How is it possible to worship a false God?

vedickings · Sep 16, 2005

If there is only one God, then hows its possible to worship a false God?

I mean, what about people who can't hear and see, how do that know what God they are worshipping? They would most likely worship the only one God.

e=mv^2 · Sep 16, 2005

If you were to:
Grab a pencil.
Convince yourself that it is god.
Worship it.

You would be worshipping a false god.

I mean, what about people who can't hear and see, how do that know what God they are worshipping?

They are taught to worship a god. If they are taught to worship your pencil - they are worshipping a false god even though they can not see or hear it.

Monica child of God 1 · Sep 16, 2005

If you were to:

Look in the mirror,
become convinced that you and your needs are all that matter,
and begin to serve yourself accordingly.

You would be worshipping a false god.

Monica

arunma · Sep 16, 2005

vedickings said:
If there is only one God, then hows its impossible to worship a false God?

I mean, what about people who can't hear and see, how do that know what God they are worshipping? They would most likely worship the only one God.

God is Spirit. He has no physical form, and Jesus Christ is his Word. Whoever makes a carved image and worships it, and who does not give all praise to Jesus Christ, is worshiping a false god.

e=mv^2 · Sep 16, 2005

The truth is the truth regardless of one's opinion of the truth.

vedickings · Sep 16, 2005

And Jesus is not an object or image?

JanisL · Sep 16, 2005

The question should be - how is it possible to worship a true God?
Because what most of the people worship are only images in their own mind.

e=mv^2 · Sep 16, 2005

And Jesus is not an object or image?

He is a person. The Son of the Living God and one essence with the Father. TRUE God from TRUE God. Light from Light.

vedickings · Sep 16, 2005

e=mv^2 said:
He is a person. The Son of the Living God and one essence with the Father. TRUE God from TRUE God. Light from Light.

Yes, but its still an image, or idea of God.

philips · Sep 16, 2005

vedickings said:
Yes, but its still an image, or idea of God.

What is 'it'? We're talking about a He, a living person.

stubby42 · Sep 16, 2005

Its easy to worship a false God, all you have to do is to elevate someone to that level.

Think about the celeberity class is a prime example, these are a group of people who have/dont have talent and are now considered in many ways above other people. This is a combination of wealth but it is also the huge amounts of effort thats put into finding out what they had for breakfast or what happened to them on tuesday at 9:22 am.

People go out in their thousands to have autographs signed by these people and by affect this signature becomes of value.

That is worshiping a false god.

vedickings · Sep 16, 2005

philips said:
What is 'it'? We're talking about a He, a living person.

Right, a human body made up of matter, not real.

So it still an image, idea etc etc.

Osiris · Sep 16, 2005

vedickings said:
If there is only one God, then hows its impossible to worship a false God?

IF there is only one god...

If there is no god in existance, then all theists are worshipping false gods.

LOTRbeatspotteranyday · Sep 16, 2005

i just want to know why nobody condemned people based on religion during the days of the roman republic... it seems that after the empire took hold people started fighting each other over a silly matter such as religion.

TrueQ · Sep 16, 2005

Well, at least if there are no Gods, there's nothing wrong with worshipping false gods. So we don't have to fall into that pail of tacks.

SolomonVII · Sep 16, 2005

vedickings said:
If there is only one God, then hows its possible to worship a false God?

I mean, what about people who can't hear and see, how do that know what God they are worshipping? They would most likely worship the only one God.

Life is more than breathing. We not only live, but we life for something. Whether we are consciousof it or not, our lives are directed toward some goal.

That which we direct our life toward, that which we live for, in some essential sense become for us, a god. It holds our attention, consumes our time and energy, and give our existence a purpose.

To be a false god essentiallly means that what we are directing our energy to is in the end, ultimately unfulfilling. It may glitter like gold, or draw us like a vision of a lake in a desert, but it is no more illusion and mirage.

For some, a false god may be money and wealth, or wordly power, or the praise of others, or an almost morbid concern with health and physicality.

The god may take the visage of sexual prowess, and conquest in the game of love, or a pursuit of pleasure through a myriad of leisure events.

False gods take on many forms, as limitless as the human imagination.

In the end though, these gods leads us on further in our thirst or our hunger, around and around in an endless cylce of futility.

Stating that their is One, True, God is to state that there is hope, that there is something, or more corectly Someone, who can fulfill us.

And the claim of Christians, naturally enough, is that that One, True God has been revealed to us, through Scripture, and/or through the Church.

arunma · Sep 16, 2005

vedickings said:
Right, a human body made up of matter, not real.

So it still an image, idea etc etc.

Actually we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Jesus is the very incarnation of God, and the apostles tell us that he is the exact imprint of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3). Most of us, however, do not make images of him in order to worship him. Even Catholic icons and the Orthodox iconostasis is only used as a reminder of Christ's presence, and no Christians ever make images of God the Father.

If I'm not mistaken, what you were trying to get at was a justification for Hindu idol worship, which is why I decided to get straight to the brass tacks by telling you that we consider it wicked to worship carved images of false gods. Sorry if I guessed incorrectly.

SolomonVII · Sep 16, 2005

LOTRbeatspotteranyday said:
i just want to know why nobody condemned people based on religion during the days of the roman republic... it seems that after the empire took hold people started fighting each other over a silly matter such as religion.

The Roman Republic was not tolerant.

Religion itself was not a silly matter for the Empire. The Caesar's made themselves out to be gods, fit to be worshipped. Like virtually all leaders before them, they justified their subjugation of people based on the idea that they were gods, and were therefore worthy to be worshipped.

The story of the virgin birth of Jesus, in fact, was a mirror of a similar story about the birth of Augustine. It set forth for the people another vision of God as one who would not opress the people, and one who cared for the sickness and the health of the commoner than any of the emperors ever had, or ever would.

In this way, following their messiah of humble birth, with his words that those that were least would be first in the kingdom,and those that are now first will be last, Christianity directly challendge the Roman worldview.

Without firing a shot, or lifting a hand against the empire, Christianity was in fact totally subversive to the whole justification behind the power of the Ceasars. The emperors well understood the danger it posed to them, and conversely early Christians were very aware of how little that any emperor would ever have to offer them.

Therefore, early Christians were condemned by the Roman Empire, and were persecuted often and severely.

This was not because of their violence, although with barbarian invasions, Christians did make a convenient target for repraisal.

Instead, it was because the allegiance of these early Christians was not with the false god Emperor, but with One, True God of Israel, of Abraham and Jacob.

vedickings · Sep 16, 2005

arunma said:
Actually we pray to the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit. Jesus is the very incarnation of God, and the apostles tell us that he is the exact imprint of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3). Most of us, however, do not make images of him in order to worship him. Even Catholic icons and the Orthodox iconostasis is only used as a reminder of Christ's presence, and no Christians ever make images of God the Father.

If I'm not mistaken, what you were trying to get at was a justification for Hindu idol worship, which is why I decided to get straight to the brass tacks by telling you that we consider it wicked to worship carved images of false gods. Sorry if I guessed incorrectly.

So Jesus is still use to worship God right, speaking of idol worshipping I see no different. But what I was saying in my op, is the how can there be more then one God if what you are worshipping is God, no matter the name and form, such as Jesus?

ckv · Sep 16, 2005

vedickings said:
So Jesus is still use to worship God right, speaking of idol worshipping I see no different

There is a difference, Christians won't worship Jesus in the form of Idol unlike Hindus. As the idol worship is described as wicked in the Bible.

How is it possible to worship a false God?

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