Article September 16, 2013 Issue

Flee from idolatry

For the Lesson titled "Matter" from September 16 - 22, 2013

Madelon Maupin

This Christian Science Bible Lesson, titled “Matter,” is an exercise in discerning the relevancy of the biblical idea of “idolatry” to our contemporary lives. Of course, most of us don’t worship stone gods on nearby hillsides, as people did in scriptural times. If, however, contemporary idols can be anything to which one looks for fulfillment besides God, then count the ways: a desire for nonstop entertainment (TV, movies, sports, etc.), human power and achievement seen in lusting after the latest sports car, idolizing a fashion model’s figure.

This Lesson reveals idolatry at its most fundamental level: a conviction that matter is real—with all the substance, intelligence, and creative power that implies. Each section addresses an aspect of matter’s claims, then demolishes those assumptions based on biblical truths and “the scientific statement of being” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 468, citation 1).

The Golden Text lays the logic for what follows: “We know that an idol stands for something that does not really exist; we know that there is only the one God” (I Corinthians 8:4, Good News Translation).

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