Idol worship and christian themes

[enki]

I wanted to clear up something concerning "idol" worship, aside from it being a cliché term in monotheistic circles. In Biblical mythologies we see in Exodus 32:24 gold being cast into a fire to make a calf.

a little thing about the gold during the times of the ancient Egyptians about 2000 BCE and on; gold used by the Egyptians generally contains silver, often in substantial amounts, and it appears that for most of Egypt’s history gold was not refined to increase its purity. The color of a metal is affected by its composition gradations in hue that range between the bright yellow of a central boss that once embellished a vessel dating to the Third Intermediate Period for example. Hence Egyptian earrings would reflect this, also the gold used by the Egyptians and specifically Egyptian goldsmiths had added a significant amount of copper to a natural gold-silver alloy to attain a reddish hue. Gold is generally found in locations where there is a lot of quartz. So of course the Egyptians who mined gold would have had this kind of access.

Gold is an inanimate object; basically it is a thing that is not alive, such as a rock, a chair, a book, and so on. The golden calf in the biblical texts is not necessarily a calf; it is fashioned to be a lunar bull or a young bull. As the Egyptians would have worshiped the living animal, and not an image of it. also, the bull is the symbol of divinity only among settled agriculturists, and not among nomads such as the Israelites then were. Among the Hebrews, as among the other agricultural Semites, the bull was associated with a deity in a sacred character as the Ox, more associated with Yhwh or Yahweh. However, the word Yahweh related in those times to Yahwehistic cults and was banned.

Bringing this to the idea of "idol" worship, just like the golden earrings (inanimate object) story and making of a statue (inanimate object), even if it say were made purely of a type of material (any material)it is still an inanimate object. For example, the idea of having an object such as a cross on steeple is representation or symbolism of what that cross represents that is mounted on a church steeple. We see this in monotheistic as well polytheistic belief systems. Hence the association of "idol" worship is not well stated in monotheistic themes, and historically is vague. This is because statues are representational and are not actually ‘animate’, as in there is no such thing as a deity living inside of the statue. Of course this history of symbolism and worship goes back much further than the time of the Exodus.

Check Amazon for this subject on the history of statues and their symbolism

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[JehovahsWitness]

The golden calf in the biblical texts is not necessarily a calf; it is fashioned to be a lunar bull or a young bull.

Isn't a young bull a calf?

[otseng]

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[enki]

A cow also has a young calf, so as to not be confused I clarified. I guess I didn't add that cows also have young calves. There are different bovine's with young that are considered calf's.

[enki]

The golden calf in the biblical texts is not a cow's calf, but a lunar bull or young bull.

[JehovahsWitness]

The golden calf in the biblical texts is not a cow's calf, but a lunar bull or young bull.

Oh okay. Thanks, that's interesting.

JW