Editing Astrology (section)

== Theological viewpoints ==

{{see also|Christian views on astrology|Jewish views on astrology|Muslim views on astrology}}

=== Ancient ===

[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (354{{ndash}}430) believed that the determinism of astrology conflicted with the Christian doctrines of man's free will and responsibility, and God not being the cause of evil,{{sfn|Veenstra|1997|pp=184–185}} but he also grounded his opposition philosophically, citing the failure of astrology to explain twins who behave differently although conceived at the same moment and born at approximately the same time.<ref name="Hess-2007">{{cite book |last=Hess |first=Peter M.J. |title=Catholicism and science |year=2007 |publisher=Greenwood |location=Westport |isbn=978-0-313-33190-9 |page=11 |edition=1st |author2=Allen, Paul L.}}</ref>

=== Medieval ===

[[File:Avicenna.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|A drawing of [[Avicenna]] ]]

Some of the practices of astrology were contested on theological grounds by medieval Muslim astronomers such as [[Al-Farabi]] (Alpharabius), [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhazen) and [[Avicenna]]. They said that the methods of astrologers conflicted with orthodox religious views of [[Ulema|Islamic scholars]], by suggesting that the Will of God can be known and predicted.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Saliba |first=George | author-link=George Saliba | year=1994b | title=A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam | publisher=[[New York University Press]] | isbn=978-0-8147-8023-7 | pages=60, 67–69}}</ref> For example, Avicenna's 'Refutation against astrology', ''Risāla fī ibṭāl aḥkām al-nojūm'', argues against the practice of astrology while supporting the principle that planets may act as agents of divine causation. Avicenna considered that the movement of the planets influenced life on earth in a deterministic way, but argued against the possibility of determining the exact influence of the stars.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Belo|first=Catarina|title=Chance and Determinism in Avicenna and Averroes|date=2007-02-23|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]]|isbn=978-90-474-1915-0|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004155879.i-252|page=228}}</ref> Essentially, Avicenna did not deny the core dogma of astrology, but denied our ability to understand it to the extent that precise and fatalistic predictions could be made from it.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last = Saliba |first = George |author-link = George Saliba |encyclopedia = [[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |title = AVICENNA viii. Mathematics and Physical Sciences |date = 17 August 2011 |orig-date = First published 15 December 1987 |volume = 3 |url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/avicenna-viii |access-date = 26 May 2023 |pages = 88–92 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200220161012/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/avicenna-viii |archive-date = 20 February 2020 |url-status = live}}</ref> [[Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya]] (1292–1350), in his ''Miftah Dar al-SaCadah'', also used [[physics|physical]] arguments in astronomy to question the practice of judicial astrology.<ref name="Livingston-1971">{{Cite journal | title=Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah: A Fourteenth Century Defense against Astrological Divination and Alchemical Transmutation | first=John W. | last=Livingston | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume=91 | issue=1 | year=1971 | pages=96–103 | doi=10.2307/600445| jstor=600445}}</ref> He recognised that the [[star]]s are much larger than the [[planet]]s, and argued: <blockquote>And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to {{lang|ar|al-Ra's}} [the head] and {{lang|ar|al-Dhanab}} [the tail], which are two imaginary points [[Orbital nodes|[ascending and descending nodes]]]?<ref name="Livingston-1971"/></blockquote>

=== Modern ===

[[File:Martin Luther by Cranach-restoration.jpg|thumb|upright|Martin Luther]]
[[Martin Luther]] denounced astrology in his [[Table Talk (Luther)|''Table Talk'']]. He asked why twins like [[Jacob and Esau|Esau and Jacob]] had two different natures yet were born at the same time. Luther also compared astrologers to those who say their dice will always land on a certain number. Although the dice may roll on the number a couple of times, the predictor is silent for all the times the dice fails to land on that number.<ref name="Luther-2017">{{Cite book |last=Luther |first=Martin |title=Martin Luther's Table Talk |publisher=Gideon House Books |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-64007-960-1 |page=502}}</ref>

{{blockquote|What is done by God, ought not to be ascribed to the stars. The upright and true Christian religion opposes and confutes all such fables.<ref name="Luther-2017"/>|Martin Luther, ''Table Talk''}}

The [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] maintains that divination, including predictive astrology, is incompatible with modern [[Catholicism|Catholic]] beliefs<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Stravinskas |editor-first=Peter M.J. |title=Our Sunday visitor's Catholic encyclopedia|year=1998|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Pub.|location=Huntington, Ind.|isbn=978-0-87973-669-9|edition=Rev.|page=111}}</ref> such as free will:<ref name="Hess-2007" />

{{blockquote|All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.<ref>{{cite web|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - Part 3|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm|access-date=8 July 2012|archive-date=25 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925062519/http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>|Catechism of the Catholic Church}}