y to the quack system of astrology, which was only a device to
induce the heavenly bodies to minister to the importance and conceit of
man.

The accepted Scriptures tell us that the birth of the Savior of mankind
was heralded by the appearance of a remarkable star in the sky. Taking
this assertion to be true, it might be a matter of some interest to
consider what explanations have been made of this phenomenon. A large
majority of religious teachers, we admit, even to the present day, have
attempted no explanation whatever, but have settled the subject by
calling the star a miraculous appearance, concerning whose true nature
we can know nothing. But two solutions of the phenomenon have been given
by well-known astronomers, either of which, if accepted, will place the
miracle in the list of purely natural occurrences.

Kepler held that the Star of Bethlehem was simply a conjunction of the
planets. Astronomy, which, more fortunate than history, can bring
unimpeachable witnesses to its record of past events, assures us that
there was a remarkable conjunction, or rather three conjunctions of the
planets Jupiter and Saturn, in the year of Rome 747, or seven years
before the Christian era. It is now generally admitted that Christ was
probably born at least four years before the date fixed upon as the
first "year of our Lord," and remembering how much uncertainty hangs
about this date we might consider ourselves fully justified in placing
it, as Kepler did, in the year 7 B.C. This being granted, let us see how
the occurrence of the conjunctions in this year explains the miracle of
the "Star."

In the first place, note that the Magi, or Wise Men, of the East
(presumably the country of Chaldea) were the first to call attention to
the star as indicating the birth of the "King of the Jews." The
Chaldeans were devoted to astrology, and it is only reasonable to infer
that whatever remarkable appearance they saw in the sky, they would
endeavor to explain it by their astrological laws. On the 29th of May, 7
B.C., a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred, in the 20th degree
of the constellation Pisces, close to the first point of Aries; on the
29th of September of the same year, another conjunction of these planets
took place, in the 16th degree of Pisces; and on the 5th of December, a
third, in the 15th degree of the same sign. (These are not conjectures
or inferences, but known astronomical facts.) If we suppose that the
Magi,