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PAGE 2-B—THE BULLETIN, December 26, 1959
WHEN WAS CHRIST BORN?
By
Florence Wedge
While there is universal
agreement that Christ was born
in Bethlehem on the occasion of
a census that had brought Mary
and Joseph there, the actual
date of the Saviour’s nativity
has long been a topic for argu
ment and research by scholars
and historians.
No one knows when Christ
was born. It is generally admit
ted by now that the traditional
date, A.U.C. 753 (Anno Urbis
Conditae 753 — the 753rd year
from the founding of the city
of Rome) is too late by a few
years, St. Matthew states in his
Gospel that Jesus was born in
the days of King Herod; and
Herod died in A.U.C. 750. More
over, between the birth of the
Christ Child and the death of
the ambitious Herod, there must
have been time for the coming
of the Magi, the exile of the
Holy Family into Egypt, and
the slaughter of the Holy In
nocents.
A TIME OF PEACE
There is a record of a remark
able conjunction of two planets
in the year A.U.C. 747, which
to some annalists is all the ex
planation they need for the so-
called Star of Bethlehem, which
directed the Magi from the Ori
ent to Palestine. Thus, it is con
jectured by some that Our Lord
was born at some time between
the middle of A.U.C. 747 and
the end of A.U.C. 749 (between
7 B.C. and 5 B.C.).
This date seems to agree with
a venerable tradition which
holds that the Child Jesus was
born at a time of general peace,
when the door of the temple of
Janus was closed. Such an
event took place in A.U.C. 746,
and the gate of the chief god in
the Roman pantheon remained
closed for a number of years.
As for the precise month,’
there is none in the year which
Merry Christmas
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has not been assigned, at some
time or other, as that in which
the Saviour was born. Clement
of Alexandria (about the. year
200 A.D.) named five dates, in
cluding May 20 and April 21,
to which certain Egyptian the
ologians assigned the Nativity.
HOLY FEAST VS. PROFANE
It took the Christian Church
more than 300 years to settle
on a date for Christmas. Theo-
philus of Antioch wrote toward
the end of the second century
that the Gauls were observing
the anniversary of the birth of.
Christ on December 25. This
preference spread probably be
cause December 25 was the
winter solstice and a Roman
feastday, the Birthday of the
Unconquered Sun, when the
sun having reached its lowest
point began again to rise with
renewed strength and splendor.
Between 310 and 320 A.D., the
Church at Rome fixed Decem
ber 25 permanently as the date
for the Christian observance of
Christmas.
At that time, December 25
was “sandwiched” between two
important heathen festivals, the
Saturnalia in honor of the god
Saturn, and the Kalends of Jan
uary, which closed the old year
and ushered in the new with
unbridled revelry and carnival.
The Christian Church recogniz
ed the need for an entirely dif
ferent feast around which the
faithful might rally. In this con
nection St. John Chrysostom
wrote: “On this day also, the
Birthday of Christ was lately
fixed at Rome in order that
while the heathens were busy
with their profane ceremonies,
the Christians might perform
their sacred rites undisturbed.”
Broadminded is the man who
is able to overcome a prejudice.
It takes a man with unusual
ability to make the usual un
usual.
By Elio Gasperlti
Elio Gasperetti is at present
Education Advisor at Walter
Reed Hospital in Washington.
He has taught history at St.
Basil’s Ukrainian Catholic Semi
nary, Stamford, Conn, and at
K i n g ’ s College, Wilkes Barre,
Pa. He has written for various
publications and he revised and
enlarged the Holy Year edition
of John Farrow’s “Pageant of
the Popes."
A few years ago, the late A.
Powell Davies revealed to the
world that the story of the
Magi dates only from the fourth
century and was not originally
in the Gospel.
This is an old chestnut, to be
classed with similar unscienti
fic statements of Mr. Davies on
the Dead Sea Scrolls and the
Ten Commandments. That the
Magi story is older than the
fourth century is amply proven
by its depiction in a second cen
tury fresco in the Catacombs
of Priscilla, and by St. Iranaeus
(died 212), who tells of the
“Magi, who dwelt in the East,”,
in a close paraphrase of the
Gospel.
HOW MANY WISE MEN?
It is true, however, that the
story of the Wise Men has be
come surrounded with legend.
We can accept as history only
what the Gospel says. Even fill
ing in the historical back
ground is just plausible guess
work.
Judging from the word “Magi”
itself ,they may have been mem
bers of an ancient caste
of Zoroastrain sun-worshiper
priests, but, at the time of the
Epiphany, the term had be
come also a generic one for
“learned men.”
There is no evidence the Wise
Men were kings, nor three in
number. Kingship is first claim
ed for them well in the Middle
Ages, and is probably based
on the Psalmist’s words “The
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kings of Tharsis and the Isles
shall offer gifts; the kings of
Arabia and Saba shall bring
tribute.” As for the number of
Magi, paintings in the catacombs
show them in any number from
two toj: eight, while Eastern
Christians picture as many as
12. The number three became
popular' in the West, probably
because of three gifts.
Both Persia and Southern
Arabia (also known as Saba,
or Sheba) have been claimed
as the Magi’s place of origin—■
the former on the assumption
they were of the Magi priest
hood, the latter on the supposi
tion they are referred to in the
words of Isaiah” ... all they
from Saba shall come, bringing
gold and frankincense, and
showing forth praise to the
Lord.” But the Wise Men may
have been “Magi” only in the
wider sense, while, on the other
hand, Saba could be identified
with Savah, in Persia, where
Marco Polo found alleged re
mains of the Magi.
The words of the Psalm and
of Isaiah, both quoted above
are found in the Epiphany Muss, ’
but that does not justify any
historical conclusions. The
Church chooses apt verses for
her liturgies but does not al
ways intend them to apply
literally.
The Christmas Star has been
a subject of dispute. To the
question “Was there a Christ
mas Star?” the authorities of
New York’s Planetarium answer
categorically “yes,” but will not
commit themselves to any sin
gle explanation. The natural
cause theories are varied. The
best is that’it was a conjunction
of the planets Jupiter, Saturn
and Venus within the constella
tion Pisces. Scientific calcula
tions prove this actually hap
pened in 6 B. C., which is well
within the date range (8-5 B.C.)
favored for Our Lord’s birth.
THE MAGI'S JOURNEY
God can, and does, use nat
ural phenomena for His de
signs, and He may have done
so here. But the supernatural
explanation cannot be ruled
out, either. The rest of the
world, even the rest of Portugal,
did not see the miraculous
changes that took place in the
sun at Fatima in 1917, nor can
they be confirmed by astrono
mers. Yet anticlerical news
papers, which would have been
glad to deny the phenomenon,
were forced to acknowledge it.
Similarly, a miraculous Christ
mas Star cannot be ruled im
possible just because astrono
mers cannot find it in their cal
culations.
The motivation behind the
Magi’s journey is easily under
stood upon consideration of the
historical setting. It was an age
when celestial occurances were
almost universally accepted as
omens of earthly events. Fur
thermore, Suetonius tells us
“there was spread all over the
Orient an old established be
lief, that it was fated at that
time for men coming from Judea
to rule the world,” a belief
mentioned also by Tacitus,
another first century Roman his
torian. Even the pagan world
was filled with expectation and
longing.
In an age when everyone
talked religion, the Magi would
be apt to hear of and discuss
the Messiah amidst colonies of
“dispersed” Jews, be it in Per
sia or Arabia. In the Gospel,
the Magi’s first words are
“Where is he that is born King
of the Jews? For we have seen
his star in the East ...”
Could the Jews have convinced
them they had seen that of
which it was foretold by the
prophet Balaam, “A star shall
advance from Jacob ...” Bar
ring a special divine revelation,
this is a possibility.
The stage was therefore set
for the drama of the Magi.
To say the least, it is doubt
ful the Magi reached Bethlehem
12 days after Our Lord’s birth.
The dates assigned to Christmas
and Epiphany by the Church
are again not intended as his
torical. Caravan travel to Jeru
salem from either Persia or
Arabia, took the better part of
. a year, not counting the lengthy
beforehand preparations. Not
for nothing did Herod order
the killing of all male children
two years or under. Our Lord
was probably over a year old
then. It is also likely He was no
longer in a stable.
The rest is well known, from
Herod’s. two-faced instructions
to the Magi after the Sanhed
rin’s scriptural identification of
the Messiah’s birthplace direct
ed them to Bethlehem, to the
Magi’s homeward journey by
another route and the frustrated
Herod’s slaughter of the Inno
cents (which is recorded also
by the fourth century pagan
writer Marcrobius).
LEGENDS BEGIN
The mysterious travelers dis
appear from history. But the
Gospel narrative was too bald
and unvarnished to suit the
story-telling Middle Ages.
Folklore took over, and turn
ed the Magi into subsequent
Christian converts (which is
possible) and even into saints
(but never officially). Unnum
bered, untitled, nameless, age
less, country-less, they became
three kings with names, ages
and countries.
In the East, they were more
than three, and we cannot re
peat the variety of tongue-
twisting names they bore in
Armenia, Greece, Palestine or
Syria. But the names widely ac
cepted in the West are Caspar
(or Gasper), Balthassar and
Melchior. There was one old, .
one middle-aged and one young
king.
They were turned into repre
sentatives of the supposed de
scendants of Noah’s sons—the
Semites (at least the non-
Jewish ones), the non-Semitic
White peoples and the Negroes.
Their kingdoms varied, and, to
day, Arabia, Ethiopia, Iraq,
Iran, Somaliland, Sudan and
Yemen can all claim one of the
three Wise Men ag a former
ruler.
In modern times, the king
doms extended ever outwards.
In the 19th century, the author
of Ben Hur made Balthassar an
Egyptian, Gasper a Greek and
Melchior an East Indian. It is
increasingly common nowadays
to see Kings of three races—
one black, one white, one yel
low. In Massie’s Mills, Virginia,
a recent Negro school play pro
duction even altered the names
to fit the Kingdoms. Gasper be
came the Ethiopian Khasabah,
Balthassar became the Chal
dean Bel-Shazar and Melchior
became the Chinese Mei Kyo.
Are these legends, ancient
and modern, something to scoff
at? By no means. The legend-
makers knew what they were
doing. It was higher truths they
sought.
A Christmas “Crib” today in
corporates the legends. Consider
what is seen there.
There is a poor carpenter’s
family, with a housing problem.
There are roughly clad shep
herds kneeling next to gorgeous
ly dressed astrortomer-kings.
There are those who work with
the body and those who work
with the mind. There are the
rich and the poor, the young
and the old. There is the White
and the Negro and, often now,
the Oriental. There is Jew and
Gentile. There is a medley of
nations.
No one there is envious of
the other or ashamed of what
he himself is. No one feels un
wanted, nor does anyone think
the other is not good enough
to be near him. Side by side
they are, and in their midst is
God-made-man, who receives
them all equally.
Some may say humility, com
passion, dedication, interracial
and international brotherhood,
love, friendship, faith, worship
do not need legends. True, but
the Magi folktales, like the para
bles of our Lord, make those
Christian teachings concrete.
Therein lies the glory—and the
truth—of the legend of the Wise
Men.
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