Topical Bible: Idolatry: Objects of Earthly Creatures

◄ Idolatry: Objects of Earthly Creatures ►

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Idolatry, in the biblical context, refers to the worship or veneration of created things rather than the Creator Himself. This practice is explicitly condemned throughout Scripture as it diverts honor and devotion away from God. One particular form of idolatry involves the worship of earthly creatures, which includes animals, humans, and other elements of the natural world.

The Bible provides numerous examples and warnings against the worship of earthly creatures. In Romans 1:22-23 , the Apostle Paul describes the folly of idolatry: "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." This passage highlights the degradation of worship when directed towards created beings rather than the Creator.

The Old Testament also addresses this form of idolatry. In the book of Exodus, the Israelites, while waiting for Moses to return from Mount Sinai, fashioned a golden calf and worshiped it, as recorded in Exodus 32:4 : "He took what they handed him and fashioned it with an engraving tool and made it into a molten calf. And they said, 'These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" This incident demonstrates the tendency of humans to create tangible representations of divine power, often in the form of animals, which leads to idolatrous practices.

The prophet Isaiah also speaks against the worship of earthly creatures, emphasizing the absurdity of idol-making. In Isaiah 44:13-17 , the prophet describes how a craftsman uses part of a tree to warm himself and cook his food, and from the same material, he carves an idol to worship. This passage underscores the futility and irrationality of worshiping objects made from earthly materials.

In the New Testament, the early church faced challenges with idolatry, particularly in regions influenced by Greco-Roman culture, where the worship of gods in human and animal forms was prevalent. The Apostle Paul, in Acts 17:29 , addresses the Athenians, stating, "Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man's skill and imagination." Here, Paul calls for a recognition of God's transcendence above all earthly representations.

The worship of earthly creatures is a distortion of the intended relationship between humanity and creation. Genesis 1:26 states, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.'" This verse establishes humanity's dominion over creation, not as objects of worship, but as stewards under God's authority.

Throughout Scripture, the consistent message is clear: worship is due to God alone. The first commandment, as given in Exodus 20:3-4 , declares, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath." This commandment underscores the exclusivity of worship that belongs to God, rejecting any form of idolatry, including the veneration of earthly creatures.

In summary, the Bible unequivocally condemns the worship of earthly creatures as idolatry. This practice not only misplaces the reverence due to God but also distorts the intended order of creation. Believers are called to worship the Creator, who is above all things, and to reject any form of idolatry that elevates the created above the Creator.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Romans 1:23
And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

The Axe at the Root --A Testimony against Puseyite Idolatry
... when at last the spirit leaves its earthly tenement, and ... rotten rags, called relics,
are the objects of adoration ... they had so far gone into idolatry that they ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 12 1866/the axe at the roota.htm

The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution in the Incarnation ...
... patient and painstaking with His creatures, that they ... When the madness of idolatry
and irreligion filled ... contact of its rays with earthly objects, but rather ...
/.../athanasius/on the incarnation of the word/chapter 3 the divine dilemma.htm

Anxious Care
... not, in the very root of it, idolatry"worldly-mindedness ... of that heathen over-regard
for earthly things ... greater having entered in, all lesser objects will rank ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/anxious care.htm

He Then Wonderfully Displays the Eternal Life, which is Christ, to ...
... the Only-begotten in so grovelling and earthly a fashion ... he deceives to this new
kind of idolatry, banishing them ... whereon those who hope are the objects of the ...
/.../gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/section 2 he then wonderfully.htm

Colossians iii. 3
... and affection find continually their objects in this ... concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry." "Mortify," I ... earth, and all things earthly, evil or ...
/.../arnold/the christian life/lecture vi colossians iii 3.htm

Hopkinsians.
... the source of all the open idolatry in the ... them down, so that they look upon earthly
enjoyments as ... As repentance and faith respect different objects, so they ...
//christianbookshelf.org/hayward/the book of religions/hopkinsians.htm

The Danger of Deviating from Divine Institutions.
... the most successful attacks on God's earthly kingdom have ... Adoration offered to other
than God, is idolatry. ... to impress a reverence for the objects of worship ...
/.../lee/sermons on various important subjects/sermon xxviii the danger of.htm

Homilies on Galatians and Ephesians.
... Law, [222]15; to be beneficial to the objects of it ... Idolatry of Christians is
covetousness, [339]134; its origin, [340 ... Jerusalem, earthly and heavenly, [351]166. ...
/.../homilies on galatians and ephesians.htm

Select Works and Letters or Athanasius
... God, and engrossed in earthly things, makes them ... 9. The various developments of idolatry:
worship of ... bodies, the elements, natural objects, fabulous creatures ...
//christianbookshelf.org/athanasius/select works and letters or athanasius/

The So-Called Letter to Diognetus
... The Stupidity of Idolatry. ... latter think that they are offering something to objects
which in ... or principality, or one of those who administer earthly affairs, or ...
/.../richardson/early christian fathers/the so-called letter to diognetus.htm