Is it acceptable for a Christian to visit a psychic and to study astrology?
The desire to have someone with seemingly greater power see into the future has appealed to mankind since the earliest days. It reveals a search for hope and purpose. The future, without Christ and the blessed hope of eternity, is scary and unpredictable. People who have yet to place their hope and trust in Jesus Christ will search long and hard for something in which to have faith.
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” (Isa. 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 describes 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 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. If it in anyway changes or adds to Scripture, it is not of God and should never be entertained for one second.
