Nostradamus (Dec. 14, 1503–July 2, 1566) was born to French-Jewish parents assuming the name de Notredame in southern France. He was called Michel de Notredame. His parents had been converted to Catholicism. There have been many legends regarding his early life, but the credibility of these legends, recorded by two of his relatives, is also questioned.
James Laver comments: “Recent researches . . . have shown that the noble and picturesque background which has been hitherto accepted by every writer on Nostradamus has no basis in fact.” After recounting one such legend of Nostradamus’ predicting that he and a certain nobleman would eat a black pig instead of a white one for their evening meal, Laver says: “There is, of course, no proof of the veracity of this story, . . . Fascinating as these stories are, it is as well to confess that most of them rest upon the faith of the later biographers. Some of the stories . . . appear for the first time in the seventeenth century, some of them even later.”
In his efforts to predict the future, Nostradamus was deeply involved in horoscopy, magic, astrology and the pagan ritual of incantation. In The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus, H. C. Roberts, himself “a student of the occult,” says: “Beyond a shadow of doubt, the methods employed and results obtained by Nostradamus in looking into the future were outside of the physical framework. . . . forces we group today under the general title of ‘Extra Sensory Perception.”’
However, many opposed such astrological divination. Whitmore says: “The writings of the early Fathers of the Church . . . contain the reiterated condemnation of those who continued to practise ancient, heathen rites and systems of divination under the guise of Christianity. Likewise the early Councils of the Church pronounced anathemata against astrologers, sorcerers and adherents to occult sciences. . . . The Council of Trent [during Nostradamus’ lifetime] laid down in unequivocal terms that bishops should suppress astrological prediction in their dioceses and ensure the destruction of all books which fostered the art.” But did the Catholic Church follow through with actions that were consistent with such proclamations?
The New Catholic Encyclopedia reveals that “astrology was used by Pope Julius II [1503-1513] to set the day of his coronation and by Paul III [1534-1549] to determine the proper hour for every Consistory. [Both popes were contemporaneous with Nostradamus] . . . Astrology pervaded European culture just as it had the culture of the Roman Empire, and, though official Church doctrine opposed it, no one attacked the whole manner of thinking that lay behind it.”
What was the “thinking that lay behind” the occult art of horoscopy? The French Grand Larousse Encyclopedique confirms that “Christianity considered that astrology drew its inspiration from demonism.”Predictions That Come True:
Can someone who apostatizes from Bible truth and becomes a servile prophet of demons accurately predict some future events? Yes, that is possible. In Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Moses warned: “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and offers to do a sign or a wonder for you, and the sign or wonder comes about; . . . you are not to listen to the words of that prophet or to the dreams of that dreamer. . . . Yahweh your God you shall follow, him you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep . . . That prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death.”—The Jerusalem Bible.
So it is not just by coincidence that some predictions of such false prophets come true. They can occur by the manipulation of wicked spirit forces. From the beginning of human history until now, demonic forces have manipulated the minds of submissive humans. These deceived human prophets are inspired to make utterances that harmonize with demonic schemes, called the “strategies and tricks of Satan” at Ephesians 6:11.—The Living Bible.
Satan the Devil and his demons can maneuver whole political systems. This fact was made clear when the Devil “revealed to [Jesus] all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time; and the devil told him, ‘I will give you all these splendid kingdoms and their glory—for they are mine to give to anyone I wish.”’ (Luke 4:5, 6, The Living Bible) In this same encounter with Jesus, the Devil even quoted portions of the Scriptures in an effort to tempt and mislead Jesus.—Matt. 4:6. Differentiating True from False Prophets
True prophets of God had to meet three basic qualifications. They had to (1) speak in the name of God—which a false prophet who knew the Hebrew name of God would improperly presume to do; (2) the things they foretold would have to come true—which in the case of false prophets might happen either by coincidence or demonic manipulation; and (3) their prophesying had to be in harmony with God’s revealed Word and commandments put in writing up to their time.—Deut. 13:1-4; 18:20-22.The third vital factor is especially where Nostradamus and others fail. The fact that they dabble in magic, the occult and astrology exposes them, for not one Bible prophet supports the use of astrology in communicating with God!
The prophet Moses spoke out in clear, unambiguous terms against prophets like Nostradamus. Under divine inspiration, he said: “There should not be found in you . . . anyone who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, . . . or a professional foreteller of events . . . For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah.”—Deut. 18:10-12.
The service that true Bible prophets performed was not primarily to foretell future events, as Nostradamus tried to do. Their main function, as Eric Russell says, was “acting as a communication channel between the Creator and his creatures.” Knowledge of the future was included in their communications, he says, “only as a by-product.”Bible prophets commissioned by God also never foretold things simply to satisfy human curiosity. Every prediction related to God’s will, purpose, standards or judgment. (1 Ki. 11:29-39; Isa. 7:3-9) And because the primary purpose of God’s true prophets was to advocate his moral standards and laws, it was not necessary to wait for years before one could determine whether the prophet was true or false. Of what value, then, are the prophecies of Nostradamus? Charles Ward describes him as “a man rewarded of kings; and yet, so far as we can see, furnishing no one profitable hint to them that could make their life run smoother, or remove a single peril from their path.” “He is clearly no prophet in the old and Hebrew sense of the word, like Isaiah, Daniel, David, John.