me, for those who dealt with astrology as every Magus did, would have understood well how conjunctions work and that ultra-close conjunctions never last long and don’t move like the star did. Neither do supernovae move around like Matthew describes. In my opinion, this had to have been an angeliic manifestation.
Thanks,Nick, for this illuminating account of a wondrous tradition and for offering a humanistic interpretation.
Thanks, Nick, for taking me behind the Christmas curtain. I learned there’s more to the biblical narrative than I thought there was.
Peace,
Paul
I was just writing about the science of our stardust atomic connectedness as an exploration into our innate human empathy. The universe is a closed system and we share atoms breathed by everybody who has ever lived (not always a pleasant thought) and who is living. Harm others, harm yourself. (I don’t have it all worked out yet).
Confession: I’m skeptical of a single 2nd century account (I’m hyper-skeptical) and reluctant to accept it as reliable historical authority but it’s not automatically excluded either. Best thing for me is the 2nd century bridge of East and West without pulling out the universal ethical standard of the golden rule. Not that anything’s wrong with the golden rule bridge, I just love a good alternate route. Nicely done.
More East meets West, please! I can hardly get enough common ground these days.
If these 12 came from China, they could not be “kings” in any sense other than sacerdotal. The Warring States period had already ended over 2 centuries before that time and no Chinese king ever existed under the Emperor. It was an absolute monarchy. If these Magoi were kings, they would have to be more on the level of “Magister Templi” (Temple Masters) as high-ranking Magians would often be called today. If together in a cave, this version of “king” would be far more reasonable. They would not have worn mianguan as that would have been reserved for the Emperor. But Daoist garb may have had something comparable to daopao, though the form we know today dates from the Ming period, far too late for Matthew’s narrative when the Han ruled. It was the Han who extended the Lapis Road to become the Silk Road. The Lapis Road was so called because lapis lazuli was mined entirely in the Hindu Kush where our best lapis comes today. It was traded as far west as Egypt and Ionia. It’s even mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh as “precious”.
Daoists have long had their mystics, even alchemists comparable to the Achemaenid Magoi of which Herodotus wrote. The idea of there being 12 and not 3 Magoi is reasonable when one considers that, in the Subcontinent the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were considered proper gifts to give to a holy man. Indic peoples had long held a brisk trade with the Hadramaut kingdom where the best frankincence and myrrh have been produced– as it is so today. Omani frankincense burns cleaner and longer lasting than varieties from Somalia. But the star? None of the claims that it was an astronomical event were ever convincing to me, for those who dealt with astrology as every Magus did, would have understood well how conjunctions work and that ultra-close conjunctions never last long and don’t move like the star did. Neither do supernovae move around like Matthew describes. In my opinion, this had to have been an angeliic manifestation.