Uploaded February 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Brent Landau Lecture
"Christmas from the Wise Men’s Point of View: The Apocryphal Revelation of the Magi"
"The Revelation of the Magi" is an apocryphal early Christian writing purporting to be the personal testimony of the Magi (better known as the “Wise Men” or the “Three Kings”) on the events surrounding the coming of Christ. It is by far the longest early Christian text devoted to these figures, and contains several fascinating interpretations of the biblical Magi story (Matthew 2:1-12) not seen elsewhere. In this text there are twelve Magi, or possibly more, in contrast to the traditional enumeration of three. They reside in a semi-mythical land in the Far East called “Shir”; and perhaps most startlingly, the Magi’s star is actually Jesus Christ himself, who transforms from star to human and back again throughout the narrative.
Brent Landau is a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Brent Landau Lecture
"Christmas from the Wise Men’s Point of View: The Apocryphal Revelation of the Magi"
"The Revelation of the Magi" is an apocryphal early Christian writing purporting to be the personal testimony of the Magi (better known as the “Wise Men” or the “Three Kings”) on the events surrounding the coming of Christ. It is by far the longest early Christian text devoted to these figures, and contains several fascinating interpretations of the biblical Magi story (Matthew 2:1-12) not seen elsewhere. In this text there are twelve Magi, or possibly more, in contrast to the traditional enumeration of three. They reside in a semi-mythical land in the Far East called “Shir”; and perhaps most startlingly, the Magi’s star is actually Jesus Christ himself, who transforms from star to human and back again throughout the narrative.
Brent Landau is a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
