Origen and Astrology
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Abstract
Origen’s discussion of astrology in Philocalia 23 – usually considered as an odd jumble of exegetical considerations – provides a key to understanding his position on many contemporary Alexandrian debates: the distinction between divination and prophecy, the question of human free will, and the reception of astrology in Ptolemy’s own city. This article will argue that Origen provides the first distinctly Christian treatment of the subject by embedding Greco-Roman philosophical discussion of the questions of free will and foreknowledge into the framework of scriptural exegesis. In doing so, he recasts scriptural instances of reading the stars not as pagan astrology, but as part of the conversation about prophecy and prophets. Through a lengthy discussion of free will and God’s foreknowledge, Origen concludes, in explanation of Gen . 1:14, that the stars are a form of ‘writing in the sky’, an outpouring of the mind of God for ‘astral powers’ to read and enact. In special cases, Origen suggests, extraordinary human beings can read the stars too – human beings including the Magi in Matt. 2:1-2 and Jacob in the apocryphal Prayer of Joseph . However, this process is distinct from Greco-Roman astrology as it requires divine inspiration, and is thus closer to Judaeo-Christian prophecy.