[136:3] Irenæus: Against Heresies, bk. i. c. xxiv. [137:1] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. pp. 492-495. [137:2] Not a _worldly Messiah_, as the Jews looked for, but an _Angel-Messiah_, such an one as always came at the end of a _cycle_. We shall treat of this subject anon, when we answer the question _why_ Jesus was believed to be an _Avatar_, by the Gentiles, and not by the Jews; why, in fact, the doctrine of _Christ incarnate_ in Jesus succeeded and prospered. [137:3] "This strong expression might be justified by the language of St. Paul (_God_ was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, &c. I. Timothy, iii. 16), but we are deceived by our modern Bibles. The word _which_ was altered to _God_ at Constantinople in the beginning of the sixth century: the true meaning, which is visible in the Latin and Syriac versions, still exists in the reasoning of the Greek, as well as of the Latin fathers; and this fraud, with that of the _three witnesses of St. John_ (I. John, v. 7), is admirably detected by Sir Isaac Newton." (Gibbon's Rome, iv. 496, _note_.) _Dean Milman_ says: "The weight of authority is so much against the common reading of both these points (_i. e._, I. Tim. iii. 16, and I. John, v. 7), that they are no longer urged by prudent controversialists." (Note in Ibid.) [138:1] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. pp. 492-497. [138:2] See Chambers's Encyclopædia, art. "Apollinaris." [138:3] Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. p. 498. [138:4] That is, separate _him_ from God the Father, by saying that _he_, Jesus of Nazareth, was _not_ really and truly God Almighty himself in human form. [139:1] See Gibbon's Rome, vol. iv. p. 516. CHAPTER XIII. THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM. Being born in a miraculous manner, as other great personages had been, it was necessary that the miracles attending the births of these virgin-born gods should be added to the history of Christ Jesus, otherwise the legend would not be complete. The first which we shall notice is the story of the _star_ which is said to have heralded his birth, and which was designated "_his_ star." It is related by the _Matthew_ narrator as follows:[140:1] "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen _his star_ in the east, and are come to worship him.'" Herod the king, having heard these things, he privately called the wise men, and inquired of them what time the star appeared, at the same time sending them to Bethlehem to search diligently for the young child. The wise men, accordingly, departed and went on their way towards Bethlehem. "The star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came _and stood over_ where the young child was."