Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:34PM, koolpoi wrote:

In another thread mainecaptain raised this idea.I've encountered it before and wonder just what constitutes idolatry?When does referring to or citing the Bible become something excessive,something worthy of the term idolatry?

 Worshipping whom created the scriptures isn't Idolatry, but worshipping the materials which the books or scrolls is made from, is Idolatry.

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:43PM, Eliascomes wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:34PM, koolpoi wrote:

In another thread mainecaptain raised this idea.I've encountered it before and wonder just what constitutes idolatry?When does referring to or citing the Bible become something excessive,something worthy of the term idolatry?

 Worshipping whom created the scriptures isn't Idolatry, but worshipping the materials which the books or scrolls is made from, is Idolatry.

What about worshipping the words as opposed to the materials?

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:44PM, koolpoi wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:36PM, Adelphe wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:34PM, koolpoi wrote:

In another thread mainecaptain raised this idea.I've encountered it before and wonder just what constitutes idolatry?When does referring to or citing the Bible become something excessive,something worthy of the term idolatry?

Laughed from the board view when reading the title of the thread--still laughing...

"Is Worshipping the Bible Idolatry?"

Yes, of course.

I think the question might be what do you mean by "worshipping"?

What about the other question in the OP?I think that deals with the point you raised.

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:46PM, koolpoi wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:43PM, Eliascomes wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:34PM, koolpoi wrote:

In another thread mainecaptain raised this idea.I've encountered it before and wonder just what constitutes idolatry?When does referring to or citing the Bible become something excessive,something worthy of the term idolatry?

 Worshipping whom created the scriptures isn't Idolatry, but worshipping the materials which the books or scrolls is made from, is Idolatry.

What about worshipping the words as opposed to the materials?

Here's a section from the International Standard Biblical Encyclopedia:

IDOLATRY - i-dol'-a-tri (teraphim, "household idols," "idolatry"; eidololatreia): There is ever in the human mind a craving for visible forms to express religious conceptions, and this tendency does not disappear with the acceptance, or even with the constant recognition, of pure spiritual truths (see IMAGES). Idolatry originally meant the worship of idols, or the worship of false gods by means of idols, but came to mean among the Old Testament Hebrews any worship of false gods, whether by images or otherwise, and finally the worship of Yahweh through visible symbols (Hos 8:5,6; 10:5); and ultimately in the New Testament idolatry came to mean, not only the giving to any creature or human creation the honor or devotion which belonged to God alone, but the giving to any human desire a precedence over God's will (1 Cor 10:14; Gal 5:20; Col 3:5; 1 Pet 4:3). The neighboring gods of Phoenicia, Canaan, Moab--Baal, Melkart, Astarte, Chemosh, Moloch, etc.--were particularly attractive to Jerusalem, while the old Semitic calf-worship seriously affected the state religion of the Northern Kingdom (see GOLDEN CALF). As early as the Assyrian and Babylonian periods (8th and 7th centuries BC), various deities from the Tigris and Euphrates had intruded themselves--the worship of Tammuz becoming a little later the most popular and seductive of all (Ezek 8:14)--while the worship of the sun, moon, stars and signs of the Zodiac became so intensely fascinating that these were introduced even into the temple itself (2 Ki 17:16; 21:3-7; 23:4,12; Jer 19:13; Ezek 8:16; Am 5:26).

The special enticements to idolatry as offered by these various cults were found in their deification of natural forces and their appeal to primitive human desires, especially the sexual; also through associations produced by intermarriage and through the appeal to patriotism, when the help of some cruel deity was sought in time of war. Baal and Astarte worship, which was especially attractive, was closely associated with fornication and drunkenness (Am 2:7,8; compare 1 Ki 14:23 f), and also appealed greatly to magic and soothsaying (e.g. Isa 2:6; 3:2; 8:19)...

The problem with suggesting reverence for or attention to the written word of God is "worshipping" or "idolatry" is that is exactly where we learn of the types of and prohibitions on same!

Jun 16, 2012 -- 8:12PM, Eliascomes wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:46PM, koolpoi wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:43PM, Eliascomes wrote:

Jun 16, 2012 -- 7:34PM, koolpoi wrote:

In another thread mainecaptain raised this idea.I've encountered it before and wonder just what constitutes idolatry?When does referring to or citing the Bible become something excessive,something worthy of the term idolatry?

 Worshipping whom created the scriptures isn't Idolatry, but worshipping the materials which the books or scrolls is made from, is Idolatry.

What about worshipping the words as opposed to the materials?

 God can't get jealous of His own words. The Israelites had treasured the stone tablets but not what was written on them. They had careless about God's words. That's why it was easy for them to break.

Great insight--as usual.

Note also the distinction in the Book of Revelation between the Word--and the word--of God:

who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Both Word and word are presented as truth for which the Christian will suffer.