The Bible’s Viewpoint . . .
Horoscopes—Helpful or Harmful?
A HOUSEWIFE begins her daily routine by reading a newspaper’s “Your Stars” column. A stockbroker telephones his astrologer before trading. A gambler at the track clutches a wad of money in one hand, and in the other, the book How to Play the Horses Horoscopically. Sports stars, politicians, and many others dutifully consult their horoscopes before making a decision.
Do the positions of the stars, planets, moon, and sun at a person’s birth as charted by astrologers affect your life? Millions today believe they do. So you may wonder:
Are Horoscopes Really Helpful?
Yes, answer the ardent followers. Why do they feel this way? One person explained: “I read my horoscope every day . . . and I’d say about 80 percent of the time the things I’ve been told turned out right.” Yes, they feel that answers, or at least guides to answering their problems, are found in the horoscope.
However, are horoscope columns in newspapers and magazines really helpful? Observe what noted astrologer Alexandra Mark wrote in her book Astrology for the Aquarian Age: “These readings . . . have almost no chance of being applicable to an individual except on the basis of coincidence. But the power of suggestion cannot be overlooked.” Stop and think, would you want your life to be guided by mere coincidence or solely by the power of suggestion?
‘However,’ you may ask, ‘would casting a personal horoscope based on one’s exact time and place of birth be more accurate?’ Such a belief obviously is based on the notion that somehow the heavenly bodies exert a powerful influence on the lives of people. Yet how could this be true in view of the vast distances between the planets and the earth? Scientists have shown that the effect, if any, of the heavenly bodies on individuals is negligible. In fact, the very premise under which astrology was formulated, that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and the planets revolved around it, is false.
While the helpfulness of horoscopes is questionable, we would do well to ask the more important question:
Could Horoscopes Be Harmful?
Yes, they could. When you read the horoscope columns, there is a risk of losing your ability to make meaningful decisions, or as astronomer Roger Culver puts it: “The danger is you can pass the buck—the stars made me do it.” True, a person may read the columns only for their entertainment value, but suppose an event in his life coincided with what he read in the horoscope. Could he be subtly led to believe that there is some truth in the horoscopic forecasts? Would he be tempted to become more deeply involved in astrology?
If so, something more serious could happen. What began as harmless curiosity could turn into a practice that violates what the Almighty God has said. The ancient Israelites were told by Jehovah God that he hated any form of divination, including looking to the heavenly bodies.
To show exactly how grave the matter is, the Bible says: “In case there should be found in your midst in one of your cities that Jehovah your God is giving you a man or a woman who should practice what is bad in the eyes of Jehovah your God so as to overstep his covenant, and he should go and worship other gods and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, a thing that I have not commanded, and it has been told you and you have heard it and have searched thoroughly, and, look! the thing is established as the truth, this detestable thing has been done in Israel! you must also bring that man or that woman who has done this bad thing out to your gates, yes, the man or the woman, and you must stone such one with stones, and such one must die.”—Deuteronomy 17:2-5.
Why does God detest using the sun, moon, and stars as omens? First, it goes against his purpose in having created them. (Genesis 1:14-18) We are to look to the Creator, not the created, for guidance. (Romans 1:25) Second, God is to occupy a unique place in our life. The worship of him is to be shared with no other person or thing. (Deuteronomy 4:24) A person could rely so much on his horoscope that the thin line between dependence and worship may be crossed. Third, it could open the door to occultism. And dabbling in the occult could make an unsuspecting person an easy target for the supernatural force behind occultism—the demons. (Compare Deuteronomy 18:9-12; Isaiah 47:12-14; Acts 16:16-18.) To prevent our getting dangerously involved with horoscopes, God provides us with something better:
A Superior Guide
Jehovah God has provided his Word, the Bible, which is always trustworthy. He assures us: “So my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. . . . It will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”—Isaiah 55:11.
However, it takes effort on our part to probe into God’s Word and to draw out the specific counsel. That is what wise King Solomon did. He wrote: “For I took all this to my heart, even to search out all this, that the righteous ones and the wise ones and their works are in the hand of the true God.” (Ecclesiastes 9:1) So, rather than being guided by the shaky hand of the astrologer’s horoscope, place your confidence in the firm hand of Jehovah God.
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“People are confused. They want help in making decisions involving finance, personal relationships and employment. Religion isn’t meeting the need as it once did and psychiatry has its limitations. So . . . in an attempt to attach themselves to something that appears to have scientific possibility [they] have turned in growing numbers to astrology.”—Dr. Alan Rosenburg, psychiatrist, Nature/Science Annual.
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The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, on November 16, 1984, suggested the publishing of this disclaimer with all horoscope columns: “The following astrological forecasts should be read for entertainment value only. Such predictions have no reliable basis in scientific fact.”