Did the Magi Use Astrology to Find Jesus?

The word Magi is used equivocally in the Bible. In the cases of Elymas (Acts 13:6-12), the term is used pejoratively, because he attempts to engage in sorcery, i.e., using power gained from occult powers against the kingdom of God (see CCC 2115-17, Acts 8:9-24).

In contrast, as Pope Benedict XVI writes in Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, the Magi, or “Wise Men,” in Matthew 2 are not hostile to God’s kingdom. Instead, they come to pay homage to Jesus. They are understood to be non-Jewish religious leaders whose faith is strongly influenced by philosophy (see Jesus of Nazareth, 89ff.).

As Catholic Answers apologist Jimmy Akin notes, God did use nature to convey his word in Old Testament times, whether through astronomical signs like the star of Bethlehem noted in Matthew 2 or the burning bush in which he revealed himself to Moses (Exodus 3). However, in this Catholic Answers video, Jimmy notes that “it would be entirely speculative to find a new series of signs in the sky. . . . We don’t have that kind of (divinely revealed) information today. And so it’s very dangerous. And so in his book on the infancy narratives, Pope Benedict says that astrology, whatever role it had in the ancient world, finds its end in the star of Bethlehem (4:29ff.).”

For more on the negative side of astrology, including divination, see this Catholic Answers response and the aforementioned CCC paragraphs.