Is it possible to be religious and not worship idols?

Question

Hi I'm not attacking idolitry, thats fine with me, just the lying to yourselves about idolitry being a sin and then doing it.

If you have a cross or an image of jesus then it is an idol. Don't pretend that it isn't. Even the bible is an idol...if not then go and burn one.

Idolatry is a major sin in the Abrahamic religions regarding image. It is usually defined as worship of an image, idea or object, as opposed to the worship of a God.
This is how the dictionary defines it;
Idol:
An image used as an object of worship.

Worship:
The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.

And don't say it's just the idea of christ that you are worshipping, because if it's a statue in a sacred building or round your neck or in your house of a sacred person or symbol, then it's an idol.

I think buddhists have lots of idols....no offense

Answer 1

Buddhism worships no idol...convert my friend, join in the spreading of peace to our neighbors and children

Answer 2

As a Christian I do not believe in worshiping idols. These are the devotional characteristic of heathens. Worshiping the creation rather than the creator. I place no reverence of worship in a cross, the bible as an object, person, place or thing.

Americans are classic examples of idol worshipers. They bow to celebrities (money) cars, beauty, and anything other superficial thing. They love them to the extent of doing anything for them. This is worship only belonging to God. It's part of the reason we have so many problems. This is all idolatry. Church members have even caught on to the frenzy.

But if you really want to know the difference between idolatry and art you should read the Ten Commandments. It states that we are to not bow down to any of these things. God commanded the Ark of The Covenant's construction. Just because it had angelic images didn't make it an idol. The Jewish Temple was revered. But it was not idolatry. Jesus went to the Temple. So one must make a clear distinction between imagery and worship. And not take scripture out of context to suit there own means.

God bless

Answer 3

Good point. Christians think that idols are only something pagans worship. They believe that the pagan believes that the idol is the divine and not a representation of the divine. Pagans believe that the divine is in everything and everywhere. So do Christians. In that sense yes, the divine is within the idol, but the divine is not destroys when the idol is. Christians and pagans honor and respect those things that represent the divine to them. Christians just deny that they are idols.
When they bow down before a cross and pray it doesn’t matter if they are praying to Jesus and not the cross it still an idol.
Leviticus 26: 1 'You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God’

Answer 4

You have an image of what God is in your head. It does not matter that other people draw pictures of it. that image is in your head and that is as much an idol as the cross.
The face of God the image of God in your mind is also an idol. SO who can look at there brother and point a finger? No one is perfect. It seem your in a Glass house throwing rocks. Your heart and your mind are the obsticles in your path to God. Even the Word GOD is an Idol it is a three letter symbol. that invokes in your mind a picture and an idea of what you think God is. YOUR probably wrong and so is everyone else.

Answer 5

Agreed with some things U said, some I didn't. Sure. Worship Yahweh, who is the Triune God. The Bible is not an "idol", but His revelation to man preserved throughout the ages. And that same revelation teaches not to make images of any kind, that much is quite true.

Answer 6

No it isnt... when u worship jesus christ u can hang a cross on your neck and that is about it, if u have anything else except rosaries or whatever u are worshiping idol. but a cross around the neck means u belong to christ and u are worshiping him . if u worship anyone or thing else then u are idolizing someone and u should be idolizing jesus in his or her own religion..

Answer 7

"The three-in-one/one-in-three mystery of Father, Son and Holy Ghost made tritheism official. The subsequent almost-deification of the Virgin Mary made it quatrotheism . . . Finally, cart-loads of saints raised to quarter-deification turned Christianity into plain old-fashioned polytheism. By the time of the Crusades, it was the most polytheistic religion to ever have existed, with the possible exception of Hinduism.

This untenable contradiction between the assertion of monotheism and the reality of polytheism was dealt with by accusing other religions of the Christian fault.

The Church - Catholic and later Protestant - turned aggressively on the two most clearly monotheistic religions in view - Judaism and Islam - and persecuted them as heathen or pagan.

The external history of Christianity consists largely of accusations that other religions rely on the worship of more than one god and therefore not the true God.

These “pagans” (Islam and Judaism) must therefore be converted, conquered and/or killed for their own good in order that they benefit from the singularity of the Holy Trinity, plus appendages." -- The Doubter's Companion (John Ralston Saul)



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Answer 8

If you only worship God then you aren't an idolator. The Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son aren't idols. You don't necessarily worship something just because you respect it enough not to burn it (i.e. the Bible, your girlfriend, etc.) Idolatry is assigning something other than God the reverence due only to him. I agree that using icons is idolatrous.

Answer 9

The worshiping of anything else except God as the deity that He is - is a sin. That is correct.

The first commandment of the 10 commandments says:

"You shall have no other gods before me"

If other things (another idol or object) are worshiped like God is, it would be like putting other "gods," above God in worship.

Answer 10

Not only is it possible, it's what God commands. Most Christians don't worship pictures, statues, or anything that represents Jesus, the cross, or God. I'm not Catholic, so I can't comment on how/what they worship.

Answer 11

If you believe that an image, cross, Bible, statue might become an actual center of divine power, then it is idolatry.

I don't use my Bible as an object of worship.

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