Re: The wise men and their star

George Murphy wrote:

>The Persian word from which the Greek ?magos/ is derived is the root
of the
English words "magic" & "magician." I note that there is a German word
/Magie/ for "magic" but I had thought that /Zauberei/ was more frequent. Of
course you would know better than I about common usage.<

 The Langenscheidt dictionary has (apart from the derived words):
"Magie: (black, white) magic ... Zauberei: 1. magic; 2. (Hexerei)
sorcery, witchcraft; 3. (Zaubertricks) conjuring, sleight-of-hand."
Because (officially) nobody beliefs in magic anymore, both terms and
their derivatives (like zauberhaft...) are also used in secondary,
morally/religiously more or less neutral and positive ways to designate
some superlative, e.g. of a performance. Most people would hardly make
much systematic difference between the two terms. The proper choice is
more a matter of style. But all of this probably has virtually nothing
to do with the Babylonian /magoi/ of 2000 years ago.

>Some modern English versions translate /magoi/ with "astrologers,"
which to
modern people connotes (or should connote - see below) something
disreputable. Early Christians felt the same way but didn't have to be
embarassed by this because they could see the coming of the magi not as a
triumph of "magic" but as its submission to Christ. In his letter to the
Ephesians early in the 2d century Ignatius of Antioch wrote:

    "How, then, was he manifested to the world? A star shone forth in
heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible,
while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the
stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus to this star, and its light
was exceedingly great above them all.
    And there was great agitation felt as to whence this new spectacle came,
so unlike everything else [in the heavens]. Hence every kind of magic was
destoyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared; ignorance was
removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God himself being manifested in
human form for the renewal of eternal life."
        (_The Ante-Nicene Fathers_, Vol.I, p.57.)<

 Apart from the Greek term /magoi/ (and derivatives), there is a term
/pharmakoi/ (and derivatives) with similar meanings. The designation
/magos/ is usually translated as Weise, wise men, or magi in Mat
2:1,7,16, but by Zauberer, Magier, sorcerer, magician in Acts 8:9,11 and
13:6,8; /pharmakos/ is translated as Zauberer, sorcerer and witchcraft,
magic arts, etc. in every occurrence (Gal 5:20; Rev 9:21; 18:23; 21:8;
22:15). Mat 2 is the only context in which /magoi/ has a (possibly?)
reputable connotation - at least one that is very clearly better than in
the other contexts (Acts, Gal and Rev), as most translaters apparently
wanted to make clear by using a different, positive term.

 Ignatius, however, doesn't seem to have been of the opinion that a
distinction should be made between the /magoi/ of Mat 2 and the others.
 From the quotation above, he doesn't seem to have objected to any
astrology the Mat 2 /magoi/ may perhaps have practiced, but rather to
supposed magic. But Matthew's text doesn't give us the slightest
indication at all for either astrology or magic - in striking contrast
to all other NT occurrences of /magoi/ (and /pharmakoi/).

 What do we really know about such "wise men" in Babylon (or Persia) of
that time? Is there, in addition to Mat 2, any extrabiblical evidence?

>Astrology is not the central theme of the Epiphany story but it
provides an
opportunity to counsel people against this particular fake science which has
had a resurgence in recent decades.<

 Agreed.

 And in a different post, George wrote:

>Justin Martyr, writing around 150, said that Jesus was born in a cave.
(Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 78) Since Justin was born in Samaria he
might have had access to some information about this. Orthodox iconography
often conforms to this. OTOH the similarity with the legends of Mithra
might arouse some suspicions.<

 Apparently, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was build over a
rock shelter. But we don't know whether this choice was any more
reliable than the doubtful placement of the Church of the Sepulchre in
Jerusalem.

 Peter

-- 
Dr. Peter Ruest, CH-3148 Lanzenhaeusern, Switzerland
<pruest@dplanet.ch> - Biochemistry - Creation and evolution
"..the work which God created to evolve it" (Genesis 2:3)