Should Christians read horoscopes? Evangelist Billy Graham says, “No.”
In a recent column for the Kansas City Star, Graham explained that while God created the stars, “he intended them to be a witness to his power and glory, not as a means to guide us or foretell the future.”
Predicting the future isn’t a new practice. In the ancient world, people tried to discern future events in many different ways, including sorcery, magic and communing with the dead. But God warns against such practices, referencing Deuteronomy 18:9-13.
Verses 10 and 11 say this:
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.”
Why does God forbid these practices? The 97-year-old evangelist gives two reasons. They’re unreliable, and they “can easily bring someone under the control of occult spiritual powers that are hostile to God.”
Graham uses King Saul in 1 Samuel 28-31 as an example, a cautionary tale, so to speak. In this story, Saul tries to uncover the outcome of future events by consulting the spirit of a dead person. The end result was suicide.
Rather than consulting horoscopes and other means to determine future events, Graham urges us to trust God. “Even when the future is unclear, he can be trusted to guide us” because “his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3).
