The Star of Bethlehem

Wingnut and I watched part of an intriguing show on EWTN last week called The Star of Bethlehem.  While visiting the National Shrine on Wednesday, I happened to find the DVD of this program and bought it.  We watched it in its entirety last evening, and it was, indeed, very compelling.

I'm sure most of us have been to planetarium shows and have seen their Christmas programs about the Star, but those are shown through the eyes of secular, although professional, astronomers.  The creator of this particular program is not an astronomer, but an inquisitive, Christian lawyer, who has learned a lot about astronomy and ancient history on his search for the Star of the Messiah.  His presentation is given through the eyes of a believer searching for the historical truths regarding the Messiah. As a bonus, the program includes some stunning astronomical information on the day of Christ's crucifixion. He does a fine job of describing his quest and lays out his findings in a thorough, interesting, and easily understandable manner. He draws extensively from scripture, ancient historical texts, and modern tools available to astronomers.

Our family enjoyed the DVD and will most likely make it a part of our Christmas and Epiphany tradition.  As far as understanding the science and meaning of the findings, I can recommend this video for junior high students and up, but our 9 year old was able to understand quite a bit as well.  You might check programming schedules on EWTN to see if they might offer the program through Epiphany.  There is also a website, run by the creator of the program, where there is more amazing information and the DVD is available for purchase.