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| The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Nicolas Poussin: |
Have you ever stopped and wondered what the true meaning of
idolatry was? Where it's origins came from or even why it is considered wrong to
many people? This article will touch on various answers to those questions.
Definition
The meaning of idolatry has become diluted and sometimes
lost in translation over the centuries. What once was considered idolatrous in
one religion’s eyes has now become something now naturally accepted as normal.
Many people say idolatry is an ancient practice and has no
relevance this day in age, or does it?
According to the American
Heritage Dictionary, idolatry is defined as “the worship of idols,” or
“blind or excessive devotion to something.” In fact, the Catechism of Catholic Church states: Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in the place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example Satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. "
Also another
publication states this, “An idol is an image, a representation of anything, or
a symbol that is an object of passionate devotion, whether material or
imagined.”-Insight on the Scriptures.
So
with that being said, it isn’t far fetched to say that the world we live today
is encompassed with idolatry all around them, and perhaps they don’t even know
it!
Idols of Today
Think about
it, besides religious idols, which I will mention, there are other forms of idols all around us. When
you turn on the television you are constantly bombarded with television shows
about who will be the next superstar that the masses will “idolize” over. What
about commercials telling you to be a certain way or to buy certain things in
order to be happy? Our thinking is in a
constant state of being molded to be selfish in every aspect of our lives. We strive
our entire lives searching for happiness in material things, thus we become the
victims of idolatry- we idolize material possessions.
Now some of
us may keep our eye simple, but what of those who may be overly interested with
a certain genre of books, music or movies to the point we form an unhealthy
obsession of it? It does happen, many times to younger ones such as young self
impressionable girls becoming obsessed with the latest pop sensation on the
airwaves or the hot guy in the latest blockbuster.
And what of the obsessed sports fan? Those who decorate their entire house in their favorite team, never miss a game and would get into a fist fight with anyone who makes fun of their team….yes, you guessed it, another form of idolatry.
And what of the obsessed sports fan? Those who decorate their entire house in their favorite team, never miss a game and would get into a fist fight with anyone who makes fun of their team….yes, you guessed it, another form of idolatry.
You could be
radically obsessed with politics or even just putting your career before your
family, by which you then become to worship what you do. I watched a woman on
t.v. who spoke of her daughter who won an Olympic Gold Medal in an interview
recently. She stated that her daughter’s event became her religion and that she
sent her away for months at a time to perfect her sport in order to win. What
did she win? She won a gold medal, the medal became the object of her worship.
You see, many
of us have to admit that we at one point or another have fell victim to this
enticing and yet very invisible vice, while we may not even realize it at the
time.
Religious Relics and Worshiping Aides
Most people
know the scripture within the Ten Commandments given to Moses in Exodus 20:4
which reads, “You must not make for
yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or
that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth.” Another scripture in the Bible adamantly states that "idolaters would not enter into God's kingdom."
So, if Israelites and early Christians
did not partake in idol worship or the aids of objects during worship, and the
Bible adamantly states not to worship carved images, why then would idols be
incorporated into everyday worship in mainstream religions such as Catholicism
and Christianity?
Roman Papacy of the Catholic Church,
wanting to convert pagans into their religion compromised the commandments
within the Holy Scriptures and allowed pagan influence to creep in.
The Cross
was among the first of pagan relics that was adopted into the Catholic Church.
“The same sign of the cross that Rome now
worships was used in the Babylonian Mysteries, was applied by Paganism to the
same magic purposes, was honoured with the same honours. That which is now
called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the
Chaldeans and Egyptians--the true original form of the letter T--the initial of the name of
Tammuz--which, in Hebrew, radically the same as ancient Chaldee, was
found on coins. That mystic
Tau was marked in baptism on the foreheads of those initiated in the
Mysteries, and was used in every variety of way as a most
sacred symbol.”- The Two
Babylons.
The Rosary was also
a pagan idol symbol from ancient Chaldea. In fact, the Chaldean word “Ro” means
“thought”, and “Shareh” meant “director.” They were also known in early Roman
society as “remembrancers” being that you had to remember how many prayers you
had to repeat in order for God to hear you. That totally goes against the very
scriptures in the Bible that state for people to speak from the heart and not
being repetitively speaking without meaning.
Amulets, crosses,
statues of various gods, even ones of Jesus or Virgin Mary and Virgen de Guadalupe are
all pagan and go against the very commandments in the Bible. Remember Jesus stated for his people to worship his father, the only true God. He told the people not to worship anyone or anything other than God, not even himself.
Whether you are a believer in the Bible or Christianity the facts within the Scriptures prove that idol worship did not originate with God, but with various pagan
cultures that have infiltrated nearly every mainstream religion.
History shows that various cultures such
as the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Sumerians and Chaldeans
polytheistic beliefs and mythology all coincide with one another in their forms of idol worship and beliefs, based on
their true origins dating back to Babylon. The Bible has always stood its
ground that idolatry was not something to be practiced by a monotheistic
believer. Various events and stories mentioned about acts of idolatry referred
to in the Bible, were done by pagan groups who worshipped false gods, and were revered as something detestable to
God. Such practices of these pagan worshipers included ceremonial
prostitution, child sacrifice, self- laceration to the point of blood flowing and even sexual orgies and drunkenness.
Recall a story in the Bible of when
Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments, and what did he find?
The Israelites had fallen away from true worship of God and had melted down all
their gold to worship a golden calf that had been cast. It does not mention in that particular scripture
the name of the god they were worshiping, although many scholars claim it could
have been the lunar bull that was associated with the pagan Canaanite god, El.
In other stories of idol worship that
was detestable in God’s eyes recorded in the Bible, names of the false god Ba’al
(or Bel) was mentioned. Ba’al or Bel was a god of the Babylonians, also
referred to as Marduk, possibly Nimrod deified. You see, many of these pagan gods we have learned
about in mythology of various lands, could have quite possibly been your
average human being who lived and died on this earth. It wasn’t until later on
that others deified them to become ‘immortal.’
Where did
this idol worship come from?
Idolatry of gods and goddesses
If you search
through any culture you will find mythology of gods and goddesses to which civilization’s
performed idol worship. The Aztecs,
Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Sumerians, Norse, Celts and even American Indians all
believed in their individual gods and deities and worshipped them, also by
carving amulets and even statues to honor them. They would make sacrifices in
their gods name in order to appease them in hopes of being blessed.
In these
mythological stories you learn that most of them are actually very similar in
stories besides the difference in names. Why is that?
It is because
long before mankind spread throughout the earth making civilizations throughout
the globe, they at one point were all from one place, thus the various stories
all came from one place. Over the years and passed down from generation to
generation embellishments and changes transformed one unified story into many
individualized stories to which all the different cultures of the world have
claimed as their own. Have you ever wondered why it was that every single
culture has a story about the Deluge? That is because they all came from the
descendants of the survivors of that Deluge.
“Not merely Egyptians, Chaldeans,
Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, but also the Hindus, the Buddhists of China and
of Tibet, the Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Druids, Mexicans and Peruvians, the
Aborigines of Australia, and even the savages of the South Sea Islands, must have all derived their religious ideas
from a common source and common centre. Everywhere we find the most startling
coincidences in the rites, ceremonies, customs, traditions, and in the names
and relations of their respective gods and goddesses.”- The Worship of the
Dead, London, 1904, p.3.
What Does History Say?
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| The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563) |
A man by the
name of Nimrod (son of Cush, grandson of Ham, great-grandson of Noah) is the
one who started post-deluvian idolatry. Nimrod (Hebrew: maradh’), meaning
“rebel”, was the founder and king of the first empire to come into existence
after the Deluge. Nimrod’s kingdom consisted of the cities of Babel, Erech,
Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar. Nimrod himself deified himself as a god
above mankind. It has been suggested that the Babylonian god Marduk (Merodach),
who was regarded as the founder of Babylon, was in fact Nimrod deified.
“Why, then, was he called Nimrod?
Because he stirred up the whole world to rebel (himrid) against his [God’s]
sovereignty.”-Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, by Menahem M. Kasher, Vol.
II, 1955, p.79.
Under the direction of Nimrod, the building of the tower of Babel
began. Josephus wrote: “Nimrod little by little transformed the state
of affairs into a tyranny, holding that the only way to detach men from the
fear of God was by making them continuously dependent upon his own power. He
threatened to have his revenge on God is he wished to inundate the earth again;
for he would build a tower higher than the water could reach and avenge the
destruction of their forefathers. The people were eager to follow this advice
of Nimrod, deeming it slavery to submit to God; so they set out to build the
tower…and it rose with a speed beyond all expectation.”-Jewish
Antiquities, I, 114,115 (iv, 2, 3).
As the story goes, God was angered at Nimrod for the dishonor it
brought him and the false worship to himself he was demanding of the people, so
God frustrated the plans to complete the tower by confusing their language. In
fact the word Babel means “confusion.” The scattered people then went
throughout the earth and settled in various locations, taking with them not
only their new language but also the the false religious beliefs and idolatry
learned by Nimrod, with them.
What about
pre-deluvian times? Was there idolatry prior to the Deluge? Yes, by the time of
Noah’s days nearly every person on the earth was considered to be full of
badness, even to the point that God himself “felt regrets that he had made men in the
earth, and he felt hurt at his heart.”- Genesis 6:6. The earth had become so wicked and filled
with corruption to the point that the earth needed to be wiped clean, just as an eraser to a slate chalkboard.
Where did the
corruption start? Well, to be technical and accurate, we would have to go back
even further in time to see that the true origin of idolatry did not come from earthly
beings. No, it came from the spirit realm itself. If one is to believe the
scriptures it was then when a spirit being (later known as Satan), developed a
covetous desire to be worshipped like God, that his own idolatry caused the
rebellion in the heavens. Then, Eve became the first human idolater by coveting
the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. Since then, only a small fraction of
mankind have remained free from idolatry throughout the ages.
Are you part of that fraction of mankind?
(Copyright- Origins-What Does History Say) 2012
