Few people would argue the latter. Most take the star quite seriously. And why not? There is nothing in the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke to suggest that the story was embellished with any intent to mislead. It seems to be a genuine event which led three very learned men from somewhere in the east, perhaps modern Iraq or Iran to Bethlehem. Perhaps, given their knowledge of Jewish scripture and prophecy, they were a remnant of the Jews who were exiled to Persia or Babylon but never returned to Israel. It is difficult to say for sure. In the U.S., we like to celebrate the star, the arrival of these men, the shepherds, etc. all at once in our nativity scenes. In reality, it is certainly very likely that they did not arrive to celebrate Christ's birth until some time afterward. In the Orthodox traditions, they celebrate this event on the Epiphany, January 6th, rather than at Christmas. Whenever it really happened, it is a truly fascinating story with potentially awesome astronomical story behind it.
So, what was this star that heralded such a momentous event in human history? This has been the subject of a great deal of debate over the centuries. One great place to start our modern exploration is the website bethlehemstar.net. There, you can read the list of qualifications they have compiled that any candidate star must fulfill. It's long, based upon scripture, prophecy, and its purported behavior. Here is the list:
1) It signified birth
2) It signified kingship
3) It had a connection with the Jewish nation
4) It rose in the east, like other stars
5) Herod didn't know when it appeared
6) It endured over time
7) It was ahead of the Magi as they went south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem
8) It stopped over Bethlehem
What a tall order! Personally, I see nothing wrong with this list. In thinking about the last 5, however, it is easy to rule out some of the explanations that have been proposed over the years:
1) A meteor -- Dramatic, but is fails on #'s 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and possibly others as well.
2) A comet -- In those days, comets were regarded as bad things. A bigger problem, however, is that there do not appear to have been any comets to see in either 2 or 3 B.C., the likely candidates for Christ's birth year. Also, Herod would have likely seen it. So, they aren't good candidates.
3) A Nova or Supernova -- Here is a neat professional article arguing for just that! They argue that it either occurred in a globular cluster in our galactic halo or in the nearby Andromeda galaxy. It is a great read...the author has really done a great job reasoning it out. So, this is actually a good candidate, even if this event was not necessarily recorded by ancient astronomers, as they often were.
4) A triple conjunction of Jupiter around the star Regulus in the constellation Leo. This is the Bethlehemstar.net argument, and it is also quite compelling. Check out the website for a more in-depth read.
I do not have a definitive answer on the question of the star. But, this seems to me to be an excellent example of a positive confluence of faith and science. The Bible, actually, is quite full of astronomical observations, so it is worth a read of some of those for anyone interested. One can spend a serious chunk of time marveling at how ancient people so deeply appreciated the heavens that most of us, with our GPS units and so forth, take for granted. So, I love these kinds of explorations! They lead me to wonder at the grandeur of the whole thing that we call the universe. This is a case where, as a scientist, I find my faith bolstered by a significant account of logical evidence -- a case where science and faith find some common ground.
Merry Christmas! Happy Epiphany!
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