To limit the meaning of the word "idolatry" to the
most obvious cases of this practice is to miss the
reason for why idolatry is regarded as a grievous
sin. The following materials give examples of the
many forms that idolatry can take, and veneration of
statues or images is only one form out of many.
Indeed, I had thought that this kind of understanding,
that idolatry is something that takes innumerable
forms, was commonplace --even universal-- but it
now seems that it is not.
Maybe the best place to start is with a Baptist
definition, since this is most uncompromising. But let
me say at the outset that there are other definitions
, including Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Buddhist,
which also deserve to be considered.
Clearly, then, idolatry consists of false
attribution to things other than God / the Holy, etc.
--your choice of terminology-- of things that
belong to God. This is a "salvation first" outlook.
In other words, an act of formal worship to a
religious image, or to any other object, is
not necessary for idolatry to exist. Idolatry
exists when something other than one's faith
comes first in life --because salvation is the
most important thing in life. Indeed, there is
no comparison possible in terms of what should be
most important.
Hence the many Protestant sermons I have heard over
the years to the effect that worship
of money is a form of idolatry, or worship of
social status, or worship of prized possessions,
or many other things, all are forms of idolatry.
Obviously this means metaphorical worship,
not actually bowing down to a stack of greenbacks,
for example, or saying prayers to a
box filled with currency. Quite simply it means
putting money first, Christ second
( or even further down the line ). The exact same
principle applies to status worship,
as when someone puts getting that promotion at work
above everything else. It also applies
when someone cherishes an art collection, or a
prize race horse, or one's house, anything,
above faith --faith in Christ, as Baptists would
say.
Images may be central to idolatry but sometimes
images are beside the point. Still, it is
worth pointing out that for several centuries
Buddhists avoided all representation of
Gautama in visual form --because it was all too
easy for many people to venerate
a statue and in the process lose sight of the
essential message of Buddhism, which
is all about seeking enlightenment, being
compassionate, respecting life, finding
a livelihood ( vocation ) that is right for you,
and so forth.
So, for many years all that was permissible in
Buddhist art was to show a space
in a painting where Buddha would have been, or just
his footprints. Eventually this
practice was dropped, allowing for images, but only
on the strict understanding
that visual forms were NEVER to be venerated and
must always be regarded simply
as the work of artists seeking to show respect to
the memory of Gautama, something
to help in remembering his life and teachings, but
nothing else.
This is pretty much the Catholic view, but in a
Christian context.
Here are a number of sources on the subject that
may be useful .
Idolatry is a pejorative
term for the worship of an idol, a physical object
such as a cult
image, as a god,[or
practices believed to verge on worship, such as
giving undue honour and regard to created forms
other than God. In all the Abrahamic
religions idolatry is strongly forbidden,
although views as to what constitutes idolatry may
differ within and between them. In other religions
the use of cult images is accepted, although the
term "idolatry" is unlikely to be used within the
religion, being inherently disapproving. Which
images, ideas, and objects constitute idolatry is
often a matter of considerable contention, and
within all the Abrahamic religions the term may be
used in a very wide sense, with no implication that
the behaviour objected to actually consists of the
religious worship of a physical object....
The avoidance of the use of images for religious
reasons is called aniconism,
which has been an aspect of all major religions at
times, some much more consistently than others. The
destruction of religious images within a culture is
called iconoclasm,
of which there have been many major episodes in
history.
Idolatry
in many forms [ Wikinoah ]
...Many religions hold that the purpose of worship
is to bring one into connection with divinity.
Any set of beliefs or practices which significantly
interferes with this may, at some point, be termed
idolatry. Examples might include:
- A very strong belief in the inerrancy of a holy
book, this would equate the book with God...
- A very strong attachment to one's country that a
religion considers inappropriate. In this case nationalism
could be considered a form of idolatry.
- A very strong desire to gain sex and wealth that
a religion considers inappropriate. In this case greed
could be considered a form of idolatry.
- A very strong desire to gain fame or recognition
that a religion considers inappropriate. In this
case egocentrism could be considered a form of
idolatry.
- Worshipping one of God's creations (The Sun,
moon, water, a cow, sheep, or king) instead of the
One God who created them.
- An obsessive desire to earn money
could be classified as idolatry.
Christian
theology requires proselytizing,
the spreading of the faith by gaining converts by
use of trained missionaries.
This often caused hostile relationships with pagan
religions and other Christian groups who used images
in some manner as part of religious practice.
Fundamentalist Protestants often accuse Catholic
and Orthodox Christians of Traditionalism,
Idolatry, Paganism
and Iconolatry
since they do not "cleanse their faith" of the use
of images.
Catholic
and Orthodox
Christians use religious objects such as Icons,
incense,
the Gospel,
Bible,
candles
and religious vestments.
Icons are mainly in two and rarely in three
dimensional form. These are in dogmatic theory venerated
as objects filled with God's grace
and power -- (therefore Eastern Orthodoxy declares
they are not "hollow forms" {see idol}
and hence, not idols). Evidence for the use of
these, they claim, is found in the Old
Testament and in Early
Christian worship.....
In Orthodox apologetics for icons, a similarity is
asserted between icons and the manufacture by Moses
(under God's commandment) of The
Bronze Snake, which was, Orthodoxy says, given
the grace and power of God to heal those bitten by
real snakes. "And Moses made a serpent of brass,
and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that
if a serpent had bitten any person, when he beheld
the serpent of brass, they lived"(Numbers
21:9). Another similarity is declared with the Ark
of the Covenant described as the ritual object
above which Yahweh was present (Numbers 10:33-36);
or the burning
bush which , according to Exodus, allowed God
to speak to Moses; or the Ten Commandments which
were the Word of God "Dabar
Elohim"
in tablet form. These inanimate
objects became a medium
by which God worked to teach, speak to, encourage
and heal the Hebrew
faithful.
Wikipedia
[ Ancient Jews ]
There is no one section [ in the Old Testament ]
that clearly defines idolatry; rather there are a
number of commandments on this subject spread
through the books of the Hebrew Bible, some of which
were written in different historical eras, in
response to different issues. Taking these verses
together, idolatry in the Hebrew Bible is defined as
either:
- the worship of idols (or images)
- the worship of polytheistic gods by use of idols
(or images)
- the worship of animals or people
- the use of idols in the worship of God.
In a number of places, the Hebrew
Bible makes clear that God
has no shape or form, and is utterly incomparable;
thus no idol, image, idea, or anything comparable to
creation could ever capture God's essence. For
example, when the Israelites
are visited by God in Deut. 4:15, they see no shape
or form. Many verses in the Bible use
anthropomorphisms to describe God, (e.g. God's
mighty hand, God's finger, etc.) but these verses
have always been understood as poetic images rather
than literal descriptions. This is reflected in
Hosea 12:10 which says, “And I have spoken unto the
prophets,
and I have multiplied visions, and by the hand of
the prophets I use similes.”
=======================================
Bibliolatry (from the Greek
biblion "book" + latreia "worship")
is the worship of a particular book.
In the case of Christianity,
the term bibliolatry is used in a derogatory sense
toward those who either have an extreme devotion to
the Bible itself, or hold to a high view of biblical
inerrancy.[3].
Those who esteem Biblical inerrancy point to
passages such as 2 Timothy 3:16-17, stating that the
Scriptures,
as received, are a perfect (and in some views,
complete) source of what must be known about God.
Critics of this view call the view a kind of
idolatry, and point to verses such as John 5:39-40
to point out that Jesus was asking humanity to
relate to God, not just seek God's rules and spurn a
relationship with the God who created them.[4]
Historic Christianity has never endorsed worship of
the Bible itself, as worship is explicitly reserved
only for God.
That is to say, Christians consider the Bible as a
kind of signpost
which points to God, rather than considering the
Bible, as a book, itself as valuable as God himself.
Some Christians believe that biblical authority is
derived from God as the inspiration behind the text,
not the text itself [5].
So the term is not a reference to an actual belief,
but is often used as a pejorative
term to negatively label perceived practices of theological
opponents. The groups to whom the term is most often
applied are Protestants
of a fundamentalist
and evangelical
background who hold to Biblical
inerrancy and Scripture
as the only divine authority.
Disputes exist as to whether the King
James Only movement is or is not a form of
bibliolatry.
[ Clearly the Koran is, for believing Muslims, an
object to worship, based on the view that the book
in a "real", sense IS God on Earth. "Bibliolatry"
would be a misleading term in this case and there
are less semantic problems simply to characterize
this as idolatry, viz, veneration of the Koran as if
it was not only "sacred" in a religious sense, but embodying
Allah. Muslim views of the Koran, which derive
directly from the Koran itself, are no different in
essence that ascribing living divinity to a statue,
which is exactly what basic idolatry consists of.
BR Comment ]
============================================
from an essay with this title :
American Idolatry - Is it a practice involving the
majority?
What is Idolatry?
Idolatry is most commonly thought of as a practice
of worship whereby someone ascribes to an image or
some kind of statue qualities of godhood. Often
times worship, ceremony of some nature, and/or
reverence is directed toward this object. The Bible
speaks warningly against practicing idolatry of this
type.
Another form of idolatry is also mentioned in the
Bible. This form of idolatry does not include
specific objects openly. This form includes certain
practices and loyalties which consume the time and
energies of the practicing adherents. The more
recent generation has entered into a practice of
idolatry, which I would like to call the American
Idolatry. This form of idolatry is described
in Colossians 3:5-6 which says,
Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time,
when ye lived in them.
[ We can focus ]...on the issue of covetousness,
although the other forms are equally as prevalent in
our current society.
Idolatry is further described in the context of
rebellion and stubbornness. In this passage
rebellion and stubbornness are equated by the
conjunction "and." It is suggested that stubbornness
comes first and that rebellion is the consequence of
a stubborn characteristic. It is a matter of degree.
Yet stubbornness is compared to iniquity and
idolatry. Note 1 Samuel 15:23.
1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of
the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being
king.
======================================================
a Traditional Protestant view...
from the site : revelife
Idolatry is the sin of glorifying and aligning
ourselves with gods other than the Triune God of the
Bible who is revealed in Jesus Christ. The first
commandment given to Israel at Mount Sinai was to
"have no other gods before" YHWH (Exodus 20:3). We
know that idolatry does not demand we bow down to
idols made of wood, gold, or stone but that it can
occur within our hearts and that our gods/masters
can be anything [ including ]... the numbers in our
bank accounts. Anything that we allow to reign in
our hearts so that is has authority over us and ends
up leading us, taking our heart and mind captive,
that is a false god whom we worship.
A popular form of idolatry is nationalistic
idolatry. It often comes to power under the guise of
patriotism. What happens is that Christians mix up
the priority of their kingdom-of-God-citizenship
identity with their earthly-national-citizenship
identity, allowing the two to mix together in a way
that allows their earthly-national-citizenship to
become more important to them, and thus more ruling
in their lives, than their identity which is found
in Christ Jesus. In shorter words, nationalistic
idolatry is putting country before/above Christ or
even confusing the two. ...
=============================================.
selections from :
Idolatry and
Christianity
Wikipedia
The New Testament also uses the term "idolatry" to
refer to worship like passion for things such as
wealth. One can see evidence of this in Colossians
3:5, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to
your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity,
lust, evil desires and greed which is idolatry."
Some Christian theologians see the absolutization of
an idea as idolatrous.[3]
Therefore, undue focus on particular features of
Christianity to the exclusion of others would
constitute idolatry.
Martin
Luther did not object to the use of religious
images per se, but he did object to various beliefs
that were associated with them. In particular, he
objected to the practice of invoking the saints that
was often associated with images of the saints. He
was also concerned that those who erect beautiful
and costly images would presume to think they had
done a good work that would earn them merit with
God. Yet these concerns did not prevent him from
allowing new Lutheran altarpieces, often of the Last
Supper, in many of which leading reformers
were portrayed as the apostles. John
Calvin was always extremely hostile to all
publicly-displayed images, which were systematically
destroyed by Calvinists, as in the Beeldenstorm
in the Netherlands. Towards the end of the 16th
century there were disputes between Lutherans and
Calvinists, with the former put under pressure to
destroy images. Though both groupings did not object
to book illustrations or prints of biblical events,
or portraits of reformers, production of large-scale
religious art virtually ceased in Protestant regions
after about 1540, and artists shifted to secular
subjects, ironically often including revived classical
mythology.
Many Protestants,
especially evangelicals
or fundamentalists,
believe that attributing holiness or power to human
relics,
fosters disbelief in God's omnipotence,
and his independent and sovereign will, and suggests
to fallible humans that God can be manipulated. To them, this is the
essence of sinful idolatry. However, other
Protestants disagree with this assessment.
In reference to holy places, it is argued that God
is no less accessible here and now than he is in a
distant holy place. To support this notion reference
is made to John 4:21-24, "Woman, believe me, the
hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain,
nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship
ye know not what: we know what we worship: for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth." According to John
4:23, Jesus spoke these words to a Samaritan
woman who asked whether men should worship God on Mount
Gerizim, the Samaritan place of worship, or at
the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Many Protestants
read Jesus' response as dismissing the importance of
such divisions. They interpret this passage to mean
that true worship is a matter of the spirit, the
mind and the heart — in other words, it is highly
abstract. Sacred places, shrines, and ritual tools
and forms are, at the very least, not of the essence
of worship.
Many Protestants hold that veneration and worship
are for all practical purposes identical.
Protestants who hold this position also believe that
sacrificial
worship (which Catholics and the Orthodox call latria)
no longer holds a place in Christian worship.
Christ's sacrifice on the Cross is unique,
unrepeatable, and complete for all time, so that no
human act can add or subtract from its power, or lay
claim to its saving efficacy. On the other hand,
Catholics and Orthodox hold to the above statement
also, and believe Protestants unwittingly make false
dichotomies.
Most typically, modern Protestants are no longer
offended by religious art, or pictorial
representations of Jesus, as was certainly the case
in the 16th century. However, some consider it
necessary to avoid religious use of these objects,
especially as the focus of communal worship. In
order to avoid praying before them, lighting candles
to them, and other acts that make it appear as if
the image itself is holy or an object of devotion,
many Protestants avoid locating any representational
art in front of the congregation, although
exceptions may be made for the Christian
cross and, sometimes, an image of the Face of
Christ or the Good Shepherd. In most cases, it is
the devotional use, especially, that is avoided.
