Men put God out of their knowledge and worshiped the creatures of their own imagination; and as the result, they became more and more debased. The psalmist describes the effect produced upon the worshiper by the adoration of idols. He says, "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." Psalm 115:8. It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower. The worshipers of false gods clothed their deities with human attributes and passions, and thus their standard of character was degraded to the likeness of sinful humanity. They were defiled in consequence. "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . . The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence." God had given men His commandments as a rule of life, but His law was transgressed, and every conceivable sin was the result. The wickedness of men was open and daring, justice was trampled in the dust, and the cries of the oppressed reached unto heaven.

Menneskene glemte Gud og tilbad det, deres fantasi havde skabt, og som følge heraf nedværdigedes de mere og mere. Salmisten beskriver den virkning, afgudstilbedelse har på den tilbedende. Han siger: "Som dem skal de, der laved dem, blive, enhver, som stoler på dem!" Sl. 115, 8. Det er en lov for den menneskelige forstand, at vi forvandles ved at beskue. Mennesket kan ikke nå højere end dets tanker om sandhed, renhed og hellighed. Hvis sindet aldrig løftes over det menneskelige plan, hvis det ikke ved troen hæves op til at beskue den evige visdom og kærlighed, vil mennesket stadig synke dybere og dybere. De, der tilbad falske guder, tillagde dem menneskelige karaktertræk og lidenskaber, og derved sænkedes deres karakterstandard ned på linje med syndige mennesker. Som følge heraf blev de besmittet. "Herren så, at menneskenes ondskab tog til på jorden, og at deres hjerters higen og tragten kun var ond dagen lang ..... Jorden fordærvedes for Guds øjne, og jorden blev fuld af uret." Gud havde givet menneskene sine bud som en leveregel, men hans lov blev overtrådt, og enhver tænkelig synd var resultatet. Menneskenes ondskab var åbenlys og forvoven, retfærdigheden blev trådt i støvet, og de undertryktes skrig nåede Himmelen.