The pseudoscience of astrology dates as far back as 2300 BCE in the Babylonian and Sumerian kingdoms. Astrology posits that the configuration of stars and planets at one's birth controls ones destiny. Early Christians would have been familiar with, if not adherents of, this science of divination. 300 - 400 years after the newborn science of astronomy began to depose astrology, people still believe in this system of fate. A similar concept of fate is the Catholic, or Christian, concept of original sin; that the act of being born a human being marks one as sinful and doomed to eternal perdition except for the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The concept of fate is popular - as it was fated to be.
But why is it so popular? I've really never been much of a fan, even though in a sense thinking of one's "fate" or "destiny" or "calling" is rather a mental habit. I guess we need to position ourselves in the stream of existence somehow, if we want to swim.
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