Does God hate relegion ?

[GusX:]

I went to a website (can't remember it at the moment, will find it soon)[i hope] anyway,  It said that God hates religion.  Well, I want to put it up to the board - Does God hate religion ?  ( my personal thoughts,  from the definition of religion , No, God does not hate religion)  Furthermore, what would make God hate (a) religion ?

[Harenil]

Nothing. The whole Bible says we need to worship and obey Him. What in the world would make God hate religion? Now, God hates false religion or religion with the wrong heart (See Genesis)

[DvChWi]

What definition of religion are you using?  According to my definition, the answer is no, absolutely not.  A gathering of believers in a church like structure is seen and supported in the scriptures.  Also, the old covanent was religion in its most traditional form..  Since it was mandated by God, he obviuosly couldn't hate it.

[enemy anemone]

I think that when people talk about God hating religion, they mean that God hates the religiosity that we put on. getting caught up with rituals and traditions and looking and sounding religious and doing all these things and thinking that God is on our side because we're doing everything right but never having a real relationship with him.  

I think that God hates it when that happens but I think that religion is an outward expression of our feeble groping in the dark to reach the divine. does God hate the sincere seeker doing what he thinks he is supposed to do? I think not. does he hate it when we never get further than going through the motions and are satisfied with ourselves? I think so.

[oneafroboy]

Here a couple of interesting passages that address the issue of "religion".  

James 1:27
Religions that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Colossians 2:13
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,[2] God made you[3] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[4]
16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21"Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

[Vlad!]

As James says, faith without works is dead. I think that what Schil says is pretty accurate: the external trapping of religion that we put on are what God hates. Well, maybe not hates, but what keep us from being close to him. Religion is often a way for us to demonstrat faith without actually doing much of anything which, as mentioned before, is dead.

(Interesting side note: as I was typing this, REM's "Losing My Religion" came on my playlist. Woot"

[GusX:]

What definition of religion are you using?  According to my definition, the answer is no, absolutely not.  A gathering of believers in a church like structure is seen and supported in the scriptures.  Also, the old covanent was religion in its most traditional form..  Since it was mandated by God, he obviuosly couldn't hate it.

The definition you have used is the one I was thinking of -  

[Iris]

Also, the old covanent was religion in its most traditional form.. Since it was mandated by God, he obviuosly couldn't hate it.

ahh, yes.  I believe he does hate it.  We don't have to do sacrifices, and all that stuff anymore cause the ultimate sacrifice was made for us..  So when people still hold on to the old traditions and "religion", he must get ticked cause he died to free us from it.  It's relationship now, not religion.

[oneafroboy]

Yes, what Iris said. As the verses in Colossians say, all those "rituals" were only a shadow of what was to come and they were nailed upon the cross! Yes, the very cross upon which our sins were nailed was also the same cross that had all those regulations nailed to it too.  

[Harenil]

Those were for before Jesus died on the cross. If people still hold to that, I think God does not like it. Jesus died. He is our salvation, not the death of a dove or lamb. Since He died, those are our means of salvation.