Early Christian Beliefs About Astrology and Horoscopes

Tertullian, On Idolatry Direct teaching

...t, among the arts, some professions are open to the charge of idolatry. We should not even speak of astrologers. But since one man in these days has challenged us, defending his own persistence in that profession, I will say a few words. I do not argue that he honors idols, because he has written their names in heaven and has assigned all God's power to them. For men assume that we are disposed of by the unchangeable decision of the stars, and because of that they think that God is not to be sought. I lay down one point: those angels who deserted God, the lovers of women, were also the discoverers of this curious art, and for that reason too they were condemned by God. O divine sentence, reaching even to the earth in its vigor, to which the unwitting bear witness! Astrologers are driven out just like their angels. The city and Italy are forbidden to astrologers, just as heaven is forbidden to their angels. The same penalty of exclusion belongs to disciples and masters. But Magi and astrologers came from the east. We know the mutual alliance of magic and astrology. The interpreters of the stars, then, were the first to announce Christ's birth, and the first to offer Him gifts. By

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...not reach that heavenly reward of immortality from which they had fallen. They also brought forward astrology, augury, and divination. Although these things are false in themselves, they, being the authors of evils, manage and direct them in such a way that people believe they are true. They also invented the tricks of magic to deceive the eyes. By their help, it happens that what is seems not to be, and what is not seems to be. They themselves invented necromancies, responses, and oracles, to mislead the minds of people with false divination through ambiguous outcomes. They are present in temples and at all sacrifices. By showing certain deceptive wonders, to the amazement of those who are present, they deceive people so completely that they believe a divine power is present in images and statues. They even secretly enter into bodies, since they are slight spirits. They stir up diseases in corrupted limbs, and then, when they have been appeased with sacrifices and vows, they remove them again. They send dreams filled with terror, so that they themselves may be called on, or dreams whose outcomes match the truth, so that they may increase the honor paid to themselves. Sometimes

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

These were the inventors of astrology, soothsaying, divination, what are called oracles, necromancy, the art of magic, and every other evil practice that men carry on, either openly or in secret. Now all these things are false in themselves, as the Erythraean Sibyl testifies:

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

...shamed and come to their senses through barbarian demonstration, so that, although late, they may clearly see what kind of intellectual attainments they travel across the seas to gain. The things they have stolen must be pointed out, so that we may bring down their pride. And for the things they boast that they discovered by investigation, we must provide a refutation. As a result, we must also discuss what is called the course of study, and how far it is useful, and also astrology, mathematics, magic, and sorcery. For all the Greeks boast of these as the highest sciences. He who boldly corrects is a peacemaker. We have often said already that we have neither practiced nor do we study expressing ourselves in pure Greek, for this suits those who lead the crowd away from the truth. But true philosophical demonstration will help not the tongues of the hearers, but their minds. And in my opinion, the person who cares about truth should not shape his language with cleverness and careful polish, but should only try to express his meaning as best he can. For those who are overly concerned about words and spend their time on them miss the things themselves. It is the skill of a gardener

Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching

After this, it seemed proper to Celsus to term the Chaldeans a most divinely-inspired nation from the very earliest times, from whom the delusive system of astrology has spread abroad among men.

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Direct teaching

and, prating loftily of the heavenly bodies in this much vaunted science of astrology, not astronomy, to those men who have truly wandered, talk of the wandering stars as gods?

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

...ine is that the generations of the lower regions are brought to completion by an emanation from the stars. For when the Chaldeans looked intently up at heaven, they claimed that the seven stars contain an explanation of the active causes of all the events that happen to us, and that the sections of the fixed zodiac signs work together in this influence. They divide the zodiac circle into twelve parts, and each zodiac sign into thirty sections, and each section into sixty very small parts. This is the name they give to the smallest parts, the ones that cannot be divided. Of the zodiac signs, they call some male and others female; some double-bodied and others not; and some tropical, while others are fixed. The male signs, then, are paired with female ones, and together they have a cooperative nature for the producing of males, or else are themselves productive of females. For Aries is a male zodiac sign, but Taurus a female one; and the rest are named by the same pattern, some male and others female. I suppose that the Pythagoreans, influenced by such ideas, call the Monad male and the Duad female, and again the Triad male, and in the same way the rest of the even and odd numbers

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Direct teaching

...ich, are what they are simply because of the controllers of their birth. For the marking out of the zodiacal circle is the work of gods. And when the light of one of them becomes stronger, as they say, it takes away honor from all the rest. The one who is conquered now gains the upper hand at another time. And the seven planets are pleased with them, as if they were amusing themselves with dice. But we are above Fate. Instead of wandering demons, we have learned to know one Lord who does not wander. And since we do not follow the guidance of Fate, we reject its lawgivers. Tell me, I beg you, did Triptolemus sow wheat and become a benefactor to the Athenians after their sorrow? And why was Demeter not a benefactress to men before she lost her daughter? The Dog of Erigone is shown in the heavens, and the Scorpion, the helper of Artemis, and Chiron the Centaur, and the divided Argo, and the Bear of Callisto. Yet before these did the deeds just mentioned, how were the heavens without adornment? And who would not think it ridiculous that the Deltotum should be placed among the stars, according to some because of Sicily, or, as others say, because of the first letter in the name of Ze

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...dy lived again. It is a double evil and a twofold madness to announce destruction to heaven and the stars, which we leave just as we find them, and to promise eternity to ourselves, who are dead and extinct, who, as we are born, so also perish. No doubt this is also why they denounce our funeral pyres and condemn burial by fire, as if every body, even if it is kept from the flames, were not nevertheless reduced to the earth by the passing of years and ages, and as if it did not matter whether wild beasts tore the body to pieces, or the sea consumed it, or the ground covered it, or the flames carried it away. For every kind of burial is a penalty to dead bodies, if they feel it. If they do not feel it, then there is relief in the quickness of their destruction. Deceived by this error, they promise to themselves, as being good, a blessed and perpetual life after their death; to others, as being unrighteous, eternal punishment. Many more things come to mind for me to say, if the limits of my speech did not hurry me along. I have already shown, and I make no further effort to prove, that they themselves are unrighteous. Yet even if I were to grant that they are righteous, your own a

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

...here is one uncreated and eternal God. And if he also recognizes others, such as the sun, moon, and stars, he still recognizes them as created: "gods, offspring of gods, of whom I am the Maker, and the Father of works which are indissoluble apart from my will; but whatever is compounded can be dissolved." If, therefore, Plato is not an atheist because he understands there to be one uncreated God, the Framer of the universe, then neither are we atheists, since we acknowledge and firmly hold that He is God who has framed all things by the Word, and holds them in being by His Spirit. Aristotle, again, and his followers recognize one being whom they regard as a kind of compound living creature. They speak of God as consisting of soul and body. They think His body is the etherial space, the planetary stars, and the sphere of the fixed stars moving in circles. But they think His soul is the reason that rules over the motion of the body, itself not subject to motion, but becoming the cause of motion to the other. The Stoics also, although by the names they use to fit the changes of matter, which they say is permeated by the Spirit of God, they multiply the Deity in name, yet in reality

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

And let no one either take comfort from, or make excuses for, what happens by fate. Let what happens be from the disposition of fortune, yet the mind is free. Therefore a man's actions are judged, not his dignity. For what else is fate than what God has spoken concerning each one of us? Since He can foresee our character, He also determines our fates for us according to each person's deserts and qualities. So in our case, it is not the star under which we are born that is punished, but the particular nature of our disposition is blamed. Enough has been said about fate. Or if, because of the time, we have said too little, we will discuss the matter more abundantly and more fully at another time. But that many of us are called poor, this is not our disgrace, but our glory. For just as the mind is weakened by luxury, so it is strengthened by frugality. And who can be poor if he is not in want, if he does not crave the possessions of others, if he is rich toward God? Rather, he is poor who, although he has much, desires more. Yet I will speak as I feel. No one can be as poor as he is when he is born. Birds live without any inheritance, and the cattle are fed day by day. Yet these creat

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

They also brought to light astrology, and augury, and divination;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Therefore, make known to us the mysteries of the stars, so that we may build altars and temples to each one. Let us know with what rites, and on what day, each should be worshiped; with what names, and with what prayers, we should call on them. Unless perhaps we ought to worship countless gods without any distinction, and tiny gods all mixed together. Why should I mention that the argument by which they conclude that all the heavenly bodies are gods actually leads to the opposite conclusion? For if they think they are gods because their courses are fixed and orderly, they are mistaken. For this clearly shows that they are not gods, because they are not allowed to depart from their appointed paths. But if they were gods, they would move here and there in every direction without necessity, like living creatures on the earth, which wander here and there as they please, because their wills are not restrained, and each one goes wherever its desire leads it. Therefore, the movement of the stars is not voluntary, but necessary, because they obey the laws appointed for them. But when he was arguing about the courses of the stars, he understood from the harmony of things and times themselve

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

First, then, let us learn how the Peratists, taking this teaching from astrologers, treat Christ with contempt and bring ruin on those who follow them in this kind of error. For the astrologers, claiming that there is one world, divide it into the twelve fixed parts of the zodiac signs. They call the world of the fixed zodiac signs one unmoving world. And they say that the other is a world of wandering signs, different in power, position, and number, and that it extends as far as the moon. They also teach that one world receives a certain power from the other world, and a mutual sharing in that power, and that the lower parts receive this sharing from the higher parts. However, so that what is said here may be clear, I will use, one by one, those very expressions used by the astrologers. In doing this, I will only be reminding my readers of statements made earlier in the part of this work where we explained the whole art of the astrologers. What, then, the opinions are that those thinkers hold is as follows:

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

but this is an art of divination, by examination of the forehead or rather, I should say, it is madness: yet we shall not be silent as regards this (system) There are some who ascribe to the stars figures that mould the ideas and dispositions of men, assigning the reason of this to births (that have taken place) under particular stars;

Tertullian, On Idolatry Supporting witness

We know the mutual alliance of magic and astrology.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness

...ed on the merit of each person’s actions. If this were not true, and everything occurred because of fate, then nothing would be within our control. For example, if it were destined that one person be good and another evil, the first would not be deserving of praise nor the second deserving of blame. Furthermore, if humanity did not have the power to avoid evil and choose good through free will, they would not be responsible for their actions. We demonstrate that both virtuous and flawed actions are made by free choice. We observe people switching between good and bad behaviors. If it were destined for someone to be either good or bad, they would not be capable of such changes. Moreover, not everyone would be good or bad, as this would make fate responsible for evil and contradict itself; or it would imply that neither virtue nor vice truly exists, and that things are considered good or evil merely by opinion, which the truth reveals as the greatest impiety and wickedness. However, we assert that it is inevitable fate that those who choose good receive worthy rewards, and those who choose the opposite receive due consequences. Unlike trees or animals that cannot act by choice, Go

Justin Martyr, The Second Apology Supporting witness

...t believe everything changes into one another, which we find degrading. We also do not believe that fate controls human actions or suffering, but that each person, through free will, chooses to act rightly or sin. Wicked demons cause earnest men like Socrates to suffer persecution and bondage, while people like Sardanapalus and Epicurus seem to prosper in wealth and glory. The Stoics, not noticing this, claim everything happens due to the necessity of fate. But God created angels and humans with free will from the beginning, so they rightly suffer eternal fire for their sins. Everything created has the potential for vice and virtue, for nothing is praiseworthy unless there is the ability to choose between them. This is evident from everyone who has made laws or philosophized according to right reason, by commanding some actions and prohibiting others. Even the Stoic philosophers, in their moral teachings, honor the same values, showing they are not very consistent in their principles and incorporeal matters. If they claim human actions happen by fate, they imply either that God is merely things constantly changing, and dissolving, focusing only on destructible things, and seeing

Tatian, Address to the Greeks Supporting witness

How, then, shall I admit this nativity according to Fate, when I see such managers of Fate?

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

Thus in our case it is not the star under which we are born that is punished, but the particular nature of our disposition is blamed.

Daniel 2:10 Background

The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.

Isaiah 47:13 Direct teaching

You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you.

Daniel 2:2 Background

Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

Daniel 4:7 Background

Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its interpretation.

Daniel 5:7 Background

The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

Daniel 5:15 Background

Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing.

Daniel 5:11 Background

There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

Daniel 2:27 Background

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

Deuteronomy 18:14 Direct teaching

for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

Ezekiel 21:21 Background

For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

Deuteronomy 18:10 Direct teaching

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

Isaiah 8:19 Direct teaching

And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?

Lactantius, On the Workmanship of God Supporting witness

... sons are born from wise parents, and wise sons from foolish parents. Some people attribute this to fate and the stars. But this is not the time to discuss the subject of fate. It is enough to say this: even if the stars somehow hold together the power of all things, it is still certain that all things are done by God, who both made the stars themselves and put them in order. Therefore those people are foolish who take this power away from God and assign it to what He has made.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...made by the very hands of God, whom the serpent treacherously deceived so that he might come to the fate of death and receive the knowledge of good and evil." So the life of man became limited in length, but still long, since it was extended to a thousand years. And since Varro was not ignorant of this, because it had been handed down in the sacred writings and made widely known to all, he tried to give reasons why the ancients were thought to have lived a thousand years. For he says that among the Egyptians, months are counted as years, so that a year is not the sun's course through the twelve signs of the zodiac, but the moon's course, which passes through that circle of signs in thirty days. But this argument is plainly false. For no one then lived beyond the thousandth year. But now, those who reach a hundred years, which often happens, clearly live one thousand two hundred months. And reliable authorities report that men commonly reach one hundred and twenty years. But because Varro did not know why or when the life of man was shortened, he shortened it himself, since he knew that it was possible for man to live one thousand four hundred months.