Sweitzer wrote:
> I have been lent a copy of James Kennedy's book, The Real Meaning of
> the Zodiac. Can anyone comment or point me to websites regarding the
> accuracy of this book?
>
> For those who haven't heard of it, Kennedy goes through the
> constellations of the sky (not just the zodiac) and puts a Christian
> interpretation on all of them. So he seems to be trying to substitute
> prophetic stories in the sky for the ancient mythologies about the
> constellations, claiming that the latter are demonic corruptions of
> the original God given stories.
>
> As fiction or metaphor, I have no problem with it, but the claim of
> unearthing old truths seems far fetched (James Kennedy has not struck
> me as having much scientific or archeological savvy). Before I drag
> out Burnham's Celestial Handbook, I was wondering if anyone else on
> the list server has any comments, or better yet, can point me to a
> website?
I haven't seen Kennedy's book. The idea, however, is not
new. There is, e.g., _The Witness of the Stars_ by E.W. Bullinger (a
descendant of the Swiss reformer), originally published in 1893 and
reprinted by Kregel in 1972. The description on the dust jacket of the
latter edition says, "The major constellations, planets and stars are
viewed as being vehicles of God's natural revelation and are examined
with a view to deciphering their message to us."
The concept of "natural revelation" here is much more
ambitious than that in any traditional natural theology, for it includes
not only the existence of a creator &c but also redemption. E.g., the
names of Alpha, Beta & Gamma Librae are supposed to mean "the price
which is deficient", "the price which covers" and "the price of the
conflict."
This view of natural revelation is questionable, but I'm
also not sure that Bullinger knew what he was talking about with star
names. I am no arabist, but the meanings of the Arabic names of A & B
Librae, Zuben al Genubi & Zuben al Chemali which I had learned are "the
southern claw" and "the northern claw" (of Scorpio) rather than
anything having to do with "price."
Shalom,
George
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Nov 17 2000 - 07:47:47 EST