The Temple of Artemis in America

The more things change, the more they remain the same

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. - Acts 19:24-25

America is in the throes of upheaval. Multitudes never even stop to wonder why. Is it just bad policy decisions by the government? Is it strictly moral decay? Or is there more going on than generally meets the eye? 

As I was recently reading an ancient passage, the imagery struck me as very similar to our current state of affairs:

About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

Acts 19:23-29

There is little more that motivates people than money, power, and religiously held beliefs. Though many in our post-modern society scoff at organized religion, and religion in and of itself, they more often than not are themselves blind to their own religiosity and how it often manifests in an organized fashion. It is this religious behavior, which spills into the political, that is largely responsible for our decline.

While mulling over these timeworn words, it occurred to me that much of the turmoil we now experience is due to idol worship. No, people are not technically bowing down to statues (well, maybe some, but that is not my focus here); but people have fashioned gods, “made with hands” for themselves, and for them, much depends on the survival of these “gods.” Three of the most prominent of these gods are money, power, and self, and these gods are often multi-headed. Some manipulate others via their gods as a matter of worshipping their own gods.

A very prominent example of a religious idol that has been lifted up as a god to worship is sex. Sex has been exalted to such heights as to seem one of the ultimate attainments. What once was sacred and relational is now viewed simply as transactional. What was given to create a spiritual bond between man and wife is now seen as no more than a physical act pursuing pleasure in worship of self. This god, sex, is also employed heavily for money and power. Sex is used to sell everything from toiletries to tires. Movies embrace this god to garner larger audiences and bigger box office bounties. Politicians pass bills and write policy that codify deviant sexual behavior that they may perpetuate their power. Teachers (if they can be called that) take pride in sexualizing the children and cry for joy when their “students” profess confusion about their sexuality. Abortion, prior to the recent SCOTUS decision in the Dobbs case, was an incredibly lucrative business. Point being, worshipping this “god” has both financial and authoritarian motives.

Is it any wonder then that there is such animosity toward Christianity today? When Christians promote morality, when parents stand up against the corruption of their children, when Christian business-owners refuse to participate or help celebrate these false gods, you can hear the cries to have them dragged into the street and whipped or burned at the stake, much like what happened in Ephesus while Paul was there. Christians stand, as Paul did, and point out that these gods that secular humanists worship are no gods at all. All those who worship these false gods stand to lose their businesses (many Planned Parenthood clinics across the country shuttered after the Dobbs decision - so much for “women’s reproductive care”) and their power if the morality, upon which this country was founded, is upheld. Just as the businesses of the Ephesian silversmiths and workmen of other trades depended upon the worship of their false goddess Artemis, so do these people and corporations depend upon the worship of their false gods for their money and power. Sexuality is only one among many.

If we are to recover America, we must turn from idols back to the one true God. Even the founding fathers, though disparate in their denominations (and some theistic rationalists rather than Christian) believed in one God, creator of all; but like those of ancient times who turned away, so have the majority of Americans. Like I said, the more things change, the more they remain the same. Or, as King Solomon so wisely worded it: “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.”