Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: caww; wmfights
Even this bit about Babylon being the beginnings of occult is specuous.

Firstly, as proven above, Babylon is a younger city, Akkadian, not Sumerian

Secondly, the argument given that they were primarily interested in astroLOGY rather than astroNOMY is incorrect -- the Sumerians gave us a studied description of the night-sky. THEY were the ones who first divided the year into 360 days + 5. They were then the ones who invented geometry (hence 360 degrees in a circle). They were the ones who did this to enable them to plant crops.

Remember that agriculture mostly started in Sumeria and agriculte depends on you knowing the seasons exactly

They invented astronomy to predict this, they invented irrigation (dams, canals) to water their crops.

3. Astrology -- you have 3 main kinds: Western, Chinese and Indian and no they are not related. THe Hindu astrology has two non-existent planets Raghu and Ketu which are not there in Western or Chinese astrology for instance. There is NO indication of astrology in Sumeria at all. The first instances of astrology in Mesopotamia are in the 2nd millenium BC, yes in Babylon. And yet if you read their astrology and compare it with modern Western astrology you'll find they are quite different. Western astrology is derived from Greek Hermesism (Hermes Trismegistus.) which are not related to the Babylonian. He was the first to outline the houses and their meaning, and thus the houses are usually thought to date back to the very beginning of the Hellenistic tradition and indeed they are one of the major defining factors which separate Hellenistic astrology and other forms of horoscopic astrology from Babylonian astrology and other traditions in different parts of the world. This system of horoscopic astrology was then passed to another mythical figure named Asclepius to who some of the Hermetic writings are addressed.
30 posted on 01/05/2011 11:30:46 PM PST by Cronos (Kto jestem? Nie wiem! Ale moj Bog wie!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies ]


To: Cronos

... and then you have the twelve tribes each being cognate with their respective zodiacal “sign,” Leo for Judah, etcetera.

The Bible has clear reference to that which many presume to be utterly condemned by the very same Bible, and yet from Genesis onward, it’s clear that stars were intended to convey information. There are even overt references, from the OT right through to Revelation.

I’d suggest that the word “astrology” represents the loss of a critical shade of meaning in translation. In antiquity, astronomy and astrology were not divorced from one another as in modernity. The condemnation thus has to pertain to intent and what is done with any knowledge ascertained in this manner.

Or, that’s my thinking upon the matter. It’s a controversial topic. But, any serious student of the Bible, prophecy in particular, will come to recognize the use of apparent astrological symbolism, and so it’s a conflict that should be resolved in order to further prophetic understanding for the benefit of all His believers.


31 posted on 01/05/2011 11:46:56 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson