A night without darkness
The Book of Mormon makes several important contributions to our understanding of the Nativity of Christ.
One of them is the knowledge of astronomical events, predicted in advance by God’s authorized spokesmen and then fulfilled to make the arrival of the Son of God known to the faithful. While the records refer to “many signs and wonders,” there is one event so remarkable that it was described in detail both by the prophet who predicted it and by the historian who recorded its occurrence.
The Prediction
“And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.
“Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.
“And behold, there shall a new star arise, such a one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.
“And behold this is not all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven.”
— Helaman 14:3-6 (about 6 B.C.)
The Fulfilment
“For behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
“And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day.
“And ... the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born...
“And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.
— 3 Nephi 1:15-19 (about 1 A.D.)
Although the appearance of a star at and following the birth of Jesus was recorded in the Bible and has become one of the best-known features of the traditional Christmas story, the occurrence of a night without darkness is virtually unknown beyond the Latter-day Saint community and others who are acquainted with the Book of Mormon.
However, in a most interesting scene from The Messengers, a special Christmas episode of the popular dramatic series The Chosen, Joseph the husband of Mary looks out the door of their stable shelter and, in astonishment, sees vast sheets of colored light shimmering and pulsing above the far distant horizon. As he turns to call Mary to join him in viewing this wonder - her water breaks and the birthing of Jesus begins.
A detailed article concerning the night without darkness appeared some time ago on the Book of Mormon Central website. That very interesting article is printed below in its entirety.
How was There a Night Without Darkness? | Book of Mormon Central
The Know
When a Lamanite came into Zarahemla prophesying that there would be “great lights in heaven,” leading to a night with “no darkness … as if it was day,” and “many signs and wonders in heaven” (Helaman 14:2–6), some Nephites were skeptical, and even hostile (Helaman 16:2). In the next five years, both the skepticism and the hostility grew, and a date was set by which “all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death” if the sign failed to appear (3 Nephi 1:7, 9). Yet, as prophesied, “at the going down of the sun there was no darkness” and “it was as light as though it was mid-day” (vv. 15, 19).
Today, this prophetic sign remains difficult for some to believe. How could there be a night without darkness? Exactly how God produced such a sign is impossible to know for certain, but there are natural astronomical and atmospheric events which may shed some light on this matter.
Hugh Nibley suggested to his students once that this sign could have been caused by a supernova, comparing it to one in AD 1054 which “could be seen all over the world” and “was almost as bright as the sun.” Astronomers have documented a supernova in the 11th century which, according to lead researcher Frank Winkler, provided enough light that “people could probably have read manuscripts at midnight by its light.”
Yet Samuel made it sound like the new star in the sky was a separate sign from the night without darkness (Helaman 14:5). In this regard, John A. Tvedtnes noted some possible similarities to the atmospheric effects caused by an explosion that took place in a remote part of Russia on June 30, 1908. Known to scholars simply as the “Tunguska event,” scientists are still unsure what exactly caused the explosion.8 Its effect on the night sky, however, is well documented. As reported by NASA, “Night skies glowed, and reports came in that people who lived as far away as Asia could read newspapers outdoors as late as midnight.”
In the most comprehensive study on the event to date, Vladimir Rubtsov documented “atmospheric phenomena” in 155 different places, spread across several days, beginning a few days before the explosion. Tvedtnes reported, “For months afterward, there were spectacular sunrises and sunsets throughout the world, caused by the vast amount of dust thrown up into the atmosphere.” There were also “daytime anomalies such as intense and prolonged solar halos, mother-of-pearl clouds, and a Bishop’s ring.”
It was the night of June 30, however, which was most spectacular. According to Rubtsov, “throughout a territory of about 12 million km2, there was no night separating June 30 and July 1.” That evening, a Soviet astronomer “waited in vain for night to fall,” and in Germany, “The intensity of the nighttime luminosity was considerable. … At 1.15 [AM] it was as light as daytime.” Despite covering a vast region, “no atmospheric anomalies occurred in the area of Tunguska” itself, and the intensity of nighttime light “seemed to increase from East to West,” thus indicating that it was brighter the farther away from the Tunguska explosion one went.
The Why
A miracle can be defined as “a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand and of themselves cannot duplicate.” God uses miracles so that great benefits may be brought about for mankind “according to their faith” (see Mosiah 8:18; Alma 37:40). At the same time, Elder John A. Widtsoe, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and himself a scientist, gave assurances that “This is a universe of law and order,” and thus “a miracle simply means a phenomenon not understood, in its cause and effect relations.”
The phenomena and anomalies associated with the Tunguska event in 1908, with nightglows in the days before, with total day-like brightness the night after, and also with continuing nightglows and even daytime effects in the days that followed surprisingly demonstrate at least one possible naturalistic understanding of how God could have fulfilled Samuel’s prophecy, even if such astronomical and atmospheric observations cannot be fully understood or explained.
Regardless of the actual method the Lord used to accomplish this miracle, the night without darkness was deeply symbolic and meaningful. Kimberly M. Berkey noted, “The excessive light surrounding Christ’s birth acts as a kind of morning,” the beginning of a new dawn welcoming the Savior into the world: the Light of the World had come, introduced into the world by light.
Furthermore, just as with the appearance of the new star, any method for making night bright as day would have required a great deal of advanced planning on the part of the Lord. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “the so-called ‘little star of Bethlehem’ was actually very large in its declaration of divine design! It had to have been placed in its precise orbit long, long before it shone so precisely!”
Elder Maxwell went on to explain that the Lord puts the same care and attention into the lives of his children. “His overseeing precision pertains not only to astrophysical orbits but to human orbits as well.” Just as the new star “was in its precise orbit long before it so shone,” so are individuals “placed in human orbits to illuminate.”
