THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18. 1958
HERALD AND NEWS. KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON
PAGE 1 B
Magi Relate To Herod Date The Star Appeared
By GEORGE CORNELL
Associated Press Religion Write!
Propped up with cushions. King
Herod the Great watched with can
ny eyes as the bejeweled curtains
parted and the three Eastern phil
osophers were ushered before him.
They bowed in their accustomed
manner, stretching forth their
hands at kner level. After an ex
change of amenities, Herod leaned
forward, entwining his veined fin
gers. Perspiration beaded his fore-
bead as he spoke:
"At what time, my astute doc
tors, did ye observe the 'astar
Theios' this Divine star?" Taut
lines creased his ashen countenance.
The Magi, whether they realized
It or not, were in a precarious
position. Their report of a new
born prince had stirred up all Jeru
salem, and caused consternation
among authorities.
For less than this, Herod often
had lopped heads. In the 36 years
since the Roman Senate gave him
Judea's throne, his reign was
strewn ' with . victims suspected of
sedition, including sons, wife and
other relatives.
Now a deathly sick, half-mad
man of 69 still tortured .with fear
of insurrection and assassination
plots, he had acted with charac
teristic vehemence to trace this
latest unrest.
- Before summoning the Magi to
a private audience, he had ob
tained a full account of their
claims from informers, and had
ordered Judea's foremost scholars
brought before htm for question-
.tng.
These had included leadine mem
bers of the Jewish religious and
civil court, the Sanhedrin the
chief priests and experts on reli
gious law, the scribes all of them
obviously in fright.
Knowing Herod's blood-letting
habits, they must have stood there
white and rigid as he demanded
they give details of the prophe-
cied Christ. What do the books
say? Where is this Godly king
supposed to De Dorn?
' "In Bethlehem of Judea,'
qquaking counselor had said. "For
thus it is written by the prophet:
" 'And thou Bethlehem art not the
. least among the princes of Juda:
ior out of thee shall come a gov
ernor, that shall rule my people
Israel.
So nervous had the man been
that he somewhat misquoted the
Prophet Mich who had written
700 years before:
But thou, Bethlehem, though
thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall
he come forth that is to be ruler
in Israel: Whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlast
ing. . . .
"And he shall ... be great unto
the ends of the earth. And this
man shall be the peace."
In any case, Herod, after as
certaining the geographical locale
foreseen for the event, turned his
attention to the Magi, the Persian
ALMOST 500 YEARS OLD, this picture shows the Magi on
their way to Bethlehem. The woodcut is from John of
Hieldesheim's story of the three kings, published in 1484.
The rare book is carefully preserved-at the Pierpont Mor
gan Library in New York.
Photo courtesy Pierpont Morgan Library
Christian! Jewish Pupils
Schedule Tolerance Lesson
Comedian Plans
To Fete Soldiers
,L'LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bob
Hope is off on his eighth Christ
mas tour to entertain American
; servicemen overseas.
' Leaving with him on an 18,000
mile tour were Jerry Colonna,
: Elaine Dunn, Mollie Bee, Randy
; Sparks and Les Brown and his
; orchestra.
On Christmas Day they will en
tertain troors of the NATO com-
- mand in Naples. They also will
appear vin Iceland, Germany,
Spain, Morrocco and the Azores.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)
Christian and Jewish students
here will have again today their
annual lesson in tolerance.
Their lesson will stem, accord
ing to Principal Charles Loomis,
from the action of the officials of
the Nathan Clifford Grammar
School who decided 10 years ago
"weve got to have understand
ing in a school where nearly
half the students are -Jewish.
The idea is, he said, to "let
Jewish children have a holiday,
too."
As a result, December is a
busy month.
First, there's Hanukkah, the
Hebrew festival of .lights that
starts Dec. 7 and goes on for
eight days. Then, there's Christ
mas.
Mrs. Mae R. Glassford handles
most of the arrangements. A Bap
tist mother of four, she heads the
art and music programs at the
Nathan Clifford and at the He
brew Day School and teaches Sun
day school besides.
The pageant "could be a hot
seat for sure," said Mrs. Glass
ford. But each year it works out
with adherents of one faith learn
ing a .little more about the beliefs
01 me omer.
Jewish students will present
"The First Hanukkah."
They'll explain with readings
and music what it means to those
of the Hebrew faith to remember
the end of the Maccabean wars;
the cleansing of the temple of
the paganism of Antiochus and
the "miracle of the oil" when the
temple lamos burned eight days
even though there wasn't enough
oil to fill them for all that time.
The Christian students will pre
sent their traditional Christmas
tableaux with carols and "living
Christmas cards," including the
nativity scene.
interlopers who had rekindled the
whole business.
What steps should he take? To
execute them could bring grave
political repercussions, for they
held royal rank, and carried "safe
conduct tablets from Persia s bel
licose Parthian ruler, Phraates IV.
Next to the Romans, the Par
tisans then were the world's hauti
est military power. Their famed
horsemen and archers had over
whelmed many an elite corps and
Phraates had exchanged tokens of
peace with the Roman Emperor
Augustus.
So Herod nad them called cere
moniously into his presence.
They were regal-looking figures,
straight and keen eyed, dressed in
costly robes. "Atharvans," they
were titled, "guardians of the
fire," clerks of astronomy, said
to have once been of Persia's tribe
of Medes.
As the interview began. Herod
restrained himself carefully. "Ye
have spoken in the shops and
streets of a new kingly son," he
said, "yet there has been no issue
of late in this household. He
smiled grimly. "I can well vouch
safe for that."
Then he leaned forward, and in
confidential tones, inquired at what
time the star had appeared, for
this would determine the momc.it
of nativity, and the present age of
tne child.
The senior magus, Melchior,
studied Herod for a moment, then
precisely set forth the month, day
and hour of the heavenly sign.
He also recounted the time that
had elapsed since in preparation
and travel.
Altogether it apparently had
been more than a year since the
star's appearance, as indicated by
the length of the trip, and Her
od's subsequent action against
Bethlehem children up to two
years of age.
His meeting with the Masi prob
ably came near his tinal, disease
ridden year of life, for he died in
4 B.C., hi a maniacal rase alter
learning the Magi had circumvent
ed him. Thus, the likely date of
the star was 6 B.C.
After getting this information,
Herod, hoping to use the Magi's
abilities to leaJ him to the speci
fic child, advised them of his find
ings from the Jewish advisers
that the site was Bethlehem.
"Go and search diligently for the
young child.'' Herod said ingratia
tingly, "and when ye have found
him, bring me word again, that I
may come and worship him also."
The Magi departed, dubious
about Herod's intent, but neverthe
less with freshened certainty that
they neared their objective. The
latest turn of affairs was highly
encouraging after the fruitless in
quiries in Jerusalem.
"And, lo, the star, which they
saw in the east, went before them,
till it came and stood over where
the young child' was," Matthew's
gospel relates. "When they saw
the star, they rejoiced with ex
ceeding great joy."
It was a short, five-mile ride
from Jerusalem south to Bethle
hem, and varying theories and
traditions from olden times have
come down about the star's second
appearance.
Since it lirst appeared in the
east, the earth's course around
the sun could have left it obliter
ated in the daylight sky for many
months before it appeared again
in the westerly night sky.
Astronomy also has recorded
"variable star" those that burst
into splendor oriefly only to fade
and remain dormant for m ex
tended period before exploding
again into brilliance.
It also has been determined that
the dog-star Sirius, brightest of
the fixed stars, rose helaically be
fore dawn a strikingly rare sight
in 5 B.C. on the first of the
Egyptian month Mcsori, meaning
"Presentation of the prince."
Some analysts note that the
phrase saying the star "went be
fore them,'' in its usual Testa-
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ment sense, does not mean it guid
ed them, but rather that it ar
rived there in advaince of them.
Whatever the details, scripture
is not written to instruct in as
tronomy or the physical sciences,
but to guide men to the Lord
himself, and the natural wonder
the light of the star inevitably
is less than the supernatural won
derthe light of Christ on earth.
And whether it was a comet, a
pillar of fire, the reappearance of
a star, or the flaring of a new
one that led them to that house,
they moved, not alone at the be
hest of a handy, miraculous bea
con, but as all men must, in the
light of events, with grace.
For in God's intricate design,
even Herod, bent on murder, had
contributed to the illumination of
the wise.
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FBI Arrests
'Vice Admiral'
COSTA MESA. Calif. (AP) -
Decorations and campaign rib
bons adorned his naval uniform.
Three stars oh the bumper of
his imported sports car denoted
his rank as vice admiral of the
U.S. fleet.
Or did it? The FBI says Vice
Adm. Alan McKenzie is a phony;
that he is Arthur Ward Hunt, a
56-year-old Englishman who was
convicted in New York City in
ijai oi illegally wearing a uni
form. He was departed after
serving a prison term.
His downfall was caused
Wednesday when, inspecting a de-
lense plant, he told officials he
had command d the U.S. subma
rine fleet anti. was en route to
wasnington to tsite a new com
mand. A skeptic called the FBI
ADOPTION APPROVED
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bing
Crosby s 24-year-old twin son Den
nis has adopted his wife's 7-year-old
son by a previous marriage.
His adoption of Gregory von
Douglas-Ittu was approved
Wednesday. The boy's father,
George von Douglas-Ittu is an
actor's agent.
Mrs. Crosby is former Las
Vegas, Nev., show girl Pat Shee
han. She is expecting a baby in
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