Idolatory

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What does the Bible say about idols and worshiping idols?Is it ok to worship image or statues of Jesus?

Is it ok to have idols or pictures etc in churches andtemples?What about relics ? Is it ok to worship it?What is worship?Whether we can bow down of fell down anybodys knees and

get blessings? Is it worshiping or idolatry?

Questions?????

Questions / Doubts

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Meaning

The word idolatry comes from the Greek wordeidololatria parasynthetically from eidolon, "image" or"figure", and latris, "worshipper or latreuein, "toworship" from latron "payment"

Hebrew terms for idolatry include avodah zarah

(foreign worship) (in New testament usage)

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Christian views of idolatry

"Idolatry" was prohibited by the Apostolic Decree.

The Christian view of idolatry may generally bedivided into two general categories. The

Catholic/Orthodox view and the Fundamentalistview. The Puritan Protestant groups adopted asimilar view to Judaism, denouncing all forms ofreligious objects whether in three dimensional or twodimensional form. The problem springs from

differences in interpretation of the Decaloguecommonly known as the Ten Commandments.

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"You shall have no other gods before me. You shallnot make for yourself a graven image, or any likenessof anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the

earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for Ithe Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting theiniquity of the fathers upon the children to the thirdand the fourth generation of those who hate me, but

showing steadfast love to thousands of those wholove me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:3-6).

Commandment of God

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It would appear that both Orthodox and Protestant views of idolatrycondemn idolatry as it is practiced in non-Christian religions asworship directed to spirits other than the Creator. The Catholicmissionary Saint Francis Xavier referred to Hinduism as idolatry,and Protestant Christian apologetics make similar claims aboutvarious non-Christian religions.


The Roman Catholic and particularly the Orthodox Churches cite St.John ofDamascus work "On the Divine Image" to defend the use oficons. He wrote in direct response to the iconoclastic controversythat began in the eighth century by the Byzantine emperor Leo IIIand continued by his successor Constantine V. St. John maintainsthat depicting the invisible God is indeed wrong, but he argues that

the incarnation, where "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14),indicates that the invisible God became visible, and as a result it ispermissible to depict Jesus Christ. He argues: "When He who isbodiless and without form... existing in the form of God, emptiesHimself and takes the form of a servant in substance and in statureand is found in a body of flesh, then you draw His image..."

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St. John of Damascus also observes that in the OldTestament, images and statues were not absolutelycondemned in themselves: examples include the gravenimages of cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus

25:18-22) which God instructed Moses to make, theembroidered figures of cherubim angels which God told Mosesto make on the curtain which separated the Holy of Holies inthe Tabernacle tent (Exodus 26:31 ), or the bronze serpentmentioned in the book of Numbers. He also defends external

acts of honour towards icons, arguing that there are"different kinds of worship" and that the honour shown toicons differs entirely from the adoration of God.

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He continues by citing Old Testament examples of forms of "honour":"Jacob bowed to the ground before Esau, his brother, and also beforethe tip of his son Joseph's staff (Genesis 33:3). He bowed down, butdid not adore. Joshua, the Son of Nun, and Daniel bowed in veneration

before an angel of God (Joshua 5:14) but they did not adore him. Foradoration is one thing, and that which is offered in order to honoursomething of great excellence is another". He cites St. Basil whoasserts, "the honour given to the image is transferred to itsprototype".

St. John argues therefore that venerating an image of Christ does not

terminate at the image itself - the material of the image is not theobject of worship - rather it goes beyond the image, to the prototype.


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Christian theology, following the Great Commission, requiresevangelism (promotion of the faith through conversion), and theprohibition of idolatry sometimes caused hostile relationships withpagan religions and other Christian groups who used images as partof their religious practice.

Fundamentalist Protestants often accuse Catholic and OrthodoxChristians of idolatry, iconolatry, and even paganism for failingto "cleanse their faith" of the use of images.

Catholic and Orthodox Christians use religious objects such asCrosses, Icons, incense, the Gospel, Bible, candles and religious

vestments. Icons are mainly in two- but rarely in three-dimensionalform. These are in dogmatic theory venerated as objects filled withGod's grace and power -- (therefore Eastern Orthodoxy declares theyare not "hollow forms" or cult images). Evidence for the use of these,they claim, is found in the Old Testament and in Early Christianworship

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In Orthodox apologetics for icons, a similarity is asserted betweenicons and the manufacture by Moses (under Gods commandment) ofthe Bronze Snake, which was, Orthodoxy says, given the grace andpower 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 aserpent had bitten any person, when he beheld the serpent of brass,they lived"(Numbers 21:9). Another similarity is declared with theArk of the Covenant described as the ritual object above whichYahweh was present (Numbers 10:33-36); or the burning bushwhich, according to Exodus, allowed God to speak to Moses; or theTen Commandments which were the Word of God "Dabar Elohim in

tablet form. These inanimate objects became a medium by which Godworked to teach, speak to, encourage and heal the Hebrew faithful

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Veneration of icons through proskinesis was codified in the SeventhEcumenical Council during the Byzantine Iconoclast controversy, inwhich St. John of Damascus was pivotal. Icon veneration is alsopracticed in the Catholic Church, which accepts the declarations of theSeventh Ecumenical Council, but it is practiced to a lesser extent, since

Latin-rite Catholics today do not usually prostrate and kiss icons, andthe Second Vatican Council enjoined moderation in the use of images.Eastern-rite Catholics still use icons in their Divine Liturgy, however.


Most Protestant groups avoid the use of images in any contextsuggestive of veneration. Protestantism from its beginnings treated

images as objects of inspiration and education rather than ofveneration and worship. Occasionally icons may be seen within someHigh Church communities such as Anglicans, but they are not viewedor used in the same manner described in Orthodox doctrine, and theirpresence sometimes causes controversy.

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Very conservative Protestant groups avoid any use of religiousimages, even for inspiration or instruction, as incitement to whatthey view as idolatry.

In Colossians 3:5 it states Therefore consider the members of yourearthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evildesire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

In the King James version the words used are fornication,uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and

covetousness. This expands the scope of evil which is included inidolatry mentioned above.

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When Anything or Anybody Gets What God Alone Deserves

Ex 20:3-4 (NIV) "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall notmake for yourselfan idol in the form of anything in heaven above or onthe earth beneath or in the waters below.

God destroys idols; He is the great iconoclast. Even good things can

become idols, and while reveling and boasting seem good at the time, it isa grave disservice to idolize anything or anybody. The result is God'swrath, on you and the idol. God will not be eclipsed.

2 Ki 18:3-4 (Amp) Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord... He broke inpieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until then theIsraelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [abrazen

trifle].

James 4:5 (Jer) Surely you don't think the Scripture is wrong when itsays: the spirit which He sent to live in us wants us for himself alone?

When it becomes idolatry?

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The Lust For Idols--A Matter of The Heart

James 4:3-4 (Phi) You don't get what you want because you don't ask God for it. Andwhen you do ask he doesn't give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit--youonly want to satisfy your own desires. You are like unfaithful wives, never realizingthat to be the world's lover means becoming the enemy of God! Anyone who choosesto be the world's friend is thereby making himself God's enemy.

Col 3:5-6 (Jer) That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthlylife: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is thesame thing as worshipping a false god. All this sort of behavior makes God angry. (Eph5:5)

Eze 6:8-9 (NIV) "...How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have

turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They willloathe themselves for the evil theyhave done and for all their detestable practices.

Deut 29:18 (NIV) Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you todaywhose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of thosenations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. (Seealso through verse 29.)


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But Everyone Else Is Doing It...


2 Ki 17:15 (NIV) They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made withtheir fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthlessidols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations aroundthem although the Lord had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they

did the things the Lord had forbidden them to do.

2 Ki 17:40-41 (NIV) They would not listen, however, but persisted in theirformer practices. Even while these people were worshipping the Lord, theywere serving their idols. To this day their children andgrandchildren continueto do as their fathers did.

1 Cor 10:7 (NIV) Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written:"The people sat down to eatand drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry."

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Public Image--Making Idols Of Men


1 Sam 15:23 (NIV) For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like theevil of idolatry.

Acts 8:9 (NIV) Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in thecity and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someonegreat...

Eze 8:12 (NIV) He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of thehouse of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine ofhis own idol?

2 Pet 2:18 (NIV) For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to thelustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping

from those who live in error.1 Cor 12:1-2 (NIV) ...I do not wish you to be ignorant... somehow or other youwere influenced and led astray to dumb idols.

Isa 41:29 (NIV) "See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; theirimages are but wind andconfusion.

h i b id l

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Public Image--Making Idols Of Men


Jer 2:5 (NIV) This is what the Lord says: "What fault did your fathers find in me,that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and becameworthless themselves.

Ps 97:7 (NIV) All who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols...

1 Sam 12:21 (NIV) Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good,nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.

Isa 57:12-13 (NIV) "I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they willnot benefit you. When you cry out for help, let your collection [of idols] save you!The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man

who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.

Isa 42:8 (NIV) "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anotheror my praise to idols."

Wh i b id l ?

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Do We Take Idolatry As Seriously As God?


Eze 6:4-6 (NIV) "... I will slay your people in front of your idols. I will lay thedead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bonesaround your altars... your idols smashed and ruined,your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out."

1 Cor 6:9-10 (NIV) Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit thekingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolatersnor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexualoffenders nor thieves northe greedy... (Rom 1:23-25)

Eph 5:5 (NIV) For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy

person--such a man is an idolater--has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christand of God.

Wh t J h d t ld?

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Jesus receives worship

"Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worshipthe Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"

Matthew 4:10

NOTE: Not once did Jesus ever rebuke anyone for worshiping Him

John 10 Matthew 26Matthew 14:33"And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying,'You are certainly God's Son!'

John 9:38"And [the man born blind] said, 'Lord, I believe.' And heworshiped Him."

Matthew 28:9"And behold, Jesus met them and [greeted the women comingfrom His tomb]. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipedHim."

Matthew 28:17-18 (disciples) John 20:28-29(Thomas)

John 5:22-23 -Son should be worshipped

What Jesus had told?

Wh it b id l t ?

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Spiritual Adultery


Isa 57:5-8 (NIV) "You burn with lust among the oaks and under everyspreading tree... The idols... Are your portion; they, they are your lot... Youhave made your bed on a high and lofty hill... Behind your doors and yourdoorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncoveredyour bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide..."

Eze 23:7,29-30 (NIV) She gave herself as a prostitute... and defiled herselfwith all the idols of everyone she lusted after... They will deal with you inhatred and take away everything you have worked for. They will leave younaked and bare, and the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Yourlewdness and promiscuity have brought this upon you, because you lustedafter the nations and defiled yourself with their idols.

Isa 57:10-11 (NIV) "You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say,'It is hopeless.' You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, andhave neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it notbecause I have long been silent that you do not fear me?"

Wh it b id l t ?

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Repent Or Perish--A Greater Judgment Is Coming


Jonah 2:8 (NIV) "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that couldbe theirs.

Eze 14:3-6 (NIV) "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts andput wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at

all? Therefore speak to them and tell them,'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any Israelite sets up idols in hisheart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to aprophet, I the Lord will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. I willdo this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all desertedmefor their idols... Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestablepractices!'" (Joshua

24:14-27, Deut 30:11-19)

1 Pet 4:3 (NIV) For you have spent enough time in the past doing what paganschoose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing anddetestable idolatry.

Wh it b id l t ?

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Repent Or Perish--A Greater Judgment Is Coming


James 4:7-10 (Phi) Be humble then before God... You are sinners: get yourhands clean again. Your loyalty is divided: get your hearts made true oncemore. You should be deeply sorry, you should be grieved, you should even be intears. Your laughter will have to become mourning, your high spirits willhave tobecome dejection. You must humble yourself in the sight of the Lord before hewill lift you up.

Eze 36:25 (NIV) "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I willcleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols."Eze 37:23 (NIV) "They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vileimages or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinfulbacksliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be

my people, and I will be their God.

1 Jn 5:21 (NIV) Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

1 Cor 10:14 (NIV) Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

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What is worship of God?

Definition:

A response with words, actions or affection

to the revelation of God

His character or deeds

that attributes Him worth or glory

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Examples response with actions

God, I will go wherever you call

So they pulled their boats up on shore, lefteverything and followed him [Jesus]. Luke 5:11

God, I will trust even when I dont understand Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled

his donkey ... Genesis 22:3

God, I choose to honor you in my lifestyle

Daniel resolved not to defile himself Daniel 1:8

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Examples response with affection

God, words cant express my gratitude

a woman who had lived a sinful life stood

behind him [Jesus] at his feet weeping, shebegan to wet his feet with her tears. Thenshe wiped them with her hair, kissed themand poured perfume on them. Luke 7:37-

38 Psalms, praise songs

Corporate musical worship

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Is there a right way to worship?

The Lord looked with favor on Abel and

his offering, but on Cain and hisoffering he did not look with favor. Genesis 4:4b-5

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How should we worship?

God is spirit, and his worshipers mustworship in spiritand in truth.

John 4:24

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Growing in Worship

Know who youre worshipping

Ex 20:4 You shall not make for yourselfan idol

Jn 4:24 worship in Spirit and in Truth

Lesson: clarity

worship Him as He truly is, not as we

imagine or want Him to beHow you know God affects your worship

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What about relics ? Is it ok to worship it?

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Thank you

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Idolatory