So What?

Idolatry 4: The Classic Idol

Next I turn to one of several Old Testament descriptions of idols.  At the time it might have seemed legitimate to mock those who worship idols.  But how much was down to rivalries between Israel and other nations, rather than a concern for a right relationship with God.  Remember the concern was always for the nation rather than individuals.  Did marking nations as idolatrous justify war with them?  Or did it explain why they invaded Israel?

Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. 

Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats.

Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.  (Psalm 115:3-8; NRSV)

This is about physical idols; idols you can see and touch.  It is customary these days to say all manner of abstract things can be idols, such as money or celebrity.  I will explore this view later. 

The mockery is based on the question, why worship something that is not alive?  It exists alright but it is dead matter.  It has no capabilities whatsoever (unlike the God of Israel).  We need to pay attention to this because we need to be careful we don't project our own fears onto the writers and first readers of these texts.  This passage shows they are capable of distinguishing between what is real and what is not.  They make a real distinction between what is capable of many things and what is capable of nothing.

Atheists might wish to argue that the God is verse 3 is also an idol, a figment of the imagination.  They might be right and I will explore this view in a later post.  But the point is this passage does not allow such a simplistic dismissal of their ability to discern between what is real and what is not real. 

If they are able to see that material idols are not real, why assume they cannot discern that their God although not material might also not be real?  Why should they believe that material idols are false but that an imaginary God (as some atheists would have it) is true?  Why couldn't they see they are both idols? 

There are only two possible explanations.  Either this is an attack on people of other faiths, rubbishing their gods, or they had genuinely perceived something about the nature of reality.

Perhaps the last verse is a clue to what they perceived.  They make a distinction between those who worship idols and so are like them, unable to do anything of their own volition, and those who worship God and so somehow share in God's freedom.  (Compare the last verse with the first.)

At this stage, I will not take this any further except to note that before we jump to conclusions we should heed their warning about what happens to those who worship false gods.  As a further warning, this video shows what happens when you mess with idols.

 

Idolatry 3: The Second Commandment

The ten commandments might be the obvious place to start.  As the Shema  is similar to the first commandment, this time we will look at the second. 

In my post what sin is not I make the point these commandments are not laws to be obeyed but a sign of friendship between humanity and God.  (I believe this point was made by the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, although I do not have a reference.)  It is not unreasonable, where friendship is involved, to expect the friends to know each other.  The point of the second commandment is to resist the temptation to muddy the water by creating images of God, which are not in fact God.  We're not talking about other gods here (they're dealt with under the first commandment 'you shall have no other gods before me').  Here we are talking of images of God, not miscellaneous gods.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.  (NRSV Exodus 20:4-6)

What I see here is a warning to Israel about the risks attendant upon making an image of God.  The point is this image is not God.  To worship it in the mistaken belief that it is God will lead to error.  Images of God are effectively other gods.  The problem is we will add to any image our own prejudices, hunger for security, projected fantasies.  We might as well hang up a mirror and worship the reflection.

The second part might not seem particularly friendly but take a close look.  Iniquity is punished only for a few generations but love is rewarded effectively forever.  We have to remember these texts were written not by individualists (as most of us are today) but by a people.  They are reminded that if a few go wrong, all will suffer the consequences.  We see this later in the Old Testament stories of the exile, for example.

Some Christian traditions leave it here.  They do not accept any image of God in their place of worship, or perhaps only the plain empty cross.

Other traditions use images in three dimensions, notably but not only Catholicism, and two dimensional icons, mainly in Orthodox churches (or stained glass windows).  The argument goes that this is permissable because of the doctrine of the incarnation.  God who cannot be depicted in an image became human and so we now have an image.  Furthermore, I would add that if anyone can find something in the image of the crucified Christ that encourages them to further acts of egotism, they must be leading strangely confused lives.  Through that image we are reminded of exactly who we are.

Idolatry 2: The Shema

The opening verses of Deuteronomy 6 state the basic principle underlying Israel's law.  A principle of friendship; the commandments were and are seen as a gift from God.  To follow them means the people will not make the mistakes so often made by nations.  The Old Testament is mostly about the consequences of breaking, ignoring or forgetting these commandments.

The main commandment is known as the Shema (Hebrew for 'to hear', from its first word) and is found in verses 4-6:

Hear,O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  (NRSV)

In the following verses, the importance of remembering this commandment and passing it on to future generations is stressed.  This parallels the first of the ten commandments, in its emphasis on the one God.  Most people agree it is best to devote your life to what is right.  The problem is how to identify what is right. 

The closer we are to worshiping God, the more likely we are to deceive ourselves into believing our god is the God.  It is this the Shema warns us against; the belief that we have understood God and so are absolutely correct.  It is hard to know God, consequently the need for use of all our heart, soul and strength.  We need to heed this warning when we choose to enforce our beliefs over the beliefs of others.  No-one according to the Shema can be right; if you think you are right, you need to try harder.  Hence the details in later verses of the need for constant reminders that all are prone to forget who God is.

The Shema appears again in Mark 12:28-34, where Jesus is asked by a scribe, which commandment is the greatest.  Jesus quotes the Shema, subtly modified, and the scribe agrees with him.  Jesus responds by telling him 'You are not far from the Kingdom of God'. 

Why is the scribe 'not far' rather than 'there'?  After a lifetime of study, the man is not far.  Will he ever arrive?  He must try harder!  However small the distance he must travel, it is still significant as we shall see later.

Idolatry 1: Atheism or Idolatry?

This is the first of 24 posts for the season of advent, on the theme of idolatry .  Over the last year, I have heard and read several people commenting, the debate is not so much about atheism as about idolatry.  I haven't seen any sustained argument to this effect and so my aim is to explore it in some depth over the advent season.  I do not mean atheism and idolatry are alternatives.  What I am getting at is the debate about faith has been set by atheists: on their terms it is about the existence of God.   

Does the title imply I think atheism is idolatrous?  Only insofar as everyone is prone to idolatry.  My point is that idolatry is as much a problem for atheists as it is for everyone (including Christians - oh yes) and they need to be able to show how they will dispense with their idols in much the same way as they expect Christians to dispense with theirs. 

If they can show they have the resources to do this as atheists, they will deserve to be taken much more seriously by Christians than they are.  Like many Christians I do not believe in the things atheists claim I believe in and that is why I find it hard to take atheism seriously.  An atheism that takes idolatry seriously would be a much more serious sparring partner.

Why do this in advent?  I want to take this issue slowly, reflectively, step by step.  Advent is traditionally a season of fasting and contemplation.  These posts will be my attempt at the latter.  In addition we will find as we get into the topic plenty of seasonal relevance.