The Gospel of Matthew tells of “magi from the east” arriving in Jerusalem, seeking “the newborn king of the Jews.”
Why? They “saw his star.”
Herod had to consult the magi to learn when the star appeared, so it was noticeable only to careful observers (customary portrayals of its brilliance notwithstanding). The story of the magi can therefore be an allegory for science — the careful study of what God has created leading people to God incarnate.
Yet some take the magi story as an endorsement of astrology, especially since the magi are sometimes called “astrologers.” Astrology has long been condemned by the Church as both harmful and factually bogus. Pope Francis has done so forcefully. In his general audience of Sept. 25, he remarked:
“Our technological and secularized world is teeming with magicians, occultism, spiritualism, astrologers, sellers of spells and amulets and, unfortunately, with real satanic sects. Driven out the door, the devil has re-entered, one might say, through the window. Driven out by faith, he re-enters with superstition.”
Theologians have long viewed astrology as contrary to the Christian concept of free will. Think of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Cassius muses to Brutus, “Men at some times are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.”
This skeptical view of astrology is shared by our Muslim brethren. Many Muslim scholars, seeing astrology as fortune-telling, have viewed as haram (forbidden) not only the practice of astrology but even the listening to or reading of astrological predictions such as horoscopes.
But astrology is popular. I have heard it recently given favorable discussion on Louisville’s NPR station. In the past few years, the Louisville Free Public Library has assembled a collection of books on astrology for young people, especially young women. These treat astrology favorably. Astrology is all over the internet.
Even in casual conversation and everyday life, people may superstitiously ascribe power to the stars. One of my colleagues at the Vatican Observatory, Jesuit Rob Lorenz (another Kentuckian), served as a U.S. National Parks ranger for many years. He relayed to me an incident from a guided tour of Carlsbad Caverns several years ago. Three high school students tried to sneak into a restricted area of the cave, prompting one of their chaperones to exclaim, “They were all born under the same constellation!”
A constellation is a real thing, and people who promote astrology will speak as though it has a connection to real science. For example, the books and radio program I mentioned all discuss bits of modern astronomy along with astrology — like recently discovered solar system bodies, or the idea of atoms being forged in stars. However, modern science opposes astrology as strongly as Pope Francis does.
For example, astrology’s various sun, moon and star “signs” for a given date consistently fail to agree with the constellations of the actual sky; they agree with a sky from two millennia ago. The notion of atoms within us being forged inside stars (so we do have a connection to the stars) in fact works against astrology’s claims. We know scientifically the effect that, say, hydrogen atoms can have on us from a distance. We know that effect diminishes drastically with increasing distance. Why would the hydrogen in far-distant stars influence us if hydrogen in nearby water does not? No one casts “water horoscopes!”
Two millennia ago, the stars were thought to be less distant and made of a mysterious substance, not found on Earth, that might exert mysterious influences on us — and the Earth was thought to be the center of the universe! All wrong, just like astrology.
So think of the magi not as astrologers but as astronomers, whose careful study of creation led them to the Creator.
Chris Graney, a parishioner of St. Louis Bertrand Church, is currently working on the Vatican Observatory’s annual report.
This post was originally published on here
