Strange as it may seem, though scientists were ready to juggle with dates of planetary and star compounds and even to appoint a new date of Herod's death to inscribe biblical testimonies in the framework of known astronomical phenomena, nobody seriously overestimated traditional arguments concerning the birth date of Jesus Christ. After twenty years of research, this was done only by Dr. Nikos Kokkinos, a scientist from Athens who now lives in England. Back in 1980, Kokkinos offered a completely different chronology of Jesus' life. Detailed study of Roman sources and the New Testament shows that Christ was crucified in 36 from R. X. (not in the 33rd, as usually considered). This date, now accepted by many New Testament scholars, is the first step in the date of Christ's birth.
Then, of course, we had to find out how many years Christ was in the year of His crucifixion. It is believed that Jesus Christ was a young man, between the ages of 30 and 40. According to Kokkinos, this sounds unbelievable. In order for a man to be considered a rabbi (religious teacher) in Hebrew society, he had to be at least fifty years old as a rule. The mass of other testimonies leads us to the same conclusion. For example, Bishop Irinej in the 2nd century A.D. claimed that Jesus was about fifty years old when he began to teach people. (Irinej was a disciple of Polycarpus, who knew people who said they had seen Jesus Christ with their own eyes.) But the most unambiguous instruction is contained in the Gospel of John (8:57), which states that Christ "is not yet fifty years old. In another passage from St. John (2:2p), Jesus compares his body - and in fact his life - with the temple in Jerusalem, which was built "forty-six years". However, none of the three successive temples in Jerusalem had been built so long. The best solution to this riddle was proposed by Kokkinos: Christ said that they were the same age as the temple - that is, they were both forty-six years old. The construction of the temple, which stood in Jerusalem during the life of Christ, was completed under King Herod in 12 B.C. Adding 46 years, we receive 34 years from R.C. - the first year of Christ's sermon, according to Kokkinos. Hence it follows that Christ was crucified in 36 from R.C. at the age of forty-eight years.
According to this theory Jesus Christ was born in 12 B.C. Kokkinos has shown that dating "8 years B.C.", accepted by the majority of scientists as the earliest of possible, rests on the very fragile basis. We have strong evidence that the Roman census took place this year. The earliest known Roman census of the Judea population took place in b year from R.H., too late for Christmas by any standards. It is much more likely that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem in 12 BC to take part in the local census organized by King Herod.
If to accept new dating, Halley's comet becomes the ideal candidate for a role of the Bethlehem star. It was a clear sign, which appeared twice and moved across the sky, directing the wise men.
Further, in contrast to different variants of the astronomical connection, the appearance of Halley's comet in 12 BC was met in the Mediterranean with fear and reverence. At that time the Greco-Roman world was swarming with signs and prophecies about the new ruler of the world, which will soon be born. Some said that he would come from the East.
This circumstance sheds new light on the mystery of the Bethlehem star. Agrippa was the patron of King Herod, who depended on this man and counted on him as a close friend. The news of Agrippa's death could have been a great shock to the Jewish tyrant, and she certainly contacted the rumors of the ominous banner in the sky over Rome. What was on Herod's mind when he spoke to the wise men and "learned from them the time of the star's appearance" (Matthew 2:7)? He had no difficulty in drawing an analogy between the "star" of the wise men and the comet that marked the death of Agrippa. Now we can fully understand Herod's fear of the Magi's news. Agrippa was the ruler of the Eastern Empire. If the comet predicted his death, it may have predicted the birth of the new ruler of the East, as the Magi said.
A detailed computer simulation of the appearance and further movements of the comet, which was seen in Rome, Parthia, and Jerusalem in the years 12-11 BC, could be a decisive confirmation of this idea. Now, seven hundred years later, we can finally find out whether the great Giotto was right about the inspiration of Halley's comet over the manger in Bethlehem in his famous painting.