Idol Disposal

[Wynteriii]

A youth pastor told the group a story that as far as I know is true. The condensed version is that Muslims took over a Buddhist temple and blew up all the statues of Buddha (I think he got the Buddha part wrong, probably more Hindu or Jain). He then asks if Christians should go do this act of removing idols. The room lit up with yes. One girl said no. He said she was wrong. That we are told to burn these books and destroy these idols in the bible. There was a part of me that felt uneasy with what he was saying so I'm searching the scripture myself. If you guys have comments on what you think about Idol disposal please post.

 

[Andres]

So are you asking what Christians should do with the idols if they took over a temple? A Westernized, modern example might be more akin to say a Reformed church purchasing a building from a defunct Roman Catholic church. Once the Reformed Church takes ownership, they go inside and find a huge crucifix hanging on the back wall of the sanctuary. Should the new owners remove the crucifix (idol)? I would say, certainly they should. Now does it have to literally be smashed, burned, or "blown up"? No, I don't think so but certainly it should be destroyed by at least disposing of it some how. Although on second though, it might be kinda fun to literally smash it!

 

[irresistible_grace]

I find myself disagreeing with the majority of the Youth Group...
My response is not "YES" rather my response would be "IT DEPENDS!"

"When images have long been consecrated by a people to the worship of idols," he replied, "I cannot see a way to preserve, or a reason to preserve, the monuments of that idolatry. There are immortal interest at stake, George, that are far more valuable than the preservation of these monuments as mere human art. I cannot see it any other way. Do we maintain the trappings of idolatry, or do we remove them forever? It is chiefly by the splendor of its temples and the sensory magnificence of its order of worship that Rome captivates the senses and imaginations of the multitude, but to what end? To their temporal enslavement and eternal damnation. The popish church falsely erects splendid idols and fabricate a magnificent strutting rite, but it does so at the cost of the bodies and souls of common folk -- men and women and children -- deceived thereby. George, I care little for the riotous mob's destructive frenzy, but there is far too much at stake. If the eternal welfare of the people of Scotland must come at a price of stone tracery and statuary, then so be it. What is more, we should not expect the prelates and their priests and friars to go away forever. The surest way to keep the rooks from returning is to destroy their nest."

 

[py3ak]

Although on second though, it might be kinda fun to literally smash it!

It is. We had some friends over and had their kids help us smash and burn the idols that came with a house we acquired. A good time was had by all.

 

[VictorBravo]

Maybe the youth pastor was talking about the Buddha statues in Afghanistan? The Taliban blew them up, and it was controversial because they were historical icons as well:

Buddhas of Bamiyan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I had little opinion either way. I think gratuitously destroying works of art is sad from a history perspective, but, in the course of history armies and governments come and go and prior great works are turned to rubble. We saw the historical pattern happen once again.

I used to visit Babylon in the 80s when I worked over there. It was not a touristy destination at all. Instead it had crumbled brick walls with remnants of bas-relief murials, tumbleweeds, dust. Great Babylon indeed was fallen, humbled, looted and plundered.

But I'll note that Paul went around Athens looking very carefully at all the idols representing various gods. Not once do we see him trying to destroy or deface them. If they belong to others, I don't see any grounds for destroying them.

 

[Rich Koster]

If they belong to others, I don't see any grounds for destroying them.

I agree. Ownership is the key. If you acquire it, you are free to do what you like with it. Going on to someone else's property and destroying something of theirs, is also a commandment violation. If it was legal, I would go statue tipping at local cult meeting places.

 

[Peairtach]

Some of these items -if of historical value- are worth putting in museums. Perth Museum and Art Gallery wasn't up and running in Knox's day. He didn't give his approval for the way in which the "rascal multitiude" ransacked Perth's four monastries.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2

 

[Douglas P.]

Christians have no biblical authority to destroy public or private property that they do not own themselves. Anything like this would fall under the authority or sphere of the state.

 

[Reformguy]

If they belong to others, I don't see any grounds for destroying them.

I agree. Ownership is the key. If you acquire it, you are free to do what you like with it. Going on to someone else's property and destroying something of theirs, is also a commandment violation. If it was legal, I would go statue tipping at local cult meeting places.

Yes, most of us have our own idols we need to deal with.

 

[Jack K]

If keeping it around means you're going to be tempted to worship it, it would be better to destroy it. But it's always best if those who once worshiped the idol are the ones who decide to destroy it, having come to see the majesty of the true God and the folly of their old ways. Forcing coerced "repentance" on another people is not really the best goal, is it? We'd rather see them come to true faith and tear down those idols themselves.

 

[Quatchu]

Its a interesting question, one of the first missionaries to Taiwan, George Leslie MacKay was staunch supporter of Chinese Art and literature. Like many of the missionaries of his day he recorded the myths and legends of the area. At the same time he is said to have readily burned anything that was a Idol.

 

[jambo]

Spurgeon smoked a pipe and was being criticised for doing so by a friend who said it was Spurgeon's idol. "Perhaps it is," replied Spurgeon, "but at least I'm burning it."

The point of this being its up to Christian's to destroy their own idols and not other peoples. I know in the OT some of the good kings destroyed idols, their places of worship and their priests and priestesses. In the NT however we see the apostle Paul was distressed by what he saw on Mars Hill but did not destroy them nor advocate that they should.

I recall when we lived in the Irish Republic there was a spate of moving statues. The first and most famous one was at Ballinaspittal in County Cork. One night as the devotees gathered round the shrine, members of the cult, the Way International suddenly appeared and destroyed it before their very eyes. It caused huge outrage and anger and greatly harmed the evangelical cause as RCs cannot differentiate between cults and genuine Christians.

All the believers coming from an RC background always removed the idols they had in their own home. Sacred hearts, crucifixes, images of Mary etc were all binned on or just after conversion. No one told them to do this but they knew to do so. And that is what I would long for. That the idol worshippers would destroy their own idols once the light of the gospel shines on them. And I include idols that are seen and the unseen idols that reside in the hearts of men and women.

 

[Wynteriii]

The youth pastor also has a history of burning other religions so called "holy" books. Their normally ones found in boxes people give us for yard sale stuff. He also has gone on mission trips to Tanzania where he has gotten into trouble for asking recently converted for their idols for disposal (probably smashing). They all ended up with people getting angry and shouting no.

I think I lean towards letting those who once worshiped the idols to destroy them. This goes against the message the pastor conveying but I can't make myself agree with him in this issue (nor many others).

Sidenote: The pastor also was explaining how in this Taliban/Buddha incident, Muslims were showing zero tolerance for anything but Islam, while Christians have gotten to liberal about tolerating other religions/false idols in our lives.