Book Review II

The Question of Idols in Scripture
    The question concerning the condemnation of idols and idol worship in Scripture, is something that people have been ringing in my ears since my early youth. Everyone has asked me about this, searching for a correct interpretation and explanation of the matter. Family members, neighbors, simple Catholics, Protestant preachers, etc, have all pestered me with the theme, time and time again. Though I have offered various answers and arguments, I have never seen anything better regarding the controversial topic than St. Athanasius' work entitled "Against the Heathen."

    To me, it is the most exhaustive, complete and final word on the subject of idols and idol worship as prohibited by Scripture. The next time someone asks me about this, I will hand him this book, tell him to read it completely and then come back to discuss the subject with me. I don't believe such a person will return, because the text of St. Athanasius will have completely satisfied his curiosity on the question of idol worship and Scriptures' understanding of it. St. Athanasius mentions every possible idol that was invented in each country of the world: their origins, nature, characteristics, type of worship, resemblance to created things, and effects on its worshippers. He shows its relation to impurity, hedonism, murder, strife, disunity, blindness,  ignorance and destruction.

    St. Athansius is no 21st century religious fanatic misinterpreting scripture outside of its historical and cultural context, but a man of his times, familiar with the themes he treated. He lived in the midst of a society given over to idol worship, and knew its origins, reasons and motives for it. If any, he is the legitimate authority to competently speak of such matters and  correctly interpret the question from scripture, more so than any other person. No one has delved so deeply into this subject and spoke so intelligently on it as St. Athanasius of Alexandria. If you, the reader, have doubts on the question, or have had the experience of some fanatic who, while giving you no peace, sticks his Bible under your nose to prove his point, I say: pick up  the text of the holy doctor of the Church and tell him your answer is exactly this. 

    If St. Cyprian was the Church's hero in the third century, St. Athanasius was in the fourth. The Church will never be destroyed because the Holy Spirit always raises someone great to get her through the  day. At the Council of Nicaea, as Arius was being condemned by over three hundred bishops, he cried out: "You are all against God's Word; the term "essence" that you are inventing to describe the union between the Father and Son is nowhere to be found in Scripture!" At this point, St. Athanasius responded to him: "It is you who introduced this strange, novel and erroneous doctrine that denies the Divine nature of the Son, that is also not found in Scripture,  therefore the Church has the right to use a new term to clean itself of your impure teaching. Besides, what is being taught is the sense of Scripture with the word used."

    Now if we are accused by non-Catholics in introducing non-scriptural terms to describe our Faith, they will know it is because someone else started the whole mess to begin with and obligated her to such action.Saint Athanasius' is available at Amazon.com

 Anthony Mellace