Writing at the time of political and social crisis in Athens, Aristophanes was an eloquent yet bawdy challenger to the demagogue and the sophist. The Achanians is a plea for peace set against the background of the long war with Sparta.
Do you know the difference between true and false worship? Can false worship be true worship? Is God honored by false worship even when you are sincere in giving it? Knox defines idolatry as, “all worshipping, honoring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without his own express commandment.” Are you an idolater? As much as this might be a hard question to consider, it is an appropriate question in light of God’s directives in Scripture to regard him as holy in corporate worship. In considering the sin of idolatry, whether directly worshipping sticks, stones and idols, or being part of a deviant worship service in a 21st century church, such thoughts on worship are exceedingly relevant for us today. Without coming to God as God requires, we do not worship God as he has instructed us in scripture. Knox’s treatise on True and False Worship demonstrates the inescapable consequence to consider whether you are worshipping God in the vanity of your own mind, being directed by the dictates of another aberrant mind, or, whether you are engaging in true worship as God requires. Considering this is not a vain thing, for as God says to Moses, “For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life,” (Deut. 32:47). Professing Christians must consider that it is God alone who determines the manner in which sinners approach him. On this, and this alone, they are to tender up to God his due. This work is not a scan or facsimile, has been carefully transcribed by hand being made easy to read in modern English, and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.
Learn to recognize the subtle ways that a person's inner life bows down to various false gods. David Clarkson details a list of everyday idols and the worship of them that one can use to detect soul idolatry in their lives. His call is that God is very serious about idols and Christians should be serious as well. This edition is the complete sermon as published by James Nichol in 1864.
The issue of idolatry has been with the human race for thousands of years; the subtle temptation is always to take what is good and turn it into the ultimate good, elevating it above all other things in the search for security and meaning. In this timely and challenging book, New York pastor Timothy Keller looks at the issue of idolatry throughout the Bible -- from the worship of actual idols in the Old Testament, to the idolatry of money by the rich young ruler when he was challenged by Jesus to give up all his wealth. Using classic stories from the Bible Keller cuts through our dependence on the glittering false idols of money, sex and power to uncover the path towards trust in the real ultimate -- God. Today's idols may look different from those of the Old Testament, but Keller argues that they are no less damaging. Culturally transforming as well as biblically based, COUNTERFEIT GODS is a powerful look at the temptation to worship what can only disappoint, and is a vital message in today's current climate of financial and social difficulty.
The heart of the biblical understanding of idolatry, argues Gregory Beale, is that we take on the characteristics of what we worship. Employing Isaiah 6 as his interpretive lens, Beale demonstrates that this understanding of idolatry permeates the whole canon, from Genesis to Revelation. Beale concludes with an application of the biblical notion of idolatry to the challenges of contemporary life.
Christians desperately need to name and expose the modern-day false gods of prosperity, nationalism, and self-interest. Combining a biblical study of idolatry with practical discipleship, Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright calls readers to fight the temptation of idolatry as we consider connections between Old Testament patterns and today's culture.