Astrology as Heresy in Contemporary Belief. (15th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Phillipson, Garry
• Is Part Of: Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture. Volume 13:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 12
• Page End: 30
• Publication Date: 2019-02-15
• Subjects: cultural understanding -- astrology -- cosmologies; Human ecology -- Religious aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental protection -- Religious aspects -- Periodicals; Ecology -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Periodicals; Ecology -- Religious aspects -- Periodicals; 201.7705
• DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.38056
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1749-4907

Abstract

Abstract : Astrology has been characterised as a heresy by many Christian thinkers, from the time of the early Church Fathers to the present day. In contemporary discourse, astrology is often treated as if it were a heresy against science. I provide examples of astrologers being treated as heretics in the name of science, and an alternative conception of astrology as a form of divination, not dependent on scientific substantiation. I argue that the 'astrology' often criticised in the name of science may be defined as much by scientism's need for a construction to define itself against, as by the actual views of horoscopic astrologers. The emerging picture is that criticisms of astrology are typically based on a mixture of legitimate objections and scientistic belief. I conclude that scientism's unspoken aspiration to orthodoxy emerges through the parallels between its approach to astrology and that of the Church.