Frederick Anthony Heep "Rick" Larson (born March 26, 1953) is an American lawyer and law professor"Rick Larson's Biography".
''Christian Book Previews''. Archived fro
the original
on September 5, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015. who became a filmmaker after he investigated the

Star of Bethlehem The Star of Bethlehem, or Christmas Star, appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew chapter 2 where "wise men from the East" (Magi) are inspired by the star to travel to Jerusalem. There, they meet King Herod of Judea, and ask hi ...

and became a traveling speaker on the topic, then made his first documentary film ''The Star of Bethlehem'' about his findings in 2007.Lawton, Kim. "Star of Bethlehem". Interview with Rick Larson.
PBS,

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was an American weekly television news-magazine program which aired on PBS. History and content Premiering in 1997, ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was devoted to news of religion and spirituality, along with ...

. December 21, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2015. In March 2019 Larson released his second film, the documentary '' The Christ Quake'', which had been in production since 2013.

Education and primary career

Larson graduated from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and earned his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Southern California Law Center.Herd, Aimee. "BCN Interview with Rick Larson".
Breaking Christian News. November 30, 2009. Retrieved on January 6, 2016. His areas of legal expertise are

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

, business, and corporate law."Attorney profile: "Mr. Frederick A. Larson".

Martindale-Hubbell Martindale-Hubbell is an information services company to the legal profession that was founded in 1868. The company publishes the ''Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory'', which provides background information on lawyers and law firms in the United S ...

online. Retrieved August 31, 2019. Larson was voted Professor of the Year when he was a teacher at

Texas A & M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

.Larson, Frederick. (2011). Science: "The Bethlehem Star".
''Faith and Culture: A Guide to a Culture Shaped by Faith''.

Zondervan Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...

, Michigan. Edited by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington. Retrieved September 27, 2019. .

Films

The Star of Bethlehem

Larson used the

Starry Night ''The Starry Night'' ( nl, De sterrennacht) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provenc ...

astronomy

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

program after he became interested in the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

Star because he needed to produce one for the

Magi Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin '' magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius t ...

he made as

Christmas decoration A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmastide and the greater holiday season. The traditional colors of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Gold and silver are also very co ...

s for his yard, but did not know what to create.Christian Cinema. "The Star of Bethlehem: A Magnificent Obsession".
Frederick Larson interview. November 24, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2015
''USA Today''. January 5, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2015. Larson became intrigued with the Star after reading astronomer

Craig Chester Craig Chester (born November 8, 1965) is an American actor, writer, and screenwriter. Early life Chester was born in West Covina, California, the son of Cecil, lead singer in the rock band “Whiskey”, and Linda, a homemaker. He moved with hi ...

's article,Chester, Craig. "The Star of Bethlehem".
''Imprimis''. Reprinted December 1996 with editorial changes. 25(12). PDF; scroll to December 1996 and click. Originally printed 1993. Retrieved December 19, 2015. based in part on the work of Ernest MartinMartin, Ernest. 1991. ''The Star that Astonished the World''.
ASK Publications. Free to read online, for personal study only. Other uses prohibited. Retrieved December 23, 2015. about the Bethlehem Star being a possible actual event.Chester, Craig. "The Star of Bethlehem".
''Imprimis''. December 1993, 22(12). Originally presented at Hillsdale College during fall 1992. Retrieved December 19, 2015. Chester, a co-founder of the

Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

, thought the planetary conjunctions of 2 BC were a more plausible explanation for what the

would have seen than events found in earlier dates.Scripps Howard News Service. "Astronomer Analyzes The Star Of Bethlehem".
''The Chicago Tribune''. December 24, 1993. Retrieved December 19, 2015. Larson thinks astronomical events in 3-2 BC fit the evidence found in the Bible.Foust, Michael. "Bethlehem Star: both natural & miraculous?"
''Baptist Press''. December 14, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2015. He also believes King Herod the Great died in 1 BC, although others, including astronomer David Hughes and astronomer Mike Molnar, believe Herod died in 4 BC.Ellis, Rebecca. "Star of Wonder".
BBC News. December 23, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2015. Larson examined the biblical account in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

chapter 2 Chapter Two, Chapter 2, or Chapter II may refer to: Film, television, and theatre * ''Chapter Two'' (play), a 1977 play by Neil Simon * ''Chapter Two'' (film), a 1979 adaptation of Neil Simon's play Television episodes * "Chapter 2" (''American H ...

"Matthew chapter 2".
''

BibleGateway.com BibleGateway is a Christian website designed to allow easy reading, listening, studying, searching, and sharing of the Bible in many different versions and translations, including English, French, Spanish, and other languages (see below). Its miss ...

''. Amplified version with footnotes. Retrieved December 22, 2015. and located nine qualities of Bethlehem's Star:Herzog, Travis. "Did the Star of Bethlehem exist?"
''abc13 Eyewitness News''. December 20, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2015. It signified birth, it signified kingship, it was related to the Jewish nation, and it rose "in the East";
''Bible Hub'' plus commentaries. Retrieved December 19, 2015. furthermore, King Herod had not been aware of it;
''Bible Hub'' plus commentaries. Retrieved December 19, 2015. it appeared at an exact time;
''Bible Hub'' plus commentaries. Retrieved December 19, 2015. it endured over time;
''Bible Hub''. Whole chapter plus commentaries. Retrieved December 19, 2015. and, according to the book of Matthew,
''Bible Hub'' plus commentaries. Retrieved December 19, 2015. it was before the Magi as they traveled south from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, then it stopped over Bethlehem.Ireland, Michael. "Evidence emerges for Star of Bethlehem’s reality".
''Christian Headlines''. October 18, 2007

Retrieved December 19, 2015. Larson wrote the screenplay and was co-executive producer with Stephen McEveety,Southern, Nathan. ''"The Star of Bethlehem'' (2007): Review summary".
''The New York Times''. Archived fro
the original
on February 2, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2016. whose films include ''

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary ...

''''The Passion of the Christ'' awards and nominations.
Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 23, 2015. and '' Braveheart.''''Braveheart'' awards and nominations.
Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 23, 2015.

The Christ Quake

After he investigated the Star of Bethlehem, Larson began work on a second film, ''The Christ Quake'', focused on uncovering physical evidence of the earthquake the Bible says took place when Christ died on the cross.Parker, Paula K. "From the ''Star of Bethlehem'' to ''The Christ Quake''.
BuddyHollywood. November 20, 2015. Archived fro
the original
on April 13, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016. It is based on the book of Matthew 27:51, which says, "and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent".
''Bible Hub''.

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

. Retrieved August 27, 2019. On May 21, 2019, the DVD was released in English and in Spanish."The Christ Quake: releases".
AllMovie. Retrieved August 29, 2019. In addition to appearing in the documentary, Larson was its screenwriter and executive producer."The Christ Quake: cast & crew".
AllMovie. Retrieved September 18, 2019.

God of Heaven and Earth

A November 5, 2023 theater film release with a documentary exposition of the Bethlehem star story and earthquake at Christ's crucifixion story. Larson's presentation was accompanied by astronomical and geological evidence with interviews of experts in both fields."God of Heaven and Earth website"
accessed 11/5/2023.

Personal life

Larson studied under

Francis Schaeffer Francis August Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, , a prolific autho ...

in Switzerland at the L'Abri Christian community.Youssef, Michael. (2012). "The promise - fulfilled!"
''Leading the Way Through Daniel''.

Harvest House Harvest House Publishers is a Christian publishing company founded in 1974 in Irvine, California, United States, and is now located in Eugene, Oregon. It publishes Christian fiction and non-fiction books, coming out with over 160 new books a y ...

Publishers, Oregon. Leading the Way Through the Bible series. Retrieved September 19, 2019. . He founded the STAR project, a nonprofit organization that promotes unity among Christians of many denominations.Standring, Suzette Martinez. "Star of Wonder—it was real".
''The Canton Repository''. December 10, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2016. On July 28, 2016, Julie Davison Larson posted a message from Rick Larson in which he said he was married to her, that she was composing the music for every instrument of the orchestra for ''The Christ Quake'' film, and added, "I'm the one that cooks dinner when she is scoring.""Julie Davison Larson shared a post".
Facebook. Post by Rick Larson of Bethlehem Star. July 26, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2019.

References

External links

The Star of Bethlehem information site
Retrieved on April 1, 2016.
''The Star of Bethlehem'' movie website.
Archived fro
the original
on April 7, 2016. Retrieved on April 1, 2016.
''The Christ Quake'' official website
Retrieved on August 27, 2019. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Frederick 1953 births Living people American Christians American Christian writers American lawyers Legal educators University of Southern California alumni USC Gould School of Law alumni Texas A&M University faculty Screenwriters from California Film producers from California Screenwriters from Texas Film producers from Texas American male screenwriters American documentary film producers Star of Bethlehem Ancient astronomy Christian cosmology American male non-fiction writers 20th-century Christians 21st-century Christians