Marbaniang, Domenic

Idolatry is a visible religious phenomena in India, despite the fact that some religious reformers like Nanak, Dayananda Saraswati, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy opposed it. One of the most sympathetic apologetics that anyone ever presented was Swami Vivekananda. The story goes that once when he visited a king, the king who disbelieved in idolatry questioned Vivekananda's support of idol worship. The king argued that an idol is just an image and was nothing but clay, stone, and metal. Swami Vivekananda was not disturbed by this. He looked at a painting of the king hanging on the wall and asked an official there to take it down and spit on it. The official refused saying that it was a dishonor to the king. Then, the Swami rhetorically objected: "If a piece of paper with a painting of the king was to be so respected, then why shouldn't we understand the idol to also bear the same amount of value for the worshipper? The idol is not god; it is clay or stone or whatever, but the worsh...

.. if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you. (Exo 23:33  NKJ ) 1. Gods of IMAGINATION - The Gods of Craving (Deut 4:28; Jer 1:16) They are unreal and based on human imagination and wishful desire. Examples: Barbie doll, Heman, James Bond, Playboy, False ideals, etc. 2. Gods of INSPIRATION - The Gods of Charisma (Ex.32:1) They are figures that inspire at the cost of the gifts that God has given to us. The Israelites got the jewelry as God's gift from the Egyptians; but, now the devil is taking all of that so that they can have dead gods (powerless in themselves) to lead by false inspiration. Examples: Career icons, Movie stars (the Hero-worship, Fan culture), Charismatic personalities (empty within themselves), Musicians, Artists, Skeptics, Ungodly peers & friends, etc 3. Gods of INFIDELITY - The Gods of Compromise (EX. 34:15,16) These are gods that promote infidelity and immorality and compel you to cheat on God and sell children to harlotry with the d...

IDOLATRY © Domenic Marbaniang, May 2007 Published in the Light of Life Magazine, Mumbai, 2007 INTRODUCTION ‘ Idolatry’ may be defined as the practice of worshipping and serving images (pictures, sculpts, etc) as identical with, as representative of, or as deity. In almost every major religion, idolatrous misrepresentation of God has been denounced at some point or the other by religious reformers. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are blatantly against idolatry. Though Roman Catholicism practices reverence to icons, such practice is nowhere endorsed in the Bible, even in a limited form. Sikhism also believes that God is formless and rejects idol worship. Hindu reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Swami Dayananda Saraswati spoke against idolatry. From the Biblical point of view, idolatry is symbolical of rebellion against God and indulgence in the world of passions (Rom. 1: 18-25). I. SINFULNESS OF IDOLATRY A. The Commandment The second commandment of the Decalogue demands: ‘Thou sha...