Idolatry, << y DOL uh tree, >> is the worship of a statue or other image of a god or spirit. The term also refers to the worship of false gods. A number of religions regard the practice of faiths other than their own as idolatry.
Christians, Jews, and Muslims consider the worship of images a sin. Since ancient times, the prohibition of idolatry has resulted in strict limits on the use of lifelike images in Islamic and Jewish art. However, the early Christians used paintings, statues, and other art to represent sacred figures and stories from the Bible. In Eastern Europe and the Near East, worshipers paid deep respect to icons (images of Jesus Christ or the saints).
Christians known as iconoclasts opposed the use of icons because they considered it idolatry. But other Christians argued that icons were merely symbols that helped worshipers think of God. A dispute called the iconoclastic controversy raged between the two sides during the A.D. 700’s and early 800’s. The iconoclasts destroyed the pictures and statues in many churches. A similar disagreement over the use of images broke out between Protestants and Roman Catholics during the 1500’s. Many old churches in the United Kingdom and other countries still have statues that were damaged by Protestants.
During the 1200’s, Christian missionaries from Europe traveled as far as China. By the 1500’s, they had also reached Africa and the Americas. The missionaries described the religions of these lands as idolatry, but few of the peoples they encountered actually worshiped idols. Many of the so-called idol worshipers used statues or other symbols of their gods much as Christians used religious art. Other peoples who seemed to worship a nonliving object believed that a god or spirit dwelled in it.
Today, the scholars who study ancient and modern religions do not use the term idolatry. But the word often means giving someone or something other than God the devotion that should belong only to him. For example, an excessive love of money is sometimes called idolatry.
