Articles
Angelolatry
Angelolatry
By Paul R. Blake
Angels are religiously fashionable, more than at any other time in recent memory. One cannot enter a “Christian” bookstore without encountering entire displays and several shelves filled with books, pamphlets, statuary, cards, bookmarks, pictures, and jewelry dedicated to angels. We have witnessed the advent of an angel worshiping.
Members of the church are being swept up in fascination of this fad. On a weekly basis, I receive articles about angels from various Internet Bible discussion groups -- some good, most speculative, and many rife with error and denominational myths about angels. Christians must discipline themselves to avoid being tempted by intellectual curiosity that leads so many into accepting erring fables. One should not allow the Adversary to distract him away from the things about which God has said much, and instead doggedly pursue an interest in those things about which God has said little. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).
Angelolatry, like any other form of idolatry, is based on non-biblically based desire for and adoration of concepts or gods that do not exist, at least not in the forms imagined by the believer. In the case of angelolatry, as opposed to idolatry, angels do exist. However, they exist neither in the form nor for the purpose that many misguided contemporary persons believe.
Our present culture is saturated with angelolatry, the voluntary adoration, even worship, of guardian angels (that do not exist), and the vivid imagining of activities and purposes of angels that are not addressed in the Bible. There are two primary reasons for this fascination with angels:
1) People have always been enamored with the mysterious and unknown, often inculcating it with an air of romance and longing. To them, this world and the people who inhabit it are corrupt and ugly; therefore, they choose to believe that there must be a plane of existence that is pure and beautiful, inhabited by beings that are innocent and attractive. Not satisfied with the Bible description of the spiritual realm of God in heaven, they invent an invisible world coexisting in this world that is populated by altruistic angels that live just outside of our five senses.
2) In addition, people are afraid of the world around them, and to cope with this fear they invent for themselves powerful, invisible friends that somehow watch over them and protect them from harm. Not satisfied with the protection God promises in scripture, they want something more; they want guardian angels, a concept never addressed in the Bible. Somehow, just the thought that there is an invisible power shielding them is enough to enable fearful folks to go about the business of daily living. Sadly, such confidence has no more basis in truth and reality that a rabbit’s foot or whistling past the graveyard.
Christians must learn to be content with what the Bible really says about angels and avoid becoming caught up in the seductive fairy tales told about angels by medieval Roman Catholic priests. Christians must be very careful to avoid giving more regard to angels that the Bible authorizes.
“Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Col. 2:18-19).
Christ is the Center
Christ, the Center and Heart of the Bible, the Center and Heart of history, is the Center and Heart of our lives. Our eternal destiny is in His hand. Our acceptance, or rejection, of Him determines, for each of us, eternal glory or eternal ruin. Heaven or hell: one or the other. How can one face death without the Hope of a Christian? We have no hope without Him.
Some of the Kindest Souls
“Some of the kindest souls I know have lived in a world that was not so kind to them. Some of the best human beings I know have been through so much at the hands of others, and they still love deeply, they still care. Sometimes it's the people who have been hurt the most, who refuse to be hardened in this world, because they would never want to make another person feel the same way they themselves have felt. If that isn't something to be in awe of, I don't know what is.” (Bianca Sparacino)
Of All the Virtues…
"Of all the virtues, cheerfulness is the most profitable. It makes the person who exercises it happy, and renders him acceptable to all he meets. While other virtues defer the day of recompense, cheerfulness pays down. It is a cosmetic, which makes homeliness graceful and winning; it promotes health, and gives clearness and vigor to the mind; it is the bright weather of the heart, in contrast with the clouds and gloom of melancholy." (S. G. Goodrich)
“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Prov. 15:13). “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones” (Prov. 17:22).
A Moments Wisdom about the Bible
--Abraham Lincoln said, “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us from this Book.”
--George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
--Thomas Huxley said, “The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it.”
--Andrew Jackson said, “That Book sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.”
--Robert E. Lee said, “In all my perplexities and distresses the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.”
--Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “Bible reading is an education in itself.”
--Sir Isaac Newton said, “There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.”
--Charles Dickens said, “The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.”
--John Quincy Adams said, “So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year.”
--Patrick Henry said, “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”
--U.S. Grant said, “The Bible is the sheet-anchor of our liberties.”
Upcoming Sermons
12/1/24 AM - Counting Friends; PM - Themed Worship in Song: What a Great Fellowship!
12/8/24 AM - What is Worship?; PM - Growing Out of High Maintenance
12/15/24 AM - Confession is Good for the Soul; PM - The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
12/22/24 AM - “All Things are Ready; Come to the Feast!”; PM - Bridging the Generation Gap in churches of Christ
12/29/24 AM - Guest Speaker: Isaac Hall; PM - Doug Sanders - Where Did They Come From?
