A Bedford Road Bible Study

Idolatry: Worship Gone Wrong

Beginning on January 13, this weekly Bible study (Wednesdays, 7-8pm) is focused on developing a Biblical theology of idolatry. Why would we want to study something like idolatry? Because it is a common human problem - more common than we like to admit. Human beings have an innate desire to worship something, and as a result, we are always hunting for a locus - a center, a symbol, an image - that we can focus on. By exploring the Scriptures, we can identify the dangers of idolatry and find a path to avoid this sin and its inevitable results. We can instead find true worship.

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Video Archive

Studies are conducted via Zoom Call for our members and attenders every Wednesday.
Previous sessions will be posted here once the study begins.

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Session 1

Session 2

Answering Questions that Come Up During the Study

Is Dagon the Source of Mermaids? Are People in Other Religions Praying to the Right God?

Is Dagon the Source of Mermaids?

Someone asked whether the god Dagon was the source of our modern myth of mermaids. That's a difficult question to answer, because we really do not know a whole lot about Dagon.

The association with fish comes from the similarity with the Hebrew word for fish, dāg. Many writers assumed that this was the derivation of the name Dagon, but really there is no reason to assume this. It is what is called a folk etymology. It comes from medieval commentaries and not from any evidence of the period when Dagon was actually worshiped.

The earliest reference to him is an inscription from Sargon of Akkad, who conquered the ancient cities of Sumer around 2330 BC. Sargon credits Dagon for giving him victory over the cities of Ebla and Mari, in what is today Syria. Several ancient documents refer to the god Baʿal as "the son of Dagon" (KTU² 1.46.3; 1.48.5), but this may be tied more to the way that Baʿal kind of took over the role originally reserved for Dagon.

We do know he was a storm and fertility god. The name may be connected to the Assyrian verb dagana, which means "to be cloudy." Eventually, Dagon came to be identified with grains, particularly the corns of grains. This probably had to do with the similarity of the Hebrew and Canaanite word for grain, dāgān.

So, Dagon really only became associated with the sea because he was associated with rain and agriculture, which then got transferred to the sea at some point, since rain is a terror there.

Are People in Other Religions Praying to the Right God?

The short answer to this question is no. The Scriptures are clear that there is only one God, and he tolerates no rivals.

Now, the long answer is a little more complex and nuanced than that. At the same time, the Scriptures also offer us glimpses into moments when people pray to their own false gods or pray to the true God without knowing who he is, and God answers.

In Acts 17:22-33, the Apostle Paul preaches an entire sermon about an altar in Athens that had been set up to the "unknown god." He declares, "What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you." (Acts 17:24) Paul seemed to believe that sometimes - not always - even pagans could be praying to the one true God. Even in their delusion, they could be addressing their prayers to him.

One of the more beautiful depictions of this is found in C.S. Lewis's novel The Last Battle. In the book, Lewis depicts the end of the world and the heroes of the story encounter a servant of the false god Tash in what amounts to the book's version of heaven. They ask the soldier to tell his story, and he relates his encounter with Aslan - the Jesus figure of the book who appears as a massive lion.

"But the Glorious One [Aslan] bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, "Son, thou art welcome."

But I said, "Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine but the servant of Tash."

He answered, "Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me."

Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, "Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one?"

The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, "It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him.

"And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted. Dost thou understand, Child? I said, Lord, thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also (for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek."