Did the Magi Follow An Angel?

I was looking for books on Matthew recently and saw Studies in Matthew, by Dale C. Allison, Jr. with a positive comment by Dr. Varner: “If you are writing on Matthew or preaching through it, you must get this volume.”  For the class, I must do 75 minutes of reading per class period, and so one of the things I chose to read was the article on the Magi and the star that they followed, about which Dr. Varner said, “His discussion of the “star” of Bethlehem made me want to re-write a chapter in one of my own books!”  As I read, I marked important statements and then went back and typed them (this is my preferred way of reading/note-taking, though I don’t always have time to do so).  I think you can probably get the gist of the article from some of these quotes, and I thought you might enjoy it.  I think he may be right (gasp).

“That a lighted object high in the sky above could guide someone on the earth below to a precise location just does not compute” (Allison 2005: 18).

Calvin: “We do…infer from Matthew’s words that it was not a natural star, but extra-ordinary, for it was not of the order of nature to disappear at certain times, and afterwards suddenly to shine again” (Allison 2005: 21).

“Quite simply, Matthew’s idea of a star was not our idea of a star. He never imagined heavenly lights to be immense, inanimate, energetic masses millions of light-years away from, and thousands of times larger than, our planet. Why on earth would he or any other ancient Jew or Christian have thought such a thing?” (Allison 2005: 21).

Theophylact: “When you hear’star, ‘ do not think that it was a star such as we see, but a divine and angelic power that appeared in the form of a star. The magi were astrologers, and so the Lord used what was familiar to them to draw them to himself….That the star was an angelic power is apparent from the fact that it shone even by day, and that it moved as they moved, and stood still as they rested; also, that it moved from Persia in the north to Jerusalem in the south. For a star never moves from north to south” (Allison 2005: 31).

“We are now finally in a position to make an informed judgment on Bethlehem’s star. Stars do not leave the sky and come down to earth. Nor can the astronomical objects of modern science go before people to guide them on their way. Nor can they come to rest over a person, a city, or a house. In old Jewish and Christian tradition, however, angels, who are identified with stars, can do these things and in fact often do do them. Near to hand is the inference that the star of Matt. 2 should be identified with an angel. In other words, the star that goes before the magi is like the pillar and cloud that went before Israel as the people fled Pharaoh’s armies (and which Philo, Mos. 1.166, identified with an angel)” (Allison 2005: 28).

If you want to argue, you really should read the whole article first. I just put this here to provoke your thinking.  And because some people have told me that they’re interested in what I am learning.