5:21 idols. Idols are either physical images or mental constructs with which men try to explain and control the forces and systems of nature without acknowledging the one true God as Creator and Sustainer of all things. Paganism, with its pantheism and polytheism, worshipping the various forces and systems of nature personified as Mother Earth, with all her other personifications as various gods and goddesses, was rife in John’s day and, through various forms of evolutionism, has always been arrayed in opposition to the true God of creation and redemption. This is truer today than ever in history, and it is absolutely vital that true Christians should refrain from all forms of idolatry, whether rationalistic humanism, economic materialism, or New Age pantheism—all of which are founded on an evolutionary world view.