I wish to question the belief that we are too sophisticated to be taken in by material idols these days. So, I need to explore what we mean by non-material idols. We might say we idolise money. But we would never bow down and worship coins and banknotes. Obviously most of us do not bow down and worship anything and so we need to understand not only what constitutes our idols but also the ways in which we worship them.
Let's go back to the graven image, as described in Psalm 115 . Given its characteristics, there is no way this image has any part in its own worship. The worshiper believes in the idol, the idol is incapable of reciprocating. We can see clearly idolatry is entirely dependent upon the worshiper.
Of course, the worshiper does not directly ascribe volition to an idol; the focus is upon the god the idol represents. When worshipers make offerings or ask for favours, they are addressed to both the idol and the god beyond, because the idol represents the god. If these favours seem to be granted, the idol is ascribed more power. If they are not, then the worshiper seeks reasons why their offerings have been unsuccessful. This is likely to lead to an entirely distorted understanding of the universe.
Increasingly, the believer has to believe in the teeth of all the evidence. Both the idol and the god it represents are false. Some people might decide they're worshiping the wrong god but for many the response is to try harder. After much investment of time and effort the worshiper will need to defend their faith. Indeed a trial of strength is a time honoured way of proving the power of one god over another.
The insistence that God should not be represented by images seeks to mitigate this error. The believer is invited to focus directly upon God, rather than upon representations of God.
So, it is not that there are material and non-material idols. There are always material and non-material aspects to things worshiped. The next 3 posts will describe 3 examples of modern idolatry. They will show each example has a material and non-material aspect. I'd be grateful for examples of idols that don't appear to have a material aspect, I can't think of any. The examples I have chosen are celebrity, dictatorship and consumerism.
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