The Story of the Other Wise Man

By Henry Van Dyke

One of the most meaningful stories ever written…

“You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they traveled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger-cradle in Bethlehem. But have you ever heard the story of the Other Wise Man?”

So begins Henry van Dyke’s Christmas classic, told in the manner of the great fairy tales—and like a great fairy tale, it couldn’t be more true! This beautiful edition is designed so that you can read The Other Wise Man as it is intended to be read—slowly.

His name was Artaban, and he told his doubting friends why he wanted to travel far away to see the promised king: “It has been shown to me and to my three companions among the Magi—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. We have searched the ancient tablets of Chaldea and computed the time. We have studied the sky. We saw a new star there, which shone for one night and then vanished. Now again the two great planets are meeting. This night is their conjunction.”

Try as he might, Artaban was unable to join the three Magi on that historic night. But as it turns out, he had even more important things to do—and he learned what it really means to know God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paraclete Press
• Release date: Oct 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781612612775

Henry Van Dyke

Henry Van Dyke (1928–2011) was born in Allegan, Michigan, and grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where his parents were professors at Alabama State College. He served in the Army in occupied Germany, playing flute in the 427th Marching Band. There he abandoned his early ambition to become a concert pianist and began to write. In 1958, after attending the University of Michigan on the G.I. Bill and living in Ann Arbor, he moved to New York, where he spent the rest of his life. Henry taught creative writing part-time at Kent State University from 1969 until his retirement in 1993, and was the author of four novels, including Blood of Strawberries, a sequel to Ladies of the Rachmaninoff Eyes.

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