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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 THOMAS H. BRITTINGHAM & COMPANY PLUMBING, HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING CONTRACTOR 919 Twelfth Street Augusta, Georgia 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 Borden’s Sancken Dairy Augusta, Georgia MILK ICE CREAM REMEMBER: 'IF IT'S BORDEN'S, IT'S GOT TO BE GOOD!' hfjerrif (Christmas “Ready to Serve” ASK YOUR GROCER for FAMOUS GEORGIA HASH Our Best Wishes To You ... Friendly Service At All Times PERSONAL CHECKS: No minimum balance is required for you to enjoy the convenience of our joint or individual checking account- 10 CHECKS FOR $1.00 North Augusta Banking Company Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation NORTH AUGUSTA, S. C. 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. N tknu4tLs ^tdJ* iti* ^vl} MERRY CHRISTMAS SUNNY ISLES, INC. 72 11TH ST,. N. E. TR. 4-5686 ATLANTA, GA. AUGUSTA GEORGIA POWER COMPANY AUGUSTA, GEORGIA