What is Idolatry?

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by Greenleft, Apr 23, 2021.

  1. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    In the Old Testament there is a lot of condemnation of the religions of non Hebrew nations as well as the nation of Israel for "going after other gods". So what exactly is idolatry?

    Is it the worship of multiple Gods? I can assure you polytheistic religions don't last very long. Petitioning different deities for different blessings in life will not work. The Greek gods were actually seldom given petitions let alone worshipped. Hindu gods are different incarnations of the ONE god which is a variation of the Trinity. But the rival gods to Yahweh in the Bible like Baal and Molech and the Golden Calf were single Gods. The other nations were just different names for ONE God and different ideas as to God's nature. So it's not polytheism.

    Is it worshipping and recognizing God the wrong way? Rituals like magic without Yahweh's approval. Not using the Divine Name? Or making sacrifices on hill tops as opposed to the Tabernacle or Temple? So if you don't do things the ancient Hebrew way, Yahweh will strike you down with a whole range of misfortunes? So I guess Yahweh was angry at the human sacrifices as opposed to sheep and goats?

    Or is it simply bowing down and and thinking a deity's power emanates from statues or images of living things? This is probably the one. If this is the case Catholics and Orthodox Christians are guilty of it when they focus their worship facing a statue of the Virgin Mary or Icons of Saints. I don't particularly have a problem with the Cross as long as it's just a reminder that you're in Church as opposed to facing the object and making petition prayers. Funny story: in the 2006 documentary called Jesus Camp, some kids were made to worship a cardboard cutout of George W. Bush.

    Some fundamentalist Christians take the whole no false Gods one step further and try to avoid all things with pagan roots. Like celebrating various holidays like Christmas and Halloween. Easter is more nuanced. They remember the Cross and Resurrection, but don't make Easter eggs. The problem is MANY things have pagan roots including wedding rings and the names of the days of the week and months of the year. Even the bread and wine ceremony has roots in a non Christian religion.

    Some Christians take the whole idolatry thing metaphorically and say it's about putting value in worldly things as opposed to valuing worshipping the true God. So instead of working toward financial success and getting a bigger house, you ought to live an aesthetic life as a monk or nun.

    In conclusion, whatever idolatry really is, I don't think I need to make personal sacrifices for a deity I cannot know for certain his nature/identity let alone his existence.
     
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  2. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I think it may have more to do with fear than 'worship.' And I don't mean the 'scared' kind of fear.

    Mathew 10:28 `And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.'

    The golden calf has no power. Even the most powerful man or army or machine on earth cant touch your soul. It seems to me 'idolatry' is attributing power where it doesn't meaningfully exist. Our spirit, or soul, or metaphysical connection to God, is something no one can take from us. But if we have free will, than we can give it away. Presuming no one would exchange their spirit for nothing, then the only alternative is they would be exchanging it for something that doesn't matter- an 'idol', a false perception of power or value that doesn't have any real meaning when compared to the soul. I think The Bible is saying that doing this is bad idea.
     
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  3. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    You know? I actually agree. That makes sense. I learned something. Thanks.
     
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  4. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    Daniel 5:23. "23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:" The key is that idols cannot "see, hear or know." I've interpreted this meaning even a God that has no body with eyes, ears and a brain. This would include the Father and Son that most Christians glorify. One without a body and so large fills the universe but so small that can dwell in our hearts. They also usually conclude that God is "spirit" or a spirit that has no eyes, ears or compartment for intelligence as well.
     
  5. CKW

    CKW Well-Known Member

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    To me idolatry is prioritizing and putting first...worshiping... something other then God.... of course if you don't believe in God then it shouldn't be a concern.
     
  6. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    This was not a sufficient answer. Because you could say another religion is not the true God therefore it is not God. A more accurate wording is incorrect worship or incorrect belief.

    There is a difference between worshipping an entity that unites everything and worshipping something else like say... your spouse and children.

    Fortunately the previous answer was sufficient for me.
     
  7. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    How does an atheist come to the understanding that there is no God? By believing the scientists? By believing the words of other atheists? Yes. So, I would call that believing in idolatry.
     
  8. The Amazing Sam's Ego

    The Amazing Sam's Ego Banned at Members Request

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    Fearing God means having a reverence for God. It doesn't mean being afraid of God. https://www.gotquestions.org/fear-God.html

     
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  9. CKW

    CKW Well-Known Member

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    Sounds Right...putting faith and trust with something other then God.
     
  10. The Amazing Sam's Ego

    The Amazing Sam's Ego Banned at Members Request

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    Everyone has the same desire to seek God but some people suppress it. https://christianity.stackexchange....es-the-concept-of-a-god-shaped-hole-originate

     
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  11. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    Growing up, I did not fear Hell (I was young with my whole life ahead) and I was not afraid of God per se as in I was not afraid of bolts of lightning. I was afraid of being judged by God when I did things after the fact that I realized I was wrong.

    But what TRULY terrified me as a child and a teenager was Satan and everything outside the Christian bubble. There was gossip in my hometown during the 1990s of a mansion with a Church of Satan inside. I was terrified when our car drove past the mansion. I was afraid of blood moons thinking they were signs of the times of The End. There was an apocalyptic Christian film I was made to watch called "Years of the Beast" which has put me off getting tattoos till this day. The film depicted people getting the Mark of the Beast that was a tattoo of the number 666 on their right hands.

    I promise I will NEVER allow my daughter to be terrorized like that. I don't resent my parents, but I do know that Christianity is a culture of fear that must be shaken off.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2021
  12. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Christianity is what you make of it, Greenleft. It can be a culture of fear or it can be a culture of love, hope and liberation.
     
  13. The Amazing Sam's Ego

    The Amazing Sam's Ego Banned at Members Request

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    God doesn't condemn the devil condemns. Conviction is this is not right try to do better condemnation is criticism.
     
  14. Moonglow

    Moonglow Well-Known Member

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    What is Idolatry?


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  15. Texan

    Texan Well-Known Member

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    A former pastor describe idolatry as putting anything before God. It can be a car, sex, a statue, or anything that keeps you from following God.
     
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  16. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Or perhaps Atheists come to the understanding that there is no God because they are unable to personally perceive or experience God.
     
  17. The Amazing Sam's Ego

    The Amazing Sam's Ego Banned at Members Request

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    We don't see the air but we know it exists.
     
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  18. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    Why are they unable to perceive or experience God? It's because of idolatry of science. Not that science is bad. That isn't the question concerning science. It's how the atheist perceives science.
     
  19. The Amazing Sam's Ego

    The Amazing Sam's Ego Banned at Members Request

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    God created science.
     
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  20. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    Perhaps it isn't the Gospel of Jesus Christ that must be shaken off. It's those who use fear unrighteously to control others. We do need to know the difference between good and evil. virtue and vice, pleasure and pain and all opposites of good and evil. Do we not? We also do need to know Satan does tempt us to do evil as well so that we can recognize the evil. I think it's better to teach what is good and why it is good and better than what is evil. Take using drugs like Marijuana. Teach what it does like takes down our inhibitions of what we know is good and instead do evil. Same with drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. I teach that my family can be together again in Heaven if we keep God's commandments. But, I don't teach that we will live in hell with Satan if we don't. And, teach that we will be on fire for eternity. I teach correct principles and let them govern themselves being their for them when they do wrong and want to come back. Experience is always a good teacher as long as they aren't totally destroyed.
     
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  21. Cougarbear

    Cougarbear Banned

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    Well, science is the study of God's creation or organization. Atheists don't realize the greatness of God.
     
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  22. The Amazing Sam's Ego

    The Amazing Sam's Ego Banned at Members Request

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    We don't see God but when we look around us we see the creation of God everywhere.
     
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  23. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Indeed, my friend, and therein lies the fundamental flaw in the Atheist assumption - just because one is not able to perceive God that doesn't mean God doesn't exist.
     
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  24. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Every time I look into my beautiful wife's eyes I see God, just as every time I look into a mirror or inside myself I see God.
     
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  25. Talon

    Talon Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Because they create or imagine God in their own image? Because we have the perceptual faculties of monkeys?

    I could go on and on and on, Coug - there are many explanations why...

    Yet, you claim that Science is the "study of God's creation or organization".

    Again, I think it has more to do with the individual atheist's inability, for one reason or another, to perceive God, but generalizations don't serve us well here. We're dealing with individuals, and individuals are not a monolithic entity.
     
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