Astrolatry refers to the worship of stars and other heavenly bodies as deities, or the association of deities with heavenly bodies. The most common instances of this are sun gods and moon gods in polytheistic systems worldwide. Also notable is the association of the planets with deities in Babylonian, and hence in Greco-Roman religion, viz. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The term astro-theology is used in the context of 18th to 19th century scholarship aiming at the discovery of the original religion, particularly primitive monotheism. In contradistinction to astrolatry, which unambiguously implies a polytheism frowned upon as idolatrous by Christian authors since Eusebius, astrotheology is any "religious system founded upon the observation of the heavens",[1] and as such may include monotheism.
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Babylonian astronomy from early times associates stars with deities, but the heavens as the residence of an anthropomorphic pantheon, and later of monotheistic God and his retinue of angels, is a later development, gradually replacing the notion of the pantheon residing or convening on the summit of high mountains. Sayce (1913) argues a parallelism of the "stellar theology" of Babylon and Egypt, both countries absorbing popular star-worship into the official pantheon of their respective state religions by identification of gods with stars or planets.[2]
Astrolatry does not appear to have been common in the Levant prior to the Iron Age, and becomes popular under Assyrian influence. The Sabaeans were notorious for their astrolatry, for which reason the practice is also known as "Sabaism" or "Sabaeanism". Similarly, the Chaldeans came to be seen as the prototypical astrologers and star-worshippers by the Greeks.
Astrology in the Hellenistic period grew out of Near Eastern and Egyptian practices of astrolatry. Mithraism was a Roman era mystery religion which incorporated many aspects of arcane astral lore derived from Hellenistic astrology.
The Hebrew Bible contains repeated reference to astrolatry. Thus, Deuteronomy 4:19, 17:3 contains a stern warning against worshipping the sun, moon, stars or any of the heavenly host. Relapse into worshipping the host of heaven, i.e. the stars, is said to have been the cause of the fall of the kingdom of Judah in II Kings 17:16. King Josiah in 621 BC is recorded as having abolished all kinds of idolatry in Judah, but astrolatry was continued in private (Zeph. 1:5; Jer. 8:2, 19:13). Ezekiel (8:16) describes sun-worship practiced in the court of the temple of Jerusalem, and Jeremiah (44:17) claims that even after the destruction of the temple, women in particular insisted on continuing their worship of the "queen of heaven".
Augustine of Hippo criticized sun- and star-worship in De Vera Religione (37.68) and De civitate Dei (5.1-8). Pope Leo the Great also denounced astrolatry, and the cult of Sol Invictus, which he contrasted with the Christian nativity.
The Qu'ran contains strong prohibitions against astrolatry, and Muhammad's prohibition of intercalation is also to be understood in the context of his aim to eradicate the astrolatry of Arabian paganism.
Astrotheology is the study of the astrological origins of religion; how gods, godessess, and demons are personifications of astrological phenomena such as lunar elipses, planetary alignments, and apparent interactions of planetary bodies with stars. Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, and the ancient Egyptian religions are examples of faiths derived from observations of the bodies on the celestial sphere. Examples of deities created as astrological allegories are Yahweh, Ra, Horus, Osiris, Mithras, Zoroaster, Helios, Apollo, Lugh, Quetzalcoatl, and Jesus.
The term astro-theology appears in the title of a 1714 work by William Derham, Astro-theology: or, A demonstration of the being and attributes of God, from a survey of the heavens based on the author's observations by means of "Mr. Huygens' Glass". Derham thought that the stars were openings in the firmament through which he thought he saw the Empyrean beyond.[3] The 1783 issue of The New Christian's magazine had an essay entitled Astro-theology which argued the "demonstration of sacred truths" from "a survey of heavenly bodies" in the sense of the watchmaker analogy. Higginson (1855) argues a compatibility of "Jewish Astro-theology" of the Hebrew Bible, which places God and his angelic hosts in the heavens, with a "Scientific Astro-theology" based on observation of the cosmos
The same term is used by Irvin, Maxwell and Rutajit (2006) in reference to "the earliest known forms of religion and nature worship", advocating the entheogen theory of the origin of religion.
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Prior to Newton astrotheology was a prominent theological view. Isaac Newton's astronomical achievements made necessary a distinction between astrotheology and natural theology which was based upon biology (a field that was later to be made famous by William Paley). Once Newton's work explained the patterns of motion, they did not seem to demand further purposive explanation, so natural theology turned to biology for evidence of purpose. Thereafter astrotheology became a neglected position, having its last prominent advocacy in the Bridgewater Treatises of 1833.[5]
In 1713 William Derham, an ordained priest in the Church of England, published Physicotheology, which outlines his astrotheological arguments. In 1715, he published Astrotheology: a Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from a Survey of the Heavens. With his semi-scientificTemplate:Clarifyme examinations on nature he concluded that only a supreme creator could have been responsible for the creation of and functions of life. Derham had similar views of William Whiston,[vague] who succeeded Newton as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Whiston was, however, charged with heresy[Need quotation on talk to verify] with his view that celestial bodies were the work of the supreme creator, and that he asserted man became ignorant to such work.[6]
Dr. William Leitch answered many theological questions in regards to earlier astronomical observations. He published his work, in early 1800s, as God's Glory in the Heavens; or, Contributions to Theology.[7][Need quotation on talk to verify]
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This article or section is missing information about: what Physico-Theology means. This concern has been noted on the talk page where it may be discussed whether or not to include such information. (June 2008) |
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Derham founded Physico-Theology,[disputed ] but he credited Robert Boyle for early Physico-Theology ways and addressed the book to Boyle as a service to him. [8][not in citation given]
Robert Boyle was a physicist and a chemist. Boyle worked together with John Ray, a naturalist. Together, Boyle and Ray had set the tone for the post-Newtonian natural theology,[9] which moved it from inconsistent philosophy to a theology based on a series of minor theologies the English cultivated at the time.[10]
Derham's Astro-Theology was written after Physico-Theology. It accounts for the historic views of theology influenced by astronomy, such as the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems. Derham further wrote his own observations of astronomy as to further astrotheology.[11]
Ray and Boyle's work, however, caused astrotheology to be marginalized by natural theology. Astronomy became only to illustrate the grandeur and expanse of creation, and the teleology of natural theology practically caused the abandonment of astrotheology. The patterns of astronomical motions had been historically supported teleology, but Physico-Theology made the already explained patterns less teleological to post-Newtonian natural theology.[12]
Template:Primarysources Derham challenged the Copernican system as falsified by events described in the Bible, which he took to involve the Sun moving backwards.
Derham notes from the Bible how the Sun rises, sets, and stands still and goes backwards:
Derham notes that in Kings 20:10 and Isai 28:8 the Sun is said to have returned ten degrees backward.[13]
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