Barthel P., van Kooten G. (eds.) The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and Modern Astronomy

Brill, 2015. — 695 p.This book is the fruit of the first ever interdisciplinary international scientific conference on Matthew's story of the Star of Bethlehem and the Magi, held in 2014 at the University of Groningen, and attended by world-leading specialists in all relevant fields: modern astronomy, the ancient near-eastern and Greco-Roman worlds, the history of science, and religion. The scholarly discussions and the exchange of the interdisciplinary views proved to be immensely fruitful and resulted in the present book. Its twenty chapters describe the various aspects of The Star: the history of its interpretation, ancient near-eastern astronomy and astrology and the Magi, astrology in the Greco-Roman and the Jewish worlds, and the early Christian world – at a generally accessible level. An epilogue summarizes the fact-fiction balance of the most famous star which has ever shone.Prologue, Peter Barthel and George van Kooten.
Kepler’s De Vero Anno (1614), Owen Gingerich.
The Historical Basis for the Star of Bethlehem, Michael R. Molnar.
A Critical Look at the History of Interpreting the Star of Bethlehem in Scientific Literature and Biblical Studies, Aaron Adair.
An Astronomical and Historical Evaluation of Molnar’s Solution, Bradley E. Schaefer.
Astronomical Thoughts on the Star of Bethlehem, David W. Hughes.
De Ster der Wijzen (1920): A Forgotten Early Publication About the Star of Bethlehem, Teije de Jong.
What, If Anything?, Peter Barthel.
The Astronomical Resources for Ancient Astral Prognostications, Alexander Jones.
Mesopotamian Astrological Geography, John M. Steele.
The Story of the Magi in the Light of Alexander the Great's Encounters with Chaldeans, Mathieu Ossendrijver.
Pre-Islamic Iranian Astral Mythology, Astrology, and the Star of Bethlehem, Antonio Panaino.
Matthew’s Magi as Experts on Kingship, Albert de Jong.
Greco-Roman Astrologers, the Magi, and Mithraism, Roger Beck.
The Star of Bethlehem and Greco-Roman Astrology, Especially Astrological Geography, Stephan Heilen.
The World Leader from the Land of the Jews: Josephus, Jewish War 6.300–315; Tacitus, Histories 5.13; and Suetonius, Vespasian 4.5, Jan Willem van Henten.
Stars and Powers: Astrological Thinking in Imperial Politics from the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba, Kocku von Stuckrad.
Balaam’s ‘Star Oracle’ (Num 24:15–19) in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Bar Kokhba, Helen R. Jacobus.
The Star of the Magi and the Prophecy of Balaam in Earliest Christianity, with Special Attention to the Lost Books of Balaam, Darrell Hannah.
Matthew’s Star, Luke’s Census, Bethlehem, and the Quest for the Historical Jesus, Annette Merz.
Matthew, the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of Matthew’s Gospel in Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries BCE and CE, George van Kooten.
Epilogue, Peter Barthel and George van Kooten.