# Protestants And Astrology **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220 "2011-03-19T02:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/21 "2011-03-20T03:14:35Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Newton certainly wasn’t an idiot by anyone’s standards. Speak for yourself. Some of us are much smarter than he was: “You’ve heard of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle?” “Yes.” “Morons.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/22 "2011-03-20T04:31:25Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > According to the Durants, Calvin was ahead of his time in rejecting astrology. Calvin accepted “natural astrology”, which is the use of astrology in medicine, and rejected “judiciary astrology”, which is the use of astrology to predict the future. He rejected it, not because he didn’t believe in it, but because the desire to predict the future comes from “a curiosity not only superfluous and unprofitable, but also evil and wicked.” Luther was the one who rejected the idea of astrology as unreliable, and apparently made fun of Melanchthon a lot for relying on it. Luther’s attitude seems to be, “Astrology doesn’t work, and it seems a little idolatrous to be putting such faith in the stars, but there’s nothing about it that’s explicitly condemned in the bible, so I’m not going to condemn it.”. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/23 "2011-03-21T04:05:58Z")
So, given that priests, bishops, popes, patriarchs, and all the other flavors of Church Authorities tend to write a whole lot about what human behavior is holy, and what is sin, can anyone come up with some sort of official, or at least consensus statement on astrology from any Christian church? Reformation, or twenty-first century, or in between would be of interest to me. Tris ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/24 "2011-03-21T04:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=Catechism of the Catholic Church] 2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future.48 Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. [/QUOTE] Official teaching of the Catholic Church. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/25 "2011-03-23T15:50:09Z")
Thanks, **Travis**. So, anyone got tracts from Baptists, Episcopalians, Anglicans, Mormons, Methodists, Evangelical United Brethren, Amish, Presbyterians, Society of Friends, Mennonites, Lutherans, Assembly of God, Christian Scientists, Jehova’s Witnesses, or others? Tris ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/26 "2011-03-24T01:14:19Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > Official teaching of the Catholic Church. Is that from modern times or from the 16th Century? > [@Triskadecamus](#): > > Thanks, **Travis**. > > So, anyone got tracts from Baptists, Episcopalians, Anglicans, Mormons, Methodists, Evangelical United Brethren, Amish, Presbyterians, Society of Friends, Mennonites, Lutherans, Assembly of God, Christian Scientists, Jehova’s Witnesses, or others? > > Tris Something like this probably: [http://reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/fortune.htm](http://reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/fortune.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/27 "2011-03-24T01:18:14Z")
Astrology is justified by the Gospel of Matthew. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/28 "2011-03-24T06:23:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Astrology is justified by the Gospel of Matthew. You mean the Star of Bethlahem? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/29 "2011-03-24T06:41:07Z")
> [@Naxos](#): > > Yes. In the _any_ century, at all! > > Those idiots believed in unsubstantiated claims, that makes their claims invalid. > > It was only a matter of time that separated the stupid from the intelligent ideas humans had regarding the universe. > > I don’t fault Newton for being a superstitious idiot, because he discovered a few universal truths to make up for his religious stupidity. That is very gracious of you. And it is also the best post in the history of the internet. Except for the porn. > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > According to the Durants, Calvin was ahead of his time in rejecting astrology. That explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/30 "2011-03-24T12:52:20Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > You mean the Star of Bethlahem? The magi in general. Magi were astrologers. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/31 "2011-03-24T13:04:11Z")
Following the general theme of Protestant Forward-Thinkingness, I’d like to mention the[Salem Witch Trials](http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/salem/salem.htm). Murderous, superstitious nonsense carried out by Stone Cold Calvinists. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/32 "2011-03-24T13:58:58Z")
Before the rise of modern science, astrology was based on the philosophical belief that that movement of the stars and planets caused or mirrored earthly events. That the heavenly motions were the expression of God’s will and were indicitive of the “primum movens”, the source of causality. Any failures of prediction were ascribed to imperfect accounting of all factors. Bunk by modern standards sure, but before modern science virtually all theories were based on philosophical induction, so alchemy and most of premodern medicine were in the same boat. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/33 "2011-03-25T00:17:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The magi in general. Magi were astrologers. So if someone is portrayed positively, than it means the Bible is saying what they’re doing is right? > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Following the general theme of Protestant Forward-Thinkingness, I’d like to mention the[Salem Witch Trials](http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/salem/salem.htm). Murderous, superstitious nonsense carried out by Stone Cold Calvinists. Most of whom realized it was a mistake within a few years such at the Mathers. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220/34 "2011-03-25T02:20:52Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So if someone is portrayed positively, than it means the Bible is saying what they’re doing is right? Matthew says their methodology was right about Christ, so yeah, Matthew endorses Zoroastrian astrology as valid science. Genesis and Luke both also say that stars can serve as “signs.” > [@](#): > > Most of whom realized it was a mistake within a few years such at the Mathers. So what? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/protestants-and-astrology/575220.md?page=1)