Idolatry

"Idol worship" redirects here. For the American hip hop group, see Idle Warship.
"False idols" redirects here. For the Tricky album, see False Idols. For the Veil of Maya album, see False Idol (album).

Moses Indignant at the Golden Calf, painting by William Blake, 1799–1800

Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were a deity.[1][2][3] In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic God as if it were God.[4][5] In these monotheistic religions, idolatry has been considered as the "worship of false gods" and is forbidden by texts such as the Ten Commandments.[4] Other monotheistic religions may apply similar rules.[6]

For instance, the phrase false god is a derogatory term used in Abrahamic religions to indicate cult images or deities of non-Abrahamic Pagan religions, as well as other competing entities or objects to which particular importance is attributed.[7] Conversely, followers of animistic and polytheistic religions may regard the gods of various monotheistic religions as "false gods" because they do not believe that any real deity possesses the properties ascribed by monotheists to their sole deity. Atheists, who do not believe in any deities, do not usually use the term false god even though that would encompass all deities from the atheist viewpoint. Usage of this term is generally limited to theists, who choose to worship some deity or deities, but not others.[4]

In many Indian religions, which include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, idols (murti) are considered as symbolism for the absolute but not the Absolute,[8] or icons of spiritual ideas,[8][9] or the embodiment of the divine.[10] It is a means to focus one's religious pursuits and worship (bhakti).[8][11][9] In the traditional religions of Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Africa, Asia, the Americas and elsewhere, the reverence of cult images or statues has been a common practice since antiquity, and cult images have carried different meanings and significance in the history of religion.[7][1][12] Moreover, the material depiction of a deity or more deities has always played an eminent role in all cultures of the world.[7]

The opposition to the use of any icon or image to represent ideas of reverence or worship is called aniconism.[13] The destruction of images as icons of veneration is called iconoclasm,[14] and this has long been accompanied with violence between religious groups that forbid idol worship and those who have accepted icons, images and statues for veneration.[15][16] The definition of idolatry has been a contested topic within Abrahamic religions, with many Muslims and most Protestant Christians condemning the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practice of venerating the Virgin Mary in many churches as a form of idolatry.[17][18]

The history of religions has been marked with accusations and denials of idolatry. These accusations have considered statues and images to be devoid of symbolism. Alternatively, the topic of idolatry has been a source of disagreements between many religions, or within denominations of various religions, with the presumption that icons of one's own religious practices have meaningful symbolism, while another person's different religious practices do not.[19][20]

  1. ^ a b Moshe Halbertal; Avishai Margalit; Naomi Goldblum (1992). Idolatry. Harvard University Press. pp. 1–8, 85–86, 146–148. ISBN 978-0-674-44313-6.
  2. ^ DiBernardo, Sabatino (2008). "American Idol(atry): A Religious Profanation". The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 19 (1): 1–2. doi:10.3138/jrpc.19.1.001., Quote: "Idolatry (...) in the first commandment denotes the notion of worship, adoration, or reverence of an image of God."
  3. ^ Poorthuis, Marcel (2007). "6. Idolatry and the Mirror: Iconoclasm as a Prerequisite for Inter-Human Relations". Iconoclasm and Iconoclash, Chapter 6. Idolatry and the Mirror: Iconoclasm As A Prerequisite For Inter-Human Relations. BRILL Academic. pp. 125–140. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004161955.i-538.53. ISBN 9789004161955.
  4. ^ a b c Angelini, Anna (2021). "Les dieux des autres: entre «démons» et «idoles»". L'imaginaire du démoniaque dans la Septante: Une analyse comparée de la notion de "démon" dans la Septante et dans la Bible Hébraïque. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism (in French). Vol. 197. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 184–224. doi:10.1163/9789004468474_008. ISBN 978-90-04-46847-4.
  5. ^ Leone, Massimo (Spring 2016). Asif, Agha (ed.). "Smashing Idols: A Paradoxical Semiotics" (PDF). Signs and Society. 4 (1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Semiosis Research Center at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies: 30–56. doi:10.1086/684586. eISSN 2326-4497. hdl:2318/1561609. ISSN 2326-4489. S2CID 53408911. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  6. ^ Wendy Doniger (1999). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. p. 497. ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0.
  7. ^ a b c Frohn, Elke Sophie; Lützenkirchen, H.-Georg (2007). "Idol". In von Stuckrad, Kocku (ed.). The Brill Dictionary of Religion. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1872-5287_bdr_SIM_00041. ISBN 9789004124332. S2CID 240180055.
  8. ^ a b c Jeaneane D. Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 978-1-898723-60-8, pages 41–45
  9. ^ a b Karel Werner (1995), Love Divine: Studies in Bhakti and Devotional Mysticism, Routledge, ISBN 978-0700702350, pages 45-46;
    John Cort (2011), Jains in the World, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-979664-9, pages 80–85
  10. ^ Klaus Klostermaier (2010), A Survey of Hinduism, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4, pages 264–267
  11. ^ Lindsay Jones, ed. (2005). Gale Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 11. Thomson Gale. pp. 7493–7495. ISBN 978-0-02-865980-0.
  12. ^ Smart, Ninian (10 November 2020) [26 July 1999]. "Polytheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  13. ^ Aniconism, Encyclopædia Britannica
  14. ^ Marina Prusac; Kristine Kolrud (2014). Iconoclasm from Antiquity to Modernity. Ashgate. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-1-4094-7033-5.
  15. ^ Willem J. van Asselt; Paul Van Geest; Daniela Muller (2007). Iconoclasm and Iconoclash: Struggle for Religious Identity. BRILL Academic. pp. 8–9, 52–60. ISBN 978-90-04-16195-5.
  16. ^ André Wink (1997). Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World. BRILL Academic. pp. 317–324. ISBN 978-90-04-10236-1.
  17. ^ Barbara Roggema (2009). The Legend of Sergius Bahira: Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in Response to Islam. BRILL Academic. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-90-04-16730-8.
  18. ^ Erich Kolig (2012). Conservative Islam: A Cultural Anthropology. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 71 with footnote 2. ISBN 978-0-7391-7424-1.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference janowitz239 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference halbertal105 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).