How Ancient Astrology is a Missing Key to Understanding Christian Origins

Too long the origins of early Christianity and its development in late Roman antiquity has focused on ancient texts--to the neglect of important material evidence, particularly the abundant numismatic evidence of the period--and its relationship to astrological beliefs. The view arose that one’s fortune or destiny was determined by the position of the stars at birth; by a knowledge of the stars, or astrology (Greek aster, “star”), one could learn about his or her fate. The study of astrology was extremely widespread in the Hellenistic world, affecting almost every religion or religious philosophy.

In this fascinating one hour lecture my friend David Wray, an independent researcher and numismatic expert an overview of the ways in which coins, astrology, Hellenistic religions, politics, and science were all shaped and influenced by astrological and cosmological perceptions. Although often unacknowledged, these realities lie behind many of our central New Testament texts and provide exciting new insights on the rise and development of early Christianity.

Wray's 2012 book, The Secret roots of Christianity: Decoding Religious History with Symbols on Ancient Coins, provides a full account of this much neglected aspect of the study of Christian Origins. I highly recommend it as an essential resource.

David Wray is a researcher, writer, and collector of coins and other objects related to history and religion. He has traveled extensively in Europe, North Africa, Asia, and the Levant investigating how religious practices support life in different situations—particularly among people with living traditions of prophecy, healing, magic, and interaction with spirits. Notably, he traveled extensively in the Sahara Desert in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia in 1972, and he lived in a Dinka village in Sudan from 1977-1978 helping with a USAID socioeconomic survey. He entered high-tech in 1978, ultimately retiring from a career in international long-haul computer networks in 2001. David then wrote “The Secret Roots of Christianity: Decoding Religious History with Symbols on Ancient Coins.” The book is a compilation of his historical research into the origins of Christianity illuminated by worldwide experiences with a variety of spiritual practitioners. Upon completion of this book in 2012, he focused exclusively on unexplained artifacts from the first half of the first millennium that seemed to connect ancient Christianity with astrology. Ancient literary sources connected poorly or not at all with this topic, so astrological breakthroughs arrived slowly in stages. It took eleven years finally to produce a sufficiently focused lecture with clear information that could communicate the nature, scope, and importance of this topic to someone largely unaware of its existence. David continues to work on the relationship between Astrology and Early Christianity, as well as pursuing new areas of research involving iconography, spiritual practice, and mental manipulation. One of David’s goals is to reliably create in modern times certain aspects of the ancient experience of mystery initiation.

[J_Z]

This is an awesome video. Thank you Dr. Tabor for sharing this. This makes me want to re-watch World of Antiquity's video on ancient Near Eastern astrology. The SHWEP also has some episodes on subjects similar to this.

[svemory]

Love your channel! ( Did my M.Div at UTS, have been a student of astrology and metaphysics, the arcane, etc. in general since I was a kid, and all of that was a huge advantage in studying ancient religion and much biblical symbolism, specifically... When I lived in Jerusalem someone told me that Matzal Tov derives from 'Good Stars' or Fortunate Stars' The one piece of astrological art I have in the house is a print of a mosaic zodiac from an ancient synagogue in Jerusalem...)

[methylmike]

This subject was always blasphemous around my deaf/blind religious compatriots. I'm glad I'm not crazy.
You continue to fascinate me, James!

[starblue]

Dr. Tabor you are on fire with these releases! I'm enjoying them all, thank you.

[jackrorystaunton]

definitely interested in seeing more material on this compelling topic. a summary with commentary of this presentation would be welcome too!

[vesper]

This is a next-level presentation, thanks for bringing it to our attention Mr Tabor.

[miriambellas]

i was raised in a christian home and always loved astrology since i was 12, im now 47 and never stopped to study religion and stars combined, it is really fascinating never ceased to impress me !

[mediocrates]

The meditative experience is also key. I had no idea, searched for the truth and had one full week of visions and a voice. One full week of personal experience; a secret between myself and truth, you might call it.

[bfazakerly]

Deep but fascinating; a lot of material to cover. I am definitely interested in ordering his book so that I can take my time to absorb his message. thank you, Dr. Tabor, for presenting this video.

[ADJ]

The more I learn, the more I realize I have a lot to learn to have any comprehension of these biblical texts. Especially raised as an evangelical, it’s like - everything was so wrong that now that I’m learning from academic sources, my mind is blown. It’s hearing all this material and explanations that I’ve never heard before.
Also, there’s really no way around it is there? you need to learn the language of the texts, and then know the references the material is making.
So much to learn just to have a decent grasp on the texts.
This is going to take awhile lol

[michaelsmith]

Thanks for the interesting and informative lecture, Dr. Tabor.

[matthewalger]

Absolutely amazing, informative, and shows the formation of Christianity and post second temple Jewish ideology was never developed in a vacuum. Here we can clearly see the level of influence in these religions from astrological science. Gotta watch this one on repeat.

It is interesting to think about how predictions of the future based on astrological events become a self fulfilling prophecy for those who are in that future and act according to these signs. Mind-blowing 🤯

[kenmcclellan]

Sooo happy to see someone covering this! Because THIS month was so special to them! I would disagree, however, that it's about astrology ... it's about ASTRONOMY. So if you want to find the Sign of Jonas, for example, look between Cetus and Pegasus toward the end of this month. The three days in the belly of the Whale is the passage of the Moon. They thought we would be in for a pole shift. Now that Aries has traversed Pisces, it is time for the poles to hit the equator.

[peterhook]

All "Christian" scholars need to stop what they are doing and dive into this for the sake of exploring faith from a dual perspective. A potential "King" and his teachings combined with his second life, in the stars. Amazing.

[guitaoist]

Jesus was the Pisces Age’s messiah. The sign of psychic and telekinetic ability, shown as 2 fish & ruled by the feet. So ofcourse Jesus offers fish, washes feet, and controls the weather

[laurenjones]

This was great. Ate hope there will be more lectures which pick up where this one finished!

[dadedowuh]

Great video! That gentleman deserves a lot of credit. Thank you for sharing.

[Austria]

Fascinating as I've come to expect from all your videos.

[CeciliaK.Barraza]

Thank you for sharing ❤ I need to add this book in physical form to my library

[rubenurrea]

Very informative, and well documented. Thank you for sharing. I was wondering on the statement "early christians agreed with Plato that the descent of Spirit had resulted from a terrible cosmic accident", would you like to provide the reference from an historic/early christian document where we can read it? it sounds more like an early pseudochristian gnostic view. Best regards.