Theists, what are the greatest 3 forms of idolatry? I say: having a hateful version of God is the worst and a slander of and insult to God?

You are absolutely correct, and your answer is supported by both Old Testament scripture and New.

The Command against misusing God's name is best interpreted as committing evil in the name of God. This was the abuse in Paris committed by the Islamist terrorists who killed the editors of a satirical magazine while shouting "Allahu Akbar," meaning "God is greater." They murdered in the name of God. Dennis Prager shows how to interpret this commandment in an excellent video: http://www.prageruniversity.com/Ten-Commandments/D...

Prager comments, "Not all sins are equal. Some are worse than others. The worst one of all? Committing evil in the name of God. This commandment is often misunderstood because it's mistranslated. It's not concerned with saying God's name 'in vain' like 'God, did I have a terrible day at the office!' It's about using God's name in the commission of evil. We see this today when Islamists invoke God's name while they murder innocent people."

In the New Testament, Jesus said that the unforgivable sin was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. There is good reason to think Jesus was referencing this commandment, which continues, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." To refuse to hold the abuser guiltless means to refuse to forgive that sin. Doing evil in God's name is that serious.

number two : being consumed by greed in any form so that one adores possessions or power or fame to the extent that one will do anything to feed the false god Molech Greed

number three: putting anything or anyone such as nation, race, family, self, ideology, sect, business, class, caste, etc in the place of God so that anything done for the replacement of God is permitted even oppressive total control, murder, theft, enslavement, etc

Wh at is often labeled idolatry by many Muslims, Jew and Fundamentalist or Reformed Protestants< that is, making and honoring of religious objects such as paintings and statues of angels and saints,

widely done by Catholics and Orthodox and many Anglicans and Lutherans and tolerated in limited use by Mainline Protestants'

is not idolatry or contrary to the 2nd / 1b Comandment.

Exodus 25 :18-19 commands the making and use angel statues on the Ark of the Covenant and carvings in the Temple and the burning of lamps and incense before them ( as in 1 Kings 6 and 7) the Brazen or bronze Serpent of Numbers21:8-9 was also commanded to be made and 'looked up to"

Exodus 20:4-5 banned making images of the invisible God ( before the incarnation of God in Chrst), the worship of false gods ( as in !st Commandment part a), use of magical images of anything, believing that gods or spirits visited or dwelt in statues, rocks, Hills, trees or rocks, river, ponds

not religious objects or images

Do you examine the image of God you profess or say that others worship?

Must you bend over backwards to rationalize the behavior you ascribe to your version of god, God <gods or your replacement of God ( yourself, your ideology, your behavours, etc)?

Would you find it insulting if those behaviours or motives were ascribed to you?

Does your god damn people to extermination or everlasting hell because they disagree with you on some belief or text or if they cannot honestly believe in your version of God?

How much actually does your version of God differ from your version of the Devil or Evil?

Does your god predetermine infants to Hell by denying grace and willing this from all eternity?

I think too many folks believe God would even create hell, let alone send anyone there.

Such a hypothetical God violates most of what we are taught in scripture about god.

worshiping false gods

worshiping false gods

and, # 3

worshiping false gods

That is because "idolatry" - in the Biblical sense - always means "worshiping false gods"

Worshiping the antichrist.

Receiving mark of the beast.

Eating marked food.

worshipping a false God...and by that, i mean a false idea of who God is.

worship idol gods, love of money n lust.

First, we worship at the altar of materialism which feeds our need to build our egos through the acquisition of more “stuff.” Our homes are filled with all manner of possessions. We build bigger and bigger houses with more closets and storage space in order to house all the things we buy, much of which we haven’t even paid for yet. Most of our stuff has “planned obsolescence” built into it, making it useless in no time, and so we consign it to the garage or other storage space. Then we rush out to buy the newest item, garment or gadget and the whole process starts over. This insatiable desire for more, better, and newer stuff is nothing more than covetousness. The tenth commandment tells us not to fall victim to coveting: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" (Exodus 20:17). God doesn’t just want to rain on our buying sprees. He knows we will never be happy indulging our materialistic desires because it is Satan’s trap to keep our focus on ourselves and not on Him.

Second, we worship at the altar of our own pride and ego. This often takes the form of obsession with careers and jobs. Millions of men—and increasingly more women—spend 60-80 hours a week working. Even on the weekends and during vacations, our laptops are humming and our minds are whirling with thoughts of how to make our businesses more successful, how to get that promotion, how to get the next raise, how to close the next deal. In the meantime, our children are starving for attention and love. We fool ourselves into thinking we are doing it for them, to give them a better life. But the truth is we are doing it for ourselves, to increase our self-esteem by appearing more successful in the eyes of the world. This is folly. All our labors and accomplishments will be of no use to us after we die, nor will the admiration of the world, because these things have no eternal value. As King Solomon put it, “For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 2:21-23).

Third, we idolize mankind—and by extension ourselves—through naturalism and the power of science. This gives us the illusion that we are lords of our world and builds our self-esteem to godlike proportions. We reject God’s Word and His description of how He created the heavens and the earth, and we accept the nonsense of evolution and naturalism. We embrace the goddess of environmentalism and fool ourselves into thinking we can preserve the earth indefinitely when God has declared the earth has a limited lifespan and will last only until the end of the age. At that time, He will destroy all that He has made and create a new heaven and new earth. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:10-13). As this passage so clearly states, our focus should not be on worshipping the environment, but on living holy lives as we wait eagerly for the return of our Lord and Savior, who alone deserves worship.

Finally, and perhaps most destructively, we worship at the altar of self-aggrandizement or the fulfillment of the self to the exclusion of all others and their needs and desires. This manifests itself in self-indulgence through alcohol, drugs, and food. Those in affluent countries have unlimited access to alcohol, drugs (prescription drug use is at an all-time high, even among children), and food. Obesity rates in the U.S. have skyrocketed, and childhood diabetes brought on by overeating is epidemic. The self-control we so desperately need is spurned in our insatiable desire to eat, drink, and medicate more and more. We resist any effort to get us to curb our appetites, and we are determined to make ourselves the god of our lives. This has its origin in the Garden of Eden where Satan tempted Eve to eat of the tree with the words “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). This has been man’s desire ever since—to be god and, as we have seen, the worship of self is the basis of all modern idolatry.

All idolatry of self has at its core the three lusts found in 1 John 2:16: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” If we are to escape modern idolatry, we have to admit that it is rampant and reject it in all its forms. It is not of God, but of Satan, and in it we will never find fulfillment. This is the great lie and the same one Satan has been telling since he first lied to Adam and Eve. Sadly, we are still falling for it. Even more sadly, many churches are propagating it in the preaching of the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel built on the idol of self-esteem. But we will never find happiness focusing on ourselves. Our hearts and minds must be centered on God and on others. This is why when asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). When we love the Lord and others with everything that is in us, there will be no room in our hearts for idolatry.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/idolatry-modern.html#i...

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