The Bible: What Is Astrology Scientific?

Is Astrology Scientific? When most people hear the word astrology, they think of it as ideas such as palmistry, fortune telling, or even the Sun-Sign columns published in daily newspapers; however, the actual definition of astrology is the study of the positions and movements of celestial bodies and their effect on physical and life processes on Earth (Currey). Astrology works by using twelve different regions of the sky, which are in turn represented by the different signs of the zodiac. The sun signs represent which part of the sky inhabited the sun at the time a person was born while the ascendant sign represents the section of the sky that was rising on the eastern horizon at the time a person was born. The planets and moon also take an

in Chaldea and the Zodiac that was established around 700 B.C. is actually similar to current signs today. Astrology became popular in numerous countries as time continued and several conquests occurred throughout the middle east. During the fall of the Republic, astrology gained even more popularity when Julius Caesar and other notable people had their horoscopes read to them; however, there were people such as Cicero who opposed the practice (Thagard). In second century A.D., Ptolemy published Tetrabiblos and Almagest, where the practice and ideology of astrology was put into an official writing. He reported that the way in which the movements of the planets, sun, and moon correlated with one another had an apparent effect on earthly humans. He also argued that we use the moon, sun, and planets to explore different changes they bring to nature, such as predicting changes in weather and tides. As an accredited geographer and astronomer who took his work in astronomy just as seriously, his writings are still essential to astronomers today (Kaplan). Astronomy continued become more popular throughout the European Renaissance and even more common in the seventeenth century with the public. Most of the subject’s popularity was lost during the eighteenth century, when important Enlightenment figures criticized against it

Numerous people, both young and old, feel that the planets and stars take a huge part in influencing their lives. In fact, almost an entire third of people in the Western hemisphere believe in astrology and another third pays attention to their astrological predictions at least part of the time (McGrew). Studies show that over half of Western people consider astrology to be a science and that 120 million people visit the more than three million astrology websites per year (Kelly). While it is acceptable for people to have something that interests them and gives them hope, one must understand that not everything is always real or scientific. At first glance, astrology may seem scientific, because it uses knowledge about heavenly bodies and scientific sounding tools, such as star charts. Some people say that the subject is supported by evidence just because of the experiences of people who believe astrology has produced correct results about their lives (Astrology: Is it Scientific). Astrology is not a real science because it does not rely on evidence, use testable ideas, or involve the scientific