The Star of Bethlehem, the Great Conjunction, and the Revival of Preposterous Solutions

This article deals with the interpretations of the textual references to the appearance of a special star within the Gospel of Matthew and counters the new arguments supporting the explanation of this phenomenon as the manifestation of a planetary conjunction of Juppiter and Saturn. Furthermore, this study strongly criticizes the current use among astronomers to mention every time the occurrence of a Great Conjunction, a phenomenon which had a special astrological meaning and whose mention in astronomical contemporray suorces is evry peculiar.