248 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
248 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Idolatry
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World Scripture
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IDOLATRY
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For the monotheistic religions, the chief manifestation of ignorance is
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idolatry. Literally the worship of images, idolatry in the broader sense means
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allegiance to false values that substitute for God. In the Qur'an idols are
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regarded as evil spirits and Satan; those who worship them are therefore
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enemies to God. The idol-gods, being spiritual beings, have the nature of
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creatures, rather than of God, and hence cannot profit their adherents--cf.
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Spiritual Error and the Occult, pp. 376-81. The Bible views idols as human
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artifacts, not as representations of deity. Hence idol worship is regarded as
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a form of materialism, and, conversely, any false reliance on human power or
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wealth is a form of idolatry. A more spiritual conception of idolatry is to
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identify it with egoism and human craving, since attachment to these false
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realities separates us from our true nature. In our century, the idols of
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nationalism, racism, and secular ideologies have captivated millions, with
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horrible results.
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Verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, proclaiming, "Serve God and
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shun false gods."
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1. Islam. Qur'an 16.36
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The parable of those who take protectors other than God is that of the spider
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who builds for itself a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the
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spider's house--if they only knew!
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2. Islam. Qur'an 29.41
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Qur'an 29:41: Cf. Qur'an 21.19-21, p. 84; 23.91-92, p. 83.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Set forth your case, says the Lord;
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bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob....
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Declare to us the things to come,
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tell us what is to come hereafter,
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that we may know that you are gods.
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Do good, or do harm,
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that we may be dismayed and terrified.
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Behold, you are nothing,
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and your work is nought;
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an abomination is he who chooses you.
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3. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 41.21-24
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How can you call that flirt a chaste lady
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Who kisses and embraces every man she meets
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And shamelessly says, "O Honey, my dear!"...
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Behold! a faithful wife has but one husband!
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Behold! a true believer has but one God!
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Look! the fellowship of other gods is debauchery!
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Look! to believe in different gods is harlotry!
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4. Hinduism. Basavanna, Vacana 615-16
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The Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have
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children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the
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Lord." So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived
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and bore him a son.
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And the Lord said to him, "Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while, and I
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will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end
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to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day, I will break the bow of
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Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
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She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, "Call her
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name Not Pitied, for I will no more have pity on the house of Israel, to
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forgive them at all."...
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When she had weaned Not Pitied, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord
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said, "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people and I am not your
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God."
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5. Judaism and Christianity. Hosea 1.2-8
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The law against idolatry outweighs all other commandments.
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6. Judaism. Mekilta Exodus 12.6
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Isaiah 41.21-24: God is calling the idol gods to account before the heavenly
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court. Cf. 1 Corinthians 8.4-6, p. 83. Hosea 1.2-8: God instructed the
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prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute in order to dramatize through his own
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marriage Israel's religious apostasy. As Gomer was unfaithful to the prophet,
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so Israel was unfaithful to God. Gomer's children were given symbolic names as
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prophecies of coming judgment. On idolatry as harlotry, cf. Jeremiah 2-3.
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Mekilta Exodus 12.6: Cf. Exodus 20.3-5, p. 166; Tosefta Shebuot 3.6, p. 397.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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God forgives not joining other gods with Him; other sins than this He forgives
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whom He pleases. One who joins other gods with God has strayed far, far away.
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The pagans, leaving Him, call but upon female deities: they actually call upon
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Satan, the persistent rebel!
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7. Islam. Qur'an 4.116-17
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Whoever knows the self as "I am Brahman," becomes all this [universe]. Even the
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gods cannot prevent his becoming this, for he has become their Self.
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Now, if a man worships another deity, thinking, "He is one and I am another,"
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he does not know. He is like an animal to the gods. As many animals serve a
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man, so does each man serve the gods [with offerings]. Even if one animal is
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taken away, it causes anguish to the owner; how much more so when many are
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taken away! Therefore it is not pleasing to the gods that men should know the
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truth.
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8. Hinduism. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10
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Who sees Me by form,
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Who seeks Me in sound,
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Perverted are his footsteps upon the Way;
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For he cannot perceive the Tathagata.
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9. Buddhism. Diamond Sutra 26
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Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the
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midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for
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yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the
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likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird
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that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the
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likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
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10. Judaism and Christianity. Deuteronomy 4.15-18
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Our God is in the heavens;
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he does whatever he pleases.
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Their idols are silver and gold,
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the work of men's hands.
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They have mouths, but do not speak;
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eyes, but do not see.
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They have ears, but do not hear;
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noses, but do not smell.
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They have hands, but do not feel;
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feet, but do not walk;
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and they do not make a sound in their throat.
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Those who make them are like them;
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so are all who trust in them.
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11. Judaism and Christianity. Psalm 115.3-8
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Qur'an 4.116-17: Cf. Qur'an 21.26-29, p. 377. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10:
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Cf. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.20, p. 380; Qur'an 17.61-64, p. 440. Diamond Sutra 26:
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A similar stanza can be found in the Theravada scriptures, at Theragatha 469.
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Deuteronomy 4.15-18: Cf. Romans 1.21-25, p. 396.
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It is people who make the gods important.
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If a spirit [idol] becomes too troublesome, it will be shown the tree from
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which it was carved.
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12. African Traditional Religions. Kalabari Proverbs (Namibia)
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Fools misjudge me when I take
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a human form,
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Because they do not know my supreme
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state as Lord of Beings.
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Unconscious, they fall prey to a beguiling nature
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such as belongs to ogres and demons,
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For their hopes [ascribing to God human motives] are vain, and so
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are their rituals and their search for wisdom.
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13. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 9.11-12
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Their land is filled with silver and gold,
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and there is no end to their treasures;
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their land is filled with horses,
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and there is no end to their chariots.
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Their land is filled with idols;
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they bow down to the work of their hands,
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to what their own fingers have made.
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So man is humbled, and men are brought low--
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forgive them not!
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14. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 2.7-9
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When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the
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people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, "Up, make us
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gods, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out
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of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." And Aaron said
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to them, "Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives, your
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sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off
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the rings of gold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he
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received the gold at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made
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a molten calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you
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up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before
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it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the
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Lord." And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and
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brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up
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to play.
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15. Judaism and Christianity. Exodus 32.1-6
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Psalm 115.3-8: The Bible has a number of satires on idols as human creations,
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mere objects unable to do anything--for example Isaiah 44.9-20 and Jeremiah
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10.1-10. Passages such as this have fostered a general disdain for visual
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representations of the divine in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Such
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satires are perhaps uncomprehending of genuine image-worship, in which the
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image is understood only as a representation of transcendent Reality and a
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means to focus the mind on God, who is beyond form. Yet veneration of images
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may become idolatry when the images are themselves regarded as having magical
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powers. Bhagavad Gita 9.11-12: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 9.23-25, p. 380. Isaiah
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2.7-9: Cf. Matthew 6.24, p. 937.
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Covetousness, which is idolatry.
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16. Christianity. Colossians 3.5
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"There shall be in you no strange god and you shall not worship a foreign god"
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[Psalm 81.10]. What is the "foreign god" within a man's body? It is the evil
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impulse.
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17. Judaism. Talmud, Shabbat 105b
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For many... live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction,
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their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on
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earthly things.
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18. Christianity. Philippians 3.18-19
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Have you seen him who makes his desire his god, and God sends him astray
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purposely, and seals up his hearing and his heart, and sets on his sight a
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covering? Who, then, will lead him after God [has condemned him]? Will you not
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then heed?
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19. Islam. Qur'an 45.23
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Resolve to gain the victory over your own selves, that haply the whole earth
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may be freed and sanctified from its servitude to the gods of its idle
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fancies--gods that have inflicted such loss upon, and are responsible for the
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misery of, their wretched worshipers. These idols form the obstacle that
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impedes man in his efforts to advance in the path of perfection.
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20. Baha'i Faith. Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 43
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Shabbat 105b: On the Evil Inclination, cf. Kiddushin 30b, p. 390. Philippians
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3.18-19: Cf. Romans 1.21-25, p. 396.
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