Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in
All Questions
Question 7
On “You abhor idols, but you commit sacrilege,” the lesson rejects the “robbed temples” translation as unlikely and argues for “sacrilege,” including denying Christ (the true temple) and misusing money meant for the poor—what does it mean, practically, to commit sacrilege in a Christian setting, and what kinds of “respectable” church behaviors might actually violate the true temple, Jesus Christ?
Another way to ask: If "sacrilege" includes denying Christ and misusing money meant for the poor, what does sacrilege look like in a church today? What “respectable” church habits might actually dishonor Jesus, the true temple?

Direct Answer Based on the transcript, “sacrilege” is not mainly breaking into pagan temples but committing a holy violation: denying Christ to whom Scripture points and abusing what belongs to God, including misdirecting resources meant for the poor.

Support from Transcript:

  • The teacher argues “robbed temples” is improbable: Jews “would not even enter Gentile houses…let alone rob” temples; thus early Christians read it as “commit sacrilege.”
  • Linguistic support: early Latin Bibles translated it “sacrilegos,” and older English Bibles followed (“commit sacrilege”).
  • Ambrosiaster: “You are sacrilegious when you deny Christ, to whom the law and the prophets point.”
  • Origen: “you violate the true temple of God, which is Jesus Christ,” tying sacrilege to rejection of Christ.
  • Origen also applies it ethically: using “money given to the poor” for “personal gain” is sacrilege.
Discussion Follow-ups If sacrilege can look ‘religious,’ what financial or doctrinal habits might appear respectable yet practically deny Christ’s priority and the holiness of what belongs to him?

Jumpstarter 7 of 10
Back Questions Next