“We become what we worship” is the basic insight of G K Beale’s book of the same name. Unfortunately it’s an “academic” book and, like most academic books, suffers from being twice as long and complicated as it ought to be (where have all the brave editors gone?). Part of the book’s complexity results from the author trying to prove his point from the wrong passage (Isaiah 6), when there are a number of others he does refer to that could have formed a much more obvious foundation for his thesis.
But that apart, the main point of the book is deeply insightful, and neatly summed up by Beale in this memorable statement: “What people revere, they resemble, either for ruin or restoration.” He argues that we were made to bear the image of another, and that we become the image of what we worship – either our Creator or something in the creation.
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