NEWS FEATURE: Minister sees gospel story in signs of the zodiac

c. 1997 Religion News Service MOBILE, Ala. _ When the Rev. Chris Patrick looks at the stars, he sees something different than most people: He sees God’s plan for salvation. In fact, the pastor of Life Church Outreach Center in Chickasaw, Ala., believes the zodiac _ the 12 clusters of stars used by astrologers and […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

MOBILE, Ala. _ When the Rev. Chris Patrick looks at the stars, he sees something different than most people: He sees God’s plan for salvation.

In fact, the pastor of Life Church Outreach Center in Chickasaw, Ala., believes the zodiac _ the 12 clusters of stars used by astrologers and fortune tellers to predict the future and give guidance to lovers _ has been misunderstood for millennia. It’s time, he says, to reinterpret the signs and stars of the constellations.


What he sees in those 12 signs is a symbolic depiction of the gospel. What Patrick doesn’t see, however, are alien space ships taking believers to heaven, as the Heaven’s Gate group that committed mass suicide earlier this year apparently believed.”They were a fringe group of the New Age movement, which I disagree with wholeheartedly,”Patrick said in an interview.

He also distances himself from popular astrology, insisting their star charts are off the mark.

Patrick’s stargazing began with his fascination with astronomy in 1986, when Halley’s comet was visible. At that time, he went to a nearby beach to view the celestial phenomenon, and there realized some of the constellations were biblical symbols.

Since then, he has researched the stars and the history of astronomy, immersing himself in Astronomy magazine and Burnham’s Celestial Handbook, as well as star charts and calendars.

He says God created and named the stars, and placed them in symbolic constellations like a”giant billboard”to spell out his message to humanity, from the virgin birth of Jesus to the end-times Rapture, when it is believed the faithful will rise into the sky to meet the returning Jesus.

Interpreting the symbolism of the stars is acceptable, Patrick says, pointing to Genesis 1:14, where it states God created the stars”for signs and seasons.”He says that means God set the stars as signals for prophecy.

Those signs have been available from creation to the present time for mankind to read.”Almost every ancient civilization has the same star chart,”he said.


The images of the constellations _ Leo the lion, Orion the hunter, for example _ are known to Americans by the names taken from Greek and Roman mythology. But many of those same constellations have similar imagery in other cultures, Patrick says. For example, he believes the constellation Virgo is symbolic of the virgin birth of Jesus. The same constellation is called”adarah”in Arabic, he said, meaning”pure virgin.”The name of the star Spica in Virgo is Latin for”seed,”and the same star is called”Zerah,”or”seed,”in Hebrew star charts.

According to Patrick, this is a symbolic prophecy that Jesus would be the seed mentioned in Genesis 3:15, where is states God evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, promising that a woman’s seed would vanquish Satan.

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When the Hale-Bopp comet appeared, Patrick said, it was God’s way of saying the Rapture and the end-times are near.”It’s as if he’s saying, `This is the next event on my eternal calendar of events that I wrote in indelible ink in the stars.'”But Patrick stops short of predicting a date for the Rapture.”The comet doesn’t say when, but it marks this generation,”he said.

Patrick says the keys to interpreting the messages in the heavens have been known to humanity since ancient times.”The names of the constellations and the stars go back to the time of Nimrod and even before. The Phoenicians attributed to Adam and Enoch and Seth the discovery of astronomy.” (END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Patrick dismisses popular astrology as false.”My interpretation blows a hole in astrology,”he said, arguing they don’t even use accurate star charts.”The sign everybody thinks they’re born under is off by one whole sign. Over the past 2,000 years, your birthdate has moved out of one sign and to another because of the earth’s wobbling and the procession of the equinoxes.” Another mistake astrologers make, Patrick says, is to start the rotation of the zodiac in Aries, whereas his system starts the cycle in Virgo.”That’s another of the devil’s perversions,”he said.”Whatever the devil says, you take the opposite, and it will be true.” Astrology was prohibited in the Bible, Patrick says, because it puts the emphasis on the creation rather than the creator.”Amos 5:8 says that we should seek him who makes the seven stars and Orion.” Patrick’s views do not go unchallenged.

Richard Sneed, a professor of the philosophy of religion at Spring Hill College in Mobile, said Patrick’s work is”interesting and amusing, but I have no support for it at all.” Sneed argues that various ancient groups _ such as the Gnostics, Druids, and Neoplatonists _ have come up with their own readings of the zodiac. Other groups, too, have constructed elaborate allegorical systems relating the heavens to humanity’s earthly existence. People of all cultures”wish for understanding one’s place in the grand design,”he said.


But anyone looking at the stars could see anything at all, Sneed says.”You could also see Elvis on a Harley.” Sneed said his chief concern with Patrick’s interpretation lies in its dependence on Patrick’s personal reading of the Bible. “It’s a house of cards, and if the foundation is one single card, it’s his interpretation of the Bible.”

Patrick is not concerned his interpretations may seem outlandish to some.”You could say, `Brother Chris, aren’t you stretching it?’ And I’d say, `Am I?’ I mean, if you study this, you’d just laugh because God is so awesome.”

MJP END LONG

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