The worship of the fertility gods and goddesses expressed through idol worship draws attention to created objects themselves.
Could we say that is the attempt to make the divine immanent through made objects that is (partly) the problem with idolatry? It is not accidental surely that worship of the pagan deities (as portrayed by the OT) is worship of the fertility/agricultural deities is it?
3 comments:
Hi Michael,
I've been studying Elijah with my Bible Study group over the last couple of weeks, and I've found the contrast between Yahweh and Baal fascinating. I suspect that idols are popular because we humans struggle with the abstract - we prefer to have something tangible. (Am I just repeating what you said in your blog?)
1) To sacrifice is more import
So Michael, is there any room for immanence in your understanding of deity?
of course. But not through made objects... this is why I am proudly iconoclastic!
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