TRUTH IN CREATION — a case for Christian Astronomy.

Written by Adesoji Fasanya (@adesojifasanya on Twitter)

Two of my friends and I organize a monthly Christian program where we teach sound doctrine intending to increase Biblical Literacy. Last month’s theme was “How to Study the Bible”. I started my teaching from Psalms 19 where I emphasize this truth, “every creation carries the mind and intention of its creator”. This is the very idea that David was getting at in the first section of his psalm.

He wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day speaks and the night reveals his knowledge.” He went further to describe the universality of the truth that the creation reveals.

However, from verse 7, David began to show the supremacy of the Word of God in revealing the intentions of God over the creation.

Since this is true and we have the word of God, we could easily discard the ‘truth in creation’ and that’s okay in some clime. But in a bid to know God and his whole counsel, we could understand his dealings with creation. This is why Jesus used a lot of parables to drive home the gospel of the kingdom while he taught. This is the reason for this piece.

Before delving into this, I will like to make a distinction between Astronomy and Astrology. In the not-so-distant past, they were both the same but today, astrology concerns itself with searching for human meanings in the celestial bodies. It is like reading your intentions into a book or object. It is the study of stars. Astrologers believe the positions of the stars and the relationships between them impact life on Earth. It was a common practice in many medieval societies, where these bodies are made objects of worship, therefore God spoke to the children of Israel to avoid them (Deuteronomy 4:19; 18:9–14). Astrology is an abomination to the Lord because although the truth in creation exists (Romans 1:18–20, Colossians 1:15–18), it is easily corrupted, and lures its believers away from the worship of God into idolatry (Romans 1:21–23, Ezekiel 8:15–18).

Astronomy on the other side means “the law of the stars”, it is an observational science into how the stars in the heavens look and move. It isn’t reading a preconceived meaning into the stars, it is observing the stars and determining the message they speak.

Before you ask, “How then do we decode the message they speak?” Let’s start with Genesis 1:14–18. In these four verses, we see three different Hebrew words translated as “light”. One is the menorah, which is the word for the candlelight in the temple, the others are enlightenment and light. Verse 17 says that the celestial bodies were put in the firmament to give light (enlightenment) upon the earth. Verse 14 lets us understand that one of God’s desires is to make celestial bodies “signs” (as evidence, beacon, signal) and seasons.

You see the art of the artist speaks the intent of the artist because the artist intentionally writes his idea into his art. Romans 1 (noted earlier) says the invisible character of God is made visible and understood by the created things.

Ever wonder how a star could lead the wise men? (Matthew 2:9). The entirety of the gospel of Christ is not complete without the birth of Christ and the Holy Ghost taught it right to include the story of the Magi in the birth story of Christ (The Magi are astrologers and history teaches that they were once led by Prophet Daniel. Daniel 5:11 made allusions to this. It is important to note, as stated earlier, that astrology and astronomy were regarded as the same earlier in history until recently). This is because it’s worthy of note that the creation participated in the telling of the gospel. I wouldn’t go into the details and specifics of the star because this piece isn’t about that, it is about contributing to the body of knowledge about Christian Astronomy.

More so, Jesus in (Matthew 24:29) indicated that the celestial bodies will participate in eschatology. John buttressed this in the Book of Revelation over and over.

Let’s go to Job 9:7–9. Here Job spoke about the excellence of God’s power when he mentioned stars by name and God, and in describing His power reiterated that in Job 38:31.

However, this piece is not to validate zodiac signs and astrology because they are simply expressions of idolatry. So, don’t take this piece as an endorsement of zodiac signs but rather a compliment to the wisdom of the Only Wise God who in His wisdom kept His codes and heart in His grand design.

In conclusion, it is important to note that although Romans 1 showed that the “truth in creation” is strong enough to bring condemnation to those who ignore it, we must understand that as stated earlier, there is so much limitation in “truth in creation”. Apart from its limited expressions of truth, its enticing nature in idolatry, and its overwhelming subjectivism, it is also limited in power. In the story of Daniel chapters 2 and 5 speaks of the limitations that exist in using the truth in creation as a standard. Paul in Romans 1:16 says the gospel is the power that saves. It is the truth in the gospel that saves, not the truth in creation. This is why the knowledge here discussed can only add to the body of knowledge, it lacks the power to save a man from sin and its consequences. It can however point a man to the wisdom and the power of God as revealed in the gospels.

Thank you.

Bibliography

https://journeyhomeschoolacademy.com/astronomy-vs-astrology-why-christians-should-know-the-difference/ Accessed on 10th of April, 2023.

Strong Concordance of the Bible

Gill’s Commentary of the Bible