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The idea that modern society is influenced by idolatry seems ludicrous. Surely, most educated people have moved beyond behaviors that involve paganism—haven’t they? Hasn’t scientific progress liberated people from ancient superstition?

You may think, “This is a pretty safe subject for me. I’m certainly not influenced by idolatry!” Don’t be too sure. The Bible makes it obvious that idolatry dogs mankind’s heels in every age.

A recent study by a leading risk analysis and global forecasting company reports, “A quarter of all countries experienced a dramatic surge in civil unrest” in 2019 (The Guardian, January 16, 2020). The conclusions in the study were based on the severity and frequency of protests against governments, the use of security forces to quell unrest, and national abuses of civil rights.

Dr. N.T. Wright is a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and is a prolific writer. He is affiliated with both St. Andrews and Oxford Universities, and recently wrote a revealing article for TIME magazine (December 16, 2019). According to Dr.

The Pacific Institute based in California has amassed a database linking global conflict to vital resources like clean drinking water. In the past ten years, water-related conflicts around the globe have doubled compared to previous decades (The Guardian, December 31, 2019).

Mockery has been around throughout mankind’s history, but in recent times it seems to have become increasingly common to mock competitors, public personalities, and authority figures—and even God, Christ, the Bible, and religion in general. The Bible warns that mockers sit “in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).