Is not this a relic of astrology? Well
does Byron sing--

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven,
If in your bright beams we would read the fate
Of men and empires, 'tis to be forgiven,
That in our aspirations to be great
Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state,
And claim a kindred with you; for ye are
A beauty and a mystery, and create
In us such love and reverence from afar
That fortune, fame, power, life,
Have named themselves a star."

But this star was the most wonderful on record. It "went before"
the wise men, and "_stood over_ where the young child was." Such an
absurdity could be related and credited only by people who conceived
of the sky as a solid vault, not far distant, wherein all the heavenly
bodies were stuck. The present writer once asked an exceedingly ignorant
and simple man where he thought he would alight if he dropped from the
comet then in the sky. "Oh," said he, naming the open space nearest
his own residence, "somewhere about Finsbury Circus." That man's
astronomical notions were very imperfect, but they were quite as good
as those of the person who seriously wrote, and of the persons who
seriously believe, this fairy tale of the star which heralded the birth
of Christ.

Luke's version of the episode differs widely from Matthew's. He makes
no reference to "wise men from the East," but simply says that certain
"shepherds" of the same country, who kept watch over their flock by
night, were visited by "the angel of the Lord," and told that they would
find the Savior, Christ the Lord, just born at Bethlehem, the City of
David, "wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." Luke does
not, as is generally supposed, represent Mary as confined in a stable
because Joseph was too poor to pay for decent accommodation, but because
"there was no room for them in the inn." It is perfectly consistent with
all the Gospel references to Joseph's status to assume that he carried
on a flourishing business, and Jesus himself in later years might
doubtless have earned a good living in the concern if he had not
deliberately preferred to lead the life of a mendicant preacher. This,
however, is by the way. Our point is that Luke says nothing about the
"star" or the "wise men from the East," who had an important interview
with Herod himself; while Matthew says nothing about the "manger" or
the shepherds and their angelic visitors. Surely these discrepanc