I think there might even have been a comet that would be the star the magi followed.
was having this conversation with an aunt the other day…
the stars that form ‘Orion’s Belt’ are, in some cultures, known as the ‘Three Kings’. on Dec 24th the brightest star of the east aligns itself with the ‘Three Kings’. if you were to draw an imaginary (straight) line through these four stars then the point where the line hits the horizon just happens to be the point where the sun rises on the 25th.
the morning of the 25th is also important as it is the first day when the rising sun begins to migrate back towards its summer solstice. 22nd being the shortest day along with 23rd and 24th.
Jesus = Sun God. or Sun God = Jesus.
there have been plenty of other Sun Gods before our current Sun God, Jesus.
the Egyptians had their Sun God (Horace), the Persians had one, as did the Acient Greeks. funnily the story of each is an almost exact copy of the last (or just a big coincidence).
the Egyptian Sun God, Horace (approx. 3000bc): born 25th Dec; virgin birth; eastern star guiding three kings; 12 diciples; betrayed; dead for three days before resurrecting.
the Greeks had their Sun God (approx 1400bc), whose CV reads much like that of Horace’s.
the Persians had Mythra (GF’s dad is Persian and will happily recount the similarities between the acient Persian beliefs and those of today), approx 1100bc, who was born 25th Dec, born by a virgin, had 12 diciples and was dead for three days before coming back to life.
the Indians had one too. in fact, many small and large religions/faiths had a messenger who’s story matches closely that of Jesus’s.
the story of Moses has been plagarised from religious texts that pre-date biblical texts by thousands of years. a lucky guy set adrift in a reed basket so as to be spared from infanticide and raised by a princess or queen who goes on to dish out the orders of god.
in fact, the Egyptian name for this comparable fellow was Mises… just one typo away from Moses.
you couldn’t make this sh!t up…… oh.
and as for easter…. convinient (for Jesus/biblical authors) that the Romans decided to crucify him – and even more convinient that he should resurrect – at the time of year that life begins to bloom once again once winter loosens its clutches.
there’s plenty of information out there that you can read. there is also a lot of information that argues the case for the Bible, but when presented with reasonable questions and their response is as follows:
“Other scientists, called creation scientists, have a different idea about when dinosaurs lived. They believe they can solve any of the supposed dinosaur mysteries and show how the evidence fits wonderfully with their ideas about the past, beliefs that come from the Bible.”
.. then i have to baulk and laugh.