#idolatry

Once man has lost the fundamental orientation which unifies his existence, he breaks down into the multiplicity of his desires; in refusing to await the time of promise, his life-story disintegrates into a myriad of unconnected instants. ↗

— Pope Francis

#idolatry #polytheism #faith

Love ceases to be a demon only when he ceases to be a god. ↗

— Denis de Rougemont

#love #love

Technology presents us with a unique spiritual challenge. Because it is meant to serve us in fulfilling our created purpose, because it makes our lives easier, longer, and more comfortable, we are prone to assign to it something of a godlike status. We easily rely on technology to give our lives meaning, and we trust technology to provide an ultimate answer to the frustration of life in a fallen world. Because of this, technology is uniquely susceptible to becoming an idol, raising itself to the place of God in our lives. ↗

— Tim Challies

#technology #faith

Idolatry is like love, but less idealized. Its icon is still beautiful, but only charisma makes it attractive enough to be worshipped. ↗

— Bauvard

#idolatry #love #beauty

Idolatry is in a man's own thought, not in the opinion of another. ↗

— John Selden

#idolatry #man #opinion #own #thought

The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect. ↗

— Esther Dyson

#idolatry #internet #technology #internet

Idolatry is really not good for anyone. Not even the idols. ↗

— John Bach

#even #good #idolatry #idols #really

Culture's essential service to a religion is to destroy intellectual idolatry, the recurrent tendency in religion to replace the object of its worship with its present understanding and forms of approach to that object. ↗

— Northrop Frye

#culture #destroy #essential #forms #idolatry

You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it never Rises from the soul, and sways The heart of every single hearer, With deepest power, in simple ways. You’ll sit forever, gluing things together, Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps, Blowing on a miserable fire, Made from your heap of dying ash. Let apes and children praise your art, If their admiration’s to your taste, But you’ll never speak from heart to heart, Unless it rises up from your heart’s space. ↗

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

#art #idolatry #individuality #legacy #love

By giving us control, our new technologies tend to enhance existing idols in our lives. Instead of becoming more like Christ through the forming and shaping influence of the church community, we form, and shape, and personalize our community to make it more like us. We take control of things that are not ours to control. Could it be that our desire for control is short-circuiting the process of change and transformation God wants us to experience through the mess of real world, flesh and blood, face-to-face relationships? ↗

— Tim Challies

#discipleship #idolatry #change