Is it acceptable for a Christian to visit a psychic and to study astrology?
Scripture is very clear about not
involving ourselves with psychics or
astrology.
"There shall not be found among you
anyone who makes his son or
his daughter pass through the fire,
or one who practices
witchcraft, or a soothsayer,
or one who interprets omens, or a
sorcerer, or
one who conjures spells, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who
calls up the dead.
For
all who do these things are
an abomination to the
Lord, and because of
these abominations the
Lord
your God drives them out from before
you" (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
Astrology is an age-old belief
that a person can find his destiny
and purpose in the order of the
stars at the time of his birth.
Astrologers use a horoscope to map
that destiny. Untold thousands of
people each day flip right to the
horoscope section of a newspaper or
magazine to confirm their future.
Isaiah referred to astrologers with
much sarcasm when he said, "Let your
astrologers come forward, those
stargazers who make predictions
month by month, let them save you
from what is coming upon you"
(Isaiah 47:13).
It is not possible to believe
part of the Bible and to ignore
other parts. With that in mind, the
Bible clearly says that there are
angels and demons at work. There are
spiritual forces of both good and
evil all around us. Ephesians 6:12
describe it this way, "For our
struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms."
1 John 4:1-2 gives instruction
about always determining the origin
of a spirit: "Dear friends, do not
believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world. This
is how you can recognize the Spirit
of God: Every spirit that
acknowledges that Jesus Christ had
come in the flesh is from God."
Acts 16:16 and18 describe
perfectly how people of God should
view this type of spirituality:
"Once when we were going to the
place of prayer, we were met by a
slave girl who had a spirit by which
she predicted the future. She earned
a great deal of money for her owners
by fortune-telling....Finally Paul
became so troubled that he turned to
her and said to the spirit, "In the
name of Jesus, I command you to come
out of her!" At that moment the
spirit left her."
This passage clearly shows how we
are to treat spirits that manifest
in the form of fortune-tellers,
psychics, astrologers and anyone
else who assumes the God-like role
of foretelling the future.
This is not to be confused with
biblical prophets. God has used
prophecy throughout history to prove
His power and divinity. Prophecy,
for it to be of God, must completely
agree with Scripture and be 100%
accurate 100% of the time. If it in
anyway changes or adds to Scripture,
it is not of God and should never be
entertained for one second.
