On a certain level of culture, men and women feel the need of some visible form before which to pay homage to the Deity. They make themselves images, and their worship becomes idolatry, in the strict sense of that word. At another stage worshipers turn to the Sun, the Moon, the stars, as the life-giving and sustaining agents of the Infinite God, worthy representatives of His almighty power and boundless wisdom. This, too, becomes idolatry in the wider meaning of that term. Sometimes idolatry refers to the strange efforts of mortals to win the favor of evil powers by prayers and sacrifices. These powers are then represented by images of loathesome snakes and terrible dragons. And then again, idolatry may consist in homage to false concepts of God, causing one to "walk in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great which shall perish. (Doctrine and Covenants, 1:16)
It is a noteworthy fact that the Greeks, in their seeming insignificant country, as to area, developed an entirely different idea of the Deity. While other nations depicted the divine images, or beings, as bulls, lions, eagles, bears, and even snakes, or, at least made beasts their symbols, Greek poets and artists vied with each other in efforts to give their gods the most perfect, the most beautiful form in nature, the human figure, with the result that not only Greek sculpture, but other branches of art also produced inimitable patterns, almost unapproachable in latter years. The statue of Zeus by Phidias (about 500 B.C.) was ordered by Pericles to beautify Athens by public works. Among his creations were Pallas Athena, and the collossal statue of Zeus. Of the latter it has been said that it stands alone and has never been equalled. It was forty feet high, seated upon a throne made of cedar, inlaid with gold, ebony and ivory, and was studded with precious stones. The temple that was the palace of this deity was sixty-eight feet high, ninety feet wide, and two hundred-thirty feet long. The facial features of the statue, it is said, reflected power, majesty, wisdom, and goodness, and as a work of art it was admired by all. It was by means of such works that the Greek civilization rose to the highest level of which it was capable. It was by such means that it became the inspiration of the entire Roman civilization.
But where did the Greeks get the inspiration to clothe God in human form? Where did the Greek poets learn the great truth that man is the offspring of God? 1 Kings 10:18-20. But we believe that Paul's answers to the questions were satisfactory.
The great Apostle to the Gentiles came, on his second missionary journey, to Athens. While there he was given an opportunity to address a select audience of philosophers on Mars Hill. His discourse was possibly the most eloquent and logical that was ever delivered by him. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by a very polite mob, and did not finish.
He began by refuting the charge that he was trying to introduce strange gods. He was not, he said. He had noticed an inscription on one of their altars, "To the Unknown God." That he said, was the God he preached. To quote: "What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this set I forth unto you. The God that made the world and all things therein, He, being the Lord of heaven and earth," etc. (4
The Unknown God was the God of Creation, the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth, and the eyes, ears, hands, mouth, etc., so happily adapted by Greek genius to their idea of the divine, was Hebrew. It could have come from no other source. But, is that not anthropomorphism? Possibly. But what then? Is there anything more perfect, more beautiful, more miraculous, in all nature than a human being free from blemishes? What else is there to which a Divine Person, who has given us permission to call Him, Father, can be compared? The fact is, that God, in Whose image we are created, is the true God, and that the Greeks accepted the idea under Hebrew influence, which at one time was strong enough at Athens to leave an altar to the Unknown God. Further, that the most advanced civilization in the world traces its origin back to this so-called anthropomorphic concept of God. To Greek philosophers, whether Epicurians or Stoics, Platonists or followers of Aristotle, the true God was both unknown and unknowable, for "the world by wisdom knew not God." (1 Corinthians 1:21) God is known only through revelation.