Of course religious Jews and Christians see idolatry as violating the rules of their religions.
I have also heard arguments that it’s a form of idolatry if you go overboard obsessing over stuff like making money to the extent that it can undermine your devotion to your religion.
Of course it’s probably a bad idea to go overboard trying to make money; or to achieve fame; or whatever. But my question is this: Would it necessarily be a violation of the Ten Commandments?
I believe there’s pretty wide agreement among Christians that references to idolatry in the Bible carry a double meaning. They were intended to reference literal worship of statues at the time, but they were also intended to be interpreted in later times as referring to any excessive or hysterical devotion to any thing, movement, or ideology that seeks to replace one’s relationship with God. Here’s a brief discussion of it in the second context.
Both Jews and Christians note the “seven deadly sins” which pretty much cover all our obsessions.
They are lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.
Please forgive the hijack – I’ve never heard this before. The Bible is a living document, meant to be interpreted by each generation? Is this a widely held view? Or am I overparsing/misinterpreting what you meant?
I think what ITRC probably meant was that the bible tended to be interpreted to cover the possibility of the idolatry of abstract concepts as well as material objects.
But the idea that the bible is a living document, calling for constant reflection and interpretation? Yes, I’d say that’s pretty mainstream.
You’ve just stumbled into one of the arguments surrounding Biblical literalism. If the Bible doesn’t specifically mention X, does that mean that X is permitted, forbidden, or covered under what the Bible says about Y.
I’d suggest you back away slowly, and don’t make eye contact.
Idolatry is the worship of physical objects, putting your trust in them instead of the Lord. As such it violated the first commandment.
Christians would also heed the words of Christ regarding putting worldly things ahead of God.
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?..…Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matt 6:24-25,31-33)
brazil84:
In Jewish law, it would not be a violation in the sense that a violator could be tried and sentenced to punishment by courts of law. Only genuine idolatry (bowing, sacrificing, etc - there’s a very specific list - to an entity other than G-d) is a violation in that sense.
However, these laws, if we examine the essence and meanings behind them, provide us with lessons that can be applied to day-to-day behavior beyond the exact law. And as such, it can be said that one who is devoted to anything more than he or she is devoted to G-d is being idolatrous in spirit.
To my non-traditionally-religious mind, the concern over “idolatry” is the concern about mistaking the outward manifestation or symbol for the reality or substance - in the traditional religious context, bowing to an idol and mistaking the thing of wood or stone for god.
In a way, religious belief itself can be a form of “idolatry” - where, for example, one mistakes a love of one’s sect or identity with a love of god, and worships the label of being a Christian, Jew or whatever for a true appreciation of what these various religious traditions are attempting, however imperfectly, to impart.
For religious and non-religious alike, idolatry may be the pursuit of the outward forms of success and contentment while ignoring the virtues, leading to a life that is ultimately unsatisfying and hollow.
Few people these days literally believe that idols are god; many commit idolatry in the extended senses suggested above …
For once, we agree, so when I pray before the Cross, not by any means believing it is the TRUE Cross, but is only a representation to help me to focus my prayer, I am not idolizing the representation of the Cross. And if I pray before a statue of Mary, not by any means believing the statue IS Mary, but is only a representation to help me to focus my prayer, I am not idolizing the statue of Mary.
Thanks! So many non-Catholics get that one wrong.
That’s what I believe. There are probably other religious people who also believe that.
It is OK to use objects, even God used objects, such as water, dirt, and a handkerchief come to mind. There is nothing wrong with using such things as long as you keep your focus on God. Worship the creator, not the creation, it is not the object that heals/hears, but it is God who gave you / lead you to that object.
God can lead someone to a statue of Mary, that is fine it itself, but ti is because God chose to manifest His power there for you, not that the statue is anything. As such crosses and the like are objects of God’s love, like a loving gift of a father to his child. The love of the Father does come through such objects.