Although there are various expressions of Christianity, many different denominations, one thing that is common is the belief that idolatry is a sin. In fact, perhaps one of the chief sins.
After all, the Ten Commandments clearly forbids it, and idolatry is clearly taught against all through the Old Testament, especially in the prophetic writings. The Jews were so strongly monotheistic that Rome gave them special leeway to practice their religion. Christians picked this up, of course, and were thus known as “atheists” because they did not believe in the deity of Caesar, only in the one true God.
Against this historical and theological backdrop, it’s interesting to look at Paul’s speech on Mar’s Hill.
When Paul was in Athens, he was very troubled by the amount of idolatry on display there. He started to speak about Jesus in the public square and as a result was asked to speak at the Areopagus, a group of intellectual Greeks. Among the things that they commented on was that he seemed to be speaking of “foreign divinities”.
Given all these things, one would expect a scathing polemic against idolatry and a clear declaration of God as the one true deity, incarnated in the one true Lord, Jesus Christ.
Continue reading “Idolatry and Mars Hill”
