I Will Answer Anything You Dare To Ask

I was a teenage Jesus freak and never really lost my faith, but I haven't been involved with a church for a while and I've been thinking of joining a local protestant church lately. Here is my question. What is the difference between an idol and an artefact which are often used to adorn churches without being objects of worship. My personal view is that it is not the object itself but the way people see it. So out of two people in the same room one may admire or appreciate an artefact for it's beauty while another person worships it and thereby commits a sin of idolatry. Do you agree or disagree and why? I would like to know your reasons.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

I agree on the definition.

An idol is made to be worshipped, or at best used as a mantra or focal point; but what constitutes an idol or just ornament in any one place, society and time often depended on who had the upper hand.

For example, the 17C Puritans destroyed a huge amount of earlier art in English churches because they thought it all idolatrous despite its Biblical relevance. Nowadays we recognise and respect it all simply as religious art, no-one worships it; and in some churches murals that had been white-washed over have been restored.

I would guess that the quote Lynb1960 gives, was meant by its (pre-Christian?) Hebrew author to stress that an idol is a mere distraction of no spiritual value, but I wonder if the admonition also reflected or was influenced by inter-religious strife.

[... religious strife? ...In what we know now as the Middle East...?]

Lynb1960 · 61-69, F

@ArishMell Yes I agree with your points and do recognise all of them.. To me this is a very interesting topic that can be discussed at length..