Astrology For Today?  I Don't Think So

    As early as 5,000 years ago, man has been studying the stars for
guidance.  Only a few years after the flood of Noah, man settled in
the "land of Shinar" which is fifty-four miles south of modern
Baghdad, Iraq.  At this time all people spoke the same language and to
avoid being split up, they decided to build a large tower "whose top
is in the heavens".

    Through modern archeology we now know that this tower was for the
purpose of observing the heavens or stars for guidance and the worship
of their gods.  The true God was not impressed and consequently mixed
their languages causing them scatter all over the earth.  Even today
there are over 3,000 languages and dialects around the world.

    When God gave His law to Moses, He warned the people of Israel,
"And take, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the
sun, the moon, and the stars, all the hosts of heaven, you feel driven
to worship them and serve them, which the Lord your God has given ..."

    Even King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon had his star-gazers
killed because they couldn't do what a prophet of God could.  Recent
news has startled many people with the recent news that Nancy Reagan
uses astrology in setting the President's schedule.  In his 1965
autobiography, Ronald Reagan said that a Los Angeles astrologer was a
good friend and that "every morning Nancy and I turn to see what he
has to say about people of our respective birth signs."  Then in April
of 1969 when astrologers were predicting that a large slice of
California was going to slide into the ocean, Governor Reagan had to
issue a press notice that he had been planning for some time to take
his vacation outside the state during that month.  When a Christian
President and his wife consults an astrologer it makes the news, but
is it all that uncommon?

    Not when you consider that nearly every major newspaper in the
country carries a daily horoscope (horror-scope) column somewhere in
their pages.  In 1970, over 1,200 newspapers carried a horoscope while
only 20 years before that only 100 papers did.  A tremendous explosion
of interest in the stars for a Christian nation.  Even a recent
editorial in a local daily expressed the feelings of many about
astrology horoscopes when it said "Big Deal".  Then commenting about
reports that Nancy Reagan was superstitious and avoids walking under
ladders and knocks on wood, they said, "So what?  Who doesn't."

    The answer is that it is a "big deal" and "I don't".  As a serious
follower of Christ, I see no reason why I should the consult the stars
for advise when I can pray and ask the creator of those same stars
anytime I want.  And why would I want to resort to superstition when
my heavenly Father controls everything?  No reason that I can think
of.


Genesis 11:2, N.K.J.V. The Biblical World by Charles F. Pfeiffer,
Broadman Press, PP. 124.
Liberty Bible Commentary by Jerry Falwell, Executive Editor, Old Time
Gospel Hour, P. 41.
Deuteronomy 4:19, N.K.J.V.
Daniel 2:13, N.K.J.V.
Southwest Times Record, Fort Smith, AR., Associated Press article, May
5, 1988, P. 12-A
Southwest Times Record - Fort Smith, AR, May 6, 1988, p. 4-A
What About Horoscopes? by Joseph Bayly, David C. Cook Publishing Co.,
P. 18
ibid, P. 8.
Southwest Times Record - Fort Smith, AR, May 6, 1988, P. 4-A        

Frank Cooke