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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Two — the heavens and the stars

That Astrological Divination is contrary to divine Scripture, to Ecclesiastical discipline, and to Theological doctrine. CHAPTER ONE

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That Astrological Divination is contrary to divine Scripture, to Ecclesiastical discipline, and to Theological doctrine. CHAPTER ONE.1

Divinationem Astrologicam divinae Scripturae, disciplinae Ecclesiasticae, ac doctrinae Theologicae esse contrariam. CAPUT PRIMUM.

CLAMAT multis in locis divina Scriptura certam futurarum rerum praescientiam et praedictionem non esse hominum, sed ne daemonum quidem, verum unius Dei propriam. Quapropter apud Isaiam cap. 41 ita scriptum est, Annunciate quae ventura sunt in futurum, et sciemus quia dii estis vos; et cap. 44, Ego sum Dominus irrita faciens signa divinorum, et hariolos in furorem vertens, convertens sapientes retrorsum, et scientiam eorum stultam faciens. Capite autem 47 deridens Deus Babylonios et Chaldaeos syderalibus suis observationibus praesidentes, Sta, inquit, cum incantatoribus tuis et cum multitudine maleficiorum tuorum, in quibus laborasti ab adolescentia tua, si forte quid prosit tibi, aut si possis fieri fortior. Defecisti in multitudine consiliorum tuorum: stent et salvent te Augures caeli, qui contemplabantur sydera et supputabant menses, ut ex eis annuntiarent ventura tibi. Et paulo ante dixerat, Sapientia tua et scientia tua haec decepit te. Hieremias quoque capite 10 monet Iudaeos ut Astrologicas observationes pro nihilo ducant, nihil enim sibi a stellis vel sperandum vel timendum esse: sic autem ait, Iuxta vias gentium nolite discere, et a signis caeli nolite metuere quae timent gentes, quia leges populorum vanae sunt. Salomon autem Ecclesiastae capite 10 scientiam futurarum rerum denegat homini: Ignorat homo, ait ipse, quid ante se fuerit; et quid post se futurum sit, quis poterit indicare? Idem c. 8 eiusdem libri, Homo, inquit, ignorat praeterita, et futura nullo scire potest nuntio. Liquet igitur divinationem Astrologicam in Sacris litteris contemni, derideri ac reprobari.
Divine Scripture cries out in many places that the certain foreknowledge and prediction of future things belongs neither to men, nor even to demons, but is proper to God alone. Wherefore in Isaiah, chapter 41, it is written thus, Announce the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that you are gods; and in chapter 44, I am the Lord, that make void the signs of the diviners, and turn the soothsayers into madness, that turn the wise backward, and make their knowledge foolish. And in chapter 47, God, mocking the Babylonians and Chaldeans who presided over their observations of the stars, says, Stand with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast labored from thy youth, if so be it may profit thee anything, or if thou mayst become stronger. Thou hast failed in the multitude of thy counsels: let the augurs of heaven stand and save thee, who gazed at the stars and reckoned the months, that from them they might announce the things to come to thee. And a little before he had said, Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, this has deceived thee. Jeremiah too, in chapter 10, warns the Jews to count astrological observations as nothing, for nothing is to be hoped or feared by them from the stars; and thus he says, Learn not according to the ways of the gentiles, and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the gentiles fear, for the laws of the peoples are vain. And Solomon, in Ecclesiastes chapter 10, denies to man the knowledge of future things: Man knows not, he says, what was before him; and who can tell him what shall be after him? And in chapter 8 of the same book, Man, he says, is ignorant of things past, and things to come he can know by no messenger. It is clear, therefore, that astrological divination is in the Sacred writings despised, mocked, and rejected.2
CUM doctrina sacrarum litterarum etiam iudicium Ecclesiae, ut par erat, mire congruit. Semper enim Ecclesia inde usque a primordiis suis Iudiciarios Astrologos odit, fugit, damnavit. Extant adversus ipsos plurima et severissima decreta Ecclesiae, quae legere licet in secunda parte Decretorum cap. 26 per primas quinque quaestiones, et in Concilio Bracarensi 1 cap. 9, et in Tolet. 1 in asser. Fidei contra Priscillianistas. Fertur Alexander Papa huius nominis 3 quendam presbyterum, qui semel consuluerat Astrologum de quodam furto in Ecclesia sua facto, in unum annum privasse altaris ministerio. Crebras item reperimus in scriptis sanctorum Patrum adversus Astrologos (quos illi nunc Chaldaeos vel Genethliacos, alias Mathematicos aut Planetarios appellant) disputationes, ex quibus apparet quam fuerit maioribus nostris genus hoc hominum exosum et abominatum. Multa contra illos disputat Basilius homi. 6 in Genesim, Chrysostomus et Gregorius Magnus in 2 cap. Matthaei, sed praeter ceteros Augustinus libro 2 super Genesim ad litteram capit. 17, libro etiam 2 de Doctrina [Christiana]...
With the doctrine of the sacred writings the judgment of the Church also, as was fitting, marvelously agrees. For the Church always, from its very beginnings, has hated, shunned, and condemned the Judiciary Astrologers. There exist against them very many and most severe decrees of the Church, which one may read in the second part of the Decretals, cause 26, through the first five questions, and in the First Council of Braga, chapter 9, and in the First of Toledo, in the assertion of the Faith against the Priscillianists. Pope Alexander, the third of this name, is reported to have deprived, for one year, of the ministry of the altar, a certain priest who had once consulted an Astrologer about a certain theft committed in his church. We find, too, in the writings of the holy Fathers, frequent disputations against the Astrologers (whom they now call Chaldeans or Genethliaci, otherwise Mathematici or Planetarii), from which it appears how hateful and abominated this kind of men was to our forefathers. Many things against them are disputed by Basil in homily 6 on Genesis, by Chrysostom and Gregory the Great on the second chapter of Matthew, but beyond the rest by Augustine in the second book On Genesis according to the Letter, chapter 17, and also in the second book On [Christian] Doctrine...3
...[Doctrina] Christiana capite 21 et aliquot proxime sequentibus capitibus, subtiliter tamen et copiose primis aliquot capitibus libro 5 de Civitate Dei. Eodem pertinent quae contra Mathematicos in lib. 14 c. 4 et in libr. 6 c. 9 de Praeparatione evangelica argumentatur Eusebius. RIDICULUS fuit, vel potius amens, Iulianus Apostata, qui in libris quos adversus Christianos effutivit probare voluit ex his quae scripta sunt in capite 15 Geneseos Abrahamum et Astrologiam et Aruspicinam coluisse. Astrologiam quidem eius significari putat illis verbis, Eduxit Deus Abram foras, et ait illi, Suspice caelum et numera stellas si potes: sic erit semen tuum. Aruspicinae vero scientiam eius illis etiam verbis denotari ait, Sume mihi vaccam triennem et capram trimam et arietem annorum trium, turturem quoque et columbam; qui tollens universa haec divisit ea per medium, et utrasque partes contra se altrinsecus posuit, aves autem non divisit; descenderuntque volucres super cadavera, et abigebat eas Abram. Deinde subiicitur praedictio peregrinationis et servitutis posterorum eius per quadringentos annos. Sed hunc Iuliani errorem, vel potius furorem, egregie confutat Cyrillus extremo libro decimo eius operis quod adversus Iulianum edidit. Alii fidem huic vanissimae Astrologiae asserere et astruere conantur ex illa stella quae nato Christo apparuit, cuius aspectu excitati tres illi Magi, ductuque ad adorandum Christum venerant. Sed istos manifestis argumentis Chrysostomus et Gregorius in homiliis super illud Evangelium scriptis redarguunt et convincunt.
...On Christian Doctrine, chapter 21 and some chapters immediately following; but subtly and copiously in the first several chapters of book 5 of The City of God. To the same purpose belong the things which Eusebius argues against the Mathematici in book 14, chapter 4, and in book 6, chapter 9, of the Preparation for the Gospel. Ridiculous was, or rather mad, Julian the Apostate, who, in the books which he blurted out against the Christians, wished to prove, from the things written in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, that Abraham practiced both Astrology and Haruspicy. His astrology, indeed, he thinks is signified by those words, God led Abram forth, and said to him, Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst: so shall thy seed be. And the science of his haruspicy he says is denoted by those words also, Take me a cow of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtledove also and a pigeon; who, taking all these, divided them through the middle, and laid both parts opposite one another on either side, but the birds he did not divide; and the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Then is added the prediction of the wandering and servitude of his posterity for four hundred years. But this error of Julian's, or rather his madness, Cyril excellently refutes in the last, the tenth, book of the work which he published against Julian. Others try to assert and build up credit for this most vain Astrology from that star which appeared at Christ's birth, by the sight of which those three Magi, being stirred, and led to adore Christ, had come. But Chrysostom and Gregory, in the homilies written on that Gospel, refute and convict these men by manifest arguments.4
CETERUM, errorem Astrologorum etiam rationibus ex doctrina Theologica contextis refutare possumus. Principio, Nemo, ut ait Paulus 1 Corinth. 2, novit quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis: sed homo nescit quid ipsemet post multos annos aut etiam dies acturus sit; nam, ut inquit Scriptura Proverbior. cap. 27, Ne glorieris in crastinum, ignorans quid superventura pariat dies; et, Non est via hominis in manu eius: homo enim proponit, Deus autem disponit. Est namque non modo quorumlibet hominum, sed etiam Regum cor in manu Dei, et flectit illud quocumque vult. Si igitur ipsemet homo nescit quid futuro tempore facturus sit, quanto minus id scire potest Astrologus? Deinde, ne ipse quidem diabolus certo potest nosse res futuras: si enim futura omnia daemon sciret, numquam profecto impulisset Iudaeos ad crucifigendum et occidendum Christum Dominum, quippe praevidisset per crucem et mortem Christi imperium quod tamdiu habuerat in homines fore labefactandum et funditus evertendum; nec sane daemon tentaret et infestaret servos Dei a quibus in tentatione vincitur, ne videlicet propter victoriam tentationum crescente Sanctorum gloria magis ipse (quae eius est superbia et invidia) torqueretur.
FOR THE REST, we can refute the error of the Astrologers also by reasons woven from Theological doctrine. First, No one, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, knows the things of a man, but the spirit of a man: but a man knows not what he himself is going to do after many years, or even days; for, as Scripture says in Proverbs chapter 27, Boast not for tomorrow, not knowing what the coming day may bring forth; and, The way of a man is not in his own hand: for man proposes, but God disposes. For not only the heart of any man whatever, but even of kings, is in the hand of God, and He bends it wheresoever He wills. If, then, a man himself knows not what he is going to do in time to come, how much less can the Astrologer know it? Next, not even the devil himself can know future things for certain: for if the demon knew all things to come, he would surely never have impelled the Jews to crucify and slay Christ the Lord—since he would have foreseen that by the cross and death of Christ the dominion which he had so long held over men was to be shaken and utterly overthrown; nor indeed would the demon tempt and harass the servants of God, by whom he is overcome in temptation, lest, namely, by reason of the victory of their temptations and the increasing glory of the Saints, he himself (such is his pride and envy) be the more tormented.5
Hoc etiam patet argumento oraculorum quae olim reddebant daemones, cuiusmodi erant responsa et oracula Apollinis Delphici quondam apud Graecos nobilissima et clarissima; quae ad divinationem astrologicam pertinuisse locuples auctor et testis est Porphyrius...
This also is plain from the argument of the oracles which the demons once gave—such as were the responses and oracles of Delphic Apollo, once most renowned and famous among the Greeks; that these pertained to astrological divination, Porphyry is a rich author and witness...6
...[Por]phyrius in lib. de Oraculis (refert autem hoc Eusebius lib. 6 de Praeparatione Evangelica cap. 1), ubi tradit quaecumque dii ceu fatis definita praedicunt, ea ipsos stellarum motu ita esse futura significare, id quod maxime Apollo multis responsis aperuit. In hisce autem oraculis et divinationibus saepe mentitum esse Apollinem idem auctor est Porphyrius: exquisitam enim futurorum cognitionem ait non hominibus modo, sed multis etiam deorum incomprehensibilem esse, unde interrogati mentiuntur nonnunquam, sed non sponte: solent enim praemonere se tunc vera respondere non posse, homines tamen ex amentia perseverant urgere et cogere eos ut respondeant. Apollo igitur Delphicus, cum eiusmodi esset caeli et continentis affectio ut verum praevidere non posset, retine, dicebat per Vatem, vim istam, et potentia verba haec ne profas: falsa enim dicam, si coges. Et in alio responso, Nihil hodie, inquit Apollo, stellarum mihi via ad dicendum praestat. Deinde concludens Porphyrius ait, Manifestum iam fecimus unde falsitas ad deorum oracula subrepat. Haec ex libro Porphyrii de Oraculis in lib. 6 Praeparatione Evangelica cap. 4 Eusebius commemorat. Fuit etiam quidam Oenomanus, vir apud Graecos tam philosophia quam eloquentia nobilis, qui responsis Delphici Apollinis saepe delusus atque deceptus diligenter et curiose collegit quamplurima eius oracula, eaque ut vana, futilia et falsa confutavit, ut refert Eusebius lib. 5 de Praeparatione Euang. cap. 10.
...Porphyry, in his book On Oracles (Eusebius reports this in book 6 of the Preparation for the Gospel, chapter 1), where he delivers that whatever the gods foretell as fixed by fate, they signify to be thus future by the motion of the stars—which Apollo above all disclosed in many responses. But that in these oracles and divinations Apollo often lied, Porphyry is likewise the author: for he says that exact knowledge of future things is incomprehensible not only to men, but even to many of the gods, whence, when questioned, they sometimes lie, but not willingly; for they are wont to warn that they cannot then answer truly, yet men out of madness persist in urging and compelling them to answer. Delphic Apollo, therefore, when the disposition of the heaven and of all it contains was such that he could not foresee the truth, used to say through the priestess, Hold back this force, and utter not these words of power: for I shall speak falsehood, if thou compel me. And in another response, Today, says Apollo, the way of the stars affords me nothing to say. Then, concluding, Porphyry says, We have now made plain whence falsehood creeps into the oracles of the gods. These things Eusebius recounts from Porphyry's book On Oracles, in book 6 of the Preparation for the Gospel, chapter 4. There was also a certain Oenomaus, a man noble among the Greeks as much for philosophy as for eloquence, who, often deluded and deceived by the responses of Delphic Apollo, diligently and curiously collected very many of his oracles, and refuted them as vain, futile, and false, as Eusebius reports in book 5 of the Preparation for the Gospel, chapter 10.7
QUATUOR porro ob causas usu venit in praenuntiando futura falli daemonem. Primo, quia nimis asseveranter affirmat quae pendent ex libero arbitrio hominis: quod, cum sit admodum mutabile et ad omnia flexibile et plane liberum, nonnunquam extraordinaria quadam ratione operatur. Deinde, quod nos saepe divinitus incitati et adiuti Dei gratia contra facimus quam antea facere cogitabamus, et quam nostro ingenio nostroque arbitratu facturi eramus. Fit etiam ut quod daemon agere constituerat et praedixerat, prohibente impedienteque Deo, non possit exequi. Denique, multa Deus aliquando praeter communem ordinem naturae praeterque generalem suam et ordinariam providentiam agit. Atque his rebus crebro daemon in errorem inducitur. Quis ergo credet Astrologos praedicandis futuris rebus veraces esse, cum in eo vel daemones falli saepe contingat? Sed quid ego de daemonibus loquor? Theologi docent ne ipsos quidem spiritus caelestes ac beatas mentes, quae liquido cernunt et clarissime vident Deum tenentque perfectissimam cognitionem caelorum cunctarumque rerum naturalium, certo scire futura quae nimirum pendent ex libero arbitrio, nisi earum rerum Deus singularem ipsis notitiam impertiat. Cuius autem amentiae est Astrologis tribuere quod nec Angelis nec beatis mentibus concessum est?
Now for four causes it comes to pass that the demon is deceived in foretelling the future. First, because it too confidently affirms things that depend on the free will of man: which, since it is exceedingly mutable, and flexible to all things, and plainly free, sometimes operates by some extraordinary means. Next, because we, often divinely incited and aided by the grace of God, do the contrary of what we had before thought to do, and of what, by our own wit and our own choice, we were about to do. It happens also that what the demon had determined and foretold to do, it cannot carry out, God forbidding and hindering. Lastly, God sometimes does many things beyond the common order of nature and beyond His general and ordinary providence. And by these things the demon is frequently led into error. Who, then, will believe that the Astrologers are truthful in foretelling future things, when in this even the demons often happen to be deceived? But why do I speak of demons? The theologians teach that not even the celestial spirits and blessed minds themselves—which clearly behold and most clearly see God, and hold a most perfect knowledge of the heavens and of all natural things—know future things with certainty, those, namely, that depend on free will, unless God impart to them a special knowledge of those things. Of what madness, then, is it to attribute to Astrologers what is granted neither to Angels nor to the blessed minds?8
SED illa in primis fortis est argumentatio. Si Christiana religio et disciplina vera est, ut est profecto verissima, non potest esse vera, nec Christianis probari potest, ita opinio Astrologorum, ut quam[...]...
BUT this above all is a strong argumentation. If the Christian religion and teaching is true—as it most certainly is—then the opinion of the Astrologers cannot be true, nor can it be approved by Christians, in such a way as [...]...9
...quam illa vanitatis, falsitatis et impietatis persaepe damnavit. Sin autem falsa est doctrina Christiana, cum ipsa totum fere orbem complexa sit omnesque propemodum gentes suo imperio subiecerit et plus mille quingentos annos vigeat et regnet in mundo, si omnia quae apud homines fiunt ex caelo proveniunt ac pendent, necesse est tantam hominum ad fidem Christi accipiendam tuendamque propensionem tantumque studium ex insigni aliqua et praepotenti constellatione provenire; quare caelum inclinaret et induceret homines ad malum. Si enim fides Christi esset falsa, magis profecto esset falsa et detestabilis quam alia quaelibet secta: ea namque docet de Deo et rebus divinis quae, si falsa sunt, nefariam sane superstitionem et execrandam impietatem contineant necesse est. At vero, cum vita quae ad normam fidei Christianae agitur sit optima et inculpata, nec laude tantum sed summa etiam admiratione dignissima, hinc necessario efficeretur ab eadem constellatione proficisci bonum et malum: malum quidem propter falsitatem doctrinae Christianae, bonum autem propter vitae quae ad eius doctrinae regulam informatur et dirigitur probitatem atque praestantiam.
...than that opinion of vanity, falsehood, and impiety, which [the Christian religion] has very often condemned. But if the Christian doctrine is false—since it has embraced almost the whole world, and subjected nearly all nations to its sway, and for more than fifteen hundred years has flourished and reigned in the world—then, if all things that happen among men come from and depend on the heaven, it is necessary that so great a propensity of men to accept and defend the faith of Christ, and so great a zeal, proceed from some notable and most powerful constellation; wherefore the heaven would incline and lead men to evil. For if the faith of Christ were false, it would surely be more false and detestable than any other sect whatsoever: for it teaches concerning God and divine things such things as, if they are false, must contain a wicked superstition and an execrable impiety. But in truth, since the life which is led according to the rule of the Christian faith is the best and blameless, and worthy not only of praise but even of the highest admiration, hence it would necessarily follow that from the same constellation proceed both good and evil: evil indeed, on account of the falsity of the Christian doctrine; but good, on account of the uprightness and excellence of the life which is formed and directed according to the rule of its doctrine.10
AD HAEC, maxima probatio et confirmatio fidei nostrae, et clarissimum divinae providentiae argumentum, illud est: quaecumque circa Christum Dominum et eius Ecclesiam evenerunt, ea multis ante saeculis fuisse per Prophetas, ad unum omnia, proprie, distincte, explicateque praedicta; si autem eiusmodi praedictio per Astrologiam fieri posset, rueret funditus et ad nihilum recideret firmissimum nostrae religionis fundamentum. Ne multa, istiusmodi Astrologorum doctrina veram philosophiam moralem, nedum sacram Scripturam et Theologiam, quantum in ipsa est, plane pervertit. Qui enim certum habet omnia pendere e caelo, ob idque cuncta hominum opera, facta, casus et eventa ex caeli observatione praesentiri et praedici posse, huic quoque necessario persuasum esse debet materialem et mortalem esse animum nostrum, nullumque esse liberum arbitrium, nec talem esse providentiam Dei qualem Fides nostra praedicat; mysteria item Christianae religionis pendere e caelo, cunctaque miracula tam in veteri quam in novo Testamento edita, licet dicantur (ut re vera sunt) supernaturalia, ad caelestes nihilominus causas et virtutes revocari. Huic quoque opinationi consequens est neglectio et praetermissio bonorum operum, licentia omnium cupiditatum, quorumlibet flagitiorum excusatio, denique inutilitas atque crudelitas humanarum pariter atque divinarum legum. Caietanus in Summula, ubi agit de astrorum observatione, simillima docens eorum quae diximus, vere magis et docte quam eleganter et ornate ita scribit:
BESIDES this, the greatest proof and confirmation of our faith, and the clearest argument of divine providence, is this: that whatsoever befell Christ the Lord and His Church was, many ages before, foretold by the Prophets—all to a man, properly, distinctly, and explicitly; but if such prediction could be made through Astrology, the firmest foundation of our religion would utterly collapse and fall to nothing. In short, this doctrine of the Astrologers plainly perverts, so far as in it lies, true moral philosophy, not to say sacred Scripture and Theology. For whoever holds it certain that all things depend on the heaven, and that therefore all the works, deeds, chances, and events of men can be foreseen and foretold from the observation of the heaven, must also necessarily be persuaded that our soul is material and mortal, that there is no free will, and that the providence of God is not such as our Faith proclaims; that the mysteries of the Christian religion likewise depend on the heaven, and that all the miracles produced both in the Old and in the New Testament, though they be called (as in truth they are) supernatural, are nevertheless to be traced back to celestial causes and powers. To this opinion there also follows the neglect and omission of good works, license for all lusts, the excuse of any crimes whatsoever, and finally the uselessness and cruelty of human laws no less than divine. Cajetan, in his Summula, where he treats of the observation of the stars, teaching things very like what we have said, writes thus—more truly and learnedly than elegantly and ornately:11

The observation of the stars, concerning the nativities of men and human occurrences, can be subjected to sin in three ways. First, if the things which are mysteries of the Christian faith be held as though they were subject to celestial cau[ses]...12

Astrorum observatio circa nativitates hominum et occurrentia humana tripliciter peccato subiici potest. Primo, si ea quae fidei Christianae mysteria sunt tanquam subsint caelestibus cau[sis]...

...celestial causes; secondly, if future contingents be sought or held as certain from celestial causes; thirdly, if one subject his own choices to celestial causes as to their law, so as to regulate his life and actions according to the heavens. And each of these three is, of its own kind, a mortal sin: because the first is against the spirituality of the Christian religion, which is above the heavens, being able even to change the very courses of the heavens, according to what is written in Psalm 148, His praise is above heaven and earth; and this experience has attested. The second is against the truth of Christian doctrine and of free will, by which we are lords of our own works. The third is against the dignity of grace, of the divine law, and of the human mind, by which we are set above all bodily things. And just as we should err by subjecting ourselves to the passions of anger, hatred, hope, fear—so that we should have the impulses of the passions for a law—so we cheapen ourselves if we hold the inclinations of the heavens for a law: for they are bodies, and incline us after the manner of passions. Thus Cajetan.13

...[cau]sis habeantur; secundo, si futura contingentia quaerantur vel habeantur ut certa ex caelestibus causis; tertio, si electiones suas quis subiiciat caelestibus causis tanquam legi illarum, ita ut vitam et actiones suas regulet secundum caelos. Et quodlibet horum trium est ex suo genere peccatum mortale: quia primum est contra spiritualitatem Christianae religionis, quae super caelos est, immutare potens etiam ipsos caelorum cursus, iuxta id quod scriptum est in Psalmo 148, Confessio eius super caelum et terram; et hoc experientia testata est. Secundum vero est contra veritatem doctrinae Christianae et liberi arbitrii, quo domini sumus nostrorum operum. Tertium est contra dignitatem gratiae, legis divinae, ac humanae mentis, qua super omnia corporalia sumus constituti. Et sicut erraremus subiiciendo nos passionibus irae, odii, spei, timoris, ita quod haberemus impetus passionum pro lege, ita vilificamus nos si inclinationes caelorum pro lege habeamus: corpora enim sunt, et per modum passionum inclinant nos. Haec Caietanus.

IN Actis autem Apostolorum capite 19 refert Lucas multos de his qui Ephesi contionibus et sermonibus B. Pauli conversi erant ad Christum et curiosa prius fuerant sectati attulisse libros suos et coram omnibus combussisse: fuisse autem eos libros de rebus ad iudiciariam Astrologiam pertinentibus, gravis auctor in Commentariis super Psalmos dixit Augustinus; qui etiam Mathematicum quendam, hoc est istam Astrologiam professum, postea paenitentem professionis suae cupientemque reconciliari Ecclesiae, nisi publica et solenni paenitentia praemissa non recepit. Verum sententiam Augustini, quod ea maxime attingit id quod nunc agitur, totidem verbis hic abscribam. Post enarrationem igitur sexagesimi primi Psalmi, cum Mathematicus ille veniam publice petens coram sisteretur, haec dixit Augustinus:
And in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 19, Luke relates that many of those who at Ephesus had been converted to Christ by the discourses and sermons of the blessed Paul, and had before followed curious arts, brought their books and burned them before all; and that those books were on matters pertaining to judicial Astrology, the weighty author Augustine said in his Commentaries on the Psalms—who also did not receive a certain Mathematicus (that is, one who had professed this Astrology), afterward repenting of his profession and desiring to be reconciled to the Church, except with a public and solemn penance going before. But the saying of Augustine, since it most touches what is now in hand, I shall here copy out word for word. After his exposition of the sixty-first Psalm, when that Mathematicus, publicly seeking pardon, was set before them, Augustine said these things:14

This man returns from being a Christian and a believer, as a penitent, and, terrified by the power of the Lord, is converted to the mercy of the Lord: for, seduced by the enemy when he was a believer, he became a mathematicus—seduced and seducing, deceived and deceiving—he enticed, he beguiled, he spoke many lies against God, who gave men the power of doing what is good and not doing what is evil. This man used to say that adultery was done not by one's own will, but by Venus; and that homicide was done not by one's own will, but by Mars; and that the just deed was done not by God, but by Jupiter; and many other sacrileges, no small ones. Of how many Christians do you think he took the money? How many bought a lie from him? to whom we used to say, O sons of men, how long heavy of heart? why do you love vanity and seek a lie?...15

Iste ex Christiano et fideli paenitens redit, et territus potestate Domini convertitur ad misericordiam Domini: seductus enim ab inimico cum esset fidelis, mathematicus fuit, seductus seducens, deceptus decipiens, illexit, fefellit, multa mendacia locutus est contra Deum, qui dedit hominibus potestatem faciendi quod bonum est et non faciendi quod malum est. Iste dicebat quod adulterium non faciebat voluntas propria, sed Venus; et homicidium non faciebat voluntas propria, sed Mars; et iustum non faciebat Deus, sed Iupiter; et alia multa sacrilegia non parva. Quam multis eum putatis Christianis nummos abstulisse? Quam multi ab illo emerunt mendacium? quibus dicebamus, Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde? ut quid diligitis vanitatem et quaeritis mendacium?...

...Now, as is to be believed of him, he has shuddered at his lie and at the destruction of many men: he has felt that he was once enticed by the devil, and is converted to God as a penitent. You know that it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 19, that many that were lost—that is, men of such arts and followers of nefarious doctrines—brought all their books to the Apostles, and so many books were burned that it pertained to a scribe to make an estimate of them and to write down the sum of their price. This indeed for the glory of God, that even such lost ones be not despaired of, by Him who knew how to seek what had perished. This man, then, had perished; now, sought, found, he has been brought back: he carries with him the books to be burned, by which he was to have been burned, so that, these being cast into the fire, he himself may pass over into refreshment. For before Easter he began to seek medicine from the Church of Christ; but because such is the art in which he was practiced—suspect of lying and deceit—he was deferred, lest he should tempt, and yet at last was admitted, lest he be more dangerously tempted. Thus far Augustine.16

...Modo, sicut de illo credendum est, horruit mendacium et multorum hominum interitum: se aliquando a diabolo sensit illectum, convertitur ad Deum paenitens. Nostis in Actibus Apostolorum esse scriptum capite 19 quia multi perditi, id est talium artium homines et doctrinarum nefariarum sectatores, omnes codices suos ad Apostolos attulerunt, et incensi sunt libri tam multi ut pertineret ad scriptorem aestimationem eorum facere et summam pretii conscribere. Hoc utique propter gloriam Dei, ne tales etiam perditi desperarentur, ab illo qui novit quaerere quod perierat. Perierat ergo iste, nunc quaesitus, inventus, adductus est: portat secum codices incendendos per quos fuerat incendendus, ut illis in ignem missis, ipse in refrigerium transierit. Ante Pascha enim coepit petere de Ecclesia Christi medicinam; sed quia talis est ars in qua exercitatus erat quae suspecta esset in mendacio atque fallacia, dilatus est ne tentaret, et aliquando tamen admissus est ne periculosius tentaretur. Hactenus Augustinus.

CERTE in primitiva Ecclesia istiusmodi Astrologia non secus quam ars magica reprobata, vetita et damnata erat. Narrat Epiphanius in libro de Mensuris et ponderibus Aquilam Ponticum Scripturae interpretem ob eam maxime causam fuisse a Patribus ex Ecclesia pulsum, quod nativitatum observationibus ceterisque divinationibus astrologicis studiose vacaret. Non est pro derelicto habendum, cum sit admodum memorabile, quod Origenem in commentariis super Genesim de ista Astrologia prodidisse libro sexto de Praeparatione Evangelica capite nono tradit Eusebius. Sic enim scripsisse illum ait:
Certainly, in the primitive Church, Astrology of this kind was rejected, forbidden, and condemned no otherwise than the magic art. Epiphanius, in his book On Measures and Weights, relates that Aquila of Pontus, the interpreter of Scripture, was driven out of the Church by the Fathers chiefly for this cause, that he zealously gave himself to the observation of nativities and to the other astrological divinations. It is not to be passed over, since it is very memorable, what Eusebius, in the sixth book of the Preparation for the Gospel, chapter nine, hands down that Origen set forth about this Astrology in his commentaries on Genesis. For he says that Origen wrote thus:17

Not only do the Gentiles believe that the things on earth happen necessarily by the conjunction and aspect of the stars (which force they call Fate); but even many of the faithful are troubled, believing it impossible that things should come to pass otherwise than the course of the stars has effected—whence it follows that there is no liberty in us, and no work of ours can rightly be praised or blamed: so that the judgment of God foretold by the Scriptures, by which some are predestined to eternal torments, others to eternal blessedness, would be proclaimed by a false favoritism. What more? faith itself, and the coming of our Savior, and all the labor of the Prophets, and the preaching of the Apostles in founding Churches, would be vain—unless perchance one dare to say that Christ also, compelled by the force of the heavenly bodies, did what He did and suffered what He suffered, and that all things came to pass not by the power of His Godhead, but by the power of the stars. By these impious words this also is effected: that the faithful, led by Fate, believe in Christ; and finally, that either there be no difference between good and evil, or even that God be the author of evils, and that no man ought to be judged worthy of reward or punishment for good or evil deeds, nor any place be left for prayers, vows, and supplications to God. Thus Origen.18

Non solum Gentiles stellarum coniunctione atque aspectu quae in terris sunt necessario accidere credunt, quam vim Fatum appellant; verum etiam multi ex fidelibus conturbantur, impossibile aliter fieri credentes quam stellarum cursus effecerit, unde sequitur nullam in nobis esse libertatem, nullam operationem nostram laudari aut vituperari iure posse: ita praedictum a Scripturis Dei iudicium, quo alii ad aeterna supplicia, alii ad aeternam beatitudinem praedestinantur, falso favore praedicaretur. Quid plura? ipsa quoque fides et Salvatoris nostri adventus et omnis Prophetarum labor ac Apostolorum in constituendis Ecclesiis praedicatio inania erunt, nisi forte Christum quoque quis audeat dicere caelestium corporum vi coactum fecisse quae fecit, passumque fuisse quae passus est, nec eius deitatis potentia sed stellarum virtute cuncta evenisse. His impiis verbis etiam illud conficitur, ut fideles Fato ducti in Christum credant; denique ut vel nullum sit boni et mali discrimen, vel etiam malorum auctor sit Deus, nullusque hominum propter bene vel male facta praemio aut poena dignus censeri debeat, nec orationibus, votis et Dei obsecrationibus locus aliquis relinquatur. Sic Origenes.

EAT IGITUR nunc Petrus de Aliaco et istam Astrologiam amplexetur, exosculetur praefracteque defendat, atque obnixe conetur eam cum philosophia, quin etiam (si Deo placet) cum Theologia consociare atque coniugare, scilicet falsitatem cum veritate, tenebras cum luce, daemonem cum Deo. Qui nec veritus est scripto prodere diluvium Noëticum et ortum Christi Domini aliaque summa prodigia et miracula etiam syderalis scientiae peritia, ex astrorum observatione, praenosci ac praedici potuisse. Sed quo manifestius appareat quam sit impia et execranda istorum doctrina, ponam hic paucas quasdam eorum sententias et decreta, e quibus iudicium fiet de illius artis impietate. Quidam istorum, ex Marte in nona caeli regione feliciter constituto, tantum praestari nobis contendunt ut ab obsessis corporibus sola praesentia daemones expellamus. Alii iactant se hac arte de eius qui nascitur conscientiae arcanis et secretis sine errore iudicaturos. Vulgatum quoque apud illos est duos esse planetas auctores felicitatis humanae, Venerem quidem praesentis, Iovem autem post hanc vitam futurae. Maternus porro, eiusmodi figmentorum et mendaciorum studiosissimus et curiosissimus, cum multa memoret quae a Saturno constituto in Leone accidunt hominibus, subdit eiusmodi homines longaevos fore, et post mortem animas eorum in caelum diis applicatas evolaturas. Saturnus enim, inquit, in Leone positus animas eorum qui sic se habuerint in terra, innumeris angustiis liberatas, ad caelum et originis suae primordia reducet.
LET Pierre d'Ailly, then, now go and embrace this Astrology, fondle it, and stubbornly defend it, and strenuously strive to associate and wed it with philosophy—nay even (if it please God) with Theology: that is, falsehood with truth, darkness with light, the demon with God. He did not even fear to set forth in writing that Noah's flood, and the birth of Christ the Lord, and other supreme prodigies and miracles, could—by skill in the science of the stars—be foreknown and foretold from the observation of the stars. But, that it may appear more manifestly how impious and execrable the doctrine of these men is, I shall set down here a few of their sayings and decrees, from which judgment will be made about the impiety of that art. Some of them contend that, from Mars favorably set in the ninth region of the heaven, so much is granted us that by our mere presence we may expel demons from possessed bodies. Others boast that by this art they will judge, without error, the secret and hidden things of the conscience of one who is born. It is also commonly held among them that there are two planets, authors of human felicity—Venus of the present, but Jupiter of the life to come after this one. Firmicus Maternus, moreover, most zealous and most curious of such fictions and lies, when he recounts many things that befall men from Saturn set in Leo, adds that such men will be long-lived, and that after death their souls, joined to the gods, will fly up into heaven. For Saturn, he says, set in Leo will lead back to heaven and to the beginnings of their origin the souls of those who have so conducted themselves on earth, freed from countless straits.19
Denique Albumazar scribit qui Luna Iovi coniuncta in capite Draconis Deo supplicaverit, eum quicquid petierit a Deo certissime impetraturum: id quod Petrus Apponensis expertum se esse confirmat, nam cum vigente illa coniunctione scientiam rerum a Deo postulasset, ait se post eam diem magnam sibi factam esse scientiae accessionem sensisse. Haec autem et alia eorum similia quam sint nefaria, detestanda et Christianae religioni exitialia, quantumque valeat ad elevandam vel potius delendam fidem eorum quae divina Scriptura docet immediate, supernaturaliter ac miraculose fieri a Deo, nemo est tam hebes ingenio et tardus intelligentia ut non clarissime intelligat. Si quis autem haec plenius atque subtilius scire habet, legat quae in hanc sententiam cum alibi, tum libro secundo capite 5 et in libro 5 cap. 11 et inde usque ad finem eius libri Picus Mirandulanus diligenter et copiose tractat.
Finally, Albumasar writes that whoever, when the Moon is joined to Jupiter in the head of the Dragon, supplicates God, will most certainly obtain from God whatever he asks: which Pietro d'Abano confirms that he himself experienced; for when, during that conjunction, he had asked of God knowledge of things, he says that after that day he felt that a great increase of knowledge had been made to him. But how nefarious, detestable, and ruinous to the Christian religion these and other like things of theirs are, and how much they avail to weaken—or rather to destroy—the faith of those things which divine Scripture teaches are done immediately, supernaturally, and miraculously by God, there is no one so dull of wit and slow of understanding as not most clearly to perceive. But if anyone wishes to know these things more fully and subtly, let him read what Pico della Mirandola treats diligently and copiously to this effect, both elsewhere and in the second book, chapter 5, and in the fifth book, chapter 11, and from there to the end of that book.20

Translator’s notes

  1. The first chapter of the anti-astrology disputation. ↩
  2. Scripture proclaims certain foreknowledge of the future belongs to God alone: Isaiah 41:23; 44:25; 47:12–13 (mocking the Babylonian/Chaldean star-gazers; ‘thy wisdom has deceived thee’); Jeremiah 10:2 (‘be not afraid of the signs of heaven’); Ecclesiastes 10:14; 8:7 (man knows neither past nor future). ↩
  3. Marginal gloss: "Decreta Ecclesiae contra Iudiciarios astrologos." The Church's condemnations: Decretum Gratiani II causa 26 q.1–5; First Council of Braga c.9; First Council of Toledo (against the Priscillianists); Pope Alexander III suspended for a year a priest who consulted an astrologer about a theft. The Fathers against the astrologers (called Chaldeans, Genethliaci, Mathematici, Planetarii): Basil (Hom. 6 in Gen.), Chrysostom and Gregory the Great (on Matt. 2), and above all Augustine (De Genesi ad litteram 2.17; De Doctrina Christiana 2). Sentence continues onto the next page (catchword ‘Doctrina’). ↩
  4. Marginal glosses: "Iuliani Apostatae calumnia a Cyrillo repulsa"; "Matthaei 2. Chrysostomus ho. 6 in Matt. Gregor. ho. 10 in Evangelia." Augustine (De Doctrina Christiana 2.21ff; De Civitate Dei 5, opening chapters); Eusebius (Praep. ev. 14.4, 6.9). Julian the Apostate's calumny (from Genesis 15) that Abraham practiced astrology (Gen 15:5) and haruspicy (Gen 15:9–11, the divided sacrifice)—refuted by Cyril (Contra Iulianum 10). The Star of Bethlehem / Magi argument refuted by Chrysostom (Hom. 6 in Matt.) and Gregory (Hom. 10 in Evangelia). ↩
  5. Marginal gloss: "Argumentis ex Sacra Theologia ductis, astrologica divinatio refellitur." Theological arguments: (1) no one knows a man's heart but the man's own spirit (1 Cor 2:11), yet a man knows not his own future acts (Prov 27:1; 16:9, ‘man proposes, God disposes’; 21:1, the king's heart in God's hand)—so much less the astrologer; (2) not even the devil knows the future for certain—else he would not have impelled the Jews to crucify Christ (which destroyed his empire), nor tempt the saints (whose victory increases their glory and his torment). ↩
  6. Marginal gloss: "Vanitas oraculorum Apollinis." The demons' oracles (Delphic Apollo) pertained to astrological divination—Porphyry as witness. Sentence continues onto the next page (catchword ‘phyrius’). ↩
  7. Marginal gloss: "Oenomanus vehemens et disertus oraculorum Apollinis confutator." Porphyry (De philosophia ex oraculis; in Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.1, 6.4): the gods signify their fated predictions by the stars' motion, yet Apollo often lied (exact foreknowledge being incomprehensible even to the gods); Apollo's confessions ‘I shall speak falsehood if thou compel me’ and ‘today the stars afford me nothing to say.’ Oenomaus of Gadara collected and refuted Apollo's false oracles (Eusebius, Praep. ev. 5.10). ↩
  8. Marginal gloss: "Quibus ex causis accidat ut daemon in praedicendo futura saepe fallatur." Four causes of the demon's failure: (1) man's free will (mutable, sometimes acting extraordinarily); (2) we, aided by grace, act otherwise than intended; (3) God prevents what the demon planned; (4) God acts beyond the common order of nature. If even demons err, how can astrologers be truthful?—nay, not even the blessed angels know future free-will contingents with certainty unless God reveals them. ↩
  9. Marginal gloss: "Egregia ratio adversus astromantiam." The decisive argument: if the Christian religion is true (as it most certainly is), the astrologers' opinion cannot be true or approved by Christians. Sentence continues onto the next page (catchword ‘quam’; signature H). ↩
  10. Continues the ‘egregia ratio’: if Christian doctrine were false (yet it has conquered the world and reigned 1,500+ years), then—on astrology's premise—men's zeal for the faith would come from a mighty constellation, so heaven would incline men to ‘evil’ (a false faith); but the Christian life is the best, so the same constellation would yield both good and evil—an absurdity. ↩
  11. Marginal gloss: "Praeclara argumentatio." The Prophets foretold all about Christ and His Church—if astrology could do this, the foundation of religion would fall. Astrology perverts moral philosophy, Scripture, and Theology: it entails a material/mortal soul, no free will, no true providence, and the reduction of the mysteries and miracles to celestial causes—whence the neglect of good works, license of lusts, excuse of crimes, and the futility of laws. Cajetan (Summula, on star-observation): ↩
  12. Cajetan, Summula (Summa Caietani, s.v. astrologia / star-observation). The block quote spans printed pp. 242–243. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘sis’). ↩
  13. Conclusion of Cajetan's block quote (begun on the previous page): the threefold mortal sin of astrology—(1) subjecting the Christian mysteries to the stars (against the religion's spirituality, above the heavens, Psalm 148:13); (2) holding future contingents as certain from the stars (against Christian doctrine and free will); (3) making the heavens the law of one's choices (against the dignity of grace, divine law, and the human mind). ↩
  14. Acts 19:19 (the Ephesian converts burned their books); Augustine (Enarrationes in Psalmos) says these were astrology books, and would not receive a penitent astrologer without public penance. Pererius transcribes Augustine's oration (after his exposition of Psalm 61). ↩
  15. Marginal glosses: "Notabilis oratio quam habuit Augustinus in reconciliatione cuiusdam Mathematici cum Ecclesia"; "Psalm. 4." Augustine's oration on the converted astrologer (Enarratio in Psalmum 61): the astrologer's blasphemy—‘adultery was done not by my will but by Venus; murder not by my will but by Mars; the just deed not by God but by Jupiter’ (Psalm 4:3). The block quote spans printed pp. 243–244. Continues onto the next page (catchword ‘riam’). ↩
  16. Conclusion of Augustine's oration (Enarratio in Psalmum 61): the penitent astrologer brings his books to be burned (Acts 19:19); he sought the Church's medicine before Easter, but, his art being suspect of lying, was deferred yet admitted lest he be more dangerously tempted. ↩
  17. Marginal gloss: "Origenis egregia contra Astrologos disputatio." In the primitive Church astrology was condemned like magic. Epiphanius (De mensuris et ponderibus): Aquila of Pontus, the Scripture-translator, was expelled chiefly for practicing nativity-observation and astrological divination. Eusebius (Praep. ev. 6.9) records Origen's discussion of astrology (in his Genesis commentaries): ↩
  18. Origen (in his Commentaries on Genesis, quoted by Eusebius, Praep. ev. 6.9 / 6.11): astral fatalism destroys liberty, praise and blame, and would make God's predestination ‘false favoritism’; it would render faith, Christ's coming, and the Apostles' labor vain—even making Christ compelled by the stars—and leave no good/evil, merit, or place for prayer. ↩
  19. Marginal gloss: "Animadversio in Petrum de Aliaco." A rebuke of Pierre d'Ailly (Petrus de Aliaco) for embracing astrology and wedding it to theology (‘falsehood with truth, the demon with God’)—even claiming Noah's flood and Christ's birth could be foreknown astrologically. Samples of the astrologers' impieties: Mars in the ninth house lets one expel demons by mere presence; some claim to judge the newborn's secret conscience; two planets author human felicity (Venus of this life, Jupiter of the next); Firmicus Maternus's Saturn-in-Leo leading souls to heaven. ↩
  20. Marginal glosses: "Albumazar"; "Petrus Apponensis." Albumasar (Abu Maʿshar): prayer when the Moon is joined to Jupiter in the Dragon's head infallibly obtains its request—Pietro d'Abano (Petrus Aponensis) claims to have experienced a great increase of knowledge thereby. Such sayings undermine the faith that Scripture's miracles are done immediately by God. Pico della Mirandola treats these fully (esp. bk 2 ch.5; bk 5 ch.11 to the end). ↩