Idolatry

Biblical Texts

The first and second commandments of the Ten Commandments command that there be no other gods besides God and forbid making graven images and bowing down to them (Exodus 20:3-6; Deuteronomy 5:6-10). Representative Old Testament episodes include the following:

• The golden calf incident, in which Aaron made a golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai (Exodus 32)
• Jeroboam of the northern kingdom setting up golden calves at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12:28-30)
• The contest on Mount Carmel, in which Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18)

Isaiah 44:9-20 satirizes a man who burns half of a piece of wood as fuel and carves the other half into a god to which he bows down.

The New Testament addresses the question of eating food sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8–10), the idols of Athens (Acts 17:16), and the image of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus (Acts 19). Paul also calls covetousness idolatry (Colossians 3:5).

Background and Terminology

Many peoples of the ancient Near East made images of their gods, placed them in temples, and offered sacrifices to them. Scripture mentions deities such as Baal and Asherah of Canaan and Molech of Ammon. Old Testament Hebrew has several words for idols. Pesel denotes a carved or hewn image, while elil carries the sense of "nothingness" or "something worthless." In New Testament Greek, eidōlon means an image, and eidōlolatria means idolatry (Galatians 5:20).

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The prophets portrayed idolatry as spiritual adultery that breaks the covenant made with God (Hosea; Ezekiel 16). Second Kings 17 identifies idolatry as the cause of the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel.

The New Testament takes up this theme. Romans 1 describes serving the creature rather than the Creator as humanity's fundamental sin. The Council of Jerusalem decided that Gentile believers should abstain from food offered to idols (Acts 15:28-29). Paul taught that an idol is nothing, yet he urged caution in eating sacrificial food for the sake of the conscience of a weaker brother (1 Corinthians 8). First John closes with the words "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

Interpretations and Debates

• Numbering of the commandments: The Reformed tradition counts "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" as separate commandments. The Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran tradition combine the two into a single first commandment.
• Images in places of worship: The Heidelberg Catechism does not permit images even in churches (Question 98). The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church distinguish between adoration (latria, the highest form of worship), which is given to God alone, and the veneration of saints and sacred images, and they make use of sacred images. Lutherans and Anglicans permit crosses and religious pictures in places of worship.
• Figurative extension: Preachers often call anything placed ahead of God—such as money, success, or honor—an "idol of the heart." This application rests on Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5. However, what Scripture explicitly calls idolatry is covetousness; other extensions are applications made by preachers.

In the Korean Church

From its early days, Korean Protestantism has rejected ancestral rites as idolatry and has developed the practice of replacing them with memorial services (→ Ancestral Rites and Memorial Services). The Roman Catholic Church is reported to have permitted ancestral rites as cultural ceremonies in the twentieth century, so the two traditions differ on this point.

Shinto shrine worship during the Japanese colonial period was likewise disputed as a matter of idolatry. In 1938 the 27th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Chosŏn (Korea) passed a resolution endorsing shrine worship, and Ju Gi-cheol and others who refused to comply were imprisoned. After liberation, conflict over how to deal with this issue became one of the background causes of the division of Korean Presbyterianism.

Churches give differing guidance on whether believers may eat food offered in ancestral rites, and 1 Corinthians 8 is commonly cited as a basis for that guidance.