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St. Augustine Confessions Analysis

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In Confessions, St. Augustine discusses astrology in detail. It is still wrong to practice astrology because it is contrary to free will and astrology is fake.
Astrology is fraudulent because not only does where the celestial bodies are not affect anything but astrologers cannot even be certain where they are. Even though astrologers did make a lot of correct predictions they only made correct ones because they made so many some of them had to be correct “That the true forecasts given clear beyond any doubt that the true forecasts given by the astrologers when consulted were uttered by chance or by luck, not from the science of studying the stars” (Augustine, IV.6), and that their predictions were “power apparent in lots, a power everywhere diffused in the nature of things. So, when someone happens to consult the …show more content…

The idea of astrology is contrary to many Christian doctrines regarding free will and humans’ responsibility for their sins “Astrologers try to destroy this entire saving doctrine when they say: “ “The reason for your sinning is determined by the heaven”, and “Venus or Saturn or mars was responsible for this act”” (Augustine, 4.5). This preposterous idea that the positions of the stars determines your fate and that it is not the person that is responsible for his sins but the stars are “they make man not in the least responsible for his faults.” (Augustine, 4.5).
Astrology is still wrong today for the same reasons it was wrong in Augustine’s time. Even though we certainly have a much better idea on where the stars are modern astrologers still do not know exactly where the celestial bodies are when making predictions. Even if they did know where the celestial bodies where and free will was not real and fate controlled everything there is no evidence that where the stars are hanges how people act or that astrologer even try to use where the stars are to make

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