Ditching Religion for Astrology, and Q&A

0:07 Welcome to the Bible Answer Man broadcast with the president of the Christian Research Institute, Hank Hanegraaff. Our mission is to equip you with answers to share the hope that you have within you because life and truth matter. Why? Because being armed with truth will equip you to counter the corrosive worldviews at work in our world today. while experiencing the authentic Christian life will make you a winsome witness of the purpose of life, which is to experience union with God and Christ, both for today and for all eternity. For more information about CRI and the Bible Answer Man broadcast, our phone number is 888-7000-CRI. You can find us online at equip.org. The following program was pre-recorded.

0:58 And now.

0:59 Here's Hank Hanegraaff.

1:00 Thank you very much, Randy. And we will be going to your calls a little later on. The information that I talk about on the broadcast you can find on the web at equip.org. You can also write me at Box 8500, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code 28271. Earlier this morning, I read an article titled, Why Millennials Are Ditching Religion for Witchcraft and for Astrology. It's written by Carrie Paul, who is a personal finance reporter. And she points out that a woman named Coco Lane, who happens to be a Brooklyn-based producer, when she meets someone new these days, the first question that comes up in the conversation isn't where do you live or what do you do, but what's your sign? And she goes on to say, so

1:57 many millennials read their horoscopes every day and they believe them. It is a good reference point to identify and place people in the world. The point here, according to Carrie Paul, is that interest in spirituality has been booming. On the other hand, interest in religion has been plummeting, especially among millennials.

2:26 And more than half of young adults in the United States of America believe astrology.

2:34 To be a science.

2:36 And what's really interesting about this, I've looked at the data, 92% of the Chinese, you think about Chinese believing in ancestor worship, for example, many of them. But many of the Chinese public, 92%, think horoscopes are a bunch of baloney. Of course, it is high-priced baloney in the West because the psychic services industry, which includes astrology or tarot card reading or palmistry, is now worth $ 2 billion plus every single year. Danielle Ayoka, who is the founder of Mystic Lipstick, sells...

3:28 Think about this. She sells a mystic box subscription that includes crystals and Reiki-infused bath salts, incense, customized to the unique energy of the current moon cycle. And her business is absolutely booming. She said, when I first started out in this business, I was considered a weirdo. Now it is becoming more and more normalized. Why? Because millennials are much, much more open-minded. Carrie Paul concludes her article with the assertion that, like the existence of God, there's no actual scientific proof for astrology. There is, in fact, and she's right, no actual proof for astrology. But for the existence of God, she's absolutely wrong. The heavens declare the glory of God.

4:30 The skies proclaim the work of his hands. God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, his divine nature have been clearly seen. They are understood from what has been made, and therefore we are without excuse. The order. The complexity of the visible, physical universe eloquently testifies to the existence of an uncaused first cause. And of course, the fact that we can't see God should not lead anyone to the mistaken assumption that God does not exist. Black holes can't be seen. Electrons.

5:17 The laws of logic. They all exist despite the fact that that they're not visible. The idea that the existence of God and the efficacy of astrology are equal with respect to epistemic warrant is utter and complete nonsense. But as for astrology, it's a rigged game. It's a rigged game replete with self-validating prophecies and with dangerous forms divination.

5:55 Why do I say dangerous? It is because the God who created the stars condemns astrology as detestable. In fact, the prophet Isaiah went so far as to say that the counsel of the astrologers and the stargazers, those who make predictions month by month, could not save the Babylonians. from certain destruction. Despite the clear condemnation of the Scriptures, there continue to be pseudo-Christian people who maintain that there is a biblical precedent for using the stars to chart the future. One of the pretexts is the star that guided the Magi to Messiah. But that, of course, hardly validates astrology. A quick look at context reveals that this star was not used to foretell the future, but to foretell the future. In other words, the star of Bethlehem

7:05 did not prophesy the birth of Christ, it pronounced the birth of Christ. Moreover, science has debunked astrology as a pseudoscience, a pseudoscience based on the odd predilection that galaxies rather than genes determine inherited human characteristics. So think for a moment about 9-11. Astrology cannot account for the problem posed by mass tragedies. Not everyone at 9-11 had the same horoscope.

7:45 Or consider twins. Twins born under the same sign of the zodiac frequently end up with very different personalities and widely diverse futures. What astrology does is it subverts the natural use of the stars, a use which God ordains for a superstitious use which God disdains. Genesis points to the natural use of the stars to separate the day from the night, to serve as signs that mark seasons and days and years, and to illuminate the earth. They also can be rightly used for varied purposes, ranging from navigation to natural revelation. And therefore, you could see sailors who use astronavigational charts in order to Plan their course. However, you dear saints may not use astrology to chart your careers.

8:54 The words of Isaiah ring down through the ages. And I'm going to use that as the quote of the day. Isaiah 47. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, and the monthly astrologers Prognosticators stand up and save you. From what shall come upon you? Behold, they shall be a stubble. The fire shall burn them away. They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. They shall wander, each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.

9:41 So here you have Isaiah warning the Babylonians about what was going to happen to them. They're involved in all of these very popular astrology and witchcraft practices and they had forgotten that there was a God who spoke in the universe, let into existence. They could know there was a God because if you see a universe, which is an effect, there has to be an uncaused first cause that caused the universe. Simple logic tells you that. But they turned from the God of the universe to astrologers, to mutterers, to fakes and frauds. Unfortunately, we're doing the same thing in America today. We are coming up on our station break. We'll go right to our calls as soon as we come back from the break. And do remember,

10:46 you can always write us Post Office Box 8500, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code 28271.

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11:43 That's 888-7000-CRI or simply visit our website at equip.org. Hank Hanegraaff will be back right after the break. Anyone who's been paying attention knows there's a war going on, not just on traditional morality, civility, and decency, but even more fundamentally on historic notions of truth. And the enemy isn't just the onslaught of fake news facilitated by a post-truth culture and turbocharged by growing legions of ideological spin doctors. No, the real enemies of truth range from postmodernist convictions that there is no objective truth, to militant scientism that claims that only science can determine truth and religion is little more than primitive superstitions. But CRI support team members are

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15:07 Now back to the Bible Answer Man with Hank Hanegraaff. To find out more about the materials mentioned on the show, call a CRI resource consultant toll-free at 888-7000-CRI. Our website is also an excellent reference destination to help you. Just go to equip.org and find articles by Hank, books, CDs, and DVDs, and all the latest news on your faith in our world. Again, that's equip.org. And now once again, here is Hank Hanegraaff.

15:42 Thank you very much, Randy. And we are going to go right to our callers. First up, Scott in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. Thanks for your patience, Scott.

15:53 Hi, Hank. I love you and the Lord dearly. And you know what? I really like you. I really appreciate your talk about the move to the Orthodox and how you distinguish that from the Catholic faith. Back to the question, does God motivate by love or by anger? And intrinsically, the Bible says if you have ought against your brother, you go straight to him, straight to the person, unless it's sketchy and there's violence involved. We need to have the gospel mind. So if the gospel mind is there, we need to motivate and walk together. in love towards everybody.

16:36 So anyways, but motivating by love and not by anger, but yet that God still instills that thing, be angry and sin not. In other words, if you have ought against your brother, you go and speak your mind clearly and you proclaim the truth in a rightful manner.

16:54 Yeah, God uses many means to motivate us because he wants us to come to repentance. He wants us to live as we ought. And so one of the means that God uses in terms of wrath and bringing us back to a proper valuation of things is discipline. And I think about the passage which you find in Proverbs, but also in Hebrews chapter 12. My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe his reproof for whom the Lord loves. He reproves even as a father, the son in whom he delights. But God also uses love, so we don't have to choose between wrath and love.

17:40 God uses all things for our good. God reminds us to treat others as he has treated us. He has been kind to us, and therefore we have to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven us, or as Jesus once said, love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. So God uses both discipline and love to reach us. I think about the fact that God often in his love sends us an illness. And the reason he does that is the illness of the body often becomes a means of bringing the metaphysical aspect of our humanity into proper line with his love and his will with his goodness and with his grace. So we are not to despise the riches of his goodness,

18:42 his forbearance, his long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God ultimately leads us to repentance. Repentance meaning to a true valuation of things. Let's go back to the phone lines, talk to Sheila in Ohio.

18:59 Hi, Sheila.

19:00 Hi, Sheila.

19:02 Hi, Hank. Thank you for taking my call, and I do thank you for what you do. I have learned so much from you. My question is that, what can you tell me about Reiki healing and energy healing? And sometimes they try to say that it's relating to when Jesus told the disciples to lay hands on people to heal them.

19:32 Yeah, well, I think you have to look at the system as a whole. Reiki is a system of laying on of hands by which individuals can allegedly be healed, but it's a form of psychic healing. The founder was supposedly to be a Christian, but the worldview that he embraced was not Christian at all, and he developed his system through Hindu writings. And the whole idea was to channel spirits, which supposedly assist us in these healing sessions, and then the messages that are channeled in those sessions are channeled by what are called the masters. Again, they're spiritual masters that have nothing to do with the biblical worldview.

20:21 So this is an occult practice which is clearly condemned in the Bible, and therefore the Reiki teachings of laying on of hands is not concordant with the laying of hands that is prescribed in Scripture.

20:38 Okay.

20:39 Thank you so much.

20:40 You got it. Thank you so much for your call. Back to the phone lines. We'll talk next to Brian in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Hi, Brian.

20:48 Hey, Hank.

20:48 How are you doing?

20:49 I'm doing well. Thank you. Great.

20:51 Thank you so much for taking my call. I have two questions for you, and then I'll listen to you off air. The first one is, what are your views on Louis Farrakhan and his doctrine and his beliefs? And the second one would be also, what are your views on women in ministry? And again, thank you for taking my call. I'll listen to you all here.

21:13 Sure. Yeah, well, with respect to Louis Farrakhan, he heads up the Nation of Islam, which was founded by Wallace Fard back in 1930. And this is a movement that is blatantly anti-Semitic. It's also anti-white, so it's a very racist movement. In fact, in the movement, you have this idea that the white race was grafted into existence somewhere around 7,000 years ago by a scientist named Dr. Jacob.

21:47 And if you've listened to Farrakhan for any period of time, you'll hear him say all kinds of discordant things, including praising Hitler as a great man. And he has praised terror. He praised Muammar Gaddafi when he was alive. So he actually got funded by millions of dollars in loans from Gaddafi. But the whole nation of Islam theology is what's most troubling. Christianity, they say, is the white man's religion, which is absurd at the face of it. The belief is that Jesus is not God in human flesh, that Allah is had sex with Mary and produced Jesus Christ. They denied the afterlife.

22:34 And on and on it goes. So this is a horrible, horrible, cultic construct that is extraordinarily dangerous, virulently racist, and therefore should be spoken out against in no uncertain terms. We need to know what they believe so that we can counter their false beliefs. In terms of women in ministry, I think it's very important that we recognize that if a woman has a gift, that gift ought to be used in ministry. You can't say, well, I'm a woman and therefore I don't have to use my gifts. No, whether you're a male or a female, if you are gifted, you must use that gift. As God gives you the opportunity, to use that gift. It is a sacred trust that he gives us. And so, again, there can't be a cop-out.

23:34 I'm a woman and therefore I can't use my gifts. No, you are going to be called into account for what you did with the gifts that God has given you. The talent, the time, and the treasure that he has afforded you. Now, it's important to recognize that there are ecclesiologies, and within those ecclesiologies there's precedent. That precedent comes down through the ages, the Old Testament into the New Testament, from the New Testament to the early church fathers, and on to the present. And I think it's important to follow those precedents, because those precedents are precedents that have a biblical base. And therefore, while there's no ontological difference between men and women, We're humans created as icons of God,

24:28 and therefore, again, we need to use our gifts. There are certain roles that men play, and there are certain roles that women play. And church ecclesiology has determined that in many different forms, but I think we're best off to go to the biblical and then the historical precedent for that. I've written about this in an entry in my book, The Complete Bible Answer Book Collector's Edition. It is titled, Most Women Be Silent in the Church. Well, obviously, if women are taught to pray and prophesy within the context of the church, the answer to that question is, of course not. They can speak within the church and certainly can teach as well. And the gifting of women has been very, very significant in my own life. As

25:19 I've been president of the Christian Research Institute, I think of Gretchen Pazantinou. We're out of time for this edition of the Bible Answer Man broadcast. Again, thank you to all of you who stand shoulder to shoulder with me in the battle for life and truth, who support this ministry prayerfully and financially. You can do that in a safe, secure fashion on thewebedequip.org.

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