idols

[syo]

according to orthodox christians there is only one god, the holy Trinity. Father the Creator, Son (Jesus) who interacts with us, and the Holy Spirit. orthodox believe that the only true god who walked on planet earth is Jesus. all other gods of various religions are idols. this means that the other gods have only parts of jesus christ, and they are not fully god, just an aspect of jesus. jesus is the alpha and omega.

what about other religions, what's an idol?

 

[Srivijaya]

what about other religions, what's an idol?

Buddhism doesn't really obsess on this point but as humans we construct and uphold our preferences and opinions, likes and dislikes and egocentric sense of self.

I guess, for Buddhists, these can be regarded as false idols.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

what about other religions, what's an idol?

Icons and images of the gods, used in ritual representation of their presence.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

The Ancient Greek eidolon meant an image as opposed to reality, so the Christians used it of the images of the gods, as opposed to their own images. Some people have reclaimed the word, but I prefer to call the statues on my altar images.

If your question means what is an idol to my religion, then I'd say books that claim to be divine pronouncements — the Bible and the Quran — and are obviously all too human.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Here are a couple videos I made a while ago about this topic:

 

[Axe Elf]

 

[syo]

Here are a couple videos I made a while ago about this topic:

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these are some great idols you have. pagans are more open-minded in worship than christians. but even christians can't deny that they must see their god, so they have painted images but no idols. and they treat the painted images as idols.

 

[Jainarayan]

what about other religions, what's an idol?

For Hindus an idol (proper name is murthi or vigraha, both of which mean 'form') is not unlike the telephone, or iPad, or e-mail. Really. You don't talk to the phone, or to the device or software program, you talk through it to the person on the other end. It's a conduit. The gods are at the other end of the murthi/vigraha/idol conduit. One slight difference is that when a temple idol is installed, it is energized so that the deity actually takes up residence, or imbues his or her energy into it.

For Vaishnavas (followers of Vishnu, Krishna, Rama, and Vishnu's other avatars) Krishna sanctions using idols, images and forms in the Bhagavad Gita 12.5 "For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied." This is because humans are sensory beings. We need to see, hear, touch.

 

[Reaper]

To me an idol is an image or figure that helps represent a God or Goddess. For example I have a printed picture of a painting of Freya on my altar, right behind the dish for offerings. The image helps to bring me closer to her and focus on her during worship.