Overview

Early Christianity and Ancient Astrology explores a variety of responses to astrology, the most popular form of divination among early Christians in Greco-Roman antiquity. After a brief overview of ancient astrological theory and a survey of polemical responses to it, this book documents instances in which early Christian writers and communities incorporated astrology positively into their beliefs and practices. This study is of interest to students of early Christianity and of Greco-Roman religion and to those concerned with interfaith relations or with issues of Christian unity and diversity. It is particularly recommended for use in courses on the history of Christianity and on the religions of Greco-Roman antiquity.

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9780820472577

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In the first four centuries of its growth within the Roman Empire, Christianity had to contend with astrology both as a culturally entrenched way of thinking about 'the heavens' and as a respected mode of foretelling the future. This book shows how different Christian thinkers confronted this challenge to their claims to a master narrative of salvation and how, in some instances, they effected uneasy compromises with astrological thought. Tim Hegedus is to be commended for making this clash of cultural systems accessible both to theologians and historians of Christianity and to historians of classical antiquity. His explications of the sources are wide-ranging and lucid. (Roger Beck, Professor Emeritus of Classics and Study of Religion, University of Toronto) Tim Hegedus has woven his sources, ancient and modern, into a lucid, captivating, and, in many ways, new tapestry. It is surprising, for instance, to learn the extent to which some Christians treated astrological references in the Bible in a positive way, and even made use of astrology for their own purposes. (Kevin Coyle, Professor of Patristics and Early Christian History, Saint Paul University (Ottawa))

In the first four centuries of its growth within the Roman Empire, Christianity had to contend with astrology both as a culturally entrenched way of thinking about 'the beavens' and as a respected mode of foretelling the future. This book shows how different Christian thinkers confronted this challenge to their claims to a master narrative of salvation and how, in some instances, they effected uneasy compromises with astrological thought. Tim Hegedus is to be commended for making this clash of cultural systems accessible both to theologians and historians of Christianity and to historians of classical antiquity. His explications of the sources are wide-ranging and lucid.

Author Information

The Author: Tim Hegedus received his Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Toronto. He is Associate Professor of New Testament at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His research interests focus on interfaith relations in antiquity and in the modern world.

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