What is a sacred cow? | GotQuestions.org

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In today's video I'll answer your question, what is a sacred cow? Then afterwards, as always,

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I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end. A sacred cow, as a figure of speech, refers to an idea, tradition, or long -established institution that is above challenge, criticism, or change.

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Sacred cows are given excessive and unwarranted respect to the point of idolization.

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They are usually hard to recognize and even harder to deal with because sacred cows are considered untouchable.

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In Christian circles, opinions about the church building, appropriate attire, and church politics often become sacred cows.

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The term sacred cow is associated with Hinduism and that religion's belief in the sanctity of the cow.

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Hindus revere cows, particularly the brahmin species, as sacred animals. Many Hindu families own a cow for the sole purpose of worshiping it.

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The biblical symbolism of the sacred cow traces back to ancient Egypt, where many gods and goddesses were portrayed as livestock.

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The early Egyptians especially revered the bull as a fertility figure. Pagan groups throughout

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Egypt dedicated themselves to the bull. Likewise, the queen goddess Isis and other

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Egyptian goddesses, such as Hathor, were typically illustrated wearing cow horns on their heads. Like present -day

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Hindu people, the Egyptians of the Old Testament adored their sacred cows. It's no wonder that when the

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Israelites rebelled against God at Sinai, they fashioned a golden calf to worship in Exodus 32.

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Later, King Jeroboam I celebrated the birth of the Northern Kingdom by setting up two golden calves.

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The prophet Hosea denounced these idols as religious syncretism, the merging of pagan worship with the worship of the one true

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God, a practice the Lord forbids. It is possible to spot sacred cows grazing in Christian churches still today.

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When methods, objects, and even people are elevated to an untouchable place of importance, so much so that they cannot be re -evaluated, varied, exchanged, or removed, a sacred cow is likely in the sheepfold.

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These are just a few examples of sacred cows in modern church life. The idea that there is only one suitable

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Bible translation, the belief that a formal offering with the obligatory passing of the plate must be observed in every church service, the insistence that Sunday school cannot be tampered with, the notion that a church must have an altar and the altar must have a cross at its center, talking about taboo subjects like sex in a

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The way communion and baptism services are held and what songs, instruments, or music styles are allowed during worship all have the potential to become sacred cows.

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These exalted ideas and traditions have no biblical basis and no bearing on the essentials of the

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Christian faith, but people treat them as if they do. Sacred cows in the church are human traditions that can nullify the

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Word of God if we aren't careful. Mark 7, verse 13. Ancient Israel had their ancient golden calf, and we have our current -day idols.

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Throughout history, idolatry has been an ongoing temptation for God's people, a practice that leads to further sinful conduct.

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As Christians, we need to search our hearts, examine our lives as the Bible encourages, and keep away from anything that might take

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God's place in our hearts. 1 John 5, verse 21. Want to learn more?

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