IDOLS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY .. .

• Do idols really exist?
• Are they so clever and deceitful that we do not know they are there?
• Do we not know we are gripped by them?
• Can a person be idolatrous and not know it?
• What is an idol?
• What damage can it do?
• Can it warp a personality beyond recall?

Why do idols fascinate and grip people? How do they do this? Why do we move from idol to idol, never being fulfilled, never knowing complete satisfaction?

Is it true that idols can suck the juices of life from human beings? Can they destroy persons and nations? Isn't idolatry a myth, just a foolish religious way of talking? Or is it?

These and other questions the writer takes up in this modern, but biblical treatment of idolatry. It is true he expects the reader to be serious, even to apply himself to the study of idolatry. He believes such a study is a matter of life or death, not only of persons but also of society and even of nations!

This is not a title to be passed by or to be read lightly. It is, as the author insists, a matter of life and death and, what is more, an immediate matter of life and death. With John the apostle he is saying 'little children, keep yourselves from idols'.