Kim asked:

Why is astrology condemned by Christianity?

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Astrology is regarded by the Christian Church to be a form of fortune telling, it is one of a list of
practices condemned by the church. Those involved in these practices are considered to be atheists,
or more significantly, followers of the Devil. Hence, astrology is linked with trickery, conjuring,
witchcraft, deceit, spiritualism, psychic phenomena, all types of fortune telling, mysticism, etc.. The
claim is that these are all practices condemned by Jesus, Paul and the Apostles.

We might ask: If these practices are condemned why is it that Christianity accepts miracles? The
answer is, simply because Jesus and the Apostles are understood to have performed miracles like
healing the sick, making accurate predictions of future events, changing water into wine, raising the
dead, feeding the five thousand, etc.. The difference between those who perform miracles and those
who perform tricks is allegedly made clear in the New Testament where, in the Acts of the Apostles
the powers of Stephen the Apostle are compared to those of an outstanding conjurer and mystic, and
found by the people to be vastly different, to put it crudely, the mystic was not in the same league as
Stephen, who is seen to have powers far superior to him. This power is alleged by the church to
come from the gift of the Holy Spirit within him. Those selected by God are blessed by the presence
of the Holy Spirit, which invests them with special powers outside those of ordinary people.

Anyone claiming supernatural powers who is not blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit is
considered by the church to be a charlatan or a servant of the Devil. The seeking out of witches in the
17th. and 18th. centuries is well documented, all the victims were accused and condemned on the
basis of church dogma regarding special powers. If special power was not coming from the gift of the
Holy Spirit there was only one other source — the Devil. Amongst the victims of the witch finders
were many alleged fortune tellers, including those dabbling in astrology. It was feared that fortune
tellers could not only foretell the future, but could also influence it. It was deemed likely that such
influence would come by way of the Devil and would constitute a challenge to God's plans for his
people.

Some creeds now have a more lenient approach to astrology, however there are still some more
dogmatic creeds that adhere rigidly to the old order.

John Brandon

Astrology ascribes power over people's lives to "heavenly bodies" — the planets, sun, moon and
stars — and their movements through the sky.

Christianity rejects this view. It holds that only the one God has power over the universe and
everything and everyone in it.

In this, Christianity, Judaism and Islam agree. Islam also explicitly rejects faith in astrology. In the
Qur'an, the prophet Abraham is said to have declared: "I love not Gods that set" (meaning the
heavenly bodies).

Yahya Abdal-Aziz