Reply to : Chris Marriott

>> Haven't you missed out by far the most likely explanation - that

the entire "three wise men and the star" thing was added a couple of
centuries later to "spice up the story" and is purely fictitious? After
all, it's only mentioned in one of the Gospels - if it really did happen,
why don't the others mention it?
Regards,
Chris <<

Matthew's gospel is attested to in the early to mid 2nd. century, and
is widely believed by scholars (on the basis of the text) to have been
written around AD 70-90, so 'a couple of centuries later' is way off. The
connection with 'wise men' and the birth of Jesus may be fictitious, but
may also be based on a real event (just as Luke's census really took place
in AD 6, even though that was long after the death of Herod the Great, and
would not have required travel to Bethlehem)

Richard.


E-mail from: Richard Mallett, 08-Apr-2001