“An idol is anything in our lives that occupies the place that should be occupied by God alone. Anything that…is central in my life , anything that seems to me…essential…An idol is anything by which I live and on which I depend, anything that…holds such a controlling position in my life that…it moves and rouses and attracts so much of my time and attention, my energy and money.”
—D.M. Lloyd-Jones, “Idolatry” in Life in God: Studies in 1 John
“The virtues on which the mind preens itself as giving control over the body and its urges, and which aim at any other purpose or possession than God, are in point of fact vices rather than virtues.”
—Augustine, City of God, Chapter 19:25
“The idol begins as a means of power, enabling us to control, but then overpowers, controlling us.”
—Richard Keyes, “The Idol Factory” in No God but God