The Three Wise Men (or Magi) and Their Tragic Role in the Gospel of Matthew

If, after all, he looked like leading a whole town astray, then Deuteronomy 13:12–18 would come into play; it has been suggested that this was why several towns refused to countenance his teaching, since to do so would court disaster for them as well as for him.

It is thoroughly believable as a first-century Jewish prophecy, based on clear passages of scripture, warning of a coming time of national distress, seen as the beginning of the great tribulation that must come upon Israel. Jesus, it appears, has woven into this story a further strand, that of the rescue of Israel from destruction by holding firm t

In the Jesus story, the Three Wise Men find Jesus in Bethlehem by following a star. The Mysteries of Adonis in ancient Antioch were celebrated by cries that the 'Star of Salvation has dawned in the East'.[52] This was the Morning Star, which is actually the planet Venus.

There was quite a dispute in early Christianity about whether the birth of Christ was 25 December or 6 January. Was this because no one could remember? Or could it be simply because early Christians were unsure whether to synchronize it with the birth of Mithras or with the birth of Aion, both of whom were different representations of the perennial

The underlying reason is that the wrong questions have been asked, by “liberals” and “radicals,” by “conservatives” and “orthodox” alike. Questions have been asked of the gospels that they were not written to answer; and the questions the gospels were addressing—questions as much political as theological—have been ignored. It is time for a fresh lo