View source for Idolatry

'''Idolatry''' is a major [[sin]] in the [[Abrahamic religion]]s regarding image.  In Christianity it is defined as [[worship]] of an [[image]], [[idea]] or [[Object (philosophy)|object]], as opposed to the worship of a [[supreme being]]. In Judaism and Islam, the creation of imagery itself as well as its worship would amount to idolatry. In religions where such activity is not considered as sin, the term "idolatry" itself is absent.  Some religious authorities and groups have used the term to describe other religions apart from their own.

== Etymology ==
[[Image:GoldCalf.jpg|right|thumbnail|333px|"The Adoration of the [[golden calf|Golden Calf]]" by Nicolas Poussin]]

The word ''idolatry'' comes (by [[haplology]]) from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''eidololatria'', a compound of ''eidolon'', "image" or "figure", and ''latreia'', "worship".  Although the Greek appears to be a [[calque|loan translation]] of the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] phrase ''avodat elilim'', which is attested in [[rabbinic literature]] (e.g., bChul., 13b, Bar.), the Greek term itself is not found in the [[Septuagint]], [[Philo]], [[Josephus]], or in other Hellenistic Jewish writings. It is also not found in Greek pagan literature. In the [[New Testament]], the Greek word is found only in the letters of [[Paul of Tarsus|Paul]], [[1 Peter]], and [[Revelation]], where it has a derogatory meaning.  Hebrew terms for idolatory include ''avodah zarah'' (foreign worship) and ''avodat kochavim umazalot'' (worship of planets and constellations).

==Idolatry in many forms==
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Many religions hold that the purpose of worship is to bring one into connection with [[divinity]]. Any set of beliefs or practices which significantly interferes with this may, at some point, be termed idolatry. Examples might include:

* A very strong belief in the inerrancy of a holy book, this would equate the book with God, see [[creationism]] 
* A very strong attachment to one's country that a religion considers inappropriate. In this case [[nationalism]] could be considered a form of idolatry. 
* A very strong desire to gain sex and wealth that a religion considers inappropriate. In this case [[Greed (emotion)|greed]] could be considered a form of idolatry.
* A very strong desire to gain fame or recognition that a religion considers inappropriate. In this case egocentrism could be considered a form of idolatry.
* Worshipping one of God's creations (The [[Sun]], moon, water, a cow, sheep, or king) instead of the One God who created them.
* An obsessive desire to earn [[Mammon|money]] could be classified as idolatry.

== Idolatry in the Hebrew Bible ==

According to the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]], idolatry originated in the age of [[Eber]], though some interpret the text to mean in the time of [[Serug]]; image worship existed in the time of [[Jacob]], from the account of [[Rachel]] taking images along with her on leaving her father's house, which is given in the book of [[Genesis]]. [[Abraham]]'s father, [[Terah]], was both an idol manufacturer and worshipper. When Abraham discovered the true God, he destroyed his father's idols (See [[Terah]] for story).

The commandments in the Hebrew Bible against idolatry forbade the beliefs and practices of [[pagans]] who lived amongst the Israelites at the time, especially the religions of ancient [[Akkad]], [[Mesopotamia]], and [[history of Egypt|Egypt]].

Some of these religions, it is claimed in the Bible, had a set of practices which were prohibited under Jewish law, such as sex rites, cultic male and female [[prostitution]], passing a child through a fire to [[Molech]], and [[Human sacrifice|child sacrifice]].  

There is no one section that clearly defines idolatry; rather there are a number of commandments on this subject spread through the books of the Hebrew Bible, some of which were written in different historical eras, in response to different issues. Taking these verses together, idolatry in the Hebrew Bible is defined as either:
* the worship of idols (or images)
* the worship of polytheistic gods by use of idols (or images)
* the worship of animals or people
* the use of idols in the worship of God.

The last category, the use of idols in the worship of God, is the basis of Judaism' strict monotheism. In a number of places the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]] makes clear that [[God]] has no shape or form; thus no idol or image could ever capture God's essence. For example, when the [[Israelite]]s are visited by God in Deut. 4:15, they see no shape or form. Many verses in the Bible use anthropomorphisms to describe God, (e.g. God's mighty hand, God's finger, etc.) but these verses have always been understood as poetic images rather than literal descriptions.

The Bible records a struggle between the prophet's attempt to spread pure monotheism, and the tendency of some people, especially rulers such as [[Ahab]] to accept or to encourage others into polytheistic or idolatrous beliefs. The patriarch [[Abraham]] was called to spread the true knowledge of God, but the prophetic books still reflect a continuing struggle against idolatry. For example, the Biblical prophet [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] complains: "According to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah" (2:28).

The Bible has many terms for idolatry, and their usage represents the horror with which they filled the writers of the Bible [Adherents of Jewish faith maintain that the Torah is the literal and eternally binding word of G-d]. Thus idols are stigmatized "non-God" (Deut. 32:17, 21 [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=deut+32%3A17-21&x=0&y=0]; Jer. 2:11 [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=jer+2%3A11&x=0&y=0]), "things of naught" (Lev. 19:4 et passim [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=lev+19%3A4&x=0&y=0]), "vanity" (Deut. 32), "iniquity" (1 Sam. 15:23 [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=1+Sam+15%3A23&x=0&y=0] ), "wind and confusion" (Isa. 41:29 [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=isa+41%3A29&x=0&y=0]), "the dead" (Ps. 106:28 [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=ps+106%3A19-28&x=0&y=0]), "carcasses" (Lev. 26:30; Jer. 16:18), "a lie" (Isa. 44:20 et passim [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=isaiah+44&x=0&y=0]), and similar epithets.

Pagan idols are described as being made of gold, silver, wood, and stone. They are described as being only the work of men's hands, unable to speak, see, hear, smell, eat, grasp, or feel, and powerless either to injure or to benefit.

Idols were either designated in Hebrew by a term of general significance, or were named according to their material or the manner in which they were made. They said to have been were placed upon pedestals, and fastened with chains of silver or nails of iron lest they should fall over or be carried off (Isa. 40:19, 41:7; Jer. 10:14; Wisdom 13:15), and they were also clothed and colored (Jer. 10:9; Ezek. 16:18; Wisdom 15:4).

At first the gods and their images were conceived of as identical; but in later times a distinction was drawn between the god and the image. Nevertheless it was customary to take away the gods of the vanquished (Isa. 10:10-11, 36:19, 46:1; Jer. 48:7, 49:3; Hosea 10:5; Dan. 11:8), and a similar custom is frequently mentioned in the cuneiform texts.

=== Did idolators really worship idols? ===
Did the idolators of Biblical times believe that the idols they worshipped were actually gods or spirits, or did they believe that their idols only were ''representations'' of said gods or spirits? The Bible does not make this clear, and thus apparently outlaws such practices and beliefs in either form (according to some interpretations).

[[Yehezkel Kaufman]] {{ref_harvard|Kaufman|1960|none}} has suggested that the Biblical authors interpreted idolatry in its most literal form: according to the Bible, most idolators really believed that their idols were gods, and holds that the Biblical authors made an error in assuming that all idolatry was of this type, when in fact in some cases, idols may have only been representations of gods. Kaufman writes that "We may perhaps say that the Bible sees in paganism only its lowest level, the level of mana-beliefs...the prophets ignore what we know to be authentic paganism (i.e., its elaborate mythology about the origin and exploits of the gods and their ultimate subjection to a meta-divine reservoir of impersonal power representing Fate or Necessity.)  Their [the Biblical author's] whole condemnation revolves around the taunt of fetishism."

However, Kaufman holds that in some places, some Biblical authors did understand that idolators worshipped gods and spirits that existed independently of idols, and not the forms of the idols themselves. For instance, in a passage in 1 Kings 18:27 [http://www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&passage=1+Kings+18&version=KJV], the Hebrew prophet Elijah challenges the priests of [[Baal]] atop of [[Mount Carmel, Israel|Mount Carmel]] to persuade their god to perform a miracle, after they had begun to try to persuade the Jews to take up idolatry. The pagan priests beseeched their god without the use of an idol, which in Kaufman's view, indicates that Baal was not an idol, but rather one of the polytheistic gods that merely could be worshipped through the use of an idol. 

Orestes Brownson {{ref_harvard|Brownson|[????] 2004: 116|none}} affirms that the pagans in the Hebrew Bible did not literally worship the objects themselves, so that the issue of idolatry is really whether one is pursuing a false god or the true [[God]].

== Idolatry in Jewish thought ==
{{main|Idolatry in Judaism}}

[[Judaism]] strongly prohibits any form of idolatry, and holds that idolatry is not limited to the worship of an [[idolatry|idol]] itself, but also worship involving any artistic representations of God. Judaism holds that any beliefs or practices which significantly interferes with a Jew's relationship with God may, at some point, be deemed idolatry.
The proper Jewish definition of idolatry is to worship a power (such as the Sun, moon) or a thing (water, sheep, etc) instead of attributing the power to the One God who created these powers. It is considered a great insult to God to worship one of His creations instead of Him. Non-Jews are also forbidden from worshipping more than one god, or a non-divine object or person, by the [[Noahide Laws]].

== Christian views of idolatry ==
{{main|Idolatry in Christianity}}

The [[Christianity|Christian]] view of idolatry may be divided into two general categories. The [[Catholic]] and [[Orthodox]] view (not necessary limited to the Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox communion, and sometimes further complicated when you add [[Anglican]]s and [[Methodist]]s into the equation) and the [[Fundamentalist Christianity|Fundamentalist]] view. The [[Puritan]] [[Protestant]] groups adopted a similar view to [[Islam]], denouncing all forms of religious objects whether in three dimensional or two dimensional form. The problem springs from differences in interpretation of the [[Decalogue]] commonly known as the [[Ten Commandments]]. ''"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments."''  (RSV Exodus 20:3-6).

It would appear that both Orthodox and Protestant views of idolatry condemn idolatry as it is practiced in non-Christian religions.  The Catholic missionary Saint Francis Xavier referred to Hinduism as idolatry, and Protestant Christian apologetics makes similar claims about various non-Christian religions.

The Roman Catholic and particularly the Orthodox Churches cite St. John of Damascus' work "On the Divine Image" to defend the use of icons. He wrote in direct response to the iconoclastic controversy that begun in the eighth century by the Byzantine emperor Leo III and continued by his successor Constantine V. St. John maintains that depicting the invisible God is indeed wrong, but he argues that the incarnation, where "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14), indicates that the invisble God became visible, and as a result it is permissible to depict Jesus Christ. He argues, "When He who is bodiless and without form... existing in the form of God, empties Himself and takes the form of a servant in substance and in stature and is found in a body of flesh, then you draw His image..." He also observes that in the Old Testament, images and statues were not absolutely condemned in themselves: examples include the graven images of cherubim over the [[Ark of the Covenant]] or the bronze serpent mentioned in the [[book of Numbers]]. He also defends external acts of honour towards icons, arguing that there are "different kinds of worship" and that the honour shown to icons differs entirely from the adoration of God. He continues by citing Old Testament examples of forms of "honour": "Jacob bowed to the ground before Esau, his brother, and also before the tip of his son Joseph's staff (Genesis 33:3). He bowed down, but did not adore. Joshua, the Son of Nun, and Daniel bowed in veneration before an angel of God (Joshua 5:14) but they did not adore him. For adoration is one thing, and that which is offered in order to honour something of great excellence is another". He cites St. Basil who asserts, "the honour given to the image is transferred to its prototype". St. John argues therefore that venerating an image of Christ does not terminate at the image itself - the material of the image is not the object of worship - rather it goes beyond the image, to the prototype. 

[[Christian]] theology requires [[evangelism|proselytizing]], the spreading of the faith by gaining converts by use of trained [[missionary|missionaries]]. This often caused hostile relationships with [[paganism|pagan]] religions and other Christian groups who used images in some manner as part of religious practice. 

Fundamentalist Protestants often accuse Catholic and Orthodox Christians of [[Traditionalism]], Idolatry, [[Paganism]] and [[Iconolatry]] since they do not "cleanse their faith" of the use of images. 

[[Catholic]] and [[Orthodox Christians]] use religious objects such as [[Icons]], [[incense]], the [[Gospel]], [[Bible]], [[candles]] and religious [[vestments]]. Icons are mainly in two and rarely in three dimensional form. These are in dogmatic theory  [[venerated]] as  objects filled with God's [[divine grace|grace]] and power -- (therefore Eastern Orthodoxy declares they are not "hollow forms" {see [[Cult image|idol]]} and hence, not idols). Evidence for the use of these, they claim, is found in the '''''[[Old Testament]]''''' and in ''Early Christian'' worship (see Wikipedia article under heading "Icons").

The offering of veneration in the form of ''latreía'' (the veneration due God) is doctrinally forbidden by the Orthodox Church; however [[veneration]] of religious pictures or [[Icons]] in the form of ''douleía'' is not only allowed but obligatory.  The distinction in levels of veneration, which is doctrinally technical and not distinguishable in the form of actual practice, was and is often lost on the ordinary observer. The distinction is maintained and taught by believers in many of the hymns and prayers that are sung and prayed throughout the [[liturgical year]]. 

In Orthodox apologetics for icons, a similarity is asserted between icons and the manufacture by Moses (under God's commandment) of [[The Bronze Snake]], which was, Orthodoxy says, given the grace and power of God to heal those bitten by real snakes. "''And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any person, when he beheld the serpent of brass, they lived''"(Numbers 21:9).  Another similarity is declared with the [[Ark of the Covenant]] described as the ritual object above which Yahweh was present (Numbers 10:33-36); or the [[burning bush]] which , according to Exodus, allowed God to speak to Moses; or the Ten Commandments which were the Word of God "[[Dabar]] [[Elohim]]" in tablet form. These [[inanimate]] objects became a [[Holy|medium]] by which God worked to teach, speak to, encourage and heal the [[Hebrew people|Hebrew]] faithful.

Veneration of icons through ''latreía'' was codified in the [[Seventh Ecumenical Council]] during the Byzantine Iconoclast controversy. Icon veneration is also practiced in the Catholic Church, which accepts the declarations of the Seventh Ecumenical Council, but it is practiced to a lesser extent, since Catholics today do not usually prostrate and kiss icons, and the Second Vatican Council enjoined moderation in the use of images. [[Eastern-Rite]] Catholics still use icons in their [[Divine Liturgy]] however.

Most Protestant groups avoid the use of images in any context suggestive of veneration. Protestantism from its beginnings treated images as objects of inspiration and education rather than of veneration and worship.  Occasionally icons may be seen among some "high" church communities such as Anglicans, but they are not viewed or used in the same manner described in Orthodox doctrine, and their presence sometimes causes controversy.

Very conservative Protestant groups avoid any use of religious images, even for inspiration or instruction, as incitement to what they view as idolatry.

ūūūÀÀÀ== Muslim views of idolatry ==
{{main|Shirk (idolatry)}}

[[Islam]] forbids idolatry and [[polytheism]]. Most sects of Islam forbid any artistic depictions of human figures, even those of Muhammad, this being ''[[Shirk (idolatry)|shirk]]'', which originally means "partnership": the sin of associating some other being with the one God, [[Allah]]. This is considered akin to idolatry, if not idolatry outright. Furthermore, images of God are even banned outright in most sects of Islam, reinforcing absolute monotheism in Islam and attempting to eliminate any and all forms of idolatry.

*[[Kafir]]: a person who refuses to submit himself to Allah (God), a disbeliever in God.
*[[Kuffar]]: plural form of kafir.
*[[Kufr]] (verb): to show ungratefulness to Allah and not to believe in Him and His religion.

These words are used by most Muslims, as loose synonyms or translations for idolators and idolatry, although [[Islamic fundamentalism|some]] have used them to define all non-Muslims.

== Eastern religions and idolatry ==
Although there are many different interpretations of the term 'idolatry', it is essentially a term that belongs to the Abrahamic faiths (see etymology above), where the issue of idolatry is especially central to their ethics (see the 3rd Noahide Law, etc) as something that is prohibited. 

As a rule, any interpretation of the term by the non-Abrahamic religious who feel that they have been subjected to the label of 'idolatry' will not effectively represent the reasons why they have been labelled as such.

Moreover, defending their activities based upon the existence of graven images, pictures or other aspects of their worship will not affect their status as idolators by those who accuse them of idolatry.

Many modern Abrahamics reject any views of idolatry addressed against the main religions of the world and feel a great sense of kinship with other world religions even though history has sometimes characterised a very different attitude.
===Hindu views of idolatry===
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Contemporary Hinduism focuses on worship of either Vishnu or Shiva (whom adherents venerate as God) or God's power personified, [[Shakti]] or Devi. These personal aspects of God or His power are the only means to attain mukti or moksha. [[Moksha]], unlike the Buddhist counterpart of nirvana, is union with God. The [[Bhagavad Gita]] condemns worship of demigods or deities as such worship is limited and does not lead to moksha.

Early Rig [[Vedic religion|Vedic]] [[monism]] was realized in the [[Upanishads]] and Hinduism has multiple streams of thought that range from monotheist to monist. The multiple Hindu divinities (''"divine aspects"'',) represent different aspects of one [[natural]] power, or more accurately, a singular being-non-being [[Brahman]]. The concept of God without form or [[Nirguna Brahman]] is not unique to Judaism or Islam and is in fact held in Hinduism. However, human beings are sensory beings and have a need to visualize God with form. The personal forms of God (i.e., [[Saguna Brahman]] is expressed through [[Vishnu]] or [[Shiva]].  

For this reason, [[murti]], or [[icon]] worship, is very much a practice for most Hindus, who choose to connect through [[bhakti]], loving devotion, with God. While murti worship is sometimes equated with idolatry, critics of this point of view argue that the Hindu concept of murti worship consists of veneration of the image or statue as representative of a higher ideal or principle, while idolatry objectifies divinity as the material object itself. Besides, some Hindu sects like [[Arya Samaj]] and [[Brahmo Samaj]] do not believe in using murtis as a way to focus on God since they worship God without attributes as [[Nirguna Brahman]]. Other sects argue that the human mind needs an [[Ishta Deva]] (chosen deity) to help him to concentrate on the Divine principle during [[sadhana]] (spiritual exercise). In particular, some Hindu sects like [[ISKCON]] will only consent to worship of icons that they consider the supreme God (i.e., Vishnu or Krishna) or His [[avatar]]s.

When Hindus use idols in worship, they are worshipping God (Brahman) and not the idols themselves. The idol is just a piece of stone until God is invoked in it, and then it serves as a means to focus and meditate on God and is not believed to be the God in physical sense. As Hindus believe that God is Omnipresent; that God is within everyone and everything; that the soul and the supreme are not different; therefore, worshipping different Gods, deities, Goddesses, or Idols, is worshipping the Supreme because everyone and everything is God.

Hindus do not worship the idol as God, but  worships the Almighty who resides in that 'idol', as God resides everywhere. His immanence in all that is animate and in all that is inanimate is a fundamental tenet of Hinduism.  See [ http://www.geocities.com/profvk/WOVpage3.html 'Idol of a deity is deity itself']

Followers of [[Vishnu]] use the [[saligrama]] (a black stone pebble, found only in the Gandaki River at Mukti Kshetra and Damodar Kunda, one of the most sacred pilgrimage places in  north-west Nepal) or sometimes some turmeric paste aggregated into a conical form ,in place of the idol, signifying that a form is not essential to be attributed to God. Similarly, followers of [[Shiva]] mediate on the Siva [[linga]].

Just as some followers of Islam, Christianity and Judaism have called Hindus idolators or kafirs for not worshipping [[Yahweh]] or [[Allah]], Hindus have a similar term for calling followers of non-Vedic religion, (i.e., foreigners) [[yavanas]] and [[mlecchas]].

=== Shinto views of idolatry ===
[[Shinto]]ism is a [[religion]] which worships [[kami]] or nature spirits; it often uses various objects to represent these spirits in its [[shrine]]s, which often gives the appearance of idolatry to westerners. Claims of idolatry are present.

=== Christian views regarding Confucianism as idolatry ===
The question of whether Confucianism, and Chinese [[folk religion]], consists of worshipping a God or veneration of a saint was important to the Catholic Church during the [[Chinese Rites controversy]] of the early [[18th century]].  This dispute was between the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]]s who argued that Confucianism and Chinese folk religion was worship, and therefore incompatible with Catholicism, and the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] which argued the reverse.  The [[pope]] ultimately ruled in favor of the Dominicans; a decision which greatly reduced the role of Catholic missionaries in China.

===Buddhist views of idolatry===
[[Buddhism|Buddhist]] art employed different measures to represent the [[Buddha]]. Empty gaps were firstly used in murals or in another case, a footprint. Statues actually appeared half a century later within the [[Mahayana]] school and were often used to represent [[Gautama Buddha]] in his exact pose during Enlightenment under the [[bodhi]] tree. Since a [[Buddha]] comes only by the form of a ''man'', this practice was not considered idolatry by the remaining schools; it was the (exemplar) human being represented and not the [[Nirvana|Nirvanic]] state (which is believed to be unconditioned, unmade; formless) that the Enlightened One would enter.  

Buddhists do not venerate the objects themselves, but rather the meaning and symbolism represented by the object, which is the beneficial practice of [[meditation]]. Often Buddhists will bow before the statue, not as an act of literal worship for the carved image, but to evoke [[faith]] and respect in the individual towards what the statue symbolizes; the [[doctrine]] and discipline that [[Gautama Buddha]] founded. It is considered a grave error in Buddhist thought to risk one's life (or the life of another) to rescue a statue -- let alone worship one.

===Daoist views of idolatry===
In one form, [[Daoism]] (very commonly seen spelt Taoism) is a [[polytheism|polytheistic]] and [[animism|animistic]] religion which includes the conception of a pervasive universal principle called the ''[[Dao]]'' (道), which manifests through the [[mana]]-like energy called ''[[qi]]'' (氣). (In another form Daoism refers to a philosophical school, not a religion.)  Early Daoism was in fact only partially [[icon|aniconic]], picturing most deities (even important ones such as [[Xiwangmu]]/西王母) while disallowing the anthropomorphic representation of the central deity [[Lao Tsu|Taishang Laojun]] (太上老君).  As the manifestation of the ineffable ''Dao'', He was represented either by an empty throne and canopy or vicariously through that of [[Shakyamuni]] [[Buddha]].

However, since at least the Tang dynasty, Daoism has incorporated the use of divine images (called ''shen2xiang4''/神像) even for its highest trinity, the [[Three Pure Ones|''San Qing'']] (三清).  In both Daoism and [[Chinese Folk Religion]], statues, paintings, or name plaques of deities are given central place as focus of worship in temples and homes.  While all representations of deities are afforded reverence and respect, images which have been ritually "opened to light" (''kai1 guang1 dian4 yan3''/開光點眼) or have been venerated through pious worship are exceptionally invested with and made conduit of the divine [[numen]] of the god, known as ''ling2qi4'' (靈氣).  Through ritual offerings and scriptural chants, such icons are believed to maintain the living presence of the deity, who gives guidance and bestows blessings upon the devout.  

However, while the high gods of the ''Dao'' might be iconicized, they are still regarded as ultimately transcending both form and numen in a way unavailable to the deities of the popular religion.  As beings directly emergent from and suffused with the primordial ''Dao'', They may take on form through incarnations, icons, and in visualization mainly to aid humanity's spiritual advancement.

Daoism's complex [[theology]], [[cosmology]], and animistic worldview would might reject the Abrahamic conception of idolatry as materialistic nihilism.  As a life-affirming religion, the manifest world is not considered intrinsically evil.  Furthermore, being an admittedly polytheistic religion, a criticism on grounds of idolatry is a [[Non sequitur (logic)|non sequitur]].  Daoist icons are simultaneously much more than mere symbols yet not literally synonymous with the gods.  Indeed, the monotheism which informs the taboo of idolatry would be regarded as a blasphemous anthropocentrism of the Dao, denying divinity from plural manifestation and personal immediacy in the world, hence a "deviant view" (xie2jian4/邪見).

== Polytheistic views of idolatry (in general) ==
Adherents of polytheism and animism reject the charge of idolatry as an inaccurate description of their religious beliefs and practices.  Polytheists generally do not believe that their statues (or other physical objects) are gods; rather, they are symbols of immaterial gods.  Rather, they maintain that physical idols are simply the ''representational'' form of a [[divine]] [[deity]] &mdash; the act of "worship" is not for the ''object,'' but for the divinity that the object is believed to represent.

Polytheistic and [[animism|Animistic]] beliefs that have given rise to the charge of idolatry include: 

* Certain objects or places have [[supernatural]] powers independent of God.
* [[Prayer]] or [[ritual]]s within the presence of certain objects or places are likelier to have an effect then when performed elsewhere. 
* [[Prayer]] is paid to images, paintings or statues of polytheistic pantheons, or to [[relic]]s of polytheistic religious figures.

These beliefs are generally held to be at variance with monotheism, which holds that all power comes from God alone, and not from any other gods or agents. In such systems, "God" at best is only the stronger of many other gods, and thus God would not be [[omnipotence|omnipotent]] or [[omniscience|omniscient]]. 

Scholars of religion generally do not equate idolatry with polytheism, primarily because polytheists accused of idolatry usually do not have the beliefs ascribed to them.  Specifically, most polytheists hold that their idols or icons are only symbols of the gods they worship, and these idols or icons do not possess supernatural powers. 

== See also ==
*[[Aniconism]]
*[[Anthropocentrism]]
*[[Ethnocentrism]]
*[[Religious pluralism]]
*[[Sociology]]

== References==
* "Idolatry", article in "The Encyclopedia Judaica", Keter Publishing
*{{cite journal
 | first = Herbert Chanan
 | last = Brichto
 | authorlink = 
 | coauthors = 
 | year = 1983
 | month = 
 | title = '''The Worship of the Golden Calf: A Literary Analysis of a Fable on Idolatry'''
 | journal = Hebrew Union College Annual
 | volume = 54
 | issue = 
 | pages = 
 | id = 
 | url = 
 }}
*{{note_label|Kaufman|1960|none}}{{cite book
 | last = Kaufman
 | first = Yehezkel
 | authorlink = 
 | coauthors = 
 | editor = translated by Moshe Greenberg
 | others = 
 | title = '''The Religion of Israel: From its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile'''
 | origdate = 
 | origyear = 
 | origmonth = 
 | url = 
 | format = 
 | accessdate = 
 | accessyear = 
 | accessmonth = 
 | edition = 
 | date = June 1, 1960
 | year = 
 | month = 
 | publisher = University of Chicago Press
 | location = Chicago, IL
 | language = 
 | id = ISBN 0226427285
 | pages = 
 | chapter = 
 | chapterurl = 
}}
* "Judaism and the Varieties of Idolatrous Experience" by Bary S. Kogan in ''Proceedings of the Academy for Jewish Philosophy'' Ed. David Novak and Norbert M. Samuelson, University Press of America, 1992
* "Judaism and Idolatry: In Defense of Images" by Elliot N. Dorff in ''Proceedings of the Academy for Jewish Philosophy'' Ed. David Novak and Norbert M. Samuelson, University Press of America, 1992
*{{note_label|Brownson|2004|none}}{{cite book
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 | title = '''Saint Worship and the Worship of Mary'''
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==Notes==
*<sup>2</sup>See [http://www.shroudstory.com/index.htm The Shroud of Turin Story]
*<sup>3</sup>"[http://www.newadvent.org/summa/402503.htm Whether the adoration of ''latria'' is to be given to the image of Christ?]"

==External links==
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=3201 What's So Terrible about Idolatry? - The Jewish view on Idolatry] chabad.org