Is Astrology Antithetical to Christianity?

In episode 226 astrologer Nate Craddock joins the show to discuss the early history of Christianity and its relationship with astrology. Specifically, we focus on the question of whether astrology is somehow inherently antithetical to Christianity, especially in terms of the origins of the religion during the time of the Roman Empire. Nate is a practicing astrologer, as well as an ordained Christian priest with a degree in divinity. You can find out more information about his work on his website: SoulFriendAstrology.com The jumping off point for our discussion was the work of a scholar named Nicola Denzey Lewis, and her 2013 book Cosmology and Fate in Gnosticism and Graeco-Roman Antiquity. Part of the purpose of the book is demonstrating how a number of influential early Christian texts framed the religion as a way to liberate yourself from astrology and fate. Astrology in the 1st century CE tended to be more deterministic and influenced by Stoic conceptualizations of fate, and to some extent Christianity may represent one of many religious or philosophical groups in the ancient world that offered an alternative, which may then explain part of its initial appeal to everyday individuals in the Roman Empire. This then set up a sort of oppositional relationship between astrology and mainstream Christianity for a number of centuries, although it raises the question for us today of whether the two are inherently incompatible, or if there are ways that they can be reconciled? Nate's answer to this question is emphatically "yes, they can be reconciled", and during the course of the discussion we ended up covering a lot of ground, and exploring a number of different historical and theological areas. This episode represents an important followup to earlier episodes of the podcast discussing responses to religious criticisms of astrology, the role of astrology in the story of the Star of Bethlehem, as well as a brief digression about the purpose of finding the guardian spirit about 2 hours into the episode on finding the overall ruler of the birth chart. For those who enjoy this discussion, you would also like Nate's podcast Jailbreak the Sacred. This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timestamps Here are some timestamps for topics covered at different points in the episode: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:10 Nate's background 00:03:15 Chris' background 00:04:50 Astrology and fate 00:06:40 Protestant Reformation 00:08:00 Stoicism 00:08:50 Determinism 00:10:40 Chart is like sheet music 00:12:00 Christianity and free will 00:15:15 Early Christianity 00:17:30 Christian issue with fate 00:18:56 The Bible's contrasting views 00:22:30 History of the Hebrew people 00:25:30 Phases of history of astrology 00:31:00 Divination and Christianity 00:35:50 Bible passages against planetary gods 00:40:35 Hellenistic astrology 00:42:26 New Testament era critiques 00:45:55 Providence and fate 00:51:17 Being a Christian frees you from fate 00:57:08 33 CE and thema mundi 00:58:00 St. Paul 01:00:05 Baptism 01:02:14 Astrology in book of Romans 01:04:00 Christian sects 01:05:25 Biblical Greek 01:07:50 Aversion to embodiment 01:18:50 Escape from astrological determinism 01:21:00 Appeal of early Christianity 01:24:45 Jesus cancelled death 01:27:35 Daimons and guardian angels 01:31:55 Nativity story is pro-astrology 01:42:50 Criticism of Paul's cosmology 01:43:22 Oscar Romero chart 01:45:02 Bringing healing to the whole world 01:46:10 Christianity and astrology serve each other 01:51:45 Created world is good 01:53:14 Integral worldview 01:55:27 Emergence theology 02:00:22 Is astrology antithetical to Christianity? 02:03:44 Closing remarks Watch the Video Version of This Episode Here is the video version of my discussion with Nate Craddock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_BOPRKk1jc – Transcript A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 226 transcr...