The Great Christ Comet
The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem
By: Colin R. Nicholl
“The Bethlehem star is, without doubt, the most famous and celebrated astronomical entity in history. No other celestial object captures the attention of the world like it.”
The star that led the Magi to worship Jesus.
How did it happen? Can it be explained?
Before I read this book I think I would have fallen into the camp of- I guess it was just a miracle star that God put in the sky. I hadn’t really thought about it much. It wasn’t something that necessarily mattered to me.
But now that I’ve read this detailed and compelling book, I have changed my belief about the star.
Nicholl first explores all the most popular theories regarding the star: “was it a planet, a nova or supernova, a comet, a miraculous phenomenon, or something else?”
In order to investigate this, Nicholl emphasizes that it requires the interdisciplinary cooperation between both astronomy and theology.
He states:
“In this book I offer what I am convinced is the solution to the age-old mystery of the Star of Bethlehem… rooted in a careful consideration of the relevant biblical material and is, I believe, able to explain everything said about the Star in a natural and compelling way and in harmony with current astronomical knowledge.”
It must be said at the outset that Nicholl is not presenting his case as if it is a fact that can be proven but rather a pretty convincing possible explanation that can be supported in a lot of ways. This is not a salvation issue and so we are allowed freedom of conscience in this area and can disagree lovingly.
Nicholl spent a decade of his life studying and researching for this book, communicating with some of the foremost astronomers and theologians. What he puts forth is not a willy-nilly conspiracy theory but a fascinating and historical account.
I will also say at the outset that this is not a light read. It’s a beautiful book with a hard cover, glossy pages, and color pictures, but the two columned text and detailed footnotes do make it read like a textbook. Partway through I decided to stop reading the footnotes.
I hope that he puts out a more condensed version because I think a lot of people won’t give this one a chance or find it too cumbersome.
I found it really interesting but it did feel too long and repetitive in parts. Not to mention there was quite a bit of technical language or charts or sections that I was just not going to understand. I am planning to link some videos at the end of this review that he’s put out to make sure I understood what I was supposed to and to get some visuals. Even with all the pictures, it is hard to visualize the 3D reality of what he describes especially considering the different planes that earth and the comet orbited on and the spinning of the earth, etc.
The Scripture passages he draws heavily from are:
Matthew 2
Revelation 12: 1-5
Numbers 24:17
Psalm 2:8-9
Isaiah 7-12; 60: 1-6
I think my favorite chapters were ‘The Celestial Wonder’ and ‘Tracking the Comet.’ The former talks about some astronomical things that are pretty amazing in conjunction with the Revelation passage. The latter helps understand the possible course of the comet and the timing of the Magi’s travels and visit to Jesus which is the relevant ‘Nativity’ aspect that many theories differ on.
I’m obviously not the best person to try to summarize this book but based on my amateur reading, here are a few of the main things I gathered from the book that I felt were significant.
The questions that must be asked are: what made this star so special or unique that it would have gotten the Magi’s attention and triggered them to travel hundreds of miles to worship a baby? And what would have happened to cause Herod to be so worried about Jesus and to take the Magi’s visit so seriously if he hadn’t also seen what the Magi saw and knew it to be significant?
Nicholl proposes that this long-period comet (aka unlike Halley’s comet that visits every 75 years) would have likely been visible for over a year (which is similar to the Halle-Bopp comet which was visible for 18 months.)
The Magi would have seen the comet appear “at its rising” (appearing after being obscured from the sun— it rises in the east in conjunction with the sun and is at it’s most productive, brightest, largest point) and been keeping an eye on it.
Thus, they would have seen it on the move throughout the constellations. Based on the time of year and a bunch of astronoical data, the comet would have been coming toward earth in the ‘womb’ of the constellation Virgo (the virgin).
This is where the Revelation passage comes into play. Nicholl poses that these verses are highlighting the “celestial drama” that was playing out in the sky as it was on earth— the virgin (Virgo) giving birth to a king (the comet). The path of the comet would have been getting closer, larger, and brighter, appearing to descend out the womb as if being birthed.
[Sidenote: I thought it was weird how he kept taking about the vaginal opening as if it was such an obvious point in the constellation. Some of his description of this phenomenon was possibly too detailed, but I understood what he was getting at]
Also part of this celestial play is the constellation Hydra which is right next to Virgo. Based on the Revelation passage, Hydra is the part of Satan waiting to ‘devour’ the child and ‘sending a third of the stars to earth)— a meteor storm.
All of this would truly be a sight to behold and a hard sign to miss!
Even though astrology as a belief system is a myth, it’s cool that God would have put these signs in the heavens (from Creation) to play out in a way that the people would have understood and interpreted as a sign ushering in the Messiah.
The Magi, most likely aware of the prophecies and having gained insight from the local Jewish community, would have helped them to interpret the celestial happenings as significant and the precursor to Jesus’ birth. Their gifts of gold and frankincense (Isaiah 60) and myrrh (Isaiah 53) “imply that by the time they arrived in Judea, they believed that the one whom they were going to see was royal and divine, and yet was destined to be killed and buried.”
They would not have waited long to travel. Their journey would have taken about 30ish days. And so they would have most likely seen a 1-2 month old baby Jesus.
Herod would have been worried because the brightness and activity of the comet would have been seen by Herod and all of Jerusalem and in those times comets were often bad omens to kings of their death or loss of power. When the Magi came to him it was confirming his worst fears. But because he ascertained the time from the Magi of when they first saw the star (which could have been over a year) Herod then planned to kill babies 2 and under based on the potentiality that the child was born when the star first appeared.
As I was reading this book it became very apparent how little I actually knew about space stuff. I started to question if even knew what a comet was.
Fear not, he goes into much detail about what a comet is (an icy dirtball) and the various characteristics and measurements of comets. How when a comet comes into contact with the sun, the sun burns the gases of the comet’s head (the coma) causing its brightness and creating the ‘tail’ of the comet (which is always on the opposite side of the sun no matter which direction the comet is going).
Based on our knowledge of astronomy, most of the other theories of the star can be ruled out because either they don’t match up with Matthew’s account and timing of Jesus’ birth, or because they can’t do what this star did— like move from the eastern to the southern sky in a matter of a couple months or appear suddenly and for a long period of time
I’m sure my brief summary has brought up questions or doubts from you, which is natural. But if it interests you, check out the book and you’ll see everything that he studied to come to these conclusions.
And if Nicholl’s conclusion is actually how it happened, it definitely even surpasses the idea of a ‘miracle’ star that God just randomly put in the sky. God’s sovereignty and power is clearly at display in this book and it reminds me how small I am and how big God is.
Another reason why this matters is because, as Collin states in one of the videos, “it underlines the historical reliability of the Gospel because no one could have invented such an unusual star.” Scripture tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God and in one of the most important times of history— God coming to earth, our Savior King— the heavens did pour forth speech in a spectacular way. It’s more evidence to support the reliability and historicity of Scripture.
Did I fully comprehend everything I read? No. The glossary in the back was helpful and I am very aware of what heliacal means, but there is much I’m sure I didn’t grasp. Can I prove anything he wrote wrong? Also no.
I can’t think of a good reason why he would go through all the work and effort and years of studying and writing this book if he knew he couldn’t intelligently defend it. Unless he’s insane. And based on its promotion by many other scholars in both theology and astronomy and my own take having read the book and watched videos of him presenting— he is not insane.
If someone puts forth compelling evidence to contradict his conclusions, I will listen and think about it, but until then I will not let my lack of astronomical knowledge and reactionary disbelief/surprise keep me from believing him.
I find this book compelling and trustworthy, yet I also know we will never on this side of heaven exactly what happened so there will always be an aspect of speculation. And that’s okay.
This book brings new life and perspective to the Nativity story that we’re all so familiar with. I would recommend this book if you’re interested in learning more about that. If you’re too intimidated by the length or technicality, keep an eye out for a condensed version or at least watch the videos because I think you’ll find them really interesting to think about!
Some Video Clips
HERE is a clip of him presenting a good chunk of his material at Summit Church. He begins speaking a few minutes in and at about 40ish minutes is his description of the celestial drama.
HERE is another clip from (the 1:30-3:20 minute segment) that time.
HERE is a different YouTube video interview.
HERE is another YouTube video.
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