Image-worship
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Image-worship, often referred to as idolatry, is the practice of revering or worshiping images, statues, or representations as deities or as embodiments of divine power. This practice is explicitly condemned throughout the Bible, as it is seen as a violation of the exclusive worship due to the one true God.

Old Testament Context

The prohibition against image-worship is firmly established in the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20:4-5 , God commands, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..." This command underscores the importance of worshiping God alone, without the mediation of physical representations.

The Israelites frequently struggled with idolatry, as seen in the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32). Despite witnessing God's mighty acts, the people crafted a calf from gold and declared, "These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" (Exodus 32:4). This act of image-worship provoked God's anger and led to severe consequences.

The prophets consistently spoke against idolatry, warning of its futility and the judgment it brings. Isaiah 44:9-20 ridicules the absurdity of idol-making, emphasizing that those who fashion idols are "nothing" and their "precious things shall not profit." The prophet highlights the irony of using part of a tree for fuel and the rest to carve a god, illustrating the senselessness of worshiping created things.

New Testament Context

In the New Testament, the rejection of image-worship continues. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, describes the descent into idolatry as a result of humanity's rejection of God's truth. Romans 1:22-23 states, "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 exchange is portrayed as a fundamental error leading to moral and spiritual decay.

Paul's ministry often confronted idolatry directly. In Acts 17:16-34, while in Athens, Paul observed a city full of idols and addressed the Areopagus, proclaiming the "unknown god" they worshiped in ignorance as the one true God who "does not live in temples made by human hands" (Acts 17:24).

Theological Implications

Image-worship is fundamentally opposed to the biblical understanding of God as spirit (John 4:24) and the sole object of worship. The Bible teaches that God is transcendent and cannot be contained or represented by physical forms. The worship of images detracts from the glory and majesty of God, leading individuals away from true worship.

The practice of image-worship is also seen as a form of spiritual adultery, as it involves giving the devotion and reverence due to God alone to something else. This is why idolatry is often equated with unfaithfulness in the prophetic literature, as seen in Hosea and Jeremiah.

Practical Considerations

For believers, the call to avoid image-worship extends beyond the literal worship of statues or icons. It includes any form of idolatry where something other than God takes the central place in one's life. Colossians 3:5 exhorts Christians to "put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry."

In summary, image-worship is consistently condemned in Scripture as a violation of the first and greatest commandment to love and worship God alone. It is a practice that leads individuals away from the truth and into spiritual bondage, and it is a recurring theme of warning and admonition throughout the biblical narrative.
Greek
1495. eidololatria -- image worship
... image worship. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: eidololatria Phonetic
Spelling: (i-do-lol-at-ri'-ah) Short Definition: worship or service of an ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1495.htm - 6k
Library

The Folly of Image Worship and Its Dishonour to Art.
... Against the Heathen. Section 13. The folly of image worship and its dishonour
to art. Again, in worshipping things of wood and stone ...
/.../athanasius/select works and letters or athanasius/section 13 the folly of.htm

Mahometanism; Image-Worship (Ad 612-794)
... PART II CHAPTER I: MAHOMETANISM; IMAGE-WORSHIP (AD 612-794). Within a few
years after the death of Gregory the Great, a new religion ...
/.../chapter i mahometanism image-worship ad.htm

The Inconsistency of Image Worship. Arguments in Palliation. -1 ...
... Against the Heathen. Section 19. The inconsistency of image worship. Arguments in
palliation. (1) The divine nature must be expressed in a visible sign. ...
/.../select works and letters or athanasius/section 19 the inconsistency of.htm

Image Worship Condemned by Scripture.
... Against the Heathen. Section 14. Image worship condemned by Scripture.
But better testimony about all this is furnished by Holy ...
/.../select works and letters or athanasius/section 14 image worship condemned.htm

After the Scripture.
... And thus image-worship originated. Image-worship means that man says: "I will undertake
to make an image of God." And this diametrically opposes God's work. ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/viii after the scripture.htm

Byzantine Empresses Theodora ii. , Theophano, Zoe, Theodora iii.
... and as her successors continued her policy, the regency of Theodora marks the end
of iconoclasm and the permanent establishment of image worship in the ...
/.../brittain/women of early christianity/xiii byzantine empresses theodora ii.htm

The Second Commandment
... idol. The thing prohibited in this commandment is image-worship. ... England.
Image-worship is expressly against the letter of Scripture. ...
/.../watson/the ten commandments/2 2 the second commandment.htm

The Division Between East and West
... the decision of the Council, and held provincial synods (especially one at Frankfort,
AD794) {97} to condemn what was, at any rate, very like image-worship. ...
/.../a key to the knowledge of church history/chapter ix the division between.htm

Second Commandment
... The tendency of the human heart to represent God by something that appeals to the
senses is the origin of all idolatry. It leads directly to image-worship. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/moody/weighed and wanting/second commandment.htm

False Brethren and False Principles in the Church: Spirit and ...
... So anxious were they to avoid even the appearance of anything like image-worship,
that when they wished to mark articles of dress or furniture with an index of ...
/.../killen/the ancient church/chapter iii false brethren and.htm

Thesaurus
Image-worship (1 Occurrence)
Image-worship. Image's, Image-worship. Imagination . Multi-Version
Concordance Image-worship (1 Occurrence). 1 Peter ...
/i/image-worship.htm - 6k

Images (158 Occurrences)
... 2. Origin: The learned author of the article on "ImageWorship" in the Encyclopedia
Biblica (11th edition) disposes too easily of this question when he ...
/i/images.htm - 70k

Jeroboam (96 Occurrences)
... existed. It appears that many of the priests still in the land were opposed
to his image-worship (2 Chronicles 11:13). Accordingly ...
/j/jeroboam.htm - 62k

Imagination (20 Occurrences)

/i/imagination.htm - 16k

Noisy (14 Occurrences)
... the Gentiles delight in-- pursuing, as you did, a course of habitual licence,
debauchery, hard drinking, noisy revelry, drunkenness and unholy image-worship. ...
/n/noisy.htm - 10k

Unholy (23 Occurrences)
... the Gentiles delight in-- pursuing, as you did, a course of habitual licence,
debauchery, hard drinking, noisy revelry, drunkenness and unholy image-worship. ...
/u/unholy.htm - 13k

Licentiousness (10 Occurrences)
... the Gentiles delight in-- pursuing, as you did, a course of habitual licence,
debauchery, hard drinking, noisy revelry, drunkenness and unholy image-worship. ...
/l/licentiousness.htm - 9k

Licence (3 Occurrences)
... the Gentiles delight in-- pursuing, as you did, a course of habitual licence,
debauchery, hard drinking, noisy revelry, drunkenness and unholy image-worship. ...
/l/licence.htm - 8k

Image's (1 Occurrence)

/i/image's.htm - 6k

Idolatry (14 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created
object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Romans ...
/i/idolatry.htm - 21k

Resources
What is the image of the beast? | GotQuestions.org

Why should we worship God? | GotQuestions.org

Why does God demand, seek, or request that we worship Him? | GotQuestions.org

Bible ConcordanceBible DictionaryBible EncyclopediaTopical BibleBible Thesuarus
Concordance
Image-worship (1 Occurrence)

1 Peter 4:3
For you have given time enough in the past to the doing of the things which the Gentiles delight in-- pursuing, as you did, a course of habitual licence, debauchery, hard drinking, noisy revelry, drunkenness and unholy image-worship.
(WEY)

Subtopics

Image-worship

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