… with their self-imposed worship …
Summary: In this passage, Paul provides us with another clue to the difference between true and false religion.
The Greek word Paul used for “self-imposed worship” is “ethelothrēskia.”* (Pronounced “eth-el-oth-race-ki’-ah,” the word is a mouthful in Greek and English.) It is a composite of two other words that describe a kind of worship ceremonial in nature and that originates in the human will. An example of this kind of worship is given in Acts, chapter nineteen.
In the story told in Acts, the people of Ephesus traditionally worshipped a statue of a goddess named Artemis. At one point in the story, the city clerk describes the religion this way:
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