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Idols for Destruction: The Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture
This analysis of current events examines the wrong beliefs America has held supreme—"idols" that are to blame for our nation's decay—and suggests how our culture can be healed.
478 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1983
88 people are currently reading
934 people want to read
About the author
Herbert Schlossberg
11 books12 followersB.A. Bethel College
M.A. Univ. of Missouri
M.P.A. American Univ.
Ph.D. Univ. of Minnesota (European intellectual history)
M.A. Univ. of Missouri
M.P.A. American Univ.
Ph.D. Univ. of Minnesota (European intellectual history)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
May 25, 2009
Superb. I don't read a lot of books more than once, but this is one of them. Read the first time in September of 1983.
Want to read
November 1, 2023Marvin Olasky put this book in his top 5 books on Christian politics (along with Augustine's City of God, Foxe's Acts and Monuments, The Federalist Papers, and de Tocqueville's Democracy in America). Doug Wilson put this in his top 5 (along with Calvin's Institutes, Lewis's That Hideous Strength, N.D. Wilson's Tilt, and Beale's We Become Like What We Worship; see Plodcast, Episode #2). See also here.
"The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God's triumphs disguised as disasters" (304).
Olasky's interview with Schlossberg. Schlossberg died in June 2019.
Mentioned positively here.
"The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God's triumphs disguised as disasters" (304).
Olasky's interview with Schlossberg. Schlossberg died in June 2019.
Mentioned positively here.
April 27, 2017
A brief review of this book is certain to fail in capturing the brilliance of this book. I suspect that outside of the Bible, this book is the most important and best book I will have ever read. This is not meant as hyperbole, but as respect for a book that is the best encapsulation that I've encountered of how the Christian ought to interact with the society around us--cultural, political, economic, and religious.
I have typed nearly twenty pages of quotations from this book as I've read it to further ponder and study. I cannot say this of any other book I've ever read. Schlossberg wrote the book over twenty-five years ago, but his analysis of our current socio-economic and political environment is remarkably insightful because it captures the failings of the modern nation-state and the crisis in the consciences of its people. These things were just as true twenty five years ago as they are today.
Buy this book, read it, study it, and I am confident you will not regret it. This is a remarkable book, and a gift to the church unlike any other I've ever read.
----------------------------------------------
Here's a review of the book that I wrote more recently for a church publication:
Some time ago a friend posted a question on Facebook, asking, “What happens to the nation whose God is not the Lord?” Thirty years ago, Herbert Schlossberg sought to answer this very same question and his conclusions were published in a remarkable book entitled Idols For Destruction. Why write a book review in 2011 for a book first published in 1983 (and republished in 1990)? This book, like few others, prophetically captures the essence of our culture—critiquing and chastising it. The book was relevant when published, but its relevance has only increased in the years since its publication. Schlossberg argues that idolatry is at the heart of cultural decay, and describes in horrific detail the results. He writes, “…when the people turn to idolatries, and the outcome of those faiths become incarnated in society’s institutions, the rot sets in. What happens in the future depends on the moral state of the people who decide to follow one course of action rather than another.”
One can immediately see Schlossberg’s intent in the opening chapter of Idols For Destruction as he ponders the meaning of the fall of civilizations. His concern, writing in the early 1980s, was to diagnose the ills of society in light of God’s Word. He begins the book examining what the Bible says about the decline of civilizations. He observes, “It is a curious fact that the Old Testament, which describes the beginning, course, and end of a number of societies, never assesses them as being on the rise or decline, as progressing or regressing, as growing to maturity or falling to senescence.” Instead, “…the biblical explanation of the end of societies uses the concept of judgment. It depicts them as either having submitted themselves to God or else having rebelled against him.” (p. 5)
Schlossberg echoes C.S. Lewis’s remark that, “…human history… [is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” Schlossberg argues we went astray through the rejection of God’s authority and the enshrinement of humanism. He begins by decrying humanists who, “are hostile to any notion of law that is external to the legislative organs under human control, and this means that morality cannot be predicated on universal codes." (p. 43) The humanist has rejected the supernatural and embraced the material—all that exists is matter, and only matter, matters. He writes, “Being poor is the greatest evil, in humanitarian thinking, because having material possessions is the greatest good… Modern materialism is not only an ethical philosophy that places a high value on money and possessions but a social philosophy that says that human relations are determined by material factors.” (p. 61) This materialist philosophy being at the heart of humanitarian project, explains what is perhaps the most important concept in the book—the power of envy, and jealousy, in shaping and reshaping human institutions—something Schlossberg calls ressentiment. The Humanitarian impulse, “is not to raise those who are down but to topple those who are up; ressentiment is the motive.” (p. 55)
Schlossberg exposes the fraud of humanitarianism—it seeks not the betterment of society, but simply to “exercise power.” The state is the humanitarian’s “lever of power” to reshape society. (p. 75-76) It is the state who, rather than God, becomes “the Father.” Schlossberg says “Looking to the state for sustenance is a cultic act; we rightly learn to expect food from parents, and when we regard the state as the source of physical provision we render to it the obeisance of idolatry." (p. 183)
Herein lies the central lesson of Idols For Destruction:
“The paternal state not only feeds its children, but nurtures, educates, comforts, and disciplines them, providing all they need for their security. This appears to be a mildly insulting way to treat adults, but it is really a great crime because it transforms the state from being a gift of God, given to protect against violence, into an idol. It supplies us with all blessings, and we look to it for all our needs. Once we sink to that level, as Lewis says, there is no point in telling state officials to mind their own business. “Our whole lives are their business.” The paternalism of the state is that of the bad parent who wants his children dependent on him forever…The paternal state thrives on dependency. When the dependents free themselves, it loses power. It is, therefore, parasitic on the very persons whom it turns into parasites. Thus, the state and its dependents march symbiotically to destruction.” (p. 184)
The paternal state grappling for power, in opposition to God, and its Machiavellian means of maintaining power, lead to the kinds of policies en vogue in national capitals across the globe. Governments use monopoly power over the creation of currencies and their inflationary policies to enrich themselves at the expense of its citizenry, all the while giving the perception of economic expansion. America has been pursuing inflationary monetary policy for decades, but never so rapidly as the last three years. These policies, Schlossberg writes have, “both moral and economic consequences.” (p. 99) He adds, “A society that inflates its currency tampers with a moral value. If the economic system lacks the basic honesty that permits economic transactions to reward both seller and buyer, lender and borrower, there can be no sense of justice.” (p. 101) Yet it is “both a cause and effect of moral decline… As long as people think they are advancing economically, the pressure to continue inflating outweigh those for stopping. When a society becomes pragmatic, the moral considerations seem less important than the economic ones.” (p. 102)
Inflationary economies “promise wealth without end.” Yet Christians know, as Jesus teaches, “the poor you always have with you.” (John 12:8) Ours is not a world of “wealth without end”--ours is a “world of scarcity.” He argues, “…compound interest without end and growth without end are in the same category as entitlements without end; they are illusions. But illusions in which people place their faith take on a sinister reality. When they are cashed in without sufficient resources to pay everyone off, then a process of allocation must be devised to settle claims. That process often is violence.” (p. 108) If you doubt this, recall the power of envy—it “cannot be assuaged any more than cancer can be; they are both pathologies whose very being requires expansion to their neighbor's territory. There is no fence that will ever be respected, no limitation that will be recognized as legitimate, no sense of proportion or humility sufficient to smother a sense of inferiority.” (p. 104) We’ve recently seen these forces unleashed around us—look at Greece (or Wisconsin, for that matter) where people facing the loss of entitlements resort to violence and mass protest.
The state has become the central god in the Humanist pantheon because of the power inherent in its function as arbiter of justice and role as law keeper. Schlossberg compares our age to the Kingdom of Judah: “Ecclesiastical support for the state idolatry is unconsciously imitative of the temple religion that endorsed and undergirded the unjust rules of Judah.”
He condemns the modern false prophets and those with “itching ears” (2 Tim. 4:3):
“People desire false teaching because it enables them to absolutize contingent systems to which they have given allegiance. They seek religious leaders who will bless their idolization of the nation, or the state, or the unrestricted pursuit of wealth or power, or the acting out of their hatred and ressentiment through humanitarian policy.” (p. 255-256)
America long ago switched allegiance with the One True God to The State, and the American church, in the guise of being “subject to the governing authorities,” (Romans 13:1) is in danger of the same apostasy. So, “what happens to a nation whose God is not the Lord?”
Schlossberg argues that one of the clearest manifestations of God’s judgment is a decline in wealth—moral and monetary. Christianity has built “moral capital” that we’ve squandered, and upon which we are now living. Once this reserve has been used up, a range of horrors will be unleashed upon a people. This is the civilizational collapse—the long prophesied lapse into barbarism. One only has to read the Old Testament to be reminded of these scenarios. Recall Gideon threshing wheat in his winepress, hiding from the Midianites and Amalekites, so as to avoid being plundered by these foreign armies. (Judges 6) Ben Hadad’s Siege of Samaria in 2 Kings 6 was appallingly brutal—people resorted to eating dung and even human flesh. The Israelites in 2 Kings 17 “burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.” These are the sort of judgments levied upon idolatrous nations in the Bible. Our own national history records analogous judgments: the Civil War in particular was a time of savagery, famine, mutilation, destitution, rape, and pillage. The Bible teaches that these things are judgments from God—where guilty and innocent are caught up together in the judgment of God.
Schlossberg has much more to say than can be summarized in such a brief review. But Schlossberg is clear, “The practice of idolatry has serious consequences, which the prophets of Israel identified as oppression, injustice, and bloodshed.” (p. 262) But as C.S. Lewis writes, “Perhaps civilization will never be safe until we care for something else more than we care for it?”
I have typed nearly twenty pages of quotations from this book as I've read it to further ponder and study. I cannot say this of any other book I've ever read. Schlossberg wrote the book over twenty-five years ago, but his analysis of our current socio-economic and political environment is remarkably insightful because it captures the failings of the modern nation-state and the crisis in the consciences of its people. These things were just as true twenty five years ago as they are today.
Buy this book, read it, study it, and I am confident you will not regret it. This is a remarkable book, and a gift to the church unlike any other I've ever read.
----------------------------------------------
Here's a review of the book that I wrote more recently for a church publication:
Some time ago a friend posted a question on Facebook, asking, “What happens to the nation whose God is not the Lord?” Thirty years ago, Herbert Schlossberg sought to answer this very same question and his conclusions were published in a remarkable book entitled Idols For Destruction. Why write a book review in 2011 for a book first published in 1983 (and republished in 1990)? This book, like few others, prophetically captures the essence of our culture—critiquing and chastising it. The book was relevant when published, but its relevance has only increased in the years since its publication. Schlossberg argues that idolatry is at the heart of cultural decay, and describes in horrific detail the results. He writes, “…when the people turn to idolatries, and the outcome of those faiths become incarnated in society’s institutions, the rot sets in. What happens in the future depends on the moral state of the people who decide to follow one course of action rather than another.”
One can immediately see Schlossberg’s intent in the opening chapter of Idols For Destruction as he ponders the meaning of the fall of civilizations. His concern, writing in the early 1980s, was to diagnose the ills of society in light of God’s Word. He begins the book examining what the Bible says about the decline of civilizations. He observes, “It is a curious fact that the Old Testament, which describes the beginning, course, and end of a number of societies, never assesses them as being on the rise or decline, as progressing or regressing, as growing to maturity or falling to senescence.” Instead, “…the biblical explanation of the end of societies uses the concept of judgment. It depicts them as either having submitted themselves to God or else having rebelled against him.” (p. 5)
Schlossberg echoes C.S. Lewis’s remark that, “…human history… [is] the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” Schlossberg argues we went astray through the rejection of God’s authority and the enshrinement of humanism. He begins by decrying humanists who, “are hostile to any notion of law that is external to the legislative organs under human control, and this means that morality cannot be predicated on universal codes." (p. 43) The humanist has rejected the supernatural and embraced the material—all that exists is matter, and only matter, matters. He writes, “Being poor is the greatest evil, in humanitarian thinking, because having material possessions is the greatest good… Modern materialism is not only an ethical philosophy that places a high value on money and possessions but a social philosophy that says that human relations are determined by material factors.” (p. 61) This materialist philosophy being at the heart of humanitarian project, explains what is perhaps the most important concept in the book—the power of envy, and jealousy, in shaping and reshaping human institutions—something Schlossberg calls ressentiment. The Humanitarian impulse, “is not to raise those who are down but to topple those who are up; ressentiment is the motive.” (p. 55)
Schlossberg exposes the fraud of humanitarianism—it seeks not the betterment of society, but simply to “exercise power.” The state is the humanitarian’s “lever of power” to reshape society. (p. 75-76) It is the state who, rather than God, becomes “the Father.” Schlossberg says “Looking to the state for sustenance is a cultic act; we rightly learn to expect food from parents, and when we regard the state as the source of physical provision we render to it the obeisance of idolatry." (p. 183)
Herein lies the central lesson of Idols For Destruction:
“The paternal state not only feeds its children, but nurtures, educates, comforts, and disciplines them, providing all they need for their security. This appears to be a mildly insulting way to treat adults, but it is really a great crime because it transforms the state from being a gift of God, given to protect against violence, into an idol. It supplies us with all blessings, and we look to it for all our needs. Once we sink to that level, as Lewis says, there is no point in telling state officials to mind their own business. “Our whole lives are their business.” The paternalism of the state is that of the bad parent who wants his children dependent on him forever…The paternal state thrives on dependency. When the dependents free themselves, it loses power. It is, therefore, parasitic on the very persons whom it turns into parasites. Thus, the state and its dependents march symbiotically to destruction.” (p. 184)
The paternal state grappling for power, in opposition to God, and its Machiavellian means of maintaining power, lead to the kinds of policies en vogue in national capitals across the globe. Governments use monopoly power over the creation of currencies and their inflationary policies to enrich themselves at the expense of its citizenry, all the while giving the perception of economic expansion. America has been pursuing inflationary monetary policy for decades, but never so rapidly as the last three years. These policies, Schlossberg writes have, “both moral and economic consequences.” (p. 99) He adds, “A society that inflates its currency tampers with a moral value. If the economic system lacks the basic honesty that permits economic transactions to reward both seller and buyer, lender and borrower, there can be no sense of justice.” (p. 101) Yet it is “both a cause and effect of moral decline… As long as people think they are advancing economically, the pressure to continue inflating outweigh those for stopping. When a society becomes pragmatic, the moral considerations seem less important than the economic ones.” (p. 102)
Inflationary economies “promise wealth without end.” Yet Christians know, as Jesus teaches, “the poor you always have with you.” (John 12:8) Ours is not a world of “wealth without end”--ours is a “world of scarcity.” He argues, “…compound interest without end and growth without end are in the same category as entitlements without end; they are illusions. But illusions in which people place their faith take on a sinister reality. When they are cashed in without sufficient resources to pay everyone off, then a process of allocation must be devised to settle claims. That process often is violence.” (p. 108) If you doubt this, recall the power of envy—it “cannot be assuaged any more than cancer can be; they are both pathologies whose very being requires expansion to their neighbor's territory. There is no fence that will ever be respected, no limitation that will be recognized as legitimate, no sense of proportion or humility sufficient to smother a sense of inferiority.” (p. 104) We’ve recently seen these forces unleashed around us—look at Greece (or Wisconsin, for that matter) where people facing the loss of entitlements resort to violence and mass protest.
The state has become the central god in the Humanist pantheon because of the power inherent in its function as arbiter of justice and role as law keeper. Schlossberg compares our age to the Kingdom of Judah: “Ecclesiastical support for the state idolatry is unconsciously imitative of the temple religion that endorsed and undergirded the unjust rules of Judah.”
He condemns the modern false prophets and those with “itching ears” (2 Tim. 4:3):
“People desire false teaching because it enables them to absolutize contingent systems to which they have given allegiance. They seek religious leaders who will bless their idolization of the nation, or the state, or the unrestricted pursuit of wealth or power, or the acting out of their hatred and ressentiment through humanitarian policy.” (p. 255-256)
America long ago switched allegiance with the One True God to The State, and the American church, in the guise of being “subject to the governing authorities,” (Romans 13:1) is in danger of the same apostasy. So, “what happens to a nation whose God is not the Lord?”
Schlossberg argues that one of the clearest manifestations of God’s judgment is a decline in wealth—moral and monetary. Christianity has built “moral capital” that we’ve squandered, and upon which we are now living. Once this reserve has been used up, a range of horrors will be unleashed upon a people. This is the civilizational collapse—the long prophesied lapse into barbarism. One only has to read the Old Testament to be reminded of these scenarios. Recall Gideon threshing wheat in his winepress, hiding from the Midianites and Amalekites, so as to avoid being plundered by these foreign armies. (Judges 6) Ben Hadad’s Siege of Samaria in 2 Kings 6 was appallingly brutal—people resorted to eating dung and even human flesh. The Israelites in 2 Kings 17 “burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.” These are the sort of judgments levied upon idolatrous nations in the Bible. Our own national history records analogous judgments: the Civil War in particular was a time of savagery, famine, mutilation, destitution, rape, and pillage. The Bible teaches that these things are judgments from God—where guilty and innocent are caught up together in the judgment of God.
Schlossberg has much more to say than can be summarized in such a brief review. But Schlossberg is clear, “The practice of idolatry has serious consequences, which the prophets of Israel identified as oppression, injustice, and bloodshed.” (p. 262) But as C.S. Lewis writes, “Perhaps civilization will never be safe until we care for something else more than we care for it?”
August 7, 2023
Boom! No wonder why our pastor recommended us all to read this book to help us grow in our understanding of the times we live in.
May 17, 2021
A masterful piece of cultural critique, deeply rooted in Biblical wisdom. I can’t recommend it enough.
July 19, 2025
One of the most important books I’ve read. This book, though written decades ago, pulls back the curtain on our culture. Schlossberg ably dissects politics, economics, psychology, religion, nature, history and more to reveal all the major and minor idols we Christians accept - and sometimes champion. We need to learn how to understand the times, identify our society’s idols and begin “stripping them, root and branch, from the land”. This is the good work to which we are called and to which we are being equipped in Christ.
Shout on, pray on, we’re gaining ground!
Shout on, pray on, we’re gaining ground!
January 1, 2022
Hands-down the best and most insightful cultural analysis book I’ve ever read, and I’ll be surprised if that changes. One I will be returning to many, many times in the future. If you’re a Christian, you absolutely need to read this book.
Before I left the USA I asked Doug Wilson for a list of books to read - any must-reads for a man who wants to live faithfully in our current cultural climate. He gave me a list of 10 books, and this one took me a few months to get through, but boy was it worth it. Schlossberg covers everything from inflation to history to poverty to ideology (might come back with a more detailed review in future). Drop everything, buy this book, and read 10 pages daily (with a pencil to underline almost every other sentence) until your worldview is sharpened. My mission in 2022 is to find and read more books like this one.
(NSA grads: this book ties together so much of NSA’s education. It would make a phenomenal capstone read after graduation!)
Before I left the USA I asked Doug Wilson for a list of books to read - any must-reads for a man who wants to live faithfully in our current cultural climate. He gave me a list of 10 books, and this one took me a few months to get through, but boy was it worth it. Schlossberg covers everything from inflation to history to poverty to ideology (might come back with a more detailed review in future). Drop everything, buy this book, and read 10 pages daily (with a pencil to underline almost every other sentence) until your worldview is sharpened. My mission in 2022 is to find and read more books like this one.
(NSA grads: this book ties together so much of NSA’s education. It would make a phenomenal capstone read after graduation!)
June 23, 2021
The right book for such a time as this.
I wish every Christian would read this and take it to heart. The salt seems to have lost its savor and be content to let the world drift in chaotic nihilism that can only end in death. The modern church twists the command to love thy neighbor into obedience to the Godless state and the repetition of servile slogans. It substitutes the traditions of men for the commands of God. Yet, the Lord's remnant will always remain.
I wish every Christian would read this and take it to heart. The salt seems to have lost its savor and be content to let the world drift in chaotic nihilism that can only end in death. The modern church twists the command to love thy neighbor into obedience to the Godless state and the repetition of servile slogans. It substitutes the traditions of men for the commands of God. Yet, the Lord's remnant will always remain.
July 25, 2012
Since the beginning of time, a battle has been steadily raging, having as its object the complete control and sovereignty over the mind of mankind. This conflict is over the most important question of man’s existence: who or what is god? Who holds the ultimate authority, and who establishes the standards that guide my conduct? The roots of this conflict are found in the Garden of Eden, where the first man and woman succumbed to the temptation to “be as God.”1 This temptation has plagued the human race ever since, and our sin nature has, since the time of the original sin, willingly turned the human heart into a “perpetual forge of idols.”2 In ancient times the drive to create idols manifested itself in the worshipping of stone and metal figures, or even in the divinization of certain men chosen to bear the ultimate authority in a culture, such as the Pharaoh of Egypt, and the kings of Assyria and Babylon. Today, however, one would be hard pressed to find such blatant and visible objects of worship, because modern idolatry is much more insidious. We have help in identifying modern idolatry, however, thanks to the book Idols For Destruction, by Herbert Schlossberg, which is a valiant and successful effort to unveil the modern forms of idolatry.
Schlossberg’s foundational argument is that, to truly understand both past history and present events, you must view them in the context of God’s covenant blessings to His faithful people, and His judgments on those people and nations which have rejected Him. To support this view, he puts forward the explanation given by Scripture as to why the nation of Israel fell: “Far from being a typical nationalistic exaltation of a ‘chosen people,’ the Old Testament portrays Israel as having become an evil nation, fully deserving the judgment that God meted to it. Its rebellion against God was accompanied by a turning to idols, and this idolatry brought the nation to its end. ‘With their silver and their gold,’ said the prophet Hosea, ‘they made idols for their own destruction’ (Hosea 8:4).”3 Thus a disintegrating nation is by necessity an idolatrous one, its idols consisting of everything that its citizens substitute for the one true God.
Schlossberg continues throughout the rest of his book to examine all the modern “incarnations” of modern idolatry, starting with the idols of history, and then proceeding to those of humanity, mammon, nature, power, and religion. Each of these areas is given a chapter of their own, and is closely examined in order to give a complete understanding of the origins of each idol, the main subscribers to it, its basic beliefs, and its logical conclusion. Of particular interest are the multitude of quotes, references, and clarifications in each chapter, which draw from an amazing variety of philosophers, historians, theologians, and other people who have greatly influenced modern culture. The sheer number of such notes reveals the vast nature of Schlossberg’s research for this book, and gives readers an in-depth look at how idolatry has been expressed, and just how widespread it has become. His writing style is deep and powerful, and his grasp of the many complexities inherent in philosophical discussions is commendable. The only difficulty for the average reader is the depth of his analyses and his use of philosophical terms. These things may make it slow reading, but also makes it very rich and rewarding reading, and an excellent candidate for repeated readings.
Schlossberg is successful in his critiques of modern culture, and it is for this reason: he has both acknowledged the fact of God’s sovereignty over creation, and made it the foundation of his thought. He explains his own position very well: “Pontius Pilate’s question, ‘What is truth?,’ is everywhere on the lips of relativists who do not believe there exists a principle which affords certainty for any kind of knowledge, factual or ethical. The descent into irrationality is avoidable only by returning to the theological certainties. Human rationality stems from the divine reason that preexisted human beings. Only the certainty that man was created in the image of God gives a solid foundation to reason and therefore to the possibility of human knowledge.”4 This certainty gives coherence to Schlossberg’s analyses.
After masterfully exposing idolatry, Idols For Destruction concludes on a positive note, giving readers hope for the future, as only faith in a sovereign God can do: “Biblical faith finds great power – as does its imitator, Marxism – in the conviction that history is going its way. Or rather, that since Christ is the Lord of history, it is going history’s way. Final victory is not dependent upon how well the work is done; rather it is assured regardless of all contingent factors. ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ is not a pious wish, but a certainty. We do not question if we shall be able to bring such a happy state of affairs into being, but rather what our role should be in its inevitable fulfillment. Since the world’s powers were ‘disarmed’ in Christ (Col 2:15) their might is limited, despite the illusions of invincibility they are able to project. The eschatology of victory is a principal theme of the New Testament.”5
Idols for Destruction is a brilliantly written examination of the reasons and thought processes behind the deterioration of modern culture. The reader will be edified, enlightened, and encouraged by this book, and his/her understanding of modern culture will increase exponentially. I would recommend this book to all Christians who desire to engage today’s society in a Christocentric manner. This book is an indispensable resource for Christians who want to reconstruct their society according to the perfect law of God, and deserves not only a place in your library, but to be kept close by as a primary resource in understanding the modern world we live in.
1 Genesis 3:5
2 Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin, Book I.XI.8-9
3 Idols For Destruction, Herbert Schlossberg, pg. 6
4 Ibid, pgs. 299 - 300
5 Ibid, pg. 333
Schlossberg’s foundational argument is that, to truly understand both past history and present events, you must view them in the context of God’s covenant blessings to His faithful people, and His judgments on those people and nations which have rejected Him. To support this view, he puts forward the explanation given by Scripture as to why the nation of Israel fell: “Far from being a typical nationalistic exaltation of a ‘chosen people,’ the Old Testament portrays Israel as having become an evil nation, fully deserving the judgment that God meted to it. Its rebellion against God was accompanied by a turning to idols, and this idolatry brought the nation to its end. ‘With their silver and their gold,’ said the prophet Hosea, ‘they made idols for their own destruction’ (Hosea 8:4).”3 Thus a disintegrating nation is by necessity an idolatrous one, its idols consisting of everything that its citizens substitute for the one true God.
Schlossberg continues throughout the rest of his book to examine all the modern “incarnations” of modern idolatry, starting with the idols of history, and then proceeding to those of humanity, mammon, nature, power, and religion. Each of these areas is given a chapter of their own, and is closely examined in order to give a complete understanding of the origins of each idol, the main subscribers to it, its basic beliefs, and its logical conclusion. Of particular interest are the multitude of quotes, references, and clarifications in each chapter, which draw from an amazing variety of philosophers, historians, theologians, and other people who have greatly influenced modern culture. The sheer number of such notes reveals the vast nature of Schlossberg’s research for this book, and gives readers an in-depth look at how idolatry has been expressed, and just how widespread it has become. His writing style is deep and powerful, and his grasp of the many complexities inherent in philosophical discussions is commendable. The only difficulty for the average reader is the depth of his analyses and his use of philosophical terms. These things may make it slow reading, but also makes it very rich and rewarding reading, and an excellent candidate for repeated readings.
Schlossberg is successful in his critiques of modern culture, and it is for this reason: he has both acknowledged the fact of God’s sovereignty over creation, and made it the foundation of his thought. He explains his own position very well: “Pontius Pilate’s question, ‘What is truth?,’ is everywhere on the lips of relativists who do not believe there exists a principle which affords certainty for any kind of knowledge, factual or ethical. The descent into irrationality is avoidable only by returning to the theological certainties. Human rationality stems from the divine reason that preexisted human beings. Only the certainty that man was created in the image of God gives a solid foundation to reason and therefore to the possibility of human knowledge.”4 This certainty gives coherence to Schlossberg’s analyses.
After masterfully exposing idolatry, Idols For Destruction concludes on a positive note, giving readers hope for the future, as only faith in a sovereign God can do: “Biblical faith finds great power – as does its imitator, Marxism – in the conviction that history is going its way. Or rather, that since Christ is the Lord of history, it is going history’s way. Final victory is not dependent upon how well the work is done; rather it is assured regardless of all contingent factors. ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,’ is not a pious wish, but a certainty. We do not question if we shall be able to bring such a happy state of affairs into being, but rather what our role should be in its inevitable fulfillment. Since the world’s powers were ‘disarmed’ in Christ (Col 2:15) their might is limited, despite the illusions of invincibility they are able to project. The eschatology of victory is a principal theme of the New Testament.”5
Idols for Destruction is a brilliantly written examination of the reasons and thought processes behind the deterioration of modern culture. The reader will be edified, enlightened, and encouraged by this book, and his/her understanding of modern culture will increase exponentially. I would recommend this book to all Christians who desire to engage today’s society in a Christocentric manner. This book is an indispensable resource for Christians who want to reconstruct their society according to the perfect law of God, and deserves not only a place in your library, but to be kept close by as a primary resource in understanding the modern world we live in.
1 Genesis 3:5
2 Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin, Book I.XI.8-9
3 Idols For Destruction, Herbert Schlossberg, pg. 6
4 Ibid, pgs. 299 - 300
5 Ibid, pg. 333
February 27, 2025
Such a book - explicit in the best way and deeply insightful. It's obviously the fruit of hugely wide reading and careful thought. Also, it's really dense to read - but not dry. There are massive mic drops every few pages - like, "It is a short distance from the appearance of compassion to tyrrany." - ch. 2
The thing that makes me kind of sad about this book is that the people who most need to hear this message are those, who by caving to the trends of intellectual sloth/anti-intellectualism, would find these deeply studied arguments 'too hard to read'.
It's an older book - 1990 - you really notice it in the fact that he mentions Christian schools as a subversive movement but says nothing of homeschooling - just wasn't on his radar then. But it's the overall sense of the wise prophetic that makes it seem the more fascinating now.
It gets pretty heavy toward the later chapters as he talks about statism and Marxism, and I had to slog through, but the very final chapter of challenge to believers is a refreshing trumpet call - that we can do something for the cause of righteousness.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, is not a pious wish, but a certainty. We do not question if we shall be able to bring such a happy state of affairs into being, but rather what our role should be in its inevitable fulfillment. Since the world's powers were "disarmed in Christ (Col. 2:15) their might is limited, despite the illusions of invincibility they are able to project."
"From the most homely of responsibilities to the most exalted, Christian faith has the capacity to infuse coherence and grace where disintegration now takes place. About seventy-five years ago French poet Charles Peguy declared that the true revolutionaries of the twentieth century would be the fathers of Christian families."
‐‐-------
"As it is commonly used, materialism is thought to signify the desire for consumer goods, the meaning that led Huxley to refer to the Sears, Roebuck catalog as the 'Newest Testament."' The legitimacy of such desires may be judged in part by our ability to satisfy them. All true needs-such as food, drink, and companionship-are satiable. Illegitimate wants--pride, envy, greed--are insatiable. By their nature they cannot be satisfied. In that sense materialism is the opium of the people. Enough is never enough. Greater quantities are required for satisfaction, and each increment proves inadequate the next time. That is the horror of the giant in John Bunyan and the wicked witch in C. S. Lewis who give their victims food that causes greater hunger. The idolatries that promise wealth without end draw adherents as the tavern draws alcoholics. Ivan Ilich calls this "the ethos of nonsatiety." That is the sense in which the love of money is the root of all evils (1 Tim. 6:10): The extent to which this has been built into the fabric of society justi fies Bell's belief that the revolution of rising expectations, which has been dominant for the last twenty-five years, is being transtormed into revolution of rising entitlements for the next twenty-five." - ch. 3
The thing that makes me kind of sad about this book is that the people who most need to hear this message are those, who by caving to the trends of intellectual sloth/anti-intellectualism, would find these deeply studied arguments 'too hard to read'.
It's an older book - 1990 - you really notice it in the fact that he mentions Christian schools as a subversive movement but says nothing of homeschooling - just wasn't on his radar then. But it's the overall sense of the wise prophetic that makes it seem the more fascinating now.
It gets pretty heavy toward the later chapters as he talks about statism and Marxism, and I had to slog through, but the very final chapter of challenge to believers is a refreshing trumpet call - that we can do something for the cause of righteousness.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, is not a pious wish, but a certainty. We do not question if we shall be able to bring such a happy state of affairs into being, but rather what our role should be in its inevitable fulfillment. Since the world's powers were "disarmed in Christ (Col. 2:15) their might is limited, despite the illusions of invincibility they are able to project."
"From the most homely of responsibilities to the most exalted, Christian faith has the capacity to infuse coherence and grace where disintegration now takes place. About seventy-five years ago French poet Charles Peguy declared that the true revolutionaries of the twentieth century would be the fathers of Christian families."
‐‐-------
"As it is commonly used, materialism is thought to signify the desire for consumer goods, the meaning that led Huxley to refer to the Sears, Roebuck catalog as the 'Newest Testament."' The legitimacy of such desires may be judged in part by our ability to satisfy them. All true needs-such as food, drink, and companionship-are satiable. Illegitimate wants--pride, envy, greed--are insatiable. By their nature they cannot be satisfied. In that sense materialism is the opium of the people. Enough is never enough. Greater quantities are required for satisfaction, and each increment proves inadequate the next time. That is the horror of the giant in John Bunyan and the wicked witch in C. S. Lewis who give their victims food that causes greater hunger. The idolatries that promise wealth without end draw adherents as the tavern draws alcoholics. Ivan Ilich calls this "the ethos of nonsatiety." That is the sense in which the love of money is the root of all evils (1 Tim. 6:10): The extent to which this has been built into the fabric of society justi fies Bell's belief that the revolution of rising expectations, which has been dominant for the last twenty-five years, is being transtormed into revolution of rising entitlements for the next twenty-five." - ch. 3
October 11, 2023
I like how the writer engages with many intellectuals and idea people of the 20th century. I've always loved slayers of sacred cows like this author. We must always speak truth through the illusions of our age.
Let us repent of our idols.
The remainder of this review will consist of occasional criticisms as I work through the book:
Under the idols of history:
p.36 In analyzing the historical profession, Mr. Schlossberg mentions that Marxists are not numerous in the United States...(shaking my head) where has this guy been? I challenge him or anyone to find a history department in the US that isn't Marxist (maybe Hillsdale isn't)...
Under the idols of humanity:
The section about ressentement and ultimately humanism really solidified why I loathed humanism in my soul and it helped partially explain why in some social interactions I have faced an almost completely hostile attitude to my very existence that I thought seemed so irrational (it was).
Under idols of mammon:
Couldn't find any of it with which I could disagree. Our society has gone so far down the path of economic destruction it's amazing we have any prosperity at all.
Under the idols of nature:
Though this book was written 33 years ago, we now live the reality of enviro-fascism; check out this quote:
"If pantheism becomes as influential in the West as some observers expect, the effects are likely to be baneful, Troeltsch, observing its influence on German Protestantism, concluded that its propensity to mysticism had the effect of destroying community and fellowship; communing with the 'vasty deep' within oneself makes ethics and concrete forms of social life superfluous. Its reverence for animal life, supposedly touched with divinity along with the rest of nature, may have serious consequences for many aspects of economic life. Pantheism is not impressed by such consequences because it does not place high value on community or on economic life, or on anything that seeks to assuage desires. It finds its rewards, rather, in quietism, in surrender and union with the all-pervasive divinity that permeates nature. As Chesterton said, the worshipers of such a divinity have populated Asia for centuries 'and have never dethroned a tyrant'. Introspection, self-isolation, and indifference derive naturally from such a theological position.
"Surprisingly, pantheism ends up in a dehumanization of mankind that is not very different from that of behaviorism, despite the dissimilarities in other respects. In Huxley's Utopia, the hero recalls a momentary delusion in which the teeming streets of London appeared to him to be filled with crawling maggots rather than people. Huxley intended this as a metaphor of modern civilization with its remnant of Christian transcendence. But the vision more logically relates to his pantheism because there is no essential difference between men and maggots. Only an illusion of differentiation exists between the various elements of the cosmos. In his sympathetic survey of the modern religious scene, Jacob Needleman describes the Buddhist anthropology in terms that a behaviorist would have little difficulty accepting: '...everything in human nature is in flux, and a man is nothing but a serial bunch of sensations, thoughts, and feelings, one proceeding from another with nothing to hold them together in life or death.' That kind of dehumanization accounts for the particularly brutal nature of pantheist activism when it finally bestirs itself out of contemplation to action; since the individual personality is illusory, killing it is small loss. Thus spirituality and cruelty accompany each other in perfect harmony." --By elevating nature, humanity is lowered and you get the attitude seen in the media where enviro-fascists consider humanity to be a cancer on the Earth (except for themselves of course).
Under the idols of power (love of illegitimate government):
This is the sickening mindset of so many folks I know and have met that inordinately love government:
"One would have to search hard to find a modern social theorist acknowledging that Hegel was right to say that the state is God marching on earth, but at every turn we stumble over those who advocate actions that can be logical inferences only from such a position. For them the state is the only savior we can expect on earth. Salvation is to be found in the messianic state, or it is found nowhere. Therefore, the only branch of human endeavor that can save us is politics."
The above adoration of government and mass formation psychosis goes a long way toward explaining the rise of global fascism under the excuse of the COVID-19 plandemic--even our supposedly intelligent neighbors and fellow citizens bought the lie.
More under the idols of power: (here have some syncretism with your idolatry):
Idolatry also serves as a set of blinders. Solzhenitsyn tells of Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit to the labor camp where he was incarcerated. She reported that it was a humane institution for curing criminals. At the very time Stalin was murdering millions of Soviet citizens, John MacMurray published the glad tidings that this regime presided over “the nearest approach to the realization of the Christian intention that the world has yet seen.. . . It expresses the continuity of the Christian intention in an explicit and practical form, and thus makes an immense human advance in the process that Jesus began."
Your hand is out (you pathetic ape):
“Our Father who art in heaven.. . . Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:9, 11). Looking to the state for sustenance is a cultic act; we rightly learn to expect food from parents, and when we regard the state as the source of physical provision we render to it the obeisance of idolatry. The crowds who had fed on the multiplied loaves and fishes were ready to receive Christ as their ruler, not because of who he was but because of the provision. John Howard Yoder has rightly interpreted that scene: “The distribution of bread moved the crowd to acclaim Jesus as the New Moses, the provider, the Welfare King whom they had been waiting for.”
The catechism of you government worshipers:
Q. By whom were you begotten?
A. By the Sovereign State.
Q. Why were you begotten?
A. That I might know, love, and serve the Sovereign State always.
Q. What is the Sovereign State?
A. The Sovereign State is humanity in composite and perfect being.
Q. Why is the State supreme?
A. The State is supreme because it is my Creator and Conserver in which I am and move and have my being and without which I am nothing.
Q. What is the individual?
A. The individual is only a part of the whole, and made for the whole, and finds his complete and perfect expression in the Sovereign State. Individuals are made for cooperation only, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth.
Taxation is theft:
In the United States, federal tax policy illustrates the government’s unconscious rush to be the god of its citizens. When a provision in the tax laws permits the taxpayer to keep a portion of his money, the Internal Revenue Service calls this a “tax expenditure,” or an “implicit government grant.” This is not tax money that the state has collected and expended but money it has allowed the citizen to keep by not taking it. In other words any money the citizen is permitted to keep is regarded as if the state had graciously given it to him. Everything we have is from the state, to which we owe gratitude. In fact, we are the property of the state, which therefore has the right to the fruit of our labor.
Finally, this book is also of value to unbelievers, unless they are in love with our fascist government. Excellent book highly recommended!
Let us repent of our idols.
The remainder of this review will consist of occasional criticisms as I work through the book:
Under the idols of history:
p.36 In analyzing the historical profession, Mr. Schlossberg mentions that Marxists are not numerous in the United States...(shaking my head) where has this guy been? I challenge him or anyone to find a history department in the US that isn't Marxist (maybe Hillsdale isn't)...
Under the idols of humanity:
The section about ressentement and ultimately humanism really solidified why I loathed humanism in my soul and it helped partially explain why in some social interactions I have faced an almost completely hostile attitude to my very existence that I thought seemed so irrational (it was).
Under idols of mammon:
Couldn't find any of it with which I could disagree. Our society has gone so far down the path of economic destruction it's amazing we have any prosperity at all.
Under the idols of nature:
Though this book was written 33 years ago, we now live the reality of enviro-fascism; check out this quote:
"If pantheism becomes as influential in the West as some observers expect, the effects are likely to be baneful, Troeltsch, observing its influence on German Protestantism, concluded that its propensity to mysticism had the effect of destroying community and fellowship; communing with the 'vasty deep' within oneself makes ethics and concrete forms of social life superfluous. Its reverence for animal life, supposedly touched with divinity along with the rest of nature, may have serious consequences for many aspects of economic life. Pantheism is not impressed by such consequences because it does not place high value on community or on economic life, or on anything that seeks to assuage desires. It finds its rewards, rather, in quietism, in surrender and union with the all-pervasive divinity that permeates nature. As Chesterton said, the worshipers of such a divinity have populated Asia for centuries 'and have never dethroned a tyrant'. Introspection, self-isolation, and indifference derive naturally from such a theological position.
"Surprisingly, pantheism ends up in a dehumanization of mankind that is not very different from that of behaviorism, despite the dissimilarities in other respects. In Huxley's Utopia, the hero recalls a momentary delusion in which the teeming streets of London appeared to him to be filled with crawling maggots rather than people. Huxley intended this as a metaphor of modern civilization with its remnant of Christian transcendence. But the vision more logically relates to his pantheism because there is no essential difference between men and maggots. Only an illusion of differentiation exists between the various elements of the cosmos. In his sympathetic survey of the modern religious scene, Jacob Needleman describes the Buddhist anthropology in terms that a behaviorist would have little difficulty accepting: '...everything in human nature is in flux, and a man is nothing but a serial bunch of sensations, thoughts, and feelings, one proceeding from another with nothing to hold them together in life or death.' That kind of dehumanization accounts for the particularly brutal nature of pantheist activism when it finally bestirs itself out of contemplation to action; since the individual personality is illusory, killing it is small loss. Thus spirituality and cruelty accompany each other in perfect harmony." --By elevating nature, humanity is lowered and you get the attitude seen in the media where enviro-fascists consider humanity to be a cancer on the Earth (except for themselves of course).
Under the idols of power (love of illegitimate government):
This is the sickening mindset of so many folks I know and have met that inordinately love government:
"One would have to search hard to find a modern social theorist acknowledging that Hegel was right to say that the state is God marching on earth, but at every turn we stumble over those who advocate actions that can be logical inferences only from such a position. For them the state is the only savior we can expect on earth. Salvation is to be found in the messianic state, or it is found nowhere. Therefore, the only branch of human endeavor that can save us is politics."
The above adoration of government and mass formation psychosis goes a long way toward explaining the rise of global fascism under the excuse of the COVID-19 plandemic--even our supposedly intelligent neighbors and fellow citizens bought the lie.
More under the idols of power: (here have some syncretism with your idolatry):
Idolatry also serves as a set of blinders. Solzhenitsyn tells of Eleanor Roosevelt’s visit to the labor camp where he was incarcerated. She reported that it was a humane institution for curing criminals. At the very time Stalin was murdering millions of Soviet citizens, John MacMurray published the glad tidings that this regime presided over “the nearest approach to the realization of the Christian intention that the world has yet seen.. . . It expresses the continuity of the Christian intention in an explicit and practical form, and thus makes an immense human advance in the process that Jesus began."
Your hand is out (you pathetic ape):
“Our Father who art in heaven.. . . Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:9, 11). Looking to the state for sustenance is a cultic act; we rightly learn to expect food from parents, and when we regard the state as the source of physical provision we render to it the obeisance of idolatry. The crowds who had fed on the multiplied loaves and fishes were ready to receive Christ as their ruler, not because of who he was but because of the provision. John Howard Yoder has rightly interpreted that scene: “The distribution of bread moved the crowd to acclaim Jesus as the New Moses, the provider, the Welfare King whom they had been waiting for.”
The catechism of you government worshipers:
Q. By whom were you begotten?
A. By the Sovereign State.
Q. Why were you begotten?
A. That I might know, love, and serve the Sovereign State always.
Q. What is the Sovereign State?
A. The Sovereign State is humanity in composite and perfect being.
Q. Why is the State supreme?
A. The State is supreme because it is my Creator and Conserver in which I am and move and have my being and without which I am nothing.
Q. What is the individual?
A. The individual is only a part of the whole, and made for the whole, and finds his complete and perfect expression in the Sovereign State. Individuals are made for cooperation only, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth.
Taxation is theft:
In the United States, federal tax policy illustrates the government’s unconscious rush to be the god of its citizens. When a provision in the tax laws permits the taxpayer to keep a portion of his money, the Internal Revenue Service calls this a “tax expenditure,” or an “implicit government grant.” This is not tax money that the state has collected and expended but money it has allowed the citizen to keep by not taking it. In other words any money the citizen is permitted to keep is regarded as if the state had graciously given it to him. Everything we have is from the state, to which we owe gratitude. In fact, we are the property of the state, which therefore has the right to the fruit of our labor.
Finally, this book is also of value to unbelievers, unless they are in love with our fascist government. Excellent book highly recommended!
April 24, 2022
A tour de forcé
October 2, 2020
A dense and penetrating analysis. Schlossberg tears down idols but is not despairing: "The Bible can be interpreted as a string of God's triumphs disguised as disasters."
November 12, 2010
This book was not the easiest to read, nor fun, but necessary. This book challenged my presuppositions, and yet after reading I felt I grasped about a tenth of what he was getting at. I have re-read sections throughout the years because it is a book that has a lot of depth to it. Enjoy at your own risk.
The author shows the destructive nature of mans desire to replace God with a number of other things. The Bible warns time and again against making idols, but in the hearts longing for God it either quenches that desire with worship of the one true God or an Idol.
Chapters:
Idols of History
Idols of Humanity
Idols of Mammon
Idols of Nature
Idols of Power
Idols of Religion
Consequences and Expectations
The New Community
Idolatry is probabaly the most rampant sin, so how should we live, some interesting answers inside the covers.
The author shows the destructive nature of mans desire to replace God with a number of other things. The Bible warns time and again against making idols, but in the hearts longing for God it either quenches that desire with worship of the one true God or an Idol.
Chapters:
Idols of History
Idols of Humanity
Idols of Mammon
Idols of Nature
Idols of Power
Idols of Religion
Consequences and Expectations
The New Community
Idolatry is probabaly the most rampant sin, so how should we live, some interesting answers inside the covers.
July 5, 2017
This is an impressive book with comprehensive historical research and creative application to American culture. It presents a powerful critique of secular humanism and all related attachments.
Schlossberg approaches culture, politics, and economics with solid biblical presuppositions, which is why the theme of idolatry is an apt metaphor for his book. He discusses the idols of history, nature, humanity, money, and power, and he shows how these idols are ultimately the fruit of distorting or denying the biblical distinction between Creator and Creation.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking through the cultural, political, philosophical, and economic implications of the Scripture.
Schlossberg approaches culture, politics, and economics with solid biblical presuppositions, which is why the theme of idolatry is an apt metaphor for his book. He discusses the idols of history, nature, humanity, money, and power, and he shows how these idols are ultimately the fruit of distorting or denying the biblical distinction between Creator and Creation.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking through the cultural, political, philosophical, and economic implications of the Scripture.
August 31, 2015
Fantastic work by Schlossberg. Sets forth the situation clearly and leaves us with only one response. Schlossberg correctly identified the problems with American society back in the 80s, and his thoughts are relevant even now - 30 years later. A must read for anyone looking to build a Christian culture.
February 27, 2013
This book is something of a more "in-depth" version of Nancy Pearcey's "Total Truth". I recommend this book to any Christian seeking to look past the idols that have been erected in our society and see the truth of Christianity.
August 3, 2009
Excellent critique of culture, through lens of first commandment
March 2, 2012
Good. Helpful discussion on the idols of the modern world.
December 27, 2024
Este libro ha sido uno de los más desafiantes que he leído, pero también uno de los más enriquecedores. Herbert Schlossberg ofrece una visión profunda sobre cómo los cristianos deben observar la sociedad y animar a que se vuelva a Dios, en lugar de rendirse a los ídolos de la cultura moderna.
Aunque fue escrito hace casi 50 años, parece describir perfectamente los problemas que seguimos enfrentando en la actualidad. Me fascinó cómo el autor analiza las diferentes idolatrías, trazando paralelismos con la historia bíblica. Schlossberg muestra cómo naciones paganas e incluso el propio pueblo de Israel, al poner su confianza en recursos o ideologías en lugar de Dios, se alejaron de la verdadera esperanza.
El recorrido del libro es amplio y abarca diferentes formas de idolatría: el historicismo (la historia como salvadora), el humanismo (el hombre como su propio dios), la idolatría a Mammón (el dinero), el naturalismo (la creación adorada como dios), el poder (nacionalismo y política) y, finalmente, la idolatría religiosa (una iglesia corrompida por valores mundanos).
Aunque algunos temas pueden parecer complejos debido al contexto cultural y académico del autor (especialmente desde una perspectiva estadounidense o europea), las reflexiones y críticas que ofrece son extremadamente relevantes y profundas. Invita a reflexionar no solo sobre el mundo, sino también sobre cómo nuestra fe puede ser contaminada por estas tendencias.
En un mundo secularizado, este libro nos recuerda que el cristianismo tiene respuestas para la crisis moderna. Sus ideas debieran leerse y discutirse con mayor frecuencia porque el mundo que nos rodea es, en gran medida, producto de una idolatría que aún no hemos abandonado.
Aunque fue escrito hace casi 50 años, parece describir perfectamente los problemas que seguimos enfrentando en la actualidad. Me fascinó cómo el autor analiza las diferentes idolatrías, trazando paralelismos con la historia bíblica. Schlossberg muestra cómo naciones paganas e incluso el propio pueblo de Israel, al poner su confianza en recursos o ideologías en lugar de Dios, se alejaron de la verdadera esperanza.
El recorrido del libro es amplio y abarca diferentes formas de idolatría: el historicismo (la historia como salvadora), el humanismo (el hombre como su propio dios), la idolatría a Mammón (el dinero), el naturalismo (la creación adorada como dios), el poder (nacionalismo y política) y, finalmente, la idolatría religiosa (una iglesia corrompida por valores mundanos).
Aunque algunos temas pueden parecer complejos debido al contexto cultural y académico del autor (especialmente desde una perspectiva estadounidense o europea), las reflexiones y críticas que ofrece son extremadamente relevantes y profundas. Invita a reflexionar no solo sobre el mundo, sino también sobre cómo nuestra fe puede ser contaminada por estas tendencias.
En un mundo secularizado, este libro nos recuerda que el cristianismo tiene respuestas para la crisis moderna. Sus ideas debieran leerse y discutirse con mayor frecuencia porque el mundo que nos rodea es, en gran medida, producto de una idolatría que aún no hemos abandonado.
January 13, 2023
I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this one deserves it! I believe this is one of the most important books to read if you want to understand our culture today. The subtitle is actually not accurate. It's not just about the "Conflict of Christian Faith and American Culture." Schlossberg goes much deeper than that. He presents a sweeping panoramic analysis of Idolatry, in all its various cultural manifestations. It is intellectual and cultural history of the finest caliber. He immersed himself in the sources of the early and middle twentieth century, and though his sources might be dated from one point of view, he is actually engaging with the sources that created the contemporary cultural crack-up. What we are seeing now is the culmination of a long series of events--the full manifestation of the Idolatries of Modernity. But Schlossberg goes even deeper than that and demonstrates that there is really nothing new under the sun and connects modern idols with the ancient pagan idolatries that tempted our forefathers in the faith. I'll be writing more about this, because I believe Schlossberg's insights are absolutely crucial for navigating the troubled waters ahead.
January 25, 2020
This book was originally published back in the Reagan administration. It rings as true today as it did back then. While the culture has changed, the message of this book still rings true: Christian faith stands apart from the world and rejects the idols that the world puts forth. This is true even when the idols are embraced by pastors, lay leaders, or politicians.
It's not a quick, easy read. This book takes thought; each section needs to be chewed on and considered. The reader may find himself taken aback at how these idols have intruded on his thinking, coloring his view of mass media, entertainment, and yes, politics. Many sacred cows are gored. But for followers of Christ, we must reject the idols of the world for the Way of Truth, even if those idols are promoted all around us.
Recommended for anyone who wants to think seriously about how to follow Christ in this culture.
It's not a quick, easy read. This book takes thought; each section needs to be chewed on and considered. The reader may find himself taken aback at how these idols have intruded on his thinking, coloring his view of mass media, entertainment, and yes, politics. Many sacred cows are gored. But for followers of Christ, we must reject the idols of the world for the Way of Truth, even if those idols are promoted all around us.
Recommended for anyone who wants to think seriously about how to follow Christ in this culture.
February 16, 2018
This was a daunting read, but well worth the time. A trenchant look at the infidelities and apostasies that have always plagued mankind, with a lens to to modern idolatries of history and nature before the turn of the last century (most of it still hits home today) and the perennial cures that Christ alone, the Lord of history and nature provides.
November 13, 2018
Good. Could have integrated the various idols and their underlying philosophies a bit more, and acknowledged his reliance on the thought of Rushdoony and North. He seems to quote liberal thinkers far more often, but think more like a Reconstructonist.
Overall, a good overview of culture, politics, and the Christian.
Overall, a good overview of culture, politics, and the Christian.
December 4, 2020
Klassiker gehört in jedes Bücherregal. Leider schon etwas in die Jahre gekommen aber nach wie vor ist das Argument absolut überzeugend, dass die Götzen von Historizismus, Humanismus, Geld, Natur, Macht und Religion unsere Kultur dominieren. Schlossberg bleibt aber nicht bei der Analyse stehen sondern bringt hilfreiche Lösungsansätze.
June 20, 2021
This is an important book to read, and too long for most people to read it. Not that 300 pages is ridiculous, but that it’s dense and highly researched.
What I need is this book, plus a companion volume that’s 100 pages long and makes the same points with less supporting evidence, so that more people can read it.
What I need is this book, plus a companion volume that’s 100 pages long and makes the same points with less supporting evidence, so that more people can read it.
February 16, 2023
A fantastic read with some lulls and obfuscation, but the highs were worth it. Some disagreement here and there, but he provides a piercing insight and understanding of his day, which has not fundamentally changed shape in the decades since he wrote this.
Getting this into the hands of as many thinly read seminarians as possible could change the future for the better.
Getting this into the hands of as many thinly read seminarians as possible could change the future for the better.
September 4, 2019
Unbelievably helpful and prescient. It's one of those books that takes your scattered thoughts and observations and arranges them helpfully for you (I had the same process while reading Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy). I will definitely be picking this one up again. And again.
June 18, 2020
Some of the chapter titles are: History of a Religious Enterprise, The Cult of Historicism, Getting Step with History, The Myth of the Seamless Web, God's Action in History, Judgement and Mercy, Human Beings as Gods, The Ethics of Antinomianism, Subjective Pragmatism. You get it right?
April 16, 2021
Excellent!
Although written 30 years ago, Schlossberg's book feels shockingly contemporary. A must read for all thinking Christians. Incredibly well researched, I know I will read it again and again. I highly recommend.
Although written 30 years ago, Schlossberg's book feels shockingly contemporary. A must read for all thinking Christians. Incredibly well researched, I know I will read it again and again. I highly recommend.
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