In this essay, I will explore Paul’s opinions on idolatry and how he expressed those to differing groups. I will also explore early religions and their view on idolatry. Lastly, I will briefly explore the impact that idolatry had on Judaism and Christianity.
The primary introduction to make is that of Paul the Apostle. He is one of the key figures in the spread of Christianity and as Eliav explained in class, “without two people – Constantine and Paul – Christianity would in no way where it is today and may very well have died out while it was still a collection of various practicing groups” (Lecture). My understanding of Paul’s view of idolatry is shaped by two main books in the bible – Romans I and Acts. The second introduction to make is that of the concept of idolatry. The word comes from the greek word eidololatria (a combination of two words – eidolo and latria) which literally means worship of idols. I would also like to introduce two other concepts which flow in tandem with idolatry – aniconism and iconoclasm. Aniconism is the opposition to the use of an icon/image to represent ideas of reverence or worship and iconoclasm is the destruction of idols and images as icons of veneration. Finally, I would like to introduce the concept of an Abrahamic religion – it is a religion in which the prophet Abraham and his descendants hold important roles. There are three main Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. I will be focusing on two of them, Christianity and Judaism, for the purpose of this essay.
Paul the Apostle had clearly articulated views on idolatry. However before looking at what he believed, we must first at look at how his beliefs developed. Paul was born in Tarsus which was in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) (PIA, 6:27). He studied the most important books of his day and as a result, he was very well educated. Paul was also, in his own words, "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee" (Philippians 3:5). This eventually changed and he converted to Christianity. Paul was someone who spoke Greek (Koine) and Hebrew and as such was able to preach to many people. However, he knew that different audiences required different phrasing and he was careful to abide by this. Examining his words in Romans I to his preaching in Acts, a picture of a man with strong convictions but also with a deep well of intelligence starts to emerge. When discussing idolatry with Christians in Romans I, Paul made a point of highlighting God’s anger towards those who commit idolatry – he portrayed it as rebellion (“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:22-23)), perverted (“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another” (Romans 1:26-28)), and the cause of much depravity (“they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy” (Romans 1:31)). This is in sharp contrast to his comments to non Christians in Acts. In Acts, he does not highlight God’s anger – instead he highlights God’s patience and kindness. He also portrays idolatry as ignorant (“So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23)), absurd (“as though he [God] needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything,” (Acts 17:25)), and worthless (“The times of ignorance God overlooked.” (Acts 17:30-31)). This is still very strong language but it is different and it appeals to a different set of views. However, the underlying message is somewhat similar and Paul knew he could not utilize the same techniques for different populations and he adjusted where he saw the need to do so.
Paul’s view of idolatry is common in some religions but it was not always seen to be the correct view. Early religions, such as those of the Greeks (and later, Romans), Egyptians, and Hindus favored the use of pictures and statues during prayer practices and even today, Hindus (such as my parents and myself) still pray to pictures and statues of gods and goddesses. Stepping into any Hindu temple, there are numerous statues of gods and there are pictures as far as the eye can see (see figure one). However, Abrahamic religions in their writings differ from this quite a bit. I brought up the idea of Abrahamic religions earlier because they tend to share views on idolatry.
In Christianity, idolatry seems to be forbidden and this views is expressed in Leviticus 26:1–2, “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary” (Leviticus 26:1-2). Christianity has a complex history with idolatry, aniconism, and iconoclasm but from the quote from Leviticus, one might think that it was and is cut and dry. Early Christianity used complex photographs and carvings – examples of both of these can be found in the catacombs and are dated to the second century and beyond. Paul Corbey Finney sees the view that early christians had as one influenced by, “the Greek philosophical tradition of invisible deity apophatically defined" (Finney). Beyond this, idolatry was also associated with the pagans and this was not something that many Christians wanted to be associated with themselves. However, this view started to change as Christianity became more widespread and was later adopted in the Roman Empire. People would worship in well decorated churches that drew from pagan imagery an example of this is that the depiction of Jesus seems to have been inspired by depictions of Zeus (see figure two). This continued for a while but came to a screeching halt with the Byzantine iconoclasms. The Byzantine iconoclasms were started by Emperor Leo III and was accompanied by destruction of icons and persecution of those who prayed to them. Beyond this, many churches were altered and there was also much plainer art than there was in the past – figure three is a picture of a much more simple looking cross than the detailed mosaics that were well known in that day and age. This can be contrasted with the Western church which was much more in favor of worshipping images other than just the cross and can be viewed as one of the things that led to the schism.
Turning to Judaism, the commandments explicitly ban the worship of foreign gods (gods of ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Akkad) through icons along with idolatrous worship to the god of the religion of Israel. The second Jewish commandment reads, “You shall have no other gods before me./You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below./You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,/but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:3-6). This commandment can be viewed as an example of aniconism in Judaism. Another such example are the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc.) preaching against the idea of idolatry – they viewed it as an assimilation into the surrounding culture and as was discussed in class, they were not the only ones who disagreed with assimilation. In the Jewish religion, man is the only image of God (who has no shape that is visible) and man is required to worship the invisible god. Interestingly, in Judaism, there is some disagreement over how exactly idolatry is wrong. There is one view, which I just discussed, and there is a different view which was articulated by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (the Maimonidean interpretation). According to this interpretation, idolatry itself is not the issue – the issue is the belief that god can be corporal (Seeskin).
The impact of idolatry on both of these religions is interesting because of the role it played in their histories and practices. As touched on earlier, the split over idolatry is seen by some as one of the causes of the schism between the Eastern and Western churches. The other important role of idolatry lies in the story of the Golden Calf. It is a formative tale in both Christianity and in Judaism and gets at the heart of the view of idolatry in those times. The story is about how the people of Israel while waiting for Moses to return from Mt. Sinai, decided to pray to a golden calf they created (see figure four). When Moses saw this, he called those who did not commit this idolatrous act and he had them, “slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour” (Exodus 32:27). This showed just how much idolatry mattered and how hated it was in a story important to both Christianity and Judaism.
In this essay, I have introduced the concepts of Paul the Apostle, idolatry, iconoclasm, anicinoism, and the idea of an Abrahamic religion. I have examined Paul’s views on idolatry and how he went about sharing them with those who followed him and those he preached to. I contrasted the view of idolatry that is seen in Christian and Jewish holy texts with the view in other religions (like Hinduism and the Egyptian religion). Finally, I took a deep dive on the views of idolatry in Christianity and Judaism, looked at how they were formed, and finally examined the impacts of those views on these two Abrahamic religions.
Selected Images
Figure 1: A photograph of the interior of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (the largest Hindu mandir (temple) in the United States of America (located in Lilburn, Georgia)) (https://www.exploregwinnett.org/directory/listing/baps-shri-swaminarayan-mandir-hindu-temple)
Figure 2: A comparison of how Jesus and Zeus were depicted showing a number of similiarities – the hairstyle and how it covers the face, the face shape. Looking at this, it is clear that the pictures of Zeus had an impact on the pictures of Jesus. (http://www.eldadoquebrado.com/What-is-the-Real-name-of-the-M/body_what-is-the-real-name-of-the-messiah-.html)
Figure 3: This is a picture of the Hagia Sophia church and it is a good example of iconoclast art. The cross is very plain and stands as a counterexample to more colorful mosaics which were destroyed during the iconoclasms. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Iconoclasm#/media/File:Irenekirken.jpg)
Figure 4: This is a picture of the people praying to the Golden Calf. It is one of the sharpest examples of idolatry and the story of what happened to those who prayed to this statue is seen as a warning by some religious peoples of what can happen if someone commits this act. (http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/monkeymind/files/2017/01/Golden-Calf.jpg)