Top 25 Idolatry Quotes of 29

For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the Giver himself?

For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the Giver himself?

John Calvin

Worship, Giver, Idolatry

John Calvin “Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion”, Westminster John Knox Press

If I put things between me and Christ, it is idolatry. If I put Christ between me and things, it is victory!

Adrian Rogers

Victory, Christ, Idolatry

If we esteem them too highly, good works can become the greatest idolatry.

Martin Luther

Christian, Good Work, Idolatry

Worship of society and popular opinion is idolatry.

Swami Vivekananda

Idol Worship, Opinion, Idolatry

Swami Vivekananda (1955). “Complete Works”

Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.

Saint Augustine

Used, Idolatry, Ought

We make a god out of whatever we find most joy in. So find your joy in God and be done with all idolatry.

John Piper

Joy, Done, Idolatry

The heart of all idolatry in the Bible is the de-godding of God.

D. A. Carson

Heart, Idolatry

Whatever controls us is our lord. The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by acceptance. We do not control ourselves. We are controlled by the lord of our lives.

Rebecca Pippert

Acceptance, Lord, Idolatry

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.

Aiden Wilson Tozer

Essence, Entertainment, Idolatry

Aiden Wilson Tozer (1965). “The Knowledge of the Holy”, p.6, Fig

Plain living and high thinking are no more.

William Wordsworth

Life, Thinking, Idolatry

"Written in London. September, 1802" l. 11 (1807)

He who offers God a second place offers Him no place.

John Ruskin

Idolatry, Offers, Second Place

John Ruskin (1867). “Precious Thoughts: Moral and Religious. Gathered from the Works of John Ruskin, A. M.”, p.76

Philosophers and common heathen believed one God, to whom all things were referred; but under this God they worshipped many inferior and subservient gods.

Benjamin Stillingfleet

Philosopher, Common, Idolatry

Early on I saw the repression and idolatry of Stalinism, and when it cracked, I was open to religion again.

Lionel Blue

Saws, Idolatry, Reefs

The art of government is the organisation of idolatry.

George Bernard Shaw

Art, Government, Idolatry

Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists: Idolatry"

The idol is the measure of the worshipper.

James Russell Lowell

Idols, Idolatry, Worshippers

James Russell Lowell (1889). “Books and Libraries: Democracy and Other Papers”

Anything that I want, I must also be ok with not having, otherwise it's idolatry.

Mike Donehey

Want, Idolatry

Idolatry is still a socially cohesive force - its original function.

Julian Jaynes

Force, Function, Idolatry

Julian Jaynes (2000). “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”, p.347, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Idolatry happens when we take good things and make them ultimate things

Timothy Keller

Good Things, Idolatry, Happens

Only the gospel exposes the cancer of idolatry.

Christopher J. H. Wright

Cancer, Idolatry

Christopher J. H. Wright (2013). “The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative”, p.179, InterVarsity Press

Ultimately all idolatry is worship of the self projected and objectified: all idolization is self-idolization.

Will Herberg

Self, Worship, Idolatry

The Great Beast is the only object of idolatry , the only ersatz of God , the only imitation of something which is infinitely far from me and which is I myself.

Simone Weil

Beast, Imitation, Idolatry

Simone Weil (2002). “Gravity and Grace”, p.164, Psychology Press

Idolatry is not simply worshiping a stone image; idolatry is any concept of God that reduces Him to less than who He really is.

Ron Carlson

Stones, Miscellaneous, Idolatry

Ron Carlson, Ed Decker (2003). “Fast Facts® on False Teachings”, p.181, Harvest House Publishers

Idolatry is huge in the Bible, dominant in our personal lives, and irrelevant in our mistaken estimations

Os Guinness

Idolatry, Mistaken, Dominant

Idolatry is permissible in Hinduism when it sub serves an ideal.

Mahatma Gandhi

Hinduism, Idolatry, Ideals

Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore (1968). “Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore: Being a Treasury of Over Ten Thousand Invaluable and Inspiring Thoughts, Views, and Obervations on about Eight Hundred Subjects of Popular Interest, Collected from the Speeches and Writings of These Three Great Leaders of Modern India”