{"id":54419,"date":"2022-09-27T10:02:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T15:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=54419"},"modified":"2022-09-27T10:02:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T15:02:20","slug":"is-imagining-what-god-is-like-idolatry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-imagining-what-god-is-like-idolatry\/","title":{"rendered":"Is imagining what God is like idolatry?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Hi Mr. Hamilton,<\/p>\n

How have you been?<\/p>\n

I’ve been wondering, is it sinful or idolatrous for me to try and picture God or Christ in my mind? This is often something I do whenever I pray for God’s wisdom on a matter, when I’m stressed out about something and just want to leave those worries to Him, or even when I’m having trouble falling asleep. In any situation, it’s always been something that’s helped me to relax and rest my mind. In particular, the image would just be of Christ on the judgment seat, clothed in white with an unseen face. Would this be considered idolatry?<\/p>\n

Thanks.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

Imagery is frequently used in the Bible because it helps people focus on matters that may be difficult to comprehend. Ezekiel and Revelation are well-known for their vivid images of the spiritual realm but you find images throughout the Psalms and the Prophets as well, such as “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him<\/em>” (Daniel 7:13). What you are doing is visualizing the imagery used in the Bible. That isn’t wrong.<\/p>\n

Idolatry is when people decide that something (other than the true God) controls their life. It might be deciding that wearing a certain shirt will insure your team will win the next game. Or it may be worshiping before a statue and thinking the being it represents will answer your prayers. See What Is Idolatry?<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, How have you been? I’ve been wondering, is it sinful or idolatrous for me to try and picture God or Christ in my mind? This is often something I do whenever I pray for God’s wisdom on a matter, when I’m stressed out about something and just want to leave those…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[304,1331],"class_list":["post-54419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-idolatry","tag-imagination"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49286,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-idolatry-and-obsessions\/","url_meta":{"origin":54419,"position":0},"title":"What is the difference between idolatry and obsessions?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I just read a question answered on your website about idolatry:\u00a0Is having a symbol of Christianity idolatry? In it, idolatry was defined as \"anything you turn to for guidance or security.\" While that makes sense, to what level of guidance and security are you describing?\u00a0 You see, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42475,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":54419,"position":1},"title":"What Is Idolatry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 44:9-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I got into a discussion with a teenager about what exactly is idolatry \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He had the impression that anything you really liked was an idol, whether it was sports, cars, or girls \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWhat is an idol? Well, it is the thing. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-look-for-a-wife-without-losing-focus-on-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":54419,"position":2},"title":"How do I look for a wife without losing focus on God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, How are you? I've been doing well. It has been a rough journey. It's taken me a while to get to where I'm at and sober from alcohol for the last four months. I'm still working on other areas in addiction, of course. I've always had such a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-research-says-that-matthew-mistranslated-eli-eli-lama-sabachthani\/","url_meta":{"origin":54419,"position":3},"title":"My research says that Matthew mistranslated “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am sorry I am going to have to agree with the guy who questioned you on\u00a0\"Could Jesus have said \"My God, my God, for this I was kept?\". Yeshua, the Son of God, AKA Jesus Christos, Jesus Christ spoke Aramaic and while Matthew was a Greek scholar, he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42468,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/innocent-statues-or-idolatry\/","url_meta":{"origin":54419,"position":4},"title":"Innocent Statues or Idolatry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Thomas Consider the following quote by Bob Stanley, written in response to the claim that Catholics practice idolatry when honoring statues and images in religion: \"That is what some say that Catholics do. Why do they say that? What is their reference? Where is their documented proof? Show\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Worship-of-Mary-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25471,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-get-married-in-a-different-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":54419,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong to get married in a different church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question. I took your advice and want to get married. My mum, my wife-to-be, and I are cool with getting married in a Lutheran church. Our bone of contention comes from our best man and woman who are born again, like ourselves. They will not do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}