The difference being that the Temple was built at God's request and to his specifications.
That's not a difference. Everyone of these people who built these, believe they were doing so in honor to their gods, not as a form of idolatry, but a form of worship. The stories in the bible, are woven in such a way as part of the window dressings for such undertakings. The gods inspired them to build these, is the underlying commonality. They are
functionally, doing the exact same things.
Whatever mythologies there are that surround them and their creations, are really just more ornamentation, like golden angels with their wings touching over the altar. That's just part of the symbolism. "The god instructed us to build his temple in the clearing by the river, and to make it stand for all the villagers to see. He instructed us to offer fish upon the altar in his name, so that our harvests will be rich and bountiful," sort of narrative symbol.
No building of the Christian faith ever included anything resembling a physical building. The "church" was the people....the building didn't matter.
That's true. They originally met in one another's homes, or other meeting places they were able to secure for such a function. That really has more to do with organization and funding, than anything spiritual. It's like a lot of startup businesses. Take Hewlett Packard for instance. HP began with two guys in a garage, which eventually got too big for the garage, so they had to invest in larger spaces, eventually spanning the entire globe with different offices, or "churches" if you want to look at it as a point of comparison with a religious organization.
But when the congregations increased in size, buildings became necessary....but they were to be modest meeting places for Bible education and instruction. The gigantic and palacious cathedrals of past centuries stood in stark contrast to anything Jesus commanded. It seems as if there was a competition to see who could outdo whom with the most ornate and elaborate edifice....and all whilst the poor among them were starving......?
First, Jesus didn't command anything regarding meeting places, or organizational structures, or church administration, or which bank you should put the money into, etc.. In fact, Jesus said nothing whatsoever about business administration. Nor for that matter, did he ever imagine starting a new religion.
His "church" as you should know, was the mystical body of believers which transcends religious and ethnic boundaries. That was the core of his teaching, to see beyond religious and ethnic distinctions, where all are welcome, all are included, should they so desire.
That a new religion got started in his name is a matter of historical events, not a designed intention. It just happened to become a distinct religion, because people being people needed everything to remain as a "us vs. them' reality of boundaries and distinctions.
As far as ornate and elaborate structures later being built in history in the name of Christendom, now we are talking about Christianity as a religious institution, not simply a mystical body of believers transcending religious and ethnic boundaries. Now it is a religious institution itself, with its own borders.
Any systemized religious structure has key roles to play in a society. A simple social and spiritual movement within a complex and strained religious and political word, which is what Christianity began as, it was now a structured religious institution itself.
In cultures, temples and shrines, were maintained places of worship that served a function for that society. What you see in the Hebrew culture, was the same things functionally you saw in other cultures of the time. They had unique features, but so did the others as well. Any sort of main cultural icon, which a temple, certainly would be one of those, are purposefully made ornate and full of glory. Solomon's temple certainly was. It doesn't matter if you say God ordered it designed that way. It matches what you see in other religions, such as the Catholic church in its great cathedrals. St. Peter's basicialla is basically a Christian version of the Jewish temple.
One can argue that all that is a waste of money, but one could more easily argue, so is anything that a nation, or a people's spend their money collectively on that symbolizes their strength and unity, like monuments and temples. Do these have value to the culture which builds these? They would consider it an investment in their collective identities as a people of this god or that, or of this nation or that, or this religion or that.
Where was Jesus when they were shedding innocent blood? I'm afraid he had long left the building.
I can look at most of these modern versions of Christianity you see in fundamentalists circles and ask that same question. Where is Jesus in them? I hear his name a lot, but I don't see his Spirit in most of them. Rather I see mainly egos, wearing a Jesus mask. Conformity, is a poor-man's substitution for a real spiritual transformation.
It crosses over into idolatry when we put "things" before God....when we concentrate on physical things like buildings and the accumulation of wealth and power before we consider how we worship and whether it is authentic to God, not just to ourselves.
But you see, you are concentrating on "things" yourself. You're saying "No buildings" is the way to worship God, and they are saying "yes buildings". Both are focused on "things".
If the Spirit of God is present, it doesn't matter if there is a building or a temple, or not a building or temple. It doesn't matter if you meet on Sunday, or on Saturday. It doesn't matter if you have the Protestant Bible or the Catholic Bible. It doesn't matter if you believe in the Trinity, or not. Those are all just "things". They do not have anything to do with your heart. The heart, not "things" was Jesus's focus.
Keeping the masses in ignorance for centuries and torturing confessions out of 'heretics' as an excuse to silence them was par for the course.....there is no Christianity there....nor can there be in anything that sprang from them.
Yes, coercion of others is against the Spirit of Christ. Shunning, for instance, is an evil that is used to silence others in the church, for instance. Shunning is a threat. God does not threaten his children. Only child abusers do that.
The Bible can be an idol if it is misused or ignored which is what I see most of the time. It was never designed to beat people up, but to educate them and give them hope and dignity. Jesus showed us how to do that too and encouraged his disciples to do the same.
When someone looks the Bible for their salvation, that if they obey all the rules, they follow the teachings of the elders, they don't question their authority, and so forth, all of that is idolatry.
