Is Addiction the Sin of Idolatry, or is it a disease?

Is addiction the sin of idolatry, or is it a disease?

Hmm I’ve learened the word idolatry in the Bible is about worshipping other gods. being addicted to a substances is not the same as idolatry in the Bible

Galatians 5
19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In secularly faction the word is used as such below.

extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.
"we must not allow our idolatry of art to obscure issues of political significance"

I thinks it’s best not to try and mix the two ways of use for they are different.

Idolatry is the disease addiction is the byproduct.

You should look closer at the the word "sorcery."
You would find that in the Greek, it is spelled "pharmaceo" (or something like that).
The "indulging" in pharmaceo, in almost every case, are "attempts" in getting into the "Sheep pen", by some other way then the "Sheep Gate." Which is Jesus Christ our High Priest and Kinsmen Redeemer.

I wouldn't strongly disagree with that approach...although I would use the word "sin", sin does carry along with it some aspects of disease.

However, ultimately I would go back to the reality that mankind has replaced God with something else, and this spiritual vacuum is being filled by substitutes or counterfeit gods. God created us to be united with Him, and we can't be united with anything else that will fully satisfy us. Any other thing or person will always fall short, even a spouse. If we are depending on that person or thing to provide our ultimate fulfillment, it will always fall short.

I don't like to call sins "diseases" though because many would use this as a reason to avoid personal accountability.

i think addictions are just loving something too much.

it needs strong character not to be addicted to anything and big love for God to put Him first even before your addictions.

we are just so flesh driven as humans even me. if it feels good now we want to do it. we have the excuses already lined up my life is bad i feel sad i just wanted some joy for a moment i cant help it my family is this my wife is crazy my husband is nuts. we always have some excuses for our behavior

i dont believe God sees us like that, we can fool ourself but not God He knows we can stop if we really want. we are given all required for godliness in Christ but we need to want it more. maybe if we realize how bad sin is for us we will choose different.

i can speak and say that some people who get into some mind altering things or drunken its because life is just pointless and going nowhere. that is how i felt too like nothing is going nowhere and who cares about anything.

if you abuse certain substances too much your brains dont produce anymore dopamine and serotonin so now nothing feels good to you that feels good to normal people. some can enjoy warm coffee in morning read news paper to them its great but for you its nothing because your receptors are burned out as they say.
same with steroids, if you take testosterone your body wont produce it naturally anymore when you quit it because its so used to over production

Hey UWC, how are you doing?


You left one book out of your recommendations which is a must read. Gabor Mate “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” among other great books he wrote.


Dr. Gabor Maté is a retired Hungarian Canadian based Physician, highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress and childhood development. He covers trauma, ADHD and worked with hard core addicts.

For twelve years Dr. Maté worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with patients challenged by hard-core drug addiction, mental illness and HIV, including at Vancouver’s Supervised Injection Site. He noticed something others didnt notice.

While he doesn't write from a Gospel point of view (he is Jewish), he has experience and empathy and links most all (hard core) addictions to childhood trauma.

Although I see where you are coming from with the study you wrote, I disagree on this point.

“This is because we are allowing substitute gods to entertain and delight us instead of being fully engaged in passionate worship of God.“

Addicts are not addicts because they want to be “entertained and delighted” although maybe some are, I have never met any fully blown addicts that want to be addicts and I have dealt with a lot in my lifetime.

They are covering up pain, broken hearts and being “delighted” or “entertained” is far from their mind. In fact, most addicts WANT to stop, but just can't stop.

I do agree with the fact that the addict has less chance of recovery, if they have a spiritual “hole” in their lives, but pretty much all of the addicts Dr Mate treated (100%) had childhood trauma.The worse the trauma, the worse the addiction but I am talking about hard core addicts, not people who drink too much to be “entertained and delighted” at weekends, although this may lead to addiction I cannot say. Most people know an addict and most people know if they are out of control or not.

AA is alright, but it doesn't address past trauma. In fact the more stories of their lives you hear, the more you wonder how it was possible for them NOT to end up an addict because it would be impossible to take such pain and live.

What is especially interesting is how the Native Americans have more addiction than before due to certain experiences they have had, displacement etc, which was not existent before. Most of them are broken hearted or cannot take the pain or the memory of trauma and don't realise it as they cant even think straight because addicts just need the next fix. They just want the pain to go away.

Gabor Mates approach has helped many I know - maybe it's because people are willing to listen to him because he is likeable. But I doubt any hard core addict would listen to anyone with a Gospel in their hand, who came at them from an angle accusing them of doing it for “entertainment and delight” to be honest. Not one.

“It is impossible to understand addiction without asking what relief the addict finds, or hopes to find, in the drug or the addictive behaviour” Gabor Mate.

I don't have any heros but if I did, Gabor would be mine as I love this guy. He has helped loads of people that he doesn't even talk about and has a meek and humble approach.

https://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/

Something which might relate to what you have said is that the objects of idolatry are legitimate gifts from God, but they have been used in a wrong, "illegal" way. God gave us alcohol, for example, to make our hearts glad, but he didn't intend for us to drink ourselves into a stupor.

In Romans 1, according to Tim Keller, the idolater "over-desires" the object of his idolatry, according to the Greek. It isn't just a matter that he enjoys the gift of sex within the context of the marital relationship, but he "over-desires" and uses it "illegally".

I believe this is mentioned in his first commentary on Romans, called Romans 1-7 For You.

Something which might relate to what you have said is that the objects of idolatry are legitimate gifts from God, but they have been used in a wrong, "illegal" way. God gave us alcohol, for example, to make our hearts glad, but he didn't intend for us to drink ourselves into a stupor.

In Romans 1, according to Tim Keller, the idolater "over-desires" the object of his idolatry, according to the Greek. It isn't just a matter that he enjoys the gift of sex within the context of the marital relationship, but he "over-desires" and uses it "illegally".

I believe this is mentioned in his first commentary on Romans, called Romans 1-7 For You.

would that be in Greek secular or Greek biblical?

Neither. Addiction means bondage to a habit which is harmful. It is self-induced and may be broken, just like any other harmful habit.

Does it matter?
Galatians 5 Mounce Reverse-Interlinear New Testament (MOUNCE)
20 idolatry (eidōlolatria), sorcery (pharmakeia), quarrels (echthra), strife (eris), jealousy (zēlos), fits of rage (thumos), selfish rivalries (eritheia), dissensions (dichostasia), divisions (hairesis),

If Tim Keller said that he mix secular meaning with biblical meaning,

idolatry in the Bible is about worshipping gods with statues,, drunkenness is about being addicted, hatred is about hating, jealousy is being jealous, etc.

Galatians 5
19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;20idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

You should look closer at the the word "sorcery."
You would find that in the Greek, it is spelled "pharmaceo" (or something like that).
The "indulging" in pharmaceo, in almost every case, are "attempts" in getting into the "Sheep pen", by some other way then the "Sheep Gate." Which is Jesus Christ our High Priest and Kinsmen Redeemer.