Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

Magi

Science Corner: Star Signs in the Space Age

wirtanen photo
The green comet 46P/Wirtanen currently visiting our planet. (Photo by Adrien Witczak )

At the time of the first Christmas, the magi looked to the heavens for signs about their life on Earth. And they were not disappointed; the journey they undertook because of what they saw in those heavens enabled them to participate in one of the most significant events in human history. To us, their intracontinental, purely terrestrial trip might seem trivial, but they likely felt they were traversing a sizable portion of the world. So I wonder if those magi could have conceived of the heavens themselves as a destination rather than a navigational aid, and what it would take to reach them.
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What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ? Part 5

A number of my colleagues recommended I read What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ?*, delivered by David Suryk at the 2016 Midwest Faculty Conference (Cedar Campus, 6/19/2016). When I had opportunity to connect with David at this summer’s Midwest Faculty Conference, I asked him not only for a copy of What is the “Good News” of Jesus Christ?, but also the permission to share the sermon with the Emerging Scholars Network via a series on the blog (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). “Thank-you!” to David for the series and Hannah for editing. What a joy in this post not only to continue exploring how all four Gospels have the same crucial structure telling the Jesus story, but also read the good news shared at the end of the post. To God be the glory! ~ Tom Grosh IV, Associate Director, Emerging Scholars Network

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Advent Awakening: How The Story of the Wise Men Can Transform Our Worship Once Again (Scholar’s Compass)

Wise men clip artReading

Matthew 2:1-12 (Visit of the Wise Men)

Reflection

As I sank down in my chair, I felt deeply frustrated. Another ‘through the bible in a year’ reading finished. My smartphone app congratulated me with a ‘great job,’ but it felt hollow and empty. I had read the words, but they weren’t transforming me.

Have you ever felt that way? Like you understand what you’re reading, but that it’s doing little to reach the rest of you or impact your life? [Read more…] about Advent Awakening: How The Story of the Wise Men Can Transform Our Worship Once Again (Scholar’s Compass)

Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: The Magi

JESUS MAFA. The Three Wise Men, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48399 [retrieved December 6, 2013].[1]
Last time we looked at the shepherds, wondering what they could teach us. Now we are headed to the other end of the cultural spectrum to the Magi. A few picky details to clear up: they were probably not kings. Most likely they are Persian astrologers. We don’t know how many of them there were, but three gifts are mentioned – gold, frankincense (incense), and myrrh (perfume).

Talking about the Magi pushes the boundaries for thinking about Advent, because the Magi don’t enter into the story until almost two years after Jesus is born. King Herod inquires of the Magi the time of the appearance of the star, and when he commands that the infants be killed, it is those male infants two years old and younger. The coming of the Magi is observed on January 6 – Epiphany.

What is of interest to us is the fact that when they inquire of Herod they say, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matt 2:2). They were astrologers, after all, and kept their eyes to the sky. There has been much discussion over the years of what they actually saw. A comet is a common depiction of the event. Some have speculated it was a rare conjunction (several planets being in close proximity in the sky). Whatever it was, they noticed!

We can benefit from noticing a few things ourselves: [Read more…] about Supporting Cast to the Christmas Story: The Magi