IDOLATRY (Eidōlon Latreia). - I. NOTION.
- In its literal meaning it indicates the worship of idols. The term idol (εἰδῶλον) in Sacred Scripture is used with various meanings: it serves to indicate both real and imaginary beings to which worship is paid; and the hagiographer is not unaware that often beneath an image and a simulacrum men pay their adoration to demons; but commonly under the name of idol is indicated the image of a false divinity (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37; I Cor. 10:20 etc.; cf. also F. Prat, Idole, in DB, III, coll. 816-25).
By St. Augustine those are called idolaters who give to simulacra that worship which is due to God.
It must be borne in mind that in various ways humanity has paid and pays its worship to idols. In the ancient Greek-Roman pagan world, while the common people did not separate the divinity from its image, the theologians, so to speak, of paganism did not share this error, although they too held that the spirit of the god dwelt in the images and made them venerable and beneficent.
Therefore, idolatry in the strict sense can be defined as the attribution of the supreme worship due to God to a false divinity, to its image, to its symbol. In a broader sense, idolatry can be understood as every vicious worship paid to the creature, insofar as this worship can in no way be referred to God.
As for the origin of idolatry, it is known from Revelation itself that it was posterior to monotheism (v.). But as to knowing what the causes of idolatry were, it is not easy (v. POLYTHEISM). Today the crude forms of idolatry have been replaced, in the paganizing world that lives on the margins of Christianity, by other more subtle but no less dangerous forms of idolatry, and matter, the collective, blood have been deified, the State. To demonstrate the different degree of guilt of the old and new idolaters, it is therefore necessary to distinguish the various forms and the various manifestations of i.
II. DIVISION
One can distinguish first of all: 1) an i. through ignorance: such is the case of unbelievers and pagans, who in good faith believe that idols are the true divinity; 2) a real i., which is the sin of those who, knowing the true God, worship idols: this case is frequent in the history of the Hebrews; 3) a simulated i., which is the sin of those who, through fear of persecution, perform the external act of worship before idols without giving them internal worship; to this category belonged in antiquity the so-called "lapsi" (v.). The i. "through ignorance" or "simulated" is also called material i., while the "real" i. is called formal. The latter can furthermore be subdivided into perfect and imperfect. Perfect, when divine honors are attributed to a creature, with the conviction that it really has divine powers. In this case the i. is joined to unbelief (v. INFEDELI). Imperfect, when one knows the falsity of the idols and nevertheless, moved by a feeling of hatred toward God or by the hope of obtaining some advantage from the devil, renders divine worship to the idol that one knows to be false.
III. MALIZIA
Every i. [idolatry] that does not derive from invincible ignorance is a grave sin. In the Old Testament it was forbidden by the first precept of the Decalogue and punished with the severest penalties (Deut. 5:7-9; 7:25-26, etc.). Under the evangelical law, in the first centuries of the Church, i. was considered one of the gravest sins and was subject to a public and very long penance.
The malice of this sin consists in the fact that it entails a true and proper rebellion against God, robbing him of that worship which is due to him alone and directing it to creatures. No wonder, then, that Sacred Scripture uses very strong terms against this sin: it calls it "fornication," "prostitution" (cf. Ex. 34:15; Lev. 17:7; Deut. 31:16, etc.).
It is also i. to offer sacrifice or other acts belonging belonging to the worship of latria to the angels, to the saints and in general to beings superior to man and inferior to God, because, although these beings are close to God and dear to him, nevertheless not all superiors are owed equal reverence and honor. To God in particular is owed a worship superior to that owed to all other beings, namely the worship of latria. However, i. considered from the point of view of the sinner is more or less grave according as one practices it knowingly or through ignorance (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃ, q. 94 a. 3). It is clear that simulated i. caused by fear is less grave than real i. which derives from perversity of heart; however, it is always considered a mortal sin.
In fact, in every case the virtue of religion is offended, by outwardly granting to a creature the honor reserved exclusively to God: it is a perfect lie in matters of religion, and often a grave scandal is joined to it. Finally, it constitutes a grave fault against the precept of professing one's faith even outwardly. Therefore it is never permitted to simulate the adoration of idols, not even to save one's life.
According to all moralists and St. Thomas himself, the priest commits i. who distributes to the faithful hosts that are not consecrated or who exposes to the adoration of the faithful a host that is not consecrated (Sum. Theol., 3ᵃ, q. 80, a. 6).
For the sin of i. in the first centuries of the Church: v. LAPSI.
Bibliography7 works
Giuseppe Sette