The Adoration of the Magi

Jean Pierre Granger (French, 1779-1840) - The Adoration of the Magi, c.1833-36

The men of whom Matthew speaks were not just astronomers. They were ‘wise.’ They represent the inner dynamic of religion towards self-transcendence, which involves a search for truth, a search for the true God and hence ‘philosophy’ in the original sense of the word. Wisdom, then, serves to purify the message of “science”: the rationality of that message does not remain at the level of the intellectual knowledge, but seeks understanding in its fullness, and so raises reason to its loftiest possibilities. - Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives