Idolatry

Idolatry

IDOLATRY. The word idolatry is formed from two Greek words, eidōlon, "image," and latreia, "adoration." Etymologically, idolatry means "adoration of images." Authors have given idolatry and idol widely differing definitions thereby revealing the complexity of the problem. Eugène Goblet d'Alviella uses the term idol to mean images or statues "that are considered to be conscious and animate" and sees idolatry in the act of "regarding an image as a superhuman personality" (Goblet d'Alviella, 1911, p. 126). In a relatively recent article, J. Goetz (1962), trying to get a better grip on the problem, establishes, first, that in the wake of etymology idolatry "designates the adoration of images by emphasizing the specific nature of the cult surrounding the objects, a cult of adoration, which strictly speaking expresses a feeling of absolute dependence, especially through sacrifice." He then states that the terms idolatry and idol remain inaccurate, and that "the authors who have tackled the problem of idolatry most often defined the idol as an object in anthromorphic form, intended to represent a spirit, the object of worship." Finally, venturing onto the terrain of religious phenomenology, he risks a definition of idol: "any material object that receives a form of worship more or less structured," idolatry being this form of worship.

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