Wise Men HeaderThe Theories.

By Rev. Phil Greetham. © Copyright 1996. This Version, 2012.


8: Meteors
Meteors are pieces of rock and iron floating around in space and happen to fall through the Earth's atmosphere. They are heated up to tremendous temperatures by friction and appear as streaks of light across the sky. It can take several seconds for a meteor to cross the sky and sometimes leaves a glowing trail. The brightness depends on the size of the rock, its speed and what it is made of. If any part of the rock survives and hits the eath it is called a Meteorite. In this theory the Magi see one of these initially while they are observing at home, and again as they approach Bethlehem around 2 year later.
For:
Lone bright meteors are to all intents and purposes random and can occur at any time so timing and repeatability are not a problem. Of course it requires a massive co-incidence but that isn't really a problem either because the whole account of the life of Jesus requires unusual things happening at the right time. In terms of direction, meteors can appear from any direction, so as long as they appeared in accordance with the account given in scripture it would not be a problem. Such events are easily observable and have been noted before.
Against
The theory seems to rest heavilty on the neccesity of the 'star' moving but as we have seen that is not really a problem. In any case a meteor cannot be said to 'stop over' a particular building, but I suppose it could burn out at a certain point. The Bible also indicates that the star 'rose' which would be an unusual way of describing the appearance of a meteor. Theologically the Bible mentions only a star rising - not a star moving so a meteor doesn't really fit.
Criteria
Timing - No problem
Repeatability - No problem albeit a huge coincidence.
Direction - No a problem except that 'rising' is an unlikely description .
Theology - Rather weak
Historic/Scientific credibility - Not a problem
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