In the Christian era, astrology started to take some lumps. The most influential church thinker of the Middle Ages, St. Augustine (354–430), summed up the Christian objections to astrology. In his Confessions, Augustine recalled that before he renounced his pagan upbringing, he had consulted astrologers. But he was convinced otherwise and, to him, “the lying divinations and impious dotages” of astrologers were the Devil’s work. In City of God, he said that the world is ruled by divine providence, not by chance or fate. The proof for Augustine came in a story told by a friend. Two children were born at the same moment, in the same household. Surely their fates would be the same. But one of the infants was the child of the master of the house. The other was the child of a slave. The position of the stars, exactly the same at the moment of their births, did not change their fates. The same logic would apply to the birth of twins, and Augustine pointed to the biblical brothers Esau and Jacob, born instants apart yet so completely different in temperament and fate.
In spite of Augustine’s objections, astrology continued to flourish through Christian times, and many popes over the centuries called upon astrologers in making decisions. Even the arrival of the Renaissance and Enlightenment did not weaken its pull. In fact, throughout the early history of astronomy, many of the greatest names in the field, responsible for some of its greatest discoveries, turned to astrology to pay the bills. Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo provided clients with astrological charts. Even the mighty Newton is said to have first become interested in astronomy after looking at an astrological book.
(Don't know much about universe, Kenneth C. Davis)
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