in defence of astrotheology

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Leucius Charinus
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in defence of astrotheology

Post by Leucius Charinus »

Robert Tulip wrote:
neilgodfrey wrote:how about a moderated and focused discussion on the basis of your claim that astrotheology is the basis of the Lord's Prayer?
Great idea. I would welcome that.
Me too. (As a spectator)

WHAT IS ASTROTHEOLOGY (which is found in WIKI under Astrolatry ?
  • Astrotheology is the study of the astronomical origins of religion; how gods, goddesses, and demons are personifications of astronomical phenomena such as lunar eclipses, planetary alignments, and apparent interactions of planetary bodies with stars.

    The term astro-theology appears in the title of a 1714 work by William Derham, Astro-theology: or, A demonstration of the being and attributes of God, from a survey of the heavens based on the author's observations by means of "Mr. Huygens' Glass". Derham thought that the stars were openings in the firmament through which he thought he saw the Empyrean beyond.[3] The 1783 issue of The New Christian's magazine had an essay entitled Astro-theology which argued the "demonstration of sacred truths" from "a survey of heavenly bodies" in the sense of the watchmaker analogy. Edward Higginson (1855) argues a compatibility of "Jewish Astro-theology" of the Hebrew Bible, which places God and his angelic hosts in the heavens, with a "Scientific Astro-theology" based on observation of the cosmos.

    Manly P Hall (1901–1990), mystic and a 33rd degree mason, taught that each of the three Abrahamic faiths has a planet that governs that religion. Judaism is Saturn: the symbol of Judaism is a hexagram symbol of Saturn, and the day of worship is on Saturday, day of Saturn. Christianity is the Sun: the symbol of Christianity is the cross symbol of the Sun, and the day of worship is Sunday, day of the Sun. Islam is Venus: the symbol of Islam is the star and crescent (the star commonly thought to represent Venus), and the day of worship is on Friday.

    D.M. Murdock, a proponent of the study, has released books on the subject and teaches the connections between the solar allegory and the life of Christ. She also goes beyond the astronomical comparisons and postulates ties between the origins of many of the early Abrahamic religions to ancient mythologies of that in Egypt, Rome, and Greece.

    The same term is used by Jan Irvin, Jordan Maxwell and Andrew Rutajit (2006) in reference to "the earliest known forms of religion and nature worship", advocating the entheogen theory of the origin of religion.

The definition supplied above from WIKI may not be exact. It omits all reference to the four points of the astronomical year. IMO that's an error. The following defence of astrotheology is based on the notion that the foundation of astronomical origins are these four points.

I do not dismiss astrotheology at all and I see its presence in the age old (proto-scientific) method of determining the four points of the astronomical year. Namely mid-Winter and mid-Summer and the two equinoxes. These four markers of the tropical or sidereal year were studied by all the astronomers of ancient times because they were integral in the ceremonies and life of the people, no matter which empire or nation or tribe on planet Earth.

It is patently obvious that the Christian state under Constantine took (at least one or two of) these astrotheological/astronomical markers for their own agenda. The Vernal Equinox and the Mid Winter observances were rebadged as Easter and Christmas respectively.

I see this is as the core of any astrotheology. Everything else (planets, zodiacs, precession, etc) is in the first approximation is capable of being set aside IMHO. If someone is going to defend astrotheology it is better IMO to start with the foundation of the defence. I believe I have summarised this foundation above.

For a graphic depiction of this one needs only to take a look at Solarium_Augusti

This was constructed by Augustus after he had assumed the role of Pontifex Maximus.

Image
  • The Solarium Augusti (also called Horologium Augusti) was an ancient Roman monument in the Campus Martius constructed during the reign of Augustus. It functioned as a giant solar marker, according to various interpretations serving either as a simple meridian line[1] or as a sundial.

    ////

    The Solarium Augusti was integrated with the Ara Pacis in the Campus Martius, aligning with Via Flaminia, in such a way that the shadow of the gnomon fell across the center of the marble altar on 23 September, the birthday of Augustus himself. The obelisk itself was set up to memorialize Augustus' subordination of Egypt to the control of the Roman empire. The two monuments must have been planned together, in relation to the pre-existing Mausoleum of Augustus, to demonstrate that Augustus was "born to bring peace", that peace was his destiny.[4] According to the Cambridge Ancient History, "the collective message dramatically linked peace with military authority and imperial expansion[2]
This IMO is the best example of how integral "astronomy" and thereby "astrotheology" were to the Roman Empire. The basis of latter is the former, and the former was made visible in the world of antiquity by the Roman Emperor Augustus.

This is an OP in defence of a modified series of claims related to astrotheology, namely the four markers discussed above, and their political management.

I can see the need to formulate a much better definition of the term "astrotheology". Does anyone have a better definition available, in which the claims are separately listed and ranked according to relative importance? (I have pointed out that the above definition mentions lunar eclipses, planetary alignments but not MidWinter for example.



Thanks. And Happy Saturnalia when it next arrives!





LC
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
Mimi
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by Mimi »

This subject is interesting and I look forward to a good debate/discussion.

I did find more definitions and explanations of astrotheology that should be more helpful here

http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums ... 420#p14420

Star Worship of the Ancient Israelites
http://astrotheology.net/star-worship-o ... sraelites/

Astrotheology of the Ancients
http://stellarhousepublishing.com/astrotheology.html

:popcorn:
Robert Tulip
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by Robert Tulip »

Hi Leucius, I came across a reference to astrotheology in your namesake's Acts of John. Christ (the sun) is surrounded by the twelve in a dancing ring (the months), presenting the Gospel as lunisolar allegory. The fixed stars sing praise as the twelve dance in the sky, part of the whole on high joining the dance. The wallflowers do not understand what comes to pass.

Peter Kirby has kindly agreed to a debate at The Podium, the section of the board reserved for polite and focused discussion under defined rules. As your comment above illustrates, defining the priorities of astrotheology is complex. I therefore propose to focus on Cosmology in The Lord's Prayer, as suggested by Neil Godfrey, as a way to examine the Hermetic Gnostic foundations of ancient Christology. I see that Stephan Huller has already had a rude comment banished to the outer darkness.
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John T
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by John T »

I look forward to watching and learning.

I suspect the first quagmire will be in deciding which version of the Lord's Prayer to use. :popcorn:

Sincerely,
John T
"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."...Jonathan Swift
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Leucius Charinus
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by Leucius Charinus »

Mimi wrote:I did find more definitions and explanations of astrotheology that should be more helpful here

http://www.freethoughtnation.com/forums ... 420#p14420
  • Astrotheology: "Theology founded on observation or knowledge of the celestial bodies" ... such as the sun, moon, planets, stars, constellations and milky way etc. created by William Derham in 1714.

    Astrotheology: "Theology founded on observation or knowledge of the celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, planets, stars, constellations, earth, etc." --Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998

    "astrotheology: theology or religious systems based on the observation of stars..." --"The Aldrich Dictionary of Phobias and Other Word Families," p. 93.

    "astrotheology, theology founded on the stars" --"Hartrampf's Vocabulary Builder," p. 156.

    "Archaeologists are generally agreed that the dominant ideas embodied in the Roman funerary ritual came from the astrotheology of Babylonia and Syria..." --Francis Hobart Herrick, "The American Eagle: A Study in Natural and Civil History," p. 200.
These definitions of the term "astrotheology" have it as a "theology founded on observation or knowledge of the celestial bodies" ... such as the sun, moon, planets, stars, constellations and milky way etc.". This definition seems to be more or less the same as it was in the 18th century.

Star Worship of the Ancient Israelites
http://astrotheology.net/star-worship-o ... sraelites/
  • In my book Did Moses Exist? The Myth of the Israelite Lawgiver, I go into great detail about the astrotheological nature of Semitic worship, including that of the Israelites, who emerged from the hill country during the 12th century BCE. The Israelites were composed significantly of Canaanites, especially the Amoritish tribes that had migrated into Mesopotamia and established Babylon, as well as wandering bedouin tribes such as the Shasu and Hapiru.

    All of these peoples engaged in the typical nature worship that humanity has revered since time immemorial. This nature worship is expressed in myriad forms, including and especially reverence for the sun, moon, planets, stars and constellations, a perspective called “astral religion,” “astrolatry,” “astral mythology,” “astromythology” or “astrotheology.”

    Star Worship Among the Ancient Israelites

    In this same regard, there is an interesting entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia under “Star Worship” (11:257).
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/artic ... ar-worship
  • This is perhaps the oldest form of idolatry practised by the ancients. According to Wisdom xiii. 2, the observation of the stars in the East very early led the people to regard the planets and the fixed stars as gods. The religion of the ancient Egyptians is known to have consisted preeminently of sun-worship. Moses sternly warned the Israelites against worshiping the sun, moon, stars, and all the host of heaven (Deut. iv. 19, xvii. 3); it may be said that the prohibition of making and worshiping any image of that which is in heaven above (Ex. xx. 4; Deut. v. 8) implies also the stars and the other celestial bodies. The Israelites fell into this kind of idolatry, and as early as the time of Amos they had the images of Siccuth and Chiun, "the stars of their god" (Amos v. 26, R. V.); the latter name is generally supposed to denote the planet Saturn. That the kingdom of Israel fell earlier than that of Judah is stated (II Kings xvii. 16) to have been due, among other causes, to its worshiping the host of heaven. But the kingdom of Judah in its later period seems to have out-done the Northern Kingdom in star-worship. Of Manasseh it is related that he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Yhwh, and it seems that it was the practise of even kings before him to appoint priests who offered sacrifices to the sun, the moon, the planets, and all the host of heaven.

    Altars for star-worship were built on the roofs of the houses, and horses and chariots were dedicated to the worship of the sun (ib. xxi. 5; xxiii. 4-5, 11-12). Star-worship continued in Judah until the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign (621 B.C.), when the king took measures to abolish all kinds of idolatry (ib.). But although star-worship was then abolished as a public cult, it was practised privately by individuals, who worshiped the heavenly bodies, and poured out libations to them on the roofs of their houses (Zeph. i. 5; Jer. viii. 2, xix. 13). Jeremiah (vii. 18) describes the worship of the queen of heaven to have been more particularly common among the women. Ezekiel, who prophesied in the sixth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin (591 B.C.), describes the worship of the sun as practised in thecourt of the Temple (Ezek. viii. 16 et seq.), and from Jer. xliv. 17 et seq. it may be seen that even after the destruction of the Temple the women insisted on continuing to worship the queen of heaven. In Job (xxxi. 26 et seq.) there is an allusion to the kissing of the hand in the adoration of the moon (see Moon, Biblical Data). According to Robertson Smith ("The Religion of the Semites," p. 127, note 3, Edinburgh, 1889), star-worship is not of great antiquity among the Semites in general, nor among the Hebrews in particular, for the latter adopted this form of idolatry only under the influence of the Assyrians. But Fritz Hommel ("Der Gestirndienst der Alten Araber," Munich, 1901) expresses the opposite opinion. He points to the fact that the Hebrew root which denotes the verb "to swear" is the same as that which denotes "seven," and claims that this fact establishes a connection between swearing and the seven planets; and he furthermore declares that there are many Biblical evidences of star-worship among the ancient Hebrews. Thus, the fact that Terah, Abraham's father, had lived first at Ur of the Chaldees, and that later he settled at Haran (Gen. xi. 31), two cities known from Assyrian inscriptions as places of moon-worship, shows that Abraham's parents were addicted to that form of idolatry. According to legend, Abraham himself worshiped the sun, moon, and the stars before he recognized the true God in Yhwh (see Abraham in Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature). The golden calf, Hommel declares, was nothing more than an emblem of the moon-god, which, in the Assyrian inscription, is styled "the youthful and mighty bull" and the lord of the heavenly hosts (comp. "Yhwh Ẓeba'ot," which term is intentionally omitted from the Pentateuch). He assigns the same character to the two calves made by Jeroboam several centuries later (I Kings xii. 28).

    The ancient Hebrews, being nomads, like the Arabs favored the moon, while the Babylonians, who were an agricultural nation, preferred the sun. But, as appears from Ezek. xx. 7-8, the moon-worship of the Israelites, even while they were still in Egypt, was combined with sun-worship. The close similarity between the ancient Hebrews and the southern Arabs has led Hommel furthermore to find allusion to moon-worship in such Hebrew names as begin with "ab" (= "father"), as in "Abimelech" and "Absalom," or with "'am" (= "uncle"), as in "Amminadab" and "Jeroboam," because these particles, when they appear in the names of southern Arabs, refer to the moon.

    The term "star-worship" ("'abodat kokabim u-mazzalot") in the Talmud and in post-Talmudic literature is chiefly a censor's emendation for "'abodah zarah." In connection with star-worship, it is related in the Mishnah ('Ab. Zarah iv. 7) that the Rabbis ("zeḳenim") were asked if God dislikes idolatry why He did not destroy the idols. The Rabbis answered: "If the heathen worshiped only idols perhaps God would have destroyed the objects of their adoration, but they worship also the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven, and God can not destroy the world on account of the heathen."

OK. So we have astrotheology as "the worship also the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven".


Again - a start - but not too much progress in formulating a far more specific statement of the term.


I am still not finding any great involvement with the 4 major astronomical events of the year (see OP) celebrated by all people and their governments.



Despite the fact that this important and fascinating information is not widely known – and even denied in some quarters – this older, mainstream publication from 1906 contains accurate data about this astrotheology of the ancients.

The beauty of this fairly brief article is its thoroughness and pithiness, presenting the various proofs in a direct and forthright manner. Although its entry could be construed as an admission against interest, the Jewish Encyclopedia is not purposely omitting or denying this aspect of Hebrew worship. This secret worship I consider to be part of the mysteries, which is one reason the astral myths lost their meaning among the masses.

Once we have discerned the astrotheological nature of much ancient religion, including and especially sun worship or solar religion, and we have noted the similar themes that revolve around celestial and other natural entities and forces, it becomes a matter of science, reason and logic to contend that various biblical figures possessing these same or similar attributes are likewise astrotheological in nature, including Jesus Christ as a Jewish remake of the ancient solar hero or sun god. Once this astrolatry/astrotheology is accepted as a genuinely ancient form of worship, that door of logical association and identification is blown wide open; this fact explains significantly why certain individuals are “hellbent” on denying this information and preventing it from being widespread.[/list]


Here we direct reference to "sun worship". That's getting closer.

The sun is obviously (minimally) venerated each year at midwinter, midsummer and the equinoxes.


  • Introduction

    The further one regresses in time, the more obvious it becomes that the principal and Sunrise shows the beauty of nature singular religious worship found around the globe has revolved around nature. This nature worship has included reverence not only for the earth, its creatures and their fecundity, but also for the sun, moon, planets and stars. For many thousands of years, man has looked to the skies and become awestruck by what he has observed. This awe has led to the reverence and worship both of the night and day skies, an adoration called "astrotheology." While fertility worship has constituted an important and prevalent part of the human religion, little has astonished humankind more than the sky, with its enormous, blazing, white day orb in the azure expanse, and with its infinite, twinkling, black night dome. So fascinated by the sky, or heavens, has been man that he has created entire religions, with organized priesthoods, complex rituals and massive edifices, in order to tell its story.

    The story begins, as far back as the current evidence reveals, with the night sky as the primary focus of pre-agricultural, nomadic peoples. The night sky held Night Sky imageparticular importance in the lives of desert nomads, because the fiery sun was a hindrance to them, while the cool night allowed them to travel. In traveling by night, these desert nomads became keenly aware of the night sky's various landmarks, including the stars, planets and moon. The nomads noticed regularity and began to chart the skies, hoping to divine omens, portents and signs. Others who developed this astronomical science included ancient mariners who journeyed thousands of miles through the open seas, such as the Polynesians, whose long, Pacific voyages have been estimated to have begun at least 30,000 years ago.

    The astronomical science allowed the ancients to predict weather patterns, the turn of seasons and attendant climate changes, as well as comets, asteroids and meteors menacing the earth. This archaeoastronomy was an accurate prognosticator for daily, weekly, monthly and yearly events. Indeed, it was an augur for the changes of entire ages, some of which, as in the chronologies of the Maya, Babylonians and Hindus, extend back hundreds of thousands or millions of years.
Here we finally meet what I perceive to be the most fundamental element of astrotheology - the turn of the seasons - the four annual quadrants and their demarcations.


DEFINITION OF THE TERM ASTROTHEOLOGY



In the above a number of other articles provide various elements in the definition of term. Finally we have Acharya S furnishing mention of a definition which includes the turn of the wheel of the four seasons and the four major astronomical events. The calculation of these four events was high technology and Big Business in antiquity, and the computations were performed by experts in astronomical knowledge (and in astrological knowledge since the two fields were not separated then).

Lack of a clear and comprehensive definition of the term is not a good thing and is attendant with all sorts of problems. I would like so see a better definition of the term identified through discussions. For example, is the term astrotheology an 18th century invention? Or does the term exist in ancient writings in another form, perhaps another term, or a combination of terms?

In the OP I have demonstrated that the Emperor Augustus also perceived this fundamental element and literally constructed monuments by which the process could be made openly visible to the common man, rather than being something only understood (with precision) by the astronomers.


To what extent did the emperor Augustus subscribe to an astrotheology of some kind, and if so, what did it look like?

I will try and make a start. Everything here in the OP relates to the specific observances of the "four seasons of the sun" and as such is confined to sun worship. Certainly there was also worship of the moon, the planets, the background stars, solar and lunar eclipses and many other astronomical events. And sub definitions of astrotheology as it may be applied to the worship of these other things and events associated with them can be established.

But I think one must start first with the worship of the sun and its seasons. It has a central place for good reason. Augustus found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble. A brand new Roman Empire had been born in marble, and one of the chief monuments (see OP) was a massive sundial.

Background Thread: Ancient Cosmology: Many Heavens, Gods and the One [God] ...... viewtopic.php?f=3&t=749

Solar astrotheology seems to have been central to the seasons of life in antiquity.




LC
Last edited by Leucius Charinus on Sat Feb 14, 2015 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

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I would think the presence of astrotheology in religions immediately preceding Christianity would be significant to the role of astrotheology in Christianity, especially with respect to the view or arguments that Christianity is a syncretic religion
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by Leucius Charinus »

MrMacSon wrote:I would think the presence of astrotheology in religions immediately preceding Christianity would be significant to the role of astrotheology in Christianity, especially with respect to the view or arguments that Christianity is a syncretic religion
Thanks Mac. It was for this very reason that I introduced in the OP the astrotheology of Roman religion in the rule of Augustus.

Roman religion was simply "borrowed" from the Greeks.

From an essay I wrote in an AH course .....

  • What was Augustus' vision of a Roman 'golden age'?
      • Your fathers' guilt you still must pay,
        Till, Roman, you restore each shrine,
        Each temple, 'mouldering in decay,
        And smoke-grimed statue, scarce divine.
        Revering Heaven, you rule below;
        Be that your base, your coping still;
        'Tis Heaven neglected bids o'erflow
        The measure of Italian ill. [1]



        [1] Horace, “Odes,” III, 6, l. 1 Note the chronology - Horace writes Odes 1-3 c.23 BCE, a decade prior to the senate’s decree for the Ara Pacis Augustae (13 BCE). It may therefore be argued that Augustus was not only inspired by this Roman poetry, which reflected his own vision as a “restorer” and “saviour” of Rome, but that he may have also supported its veneration as timely propaganda towards this end.
    After decades of civil and servile wars Rome and its provinces were covered in Roman blood. Once his political enemies were justly vanquished, from 27 BCE Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus with all his auctoritas labored as princeps – first among equals – and later as Pontifex Maximus, to restore the international, civil and servile peace, not to an age of bronze or silver, but to an age of gold. His vision was to refound Rome from the ground up, in many cases using marble, in some cases ornately, with the use of Corinthian columns. Augustus’ vision of a Roman golden age indirectly included a healthy economy for the poor who provided the labour for the building industry. However his vision was not restricted to the prolific restoration or rebuilding or creation of physical Roman architecture.

    As Pontifex Maximus his duties became intellectual and his vision was necessarily forced to expand to include the ritual worship of the Roman gods . For a start, he was now responsible for the ongoing administration and maintenance of the Julian calendar reform. His vision also included the patronage of the promotion and regrowth of the arts and sciences, such as architectural sculpture, geographical science / astronomy, (Latin) poetry , (Latin) literature (including public libraries) , (Roman) religion , theatre, political administration , civil reforms, marriage and children , Roman games – almost everything ! Again and again we find that Augustus’ vision turned to consider and use the fruits of the golden age of the Greeks. The Augustan vision stood on the shoulders of giants. In this Roman “Golden Age” newly sprouted Roman (Latin) intellectual traditions stood on the shoulders of the Greek intellectual traditions.


So thanks for your reminder about Syncretism
  • Syncretism is the combining of different, often seemingly contradictory beliefs, while melding practices of various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merger and analogizing of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. Syncretism also occurs commonly in expressions of arts and culture (known as eclecticism) as well as politics (syncretic politics).
The Romans were Syncretism masters. Christianity appeared in this epoch. But when? Who knows? No one.




LC
A "cobbler of fables" [Augustine]; "Leucius is the disciple of the devil" [Decretum Gelasianum]; and his books "should be utterly swept away and burned" [Pope Leo I]; they are the "source and mother of all heresy" [Photius]
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MrMacSon
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

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Leucius Charinus wrote:
MrMacSon wrote:I would think the presence of astrotheology in religions immediately preceding Christianity would be significant to the role of astrotheology in Christianity, especially with respect to the view or arguments that Christianity is a syncretic religion
Thanks Mac. It was for this very reason that I introduced in the OP the astrotheology of Roman religion in the rule of Augustus.

Roman religion was simply "borrowed" from the Greeks.
I think it's likely the Egyptians have had more a role than they have been credited with.

The role of Alexandria as hot-house of Judaism, Hellenism and Egyptian philosophies seems significant.
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by Mimi »

"These definitions of the term "astrotheology" have it as a "theology founded on observation or knowledge of the celestial bodies" ... such as the sun, moon, planets, stars, constellations and milky way etc.". This definition seems to be more or less the same as it was in the 18th century."

"Lack of a clear and comprehensive definition of the term is not a good thing"

"I am still not finding any great involvement with the 4 major astronomical events of the year (see OP) celebrated by all people and their governments."
That's your thing, I guess, astrotheology appears to be about far more than just the solstices and equinoxes alone. In my view, the definitions already provided are fine because "the 4 major astronomical events of the year" you mention seem to me would be included as part of the "observation of the sun." This definition seems plenty comprehensive enough for me:

Astrotheology: "theology founded on observation or knowledge of the celestial bodies" ... such as the sun, moon, planets, stars, constellations and milky way etc."

Observation of the sun would certainly include the solstices and equinoxes plus any related cycles. Astrotheology is not limited to the solstices and equinoxes. It includes observation of the moon, etc., as well so, it seems just fine to me. I just don't see any reason to change it ... maybe it's our understanding of it that needs further reading?

So, some of the definitions (not all) already provided are in fact comprehensive from where I stand. If it's further explanation one is after, this video should be more helpful and it includes quite a few links in the information box for further reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63BNKhGAVRQ
Mimi
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Re: in defence of astrotheology

Post by Mimi »

MrMacSon wrote:I think it's likely the Egyptians have had more a role than they have been credited with.

The role of Alexandria as hot-house of Judaism, Hellenism and Egyptian philosophies seems significant.
MrMacSon, you may appreciate what Egyptologists have to say:
"The parallels between Egyptian religion and Christianity are discussed in detail by Egyptologist Dr. Erik Hornung, a former professor of Egyptology at the University of Basel who has been called "the world's leading authority" on ancient Egyptian religious texts. In his book The Valley of the Kings (9), Hornung writes:

"Notwithstanding its superficial rejection of everything pagan, early Christianity was deeply indebted to ancient Egypt. In particular, the lively picture of the ancient Egyptian afterlife left traces in Christian texts..."

Another Egyptologist who points out Egyptian priority of "Judeo-Christian" concepts is Dr. Ogden Goelet, a professor of Egyptian language and culture at New York and Columbia Universities. In his well-known edition of The Egyptian Book of the Dead (18), Goelet states:

"The Book of the Dead promised resurrection to all mankind, as a reward for righteous living, long before Judaism and Christianity embraced that concept."

Newly discovered ancient Christian magical spell reveals Egyptian influence
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