| Site Map | Contacts | Links | Newsletter | |
Legends and Mysteries:
The Gospel in the Stars
I was surprised to learn that Henry Morris and a number of other people believe that the gospel is seen in the constellations of the Zodiac. For example, the constellation Virgo pictures the virgin Mary and Aries the Ram is Christ. This view was first made popular by two books: The Gospel in the Stars by Joseph A. Seiss in 1892, and The Witness of the Stars by E.W. Bullinger in 1893.
First of all the Bible strictly forbids looking to the stars for answers (Deuteronomy 4:19; Isaiah 47:13). They completely misunderstand Romans 1:20. It is God’s eternal power and divine nature that are clearly seen, not the story of the gospel. In Genesis 1:14 the stars in the sky are to serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years, and not to mark the gospel, or any astrology.
Secondly, the grouping of stars into constellations have changed during the history of man. Seiss and Bullinger have deleted 3 constellations named by Ptolemy in the Almagest and replaced them with three others to better fit their theory. Also different names and figures are seen by different tribes of people. For example, the Maya Indians have very different views of the constellations. For the origin of the zodiac see The Great Copernicus Chase by Owen Gingerich (1992, 7-12).
Thirdly, the position of stars are changing. The stars are slowing moving. Today’s North Star was not at the North Pole at the time of Christ. Also there is the procession of the constellations so that some that were seen in ancient times are not seen today.
Finally, what about the people in the Southern hemisphere? Are they without the gospel because they can not see all the same constellations in the North? Does God only love the people in the Northern hemisphere? Can one truly understand the gospel by just looking at the stars?