Page 177 - Foundations

gives the Arabian astronomy as it had come down from the earliest times.
[Source: Preface to The Witness of the Stars, E.W. Bullinger]

Frances Rolleston Silhouette
(From the book Letters of Miss Frances Rolleston of Keswick)

With Miss Rolleston’s research playing such a great role in the promotion of this particular view of
the heaven’s prophetic role, it is certainly warranted to delve a little deeper into her character and
beliefs. One reader of the Parables Blog sent me an e-mail suggesting I read a book by Tim Warner
titled Mystery of the Mazzaroth. I had not heard of this book, but reading the book’s description on
Amazon’s website, my curiosity was piqued.

In 1862, Francis Rolleston published "Mazzaroth," attempting to link the Zodiac with Christianity
based on similarities between phonetic sounds of Arabic star names and certain Hebrew words. Her
theory has been copied and repackaged by Joseph Seiss, E. W. Bullinger, D. James Kennedy, and
Chuck Missler. However, the whole basis for her theory has been thoroughly refuted by Christian
apologetic ministries. Thus, all of these knockoffs of Rolleston's book have equally been soundly
refuted.

“Mystery of the Mazzaroth” presents a completely new approach. Never before has the sequence of
Zodiac signs been understood in light of Biblical prophecy, telling the sequential story of Israel's
history and redemption. The connections between the Zodiac signs, the pagan myths associated with
them, and the story of Israel are so numerous and profound, that they cannot be dismissed by any
honest truth-seeker. This book will open your eyes to a powerful reason to believe that God exists,
and that the Creator is the same God who appeared to Abraham.

It seemed a bit uncharitable for Mr. Warner to describe the works of Seiss, Bullinger, and others as
“knockoffs of Rolleston’s book.” These men contributed a good deal of their own material, and in
many instances supplied sources where they were absent in Miss Rolleston’s book. They also labored