Guidance in the stars?

A reader asks Billy Graham about astrology, and if they should avoid it. 

QUESTION: My aunt gave me a book for Christmas about astrology, and how to tell the future from the stars. She’s into things like that big time, but my mother says I shouldn’t even open the book. I promised her I’d ask what you think. — D.C.

A Cristian into superstitious nonsense? No surprise there. Personally, I think DC  should pitch the astrology book. But not for the reasons Graham mentions...

ANSWER: No doubt your aunt thought she was giving you something helpful, but I agree with your mother: Don’t go down that road. Although your aunt is sincere, she’s looking for guidance in the wrong place, and you shouldn’t follow her example.

Instead, I encourage you to turn to God for the direction you need. Elsewhere in your letter, you mention that you’ve just turned 16, and I couldn’t help but think of what was happening to me when I was your age. I was like most young people, trying to have fun and not thinking very much about the future. But one night, I gave my life to Jesus Christ, and I knew I would never be the same. I knew I now belonged to Him and that He would guide me and help me.

Giving my life to Jesus was the most important decision I ever made – and it can be yours, as well. By a simple prayer of faith ask Jesus to come into your life today – and He will. The Bible says, “To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
Then ask God to guide you and help you as you face the future. God loves you, and He knows what is best for you. Furthermore, He has promised to give you the guidance you’ll need in life. The Bible says, “In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:6).

Yes, Billy says that  turning his life over to Christ forever changed his life. But that doesn't really impress me, since a Muslim may very well tell me that their life also changed forever for the better when they dedicated themselves to the prophet Muhammad.

Graham says hat DC's aunt thought she was giving him something helpful, but she wasn't. He also warns not to 'go down that road'... Um, what does he think astrology is? Astrology is just a bunch of bunk, not black magic that will unlock the pits of Hell. Astrology does not work, and the premise is just plain silly. It relies on the individual fitting the horoscope to their life, rather than it actually being accurate.

There was a study done where a classroom of students were all handed horoscopes and told to keep them secret from one another. They were told that they were matched to their star sign by way of their birth date before class started. They were then asked to rate just how accurate the horoscope was. All the students rated the accuracy very highly. At this point, they were asked to show everyone else their given horoscope. It was at that time that the class learned that they had all been given the exact same horoscope. That's how it works. Keep it generic enough and people will make it fit. They'll remember the 'hits' and forget the 'misses'.

Billy said DC's aunt wasn't giving him something helpful, but she's not alone. Graham himself is trying to give DC something that he thinks is helpful, but actually isn't at all. The Bible... DC shouldn't go down that road either. And for the same reason he should pass on following astrology, actually. Christianity and astrology have one thing in common. And that's that it's not rooted in evidence. Neither is supported by factual evidence, thus there's no reason to believe either is true.

So, ditch the astrology book, and the Bible as well. Both amount to no more than fantasy and should be regarded as such until evidence exists that would suggest otherwise.


-Brain Hulk

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