Arthur C. Clarke, in his 1955 short story “The Star”, proposes an immensely plausible explanation for the appearance of an unusually bright and light in the sky near the time of the birth of Jesus in Palestine. He suggests that a supernova of enormous strength was the event that caused the phenomenon attested to in the Christian New Testament. He elaborates on this interesting notion by constructing a tale of a space-faring Earth vessel, engaged in long-range exploration. In Clarke’s story, the ship locates and investigates evidence of a sophisticated alien civilization once thriving in the star system around the former supernova. The evidence from these investigations reveals that this supernova, which wiped out this species, would have coincided exactly with the star that appeared in Bethlehem. Clarke’s protagonist, a Jesuit priest and astrophysicist on the spaceship, finds his faith challenged by this discovery. The narrator deplores and questions in an agony of doubt what he sees as a cruel waste of lives in order to make a point on Earth. This suggests that Clarke, who has described himself as an atheist views the universe as huge and filled with unlimited potential for wonder, and the Christian God as either nonexistent, unnecessary, or heedlessly cruel, and ultimately not worthy of human faith (Clarke, Credo, 2010). The vision that Clarke presents of the universe is accurate in its depiction of its enormous size. It is also hopeful in its suggestion that almost any phenomenon could possibly turn up, if humans look far enough. This, in Clarke’s view, includes finding another sentient species, whether living or dead. The spaceship has already found, “ruins of ancient civilizations on other worlds” (Clarke, The Star, 1974) . This is congruent with what is reported on the science news regularly. The public is assured by astronomers that there are billions of star systems. Given these numbers, it seems reasonable to infer that somewhere there is another one that could include a rocky planet. It is further reasonable to imagine that a planet could exist with temperatures that permit carbon based life forms to develop. Thus, Clarke is placing his story in a plausible universe congruent with the facts that are now known about our galaxy and others, and filled with possibilities. However, the universe that is out there, in Clarke’s vision of the universe, could operate without the benefit of control by a God. The crew members of the spaceship are all apparently atheist or agnostic; the narrator says of them, “Few of them have any religious faith”. (Clarke, The Star, 1974). The ship’s doctor describes the universe, its creation, and its possible creator as follows: “it goes on forever and forever, and perhaps Something made it. But how you can believe that Something has a special interest in us and our miserable little world—that just beats me.” (Clarke, The Star, 1974) This character believes that God is not even necessary. Furthermore, the doctor is suggesting that even if there were an intelligence that could encompass the creation of the universe’s immensity, it would be too big and too detached to be immanent in human affairs. This seems like a reasonable objection to the disparity between the size of