The Answer to the BURNING QUESTION of the Week
By Paul Dion, STL
Here 's the Burning Question:
"Is it against the first commandment to look to the horoscope for serious "guidance" in our lives?"
Here's the answer to the Burning Question:
I am going to allow myself to quote some major saints about this question.
Daniel when speaking with the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar said, "No wise man, enchanters, magicians or astrologers can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in Heaven Who reveals mysteries" (Dan 2:27-28).
Christ said that we should "take no thought" for what might happen in the future (Matt 6:25). He assures us that the necessities of life will be provided by God the Father if we seek Him first. We do not need to know what lies ahead of us in time if we have trust in God.
The Church Fathers also speak out loudly against astrology. St. Gregory the Great writes, "Man was not made for the stars, but rather the stars for man; and if a star can be called the ruler of man, then man must be considered the slave of his own servants".
St. Augustine considers astrology a religion of fate which is vehemently condemned by the Church. He feels that anyone who believes that our loving God would give power to stars in order to direct and govern our lives, offends God's justice and love.
St. John Chrysostom sees belief in astrology as a foolish disbelief against God's omnipotence and creativity, which implies that God is
subject to the power of the star's. He also points out that if we are directed by the stars then there is no such thing as good or evil, because we do what we do under the direction of the stars. "This means that God's commandments, that man shall not sin or that man shall do good, comes down to nothing but foolishness".
St. Gregory of Nyssa, summing up the essential aspect of human dignity, rightly says that if we are the instruments of heavenly rotation then we don't have free will. "And if man loses freedom, he loses everything", and is no longer a man.
So the answer to the question "is astrology bad?" is "yes", it is a sin against God. We sin when we do things that keep us away from Christ, because we do not live in Christ. We sin when we do not live up to our goal to be like Christ, i.e. to be Christian. We sin when we allow the configuration of the stars guide us and not God, Who created the universe. We sin when we open newspapers or popular magazines to look up our horoscopes, rather than to seek the wisdom and learning from the Bible. We sin when we do or fail to do things because astrologers say so, and close our ears to God's commandments. We sin when we pray to God and simultaneously take an interest in astrology.
Finally, let's listen to the Church's position in this matter: "Canon 36 of Laodecia in 369, an ecumenical council, casts out of the Church people who make, sell, buy or wear the zodiac signs. The Church Fathers, like the Ancient Greeks, felt that there were "many wonders in the universe, but none more wonderful than man." Man is God's personal image according to Psalm 8, "man was made a little less than God and crowned with glory" in order to have complete dominion over the whole world, stars included.
We are not children of horoscopes; we are God's children who pray "God's will be done".
Think about it. Horoscopes are at least 5,000 years old. God is eternal. God is our Father the Creator who loves us and guides us through life. We must trust Him, adore Him and love Him because from Him we come and to Him we go. Let us lay our head on His bosom and not on the horoscope of our newspapers.
Paul Dion, STL
Theology Editor
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