“Horoscopes are NOT Harmless!

”
May 30, 2010

Acts 16:16-18

A year or two ago, I was persuaded to get onto Facebook for two reasons. First, in order to facilitate
communications among the members of a group in which I was participating, and second to exploit the
possibility that I might, as pastor of a church, be able to stay in more regular contact with the high school and
college age youth who were connected with our church. As I have spent time on Facebook, and now as my
daughter spends time there, not only have I noticed that people can spend an insane amount of time on their
computer doing fairly useless things, but also that many people, including Christians who attend church on a
regular basis, use an add-on that sends them daily or weekly horoscopes. I was more than a little surprised,
and asked my daughter not to read them. Naturally, she asked me why and so we talked about it for a while.
He next comment was the idea for this message. My daughter said, “Can you please write a sermon about
that, because I will never be able to explain what you said to my friends.” Sadly, as I noted, I apparently need
to explain it to a lot of my friends too. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized two things,
1) in all the years I’ve been attending church, I can’t recall very much aver being said about horoscopes and 2)
if a lot of my Facebook friends who attend church didn’t know what the church thinks about horoscopes, then
there was a good chance that a lot of people in the church didn’t know it either.

While there is no shortage of scriptural arguments, as an engineer, as a scientist and as and reasonable human
being, it simply pains me to see anyone read and believe in astrology and the underlying hocus pocus that
purports to be science. For that reason, I want to begin with scientific and practical arguments for why every
thinking person should stay far away from this shameless charlatanism.

Let’s begin with what Astrology is, and what is it not. Astrology is the belief (and it is a belief and not a
science, but we’ll come back to that) that the stars in the night sky and the planets of the solar system, can,
and do affect the life and behaviors of human beings on earth. Astrology grew out of the science of
Astronomy, the study of stars and other heavenly objects several thousand years ago. At the time, humanity
gazed into the night sky and wondered at the things that they saw and so both Astronomy and Astrology
attempted to explain the mysteries of the heavens. Astronomy grew (as all sciences grew) by meticulously
describing what was observable and measurable. Astrology, on the other hand, describes nothing that is
specifically, observable or measurable but took many of its foundational elements from fortune tellers, and
various practices of idol worship that were common in the time of its development in Babylon 3000 years ago.
Later, around 600 B.C., the zodiac chart was created in Greece and the constellations were given names from
Greek and Roman gods, goddesses and other mythology. Thinking that the movement of the heavenly bodies
must represent the activities of the gods, ancient peoples thought that by studying them, they might discover
the will of the gods and be able to predict the future. Astrology begins with a band of twelve constellations
that appear in the elliptic, the apparent path of the sun over the year, and divides them so that each zodiac sign
represents a time when that particular sign is behind the sun. Those persons who are born when their ‘sign’ is
behind the sun are said to be “born under” that sign.

Scientifically, the claims of astrology are completely bogus.

First, if stars and planets are able to influence our lives then how can something that was developed 3000
years ago account for all of the celestial bodies that have been discovered since ancient humans stared at the
night sky with nothing more than the naked eye? What about all of the planets and moons and other objects
discovered by Galileo and others using modern telescopes? What about all of the astronomical discoveries of

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which ancient peoples were likewise ignorant, things like planets that we now know to orbit other stars, black
holes, quasars, and more recently the “dark matter” that is spread across the universe and though un-viewable
is mathematically shown to represent more matter than all of the stars and planets that can be seen?

Second, if celestial bodies can influence our actions, then what mechanism is the agent of this effect? Science
recognizes only four forces, strong bonds, weak bonds, gravity and electromagnetism. Strong bonds and
weak bonds are the things that hold atoms together but outside of the nucleus of an atom they exert no force at
all. Gravity is much stronger but loses its strength by what is referred to mathematically as an inverse square
law, which means that for every unit of distance a mass moves away from you, the gravitational force that acts
upon you falls by that distance, squared. As an example, Mars is quite close to us astronomically speaking.
Gravitationally, the planet Mars exerts the same force upon each of us here today as the 50 ton tractor trailer
that often parks in our parking lot on weekends. I haven’t noticed any small children stuck to the sides of that
truck nor have I felt the need to change my behavior when its parked there. Or how about this? Alpha
Centauri A is about ten percent larger than our sun and is one of the three stars that are closest to earth. Alpha
Centauri A exerts the same gravitational force upon us as my cell phone would if I laid it at the front of the
church. Electromagnetic forces are likewise miniscule when measured over interstellar distances.

Third, because interstellar distances are truly immense and the speed of light is finite, the light from even the
closest stars comes to us almost five years after it left and so the light that we see tells us where that star was
years, decades and even tens of thousands of years ago. Worse, because the earth’s orbit is not stable but
wobbles a bit, the elliptical plane that described the zodiac 3000 years ago has changed significantly. So
significant is this change, that only 37 days of the year are actually in the “right” sign of the zodiac and the
rest have shifted into another and this gets even better… Nearly the entire zodiac month of Aries (Mar. 21 –
Apr. 19) is now actually under the sign of Picses (Mar. 11 – Apr 18) and those born from November 29 –
December 17 are now under an entirely new sign under the constellation of Ophiuchus the “Snake Holder.”

Fourth, if you read several horoscopes, you will notice that they are often conflicting or even contradictory.
This is because there is no agreed upon method, no science and so astrologers are free to ‘create’ their own.

Taken together, these facts tell us two things. First, that there is no science to horoscopes and what they
represent is logically and ethically repugnant. Horoscopes are nothing more than a means for charlatans and
shysters to weasel gullible people out of their hard earned money. Second, in order to believe that horoscopes
have any validity at all requires that we believe not in proven science or demonstrable facts, but that we
establish a belief in something that lies beyond the measurable and tangible natural world, in other words,
belief in horoscopes requires that we believe in supernatural forces and powers that science does not and
cannot explain or measure.

And there is our transition, because horoscopes require a belief in the supernatural, we are compelled to
examine scripture to guide us because, as Christians, the Bible is our summary of God’s thinking in all things
supernatural. To begin, let’s look at a girl from the New Testament who was genuinely able to predict the
future… (Acts 16:16-18)
16
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she
predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed
Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way
to be saved." 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and
said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit
left her.

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From this story we take away two facts for our discussion, not that the girl was unable to speak the truth,
because what she said was, indeed factually true. First, we learn that this girl’s ability to tell fortunes, or to
predict the future, was given to her by a spirit, which is to say a demon, an agent of Satan. By extension, we
must therefore remember that while horoscopes are simply mumbo jumbo pseudo-science, it is possible that
we may, at some time, be confronted with other means of fortune-telling that are able to be quite accurate if
they are empowered by supernatural powers, other than God, and therefore, by nature, evil. Second, the
power of the demon, though able to know the future (at least to a limited extent), was less powerful (as we
might expect) than the name of Jesus Christ when wielded by his faithful followers.

Believers in Jesus Christ and, more generally, followers of the one true God are commanded to never have
anything to do with Satan, his demons, or with the evil that they represent. In Deuteronomy 18:9-15 God’s
people are commanded with these words…
9
When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of
the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium
or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because
of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be
blameless before the LORD your God. 14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery
or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The LORD your God will
raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.

God allows the people of Israel to destroy the nations that reside in the land because they engage in the
practices of human sacrifice, divination, sorcery, witchcraft, and in consulting the dead. Of these, some of us
may be unsure of the meaning of the word ‘divination.’ Divination is the human attempt to divine, to predict
or discern, the future or other unknown facts about ourselves or others using any natural or supernatural
means. God says that he will destroy the nations that engage in these practices and that his followers are not
permitted to engage in them. Instead, we are to follow the instruction of the prophets, the people whom God
empowered to speak his words to humanity.

Let me go back and say that again. Divination is the human attempt to predict or discern the future or other
unknown facts using any natural or supernatural means. Clearly using this definition, divination describes
several things that remain in modern society. These modern examples of divination would include
horoscopes as well as Tarot cards, palm reading, Ouija boards, spirit channeling, séances, consulting spiritists
or fortune-tellers or engaging in any other manner of fortune telling or means of predicting the future.

In Hebrews 12:1-3, Paul encourages us with these words…

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured
such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Paul reminds us to shake off anything that can entangle us, snare us, trip us or otherwise cause us to fall away
from our faith in Jesus because he undoubtedly remembered the story of 2 Kings 17:16-18 which said…
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They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape
of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17 They
sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to

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do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel and
removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.

In this story, God not only allowed idol-worshipping nations to be destroyed by Israel, but allowed Israel to be
destroyed because Israel was looking toward the stars in the sky for guidance, because Israel was practicing
human sacrifice and because Israel was practicing divination and magic. Paul’s warning is that by turning
away from the one true God, and by turning our eyes away from the path that follows Jesus Christ, we run the
risk of falling away and we risk, literally, our own destruction.

In Acts 4:12, Peter reminds us that Jesus is the only one whom we should follow by saying…
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Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved."

As is often the case, none of this stuff is new. Horoscopes and many modern occult practices began in ancient
city-states that were destroyed by God for their unbelief. These things are therefore rooted in idol worship
and pagan mythology including Greek, Roman and other polytheistic religions. Science tells us that in the
natural world these things are patently untrue and powerless but scripture tells us that while they are
sometimes powerless, they likewise carry with them the supernatural power of Satan and his demons. As I
thought about this message I had considered describing horoscopes as a gateway drug, a seemingly harmless
drug that attracts us to more powerful and far worse things but while there is truth to that idea, I don’t think
that it goes far enough.

Horoscopes, Tarot cards, palm reading, Ouija boards, spirit channeling, séances, and consulting spiritists and
fortune-tellers may seem, on the surface, to be harmless fun and we might even like to deceive ourselves by
saying that. “We know they are really powerless,” but the reality is that they are not. As powerless as they
may seem, because they are rooted in idol-worship and pagan religions, horoscopes carry with them the power
of real and genuine evil. Just as we would never think that it was safe to play at the edge of a minefield,
followers of Jesus Christ should never deceive themselves into thinking that it is ever safe to play at the edges
of evil. Make no mistake, this is poison. It would be foolish to deceive ourselves by arguing that a little
poison would be safe in the name of fun. We cannot dabble with these things. We cannot play with these
things or toy with them, “just for fun.” Followers of God are called to stay away from any and all occult
practices and we are not to listen to those who do so that we are not entangled by them and caused to trip and
fall away from God. Instead, we are to seek God only, to trust in God only, and to find our guidance only in
God’s words and those he spoke through his prophets.

We have no need to worry about our future because we can rest secure in the knowledge that a loving God
controls our future.

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All Scripture references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.