Introduction
Old Testament Concept of Idolatry
Heathen
practices came to Israel chiefly via the Egyptians, the Canaanites and
the Assyro-Babylonian nations. Ancient Egyptian art and writing have
left evidence of thousands of deities. The Pharaohs themselves were
regarded to be incarnations of deity. In addition to such humans, a
bull, a crocodile, a fish, a tree, a hawk, etc., might also be indwelt
by a spirit and thus deified. There were many animal- or bird-headed
deities with human bodies.[1]
The most pronounced and consistent of Israel’s departures from the
covenant relationship with Jehovah involved idolatry. Old Testament
history is filled with accounts of Israel’s turning to false gods, the
Lord’s warnings against doing so, and prophets’ warnings about what
would happen if Israel did not repent. The following excerpts briefly
summarize idolatry in the Old Testament. “The sun and moon were early
selected as outward symbols of all-pervading power, and the worship of
the heavenly bodies was not only the most ancient but the most prevalent
system of idolatry. Taking its rise in the plains of Chaldea, it spread
through Egypt, Greece, Seythia, and even Mexico and Ceylon. Comp. Deut.
4:19; 17:3; Job 31:20–28. In the later times of the monarchy, the
planets or the zodiacal signs received, next to the sun and moon, their
share of popular adoration. 2 Kings 23:5.[2]Abraham, the father of Israel, came from a land of idol worshippers, but he renounced idols when he came to know the one true God (Josh 24:2,15). Some of Abraham’s relatives, however, who did not share Abraham’s faith, continued to have private household gods (Gen 31:19). The penalty that Israelite law laid down for idol worship was death (Exod 22:20; Deut 13:2-5; 17:2-5). Yet the people of Israel repeatedly fell into idolatry through copying the practices of the people around them (Judg 2:12; 10:6; 17:3-6; Jer 44:15-19). Because they did not know what Yahweh looked like, they copied the forms of the gods of other religions (Exod 32:4; Deut 4:12; 1 Kings 12:28; Hosea 13:2). The form of idolatry that Israel most frequently fell into was Baalism (2 Kings 17:15-16; see BAAL). In addition the people sometimes took objects that had played an important part in God’s dealings with Israel and wrongfully made them into objects of worship (Judg 8:27; 2 Kings 18:4).[3] The theological grounds for the judgment of idolatry are the jealousy of God. The belief that Idolatry arouses God’s jealousy is a sturdy OT theme with a long history. it is introduced in the second commandment (Ex. 20:5: Dt. 5:8-10) and in Exodus 34:14 (‘Do not worship any other god, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God’) it is the explanation of the divine name, ‘Jealous’. In fact all the Pentateuchal references to God’s jealousy have to do with idol-worship. An Idol worshipped in Jerusalem in Ezekiel 8:3 is called ‘the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy’ (cf. Ezk. 16:38, 42; 23:25). The conviction that God’s jealousy inevitably leads him to stern action is also deeply rooted m the OT. God’s jealousy, based upon his love for those he has redeemed at great cost, motivates him to judge his people: Nahum 1:2, The Lord is a jealous God and avenges’. The OT is replete with texts in which God’s jealousy leads him to destroy the faithless among his people.[4]
New Testament Concept of Idolatry
Following
the exile and subsequent intertestamental struggles, the Jews no longer
fell prey to physical idolatry. This is why idolatry is rarely
mentioned in the Gospels. As the gospel message spread it encountered
various forms of idolatry in the pagan world as attested in Acts,
especially Paul's encounters at Athens (17:16-31) and Ephesus (19:23-34
).[5]
The early Christians unavoidably came in contact with Gentile idolatry
(Acts 17:16). Thus they often had to face questions concerning the
festive meals and meat offered to idols (Acts 15:20; I Pet 4:3; Rev
2:14), especially at Corinth (I Cor 8, 10). Idolater is the name given
to worshipers of heathen gods and personal idols in the New Testament (I
Cor 5:10-11; 6:9; 10:7; Rev 21:8; 22:15). Idolatry is specifically
equated with covetousness which makes a god of mammon (i.e., money) and
renders a man unfaithful in his stewardship (Mt 6:24; Lk 16:13; Col 3:5;
Eph 5:5). The injunctions against evil concupiscence surely have a
reference not only to the idolatry in the early Christian environment
but also to our sex-obsessed age (Gal 5:19-20; Phil 3:19; Rom 16:18). The source of idolatry is basically an impure heart and will (Rom 1:21). Paul agrees with Isaiah that man degenerated to heathenism rather than evolved from it (Rom 1; Isa 44). Therefore he commands Christians to flee from idolatry (I Cor 10:14), as does John (I Jn 5:21).[6] The New Testament stresses the exceeding sinfulness of idolatry. Frequent listing of sins includes idolatry (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5; I Peter 4:3; Rev. 21:8). Distortion brought about by idolatry is emphatically set forth in Romans 1:18-31, where image worship is seen as a downward spiral away from the truth God.[7] The pressure of idolatry on Gentiles believers explains the numerous references to idolatry in Paul’ Epistles. Teaching about foods offered to idols is an excellent example of the struggle of maturing Christians with idolatry. The fact that idolatry would continue to be a threat to the church is underscored by the many references to the worship of the image of the beast in Revelation.[8]
Despite the prohibition of idolatry in Hebrew law, it clearly remained a fundamental form of temptation throughout Israel’s history, whether in worshipping false gods through their idols or in reducing the worship of the one true God to idolatrous form. Hence, the denunciation of idolatry in its various forms is a recurrent theme in both the lawn and the prophets (Deut. 7:25-26; 29:16-17; Isa. 40:18-23). In the New Testament times idolatry was practiced in various forms throughout the Roman empire and was steadfastly resisted by the early Christian church. It was understood as a sign of human folly (Rom. 1:22-23), representing a perversion of true religion. In the later history of Christianity, idolatry in the strict sense has continued to be opposed in the terms of the ancient biblical prohibitions. But the continuing danger has more commonly returned in the metaphorical sense delineated in the New Testament; it is the “worship” (i.e., the total dedication of a person) of that which is seen and tangible, the goals of covetousness, rather than the unseen spiritual being that is God.[9]
Brief Historical Background of Colosse
Although
Colossae was on the main highway from Syria to Ephesus, Paul apparently
did not visit the church there during his missionary travels recorded
in Acts (Col 1:4; 2: 1). Colossae was situated in a part of the province
of Asia where Paul was forbidden to preach during his second missionary
journey (Acts 16:6-8). The church in Colossae was probably founded
during Paul’s stay in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, when the
Ephesian converts took the gospel to the towns of the surrounding
countryside (Acts 19:8-10). Epaphras appears to have been the person
chiefly responsible for the establishment of the church in Colossae (Col
1:7). At the time Paul wrote his letter to the Colossian church, it met
in the home of Philemon (Col 4:9; Philemon 1-2, 10-12).[10] In Colossians 1:2, the letter is addressed ‘to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.’[11]
About 100 miles from Ephesus, in the valley of the River Lycus, near
where it joins the Maeander, there once stood three important
cities—Laodicaea, Hierapolis and Colosse. Originally they had been
Phrygian cities, but now they were part of the Roman province of Asia.[12]The valley of the River Lycus was a wealthy area and famous for two closely related trades. Volcanic ground is always fertile, and what was not covered by the chalky encrustations was magnificent pasture land. On these pastures, there were large flocks of sheep; and the area was perhaps the greatest centre of the woolen industry in the world. Therefore, Colosse stood in a district of considerable geographical interest and of great commercial prosperity. Colosse was a small town; and some scholars claim that it was the most unimportant town to which Paul ever wrote a letter. Laodicaea, Hierapolis and Colosse cities stood in an area in which there were many Jews. Many years before, Antiochus the Great had transported 2,000 Jewish families from Babylon and Mesopotamia into the regions of Lydia and Phrygia. These Jews had prospered; and, as always happens in such cases, more and more Jews had come into the area to share their prosperity.[13]
Religious Conditions: What the heresy was which was threatening the life of the church at Colosse, no one can tell for certain. ‘The Colossian Heresy’ is one of the great problems of New Testament scholarship. There was what was called Gnosticism. Gnosticism began with two basic assumptions about matter. First, it believed that spirit alone was good and that matter was essentially evil. Second, it believed that matter was eternal; and that the universe was created not out of nothing—which is orthodox belief—but out of this flawed matter.[14] This teaching was an early form of Gnosticism, a kind of religious philosophy that combined Christian belief with pagan mythology. In Colossae it had certain features taken from Judaism, mainly in relation to religious ceremonies. Gnostic religions had great interest in things mysterious or ritualistic (Col 2:16, 20-21). A chief concern of the false teachers was with things they considered to be in conflict, such as good and evil, spirit and matter, deity and humanity. Believing matter to be evil, they claimed that a God who was holy could not come in contact with human beings. This meant, in their view, that Jesus Christ could not be both divine and human. The false teachers therefore taught that there were countless intermediate beings, part-spirit and part-matter, who bridged the gap between God and the human race. Those closer to God were more Godlike, those closer to humans less Godlike, but together they controlled the material universe. People had to worship them and win their favor if they wanted protection against the evil forces at work in the world (Col 2:8,18). Paul asserted that Christ is God, and he is over and above every being in the spirit world and the material world (Col 1:15-19; 2:9). Indeed, he is the creator of all things, the Savior of sinful people and the conqueror of the powers of evil (Col 1:20-22; 2:15).[15]
Statement of Problems
Paul
affirms that idolatry goes to the way of greed or covetousness, i.e.,
simply means that covetousness is the root of idolatry. The assertion of
Old Testament on the idea of idolatry comes from the worship of idols
made by human, and to worship idol was strongly prohibited. Making
idols, graving images, setting up any image on the land, and to bow down
before any image or idols was strong prohibited in Leviticus 26:1, and
there are other Scripture texts that tells us the prohibition of making
idols and worship them as gods, as in the Ten Commandment. The New
Testament also refers us not to approach with those who worship idol or
image that are made by human. Substitution the Living God as idols and
imagery was regarded as the sinful nature of acts. The New Testament stresses the exceeding sinfulness of idolatry. Frequent listing of sins includes idolatry (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5; I Peter 4:3; Rev. 21:8) and Paul instructs believers not to associate with idolatry (I Cor. 5:11; 10:14). Swaying to our chosen text what Paul taught us as the worship of idolatry is so covetousness. What does covetousness means? It can be defined simply as the desire to have or own more and more. Covetousness is regarded as the root of all sins. We can perceive the reason why Paul taught the people of Colossians to mortify and clean the covetousness from the members of their bodies was the fact that they were not away from the sinful which is covetousness that leads to unlimited desires and unsatisfactory. It is sure that the present Christians are not in aware how to clarify what idolatry means in our churches, societies or even in our Christians lives. Today, the only thing what we avoid in our lives is the literal concept of idolatry, i.e., only literal worship of idols as sinful. However, this research will try to reinterpret symbolically the real meaning of Idolatry in our own contexts respectively.
Research Questions
By
doing this research, the author found that there are some research
questions and problems which will be going to be discussed. As stated in
Statements of Problems, the present Christians are confused and
misunderstand what idolatry is meant today. As a result, many Christians
are fallen in the pit of sinful desires which destroy the lives of
Christians. The related questions are such as: what is idolatry today?
Which things drive out the place of God’s Kingdom from our lives? What
are the symbols of idolatry which destroy Christian lives? The author
will try to answer these questions in section four (Reinterpretation) in
the light of Symbolic Approach.
Methodology
The
author chooses Symbolic Approach as reinterpreting tools for this
research. Using this symbolic approach, the author will attempt to solve
the related problems and try to answer the research questions. Firstly,
we may define the definition of Symbolic Approach. Symbolic Approach
can be defined as that it represents or stands for something else. It is
considered to express the reality it symbolizes but is not literally
equivalent to it. The term is also used for creeds, as representations
of Christian faith. Theologically, it is a representation that stands
for a theological reality, as, for example, the cross stands for the
death of Jesus Christ or, more generally, for the Christian faith
itself.[16]
In this sense, the author will attempt to reinterpret which idolatry is
symbolically meant to the present day. There are a lot of symbolic
expressions which can be understood as the worship of image or idol
today. The author expects that this approach will help us to solve the
problems and achieve the goal of this search.
Idolatry
This
is a transliteration of the Greek word eidololatria, which we
understand to mean “the worship of idols; the worship of images as
divine or sacred.” This Greek term is a compound of two. The first is
eido (the Latin, video), meaning “to see” and “to know” hence it carries
the basic concept “to know by seeing.” On this term was formed the word
eidolon, “image,” which came to mean specifically an image of a god as
an object of worship, or a material symbol of the supernatural as such
an object. The second term is latreia meaning “service” or, more
especially, “the service or worship of the gods.”[17]
The worship of an idol or of a deity represented by an idol, usually as
an image. Idolatry, as a form or religious practice, was common in both
Old Testament and New Testament. Literary and archaeological evidence
for the practice has survived from Mesopotamia, Syrio-Palestine, Egypt,
and from the Roman Empire.[18]Animism was the worship or reverence of inanimate objects, such as stones, trees, rivers, springs, and other natural objects. There was also the worship of animate things: such animals as the sacred bulls or calves, symbolical of the principle of reproduction and procreation: the serpent, as a symbol of yearly renewal, since it sheds its old skin for a new one; and birds, such as the hawk, the eagle, and the falcon, as symbols of wisdom and insight. These animal forms were sometimes combined with the human as objects of worship—theriomorphism. There were the astral deities, such as the sun, moon and stars.[19]
The Chains of Idolatry Today
The
Greek term pleonexia is a very expressive word; made up of two parts,
‘hve’ and ‘more’, meaning ‘the desire to have more’, a concept which
Paul says ‘is idolatry’. This is also a picture of the attitude of
modern twenty-first century society which cries out, ‘we want more of
everything, regardless!’—demands which then become the center of one’s
life.[20]
You set your desires on evil things; and then in the spirit of ruthless
and aggressive self-seeking you set out to make your own in fact that
which in imagination you had already seen as your own. This is the very
heart of idolatry—not the setting up of a visible idol and worshipping
it, though that is bad enough; no, real idolatry is this putting of
yourself in the centre of the picture, this demanding that everything
should yield to your desires. There is the world of God’s favour; in
that world He concerns Himself about us, He leads us in His way; the end
of this is salvation and everlasting life.[21]
Every Christians must evaluate our lives that which one is the center
in our lives; whether there is anything that block and cut out our
relationship with God. We should know that our desire (unsatisfied) can
make our communications with God in our daily lives. Covetousness: There is the sin which the Revised Standard Version calls covetousness (pleonexia). Pleonexia is one of the ugliest of sins; but, while it is quite clear what it means, it is by one means so easy to find a single word to translate it. It comes from two Greek words; the first half of the word is from pleon, which means more, and the second half is from echein, which means to have. Pleonexia is basically the desire to have more. The Greeks themselves defined it as desire which cannot be satisfied, and said that you might as easily satisfy it as you might fill with water a bowl with a hole in it. They defined it as the sinful desire for what belongs to others.[22] Impurity highlights the contamination of character effected by immoral behavior. The word rendered lust could refer to any overmastering passion, but regularly, as here, indicates uncontrolled sexual urges. Evil desires (the word ‘evil’ is added because ‘desire’ by itself, which is what the Greek word means, could be used in a neutral sense) is the state which logically precedes lust. It is perhaps important to note, as is clearly implied by Hebrews 4:15, that experiencing sexual temptation is not itself sinful. Sin begins when the idea of illicit gratification, presented to the mind in temptation, is not at once put to death, but is instead fondled and cherished. Behind this stage, in turn, there is greed: another general term, here it refers to unchecked hunger for physical pleasure, which is the breeding-ground for more specific evil desires. Paul boldly unmasks this covetousness: it is idolatry. Literal idol-worship, of course, formed the setting for a good deal of the sort of behavior here criticized, but that is only an illustration of the basic point. All such greed places at the centre of one’s attention and devotion that which is not God. In turning from the source of life, those who follow other paths are actually pursuing death (cf. Rom. 1:12ff, 32; 6:21), as the next verse indicates.[23]
Wealth: Matthew 6:24 in context gives clear support to the idea that the worship of mammon instead of God involves love and devotion, using these very words, and service and obedience with the notion of rival masters. It also implies a negative judgment on trusting in wealth since the verses which verse 24 effectively introduces, 6:25—34, point to the birds and lilies in order to inspire trust in God’s providential care. A virtual synonym for ‘greed’, pleonexia, In a broad range of material is ‘lover of money’, filarguria, the thought of which is sometimes expressed in the form of an admonition (e.g., Heb. 13:5: ‘Keep free from the love of money’).[24] The Bible understands that idolatry extends beyond the God’s sovereignty and attempts to offer an alternate explanation to the issues of life. But Scripture not only records people’s failures; it also records the hope of repentance. In his mercy God raised up men and women who challenged the faulty theology of the community. Admonitions are laced with appeals for repentance, reform, and restoration, one indication being the elimination of idolatry. To serve other gods is to forsake God; to eliminate idolatry is a sign of return. Paul’s commendation to the Thessalonians believers emphasized their turning from the service of idols “to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9).[25]
Money and things can be sought above all else. A friend, a mate, a child, or a parent can be loved above all else. One can seek pleasure or fame above all else. One’s love of country, a hero or leader, a philosophy or ideology can be an idol. Even something as abstract as art, education, or service can usurp the place of God. The most common idol of all is self.[26] Today some Christians assume that to be rich leads to the sinful acts. A person’s spiritual condition could not be identified with his social or economic standing. Many of the rich were spiritually more impoverished than many of the poor. Jesus acknowledged the difficulty of rich people coming into the kingdom (Mk. 10:24, 25), but he did not condemn riches as such, only their wrong use and man’s wrong attitude towards them (Lk. 12:15). The condemnation of covetousness has an important bearing on a Christian’s approach to his own possessions. It also influences the way in which he looks at material prosperity in society as a whole. When Jesus advised the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor (Lk. 18:22), he was not giving a general directive to al his followers, but specific advice to one whose great weakness was too great a love for riches.[27] True life is to be found in the God revealed by Christ (vss. 3b-4), the Christian is to see that his whole life is reoriented in terms of the “kingdom of [God’s] beloved Son” (1:13). The parallel admonitions Seek the things that are above (vs. 1) and Set your minds on things that are above (vs. 2) urge in a general way precisely that radically new orientation expecting motives and goals which subsequent paragraphs more particularly specify.[28]
Evaluation and Future Expectations
We
can understand the distinction between the concept of idolatry in the
Old Testament and New Testament. We are turning to the concept of the
New Testament which Paul affirms that idolatry is covetousness. This is
one of the vital points in Christians lives today. Most Christians
misunderstand what idolatry means in our real lives. To worship image or
idol made by human is not the reality of Pauline idea in Colossians,
but that is the covetousness which always destroys the lives of
Christians until today. Simply, to worship God in the form of an idol
would be to reduce God the Creator to the substance of creation (that
which was represented in the idol), thereby undermining fundamentally
the conception of the transcendent Creator God. The idol gave to
devotees a sense of the physical proximity of a deity and perhaps also
the conviction that the deity’s power could be harnessed by human
beings. The God of Israel was immanent, but that immanence could not be
expressed in physical or tangible form; it remained the essence of faith
and of experience.[29]
If we have any hobbies in our lives and we are interesting too much in
that. If our hobbies will make stumbling block in our relationship with
God, it means idolatry. That desire destroys Christians spiritual! I
mean simply that watching Korean movies, playing games, or others
interesting instead of going to the church, finding our spiritual bread
or seeking the Kingdom of God are the worship of idolatry—which drives
out the place of God’s Kingdom in our lives. If it is the desire for
money, it leads to theft. If it is the desire for prestige, it leads to
evil ambition. If it is the desire for power, it leads to sadistic
tyranny. If it is the desire for a person, it leads to sexual sin. Such
a desire, says Paul, is idolatry. The essence of idolatry is the desire
to get. People set up idols and worship them because they desire to get
something from them. The essence of idolatry is, in fact, the desire to
have more. Or to come at it another way, those whose lives are
dominated by the desire to get things have set up material possessions
in the place of God—and that precisely is idolatry.[30]
Many pastors have fallen on this point. They do work for the own pride,
their own greed, self-fish rather than the shepherd of their people.
Many people worship person those who hold power. Today the most popular
one is money. Money makes us astray from our spiritual lives, and takes
the place of idolatry rather than the place of God’s Kingdom. This
concept of idolatry transforms their lives—the thought as godlike, the
thought as the high position before God. Our environmental model,
globalization, market, economy, the misuse of science and technology,
which exploit natural resources and human labor for the profit and greed
of a very small minority are among the main causes for this divide of
humanity and for the misery, poverty and oppression of the vast majority
of humankind. Dehumanization can lead to the position of greed; the
desire to get high position, the desire to suppress the low ranking of
classes, the desire to get more property and the desire to get
favoritism before the pastor and power holders. We worship at the altar
of materialism which feeds our need to build our egos through the
acquisition of more. Today our homes are filled with all manner of
possessions. They build bigger and bigger houses with more closets and
storage space in order to house all the things we buy, much of which we
haven’t even paid for yet. Today most people as well as many pastors and
evangelist have fallen into this bottomless pit. There are many forms
and symbols of idolatry in our society. Idolatry can take such forms as
clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure, internet,
money, technology, hobbies, and numerous other materials from the path
to godhood. Lastly, one of the most destructive in Christian lives is
self-indulgence such as alcohol, drugs and so on. These are the symbol
of idolatry that makes people to worship them, to addict them. If one
addicts something, it will be hard to divorce it. It can take long until
death. In the end, the material what we worship destroy our lives, and
basing on our desires and greed to get things what we need not. There
are some people who went to foreign for money. That is our greed, our
covetousness, our over-desires which always destroy us; which make us
the slaves of wealth. To conclude this paper, God have prohibited
idolatry until today, this means idolatry literally or symbolically are
the stumbling block between God and human; which occupy the state of the
Kingdom of God with the state of idolatry. Author : David John
[1] Ross E. Price, “Idolatry,” in eds, Charles F. Pfeiffer et al, Wycliffe Bible dictionary (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), 872.
[2] Enrichment Section F: Idolatry: Ancient and Modern [article online] Available from https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-student-manual-genesis-2-samuel/enrichment-section-f-idolatry-ancient-and-modern?lang=eng, Internet accessed on September 12nd, 2014.
[3] Don Fleming, Bridgeway Bible Dictionary (Australia: Bridgeway Publications, 2004), 77.
[4] Brian Rosner, The Concept of Idolatry [article online] Available from http://www.theologynetwork.org/biblical-studies/getting-stuck-in/the-concept-of-idolatry.htm, Internet accessed on August 29th, 2014.
[5] Robert D. Spender, Idol, Idolatry in Bible Study Tools, [article online] Available from http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionaries/bakers-evangelical-dictionary/idol-idolatry.html, Internet accessed on September 2nd, 2014.
[6] Ross E. Price, “Idolatry,” in eds, Charles F. Pfeiffer et al, Wycliffe Bible dictionary (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), 829-830.
[7] Robert D. Spender, “Idol, Idolatry,” in eds, Walter A. Elwell et al, Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 1996), 365.
[8] Robert D. Spender, “Idol, Idolatry,” in eds, Walter A. Elwell et al, Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 1996), 364.
[9] P.C. Craigie, “Idolatry,” in ed, Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Edition (Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 2007), 589.
[10] Don Fleming, Bridgeway Bible Dictionary (Australia: Bridgeway Publications, 2004), 77.
[11] W. Harold Mare, New Testament Background Commentary: A New Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Situations in Bible Order (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2004), 322.
[12] William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009), 105.
[13] William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009), 106-108.
[14] William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009), 109-112.
[15] Don Fleming, Bridgeway Bible Dictionary (Australia: Bridgeway Publications, 2004), 78.
[16] Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 274.
[17] Ross E. Price, “Idolatry,” in eds, Charles F. Pfeiffer et al, Wycliffe Bible dictionary (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), 826.
[18] P.C. Craigie, “Idolatry,” in ed, Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Edition (Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 2007), 588.
[19] Ross E. Price, “Idolatry,” in eds, Charles F. Pfeiffer et al, Wycliffe Bible dictionary (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), 826.
[20] W. Harold Mare, New Testament Background Commentary: A New Dictionary of Words, Phrases and Situations in Bible Order (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2004), 326.
[21] Stephen Neill, Paul to the Colossians: World Christian Books (London: Lutterworth Press, 1963), 53-54.
[22] William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009), 176.
[23] N.T. Wright, “Colossians and Philemon,” in eds, Leon Morries et al, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Vol. 12 (Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008), 138-139.
[24] Brian Rosner, The Concept of Idolatry [article online] Available from http://www.theologynetwork.org/biblical-studies/getting-stuck-in/the-concept-of-idolatry.htm, Internet accessed on August 29th, 2014.
[25] Robert D. Spender, “Idol, Idolatry,” in eds, Walter A. Elwell et al, Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 1996), 365.
[26] Robertson McQuilkin, An Introduction to Biblical Ethics (Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1995), 156.
[27] Donald Guthrie, New Testament Theology (Andhra Pradesh: OM Books, 2005), 943.
[28] Victor Paul Furnish, “The Letter of Paul to the Colossians,” in ed, Charles M. Laymon, The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary on the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1987), 861.
[29] P.C. Craigie, “Idolatry,” in ed, Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd Edition (Michigan: Baker Book House Company, 2007), 589.
[30] William Barclay, The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians (Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 2009), 177.
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