John Owen Quotes

The heart of all idolatry in the Bible is the de-godding of God.

All the idols made by man, however terrifying they may be, are in point of fact subordinate to him, and that is why he will always have it in his power to destroy them.

When men make gods, there is no God!

An idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand.

Jeremiah has to lament that there are as many altars as towns in Judah.

Banish afar the foul worship of idols. On their alters let the blood of animals smoke no more, nor the soothsayer look for omens in warm entrails, nor the meaningless augur attend to the song of birds. Let all the images of the gods be smashed to the ground.

If we think every word in every holy book is true, then we have created an idol.

Among the most important such false gods in our time is the United Nations, which has become a new religion that is worshipped to the exclusion of God… It issues documents and statements that openly contradict Islamic belief, such as International Declaration for Human Rights, considering all religions are equal, and considering that the destruction of the statues constitutes a crime.

Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the Children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry

If you're too confident in assuming that America's and God's purposes are one, you tiptoe toward idolatry.

If we refuse our homage to statues and frigid images, the very counterpart of their dead originals, with which hawks, and mice, and spiders are so well acquainted, does it not merit praise instead of penalty [Christians were punished for not worshiping Roman gods] that we have rejected what we have come to see is error? We cannot surely be made out to injure those whom we are certain are nonentities. What does not exist is in its nonexistence secure from suffering.

The opposite of Christianity is not atheism, but idolatry.

Whoso hearkens not to God's voice, is an idolator, though he perform the highest and most heavy service of God.

When the church takes affairs of the state more seriously than they do Jesus, Pax Romana becomes its gospel and the president becomes the Son of God.

The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.

Now we must remark, that there are two parts in the Commandment-the first forbids the erection of a graven image, or any likeness; the second prohibits the transferring of the worship which God claims for Himself alone, to any of these phantoms or delusive shows.

It is clear that God is saying, 'I gave man dominion over the earth, but he lost it. Now I desire mature sons and daughters who will in My name exercise dominion over the earth and subdue Satan, the unruly, the rebellious. Take back My world from those who would loot it and abuse it. Rule as I would rule.'

Idolatry, then, is always polytheism, an aimless passing from one lord to another. Idolatry does not offer a journey but rather a plethora of paths leading nowhere and forming a vast labyrinth.

Indeed the Idols I have loved so long, have done my credit in this World much wrong; have drowned my Glory in a shallow Cup, and sold my Reputation for a Song.

We may worship a picture as God, but not God as the picture. God in the picture is right, but the picture as God is wrong. God in the image is perfectly right. There is no danger there. This is the real worship of God. But the image-God is a mere Pratika.

Never think that you need to protect God. Because anytime you think you need to protect God, you can be sure that you are worshipping an idol.

What is the chief end of man?-to get rich. In what way?-dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must. Who is God, the one and only true? Money is God. Gold and Greenbacks and Stock-father, son, and ghosts of same, three persons in one; These are the true and only God, mighty and supreme.

The sin of fallen man is this: Man seeks the benefits of God while at the same time fleeing from God Himself.

Despite the protestations, one sometimes wonders if we are beginning to worship, worship rather than worship God.

Today, idols are not made of wood, stone, or brass. They are made of money, sex, and power.