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Definitions: Idolatry |
IdolatryNoun1. Religious zeal; willingness to serve God. 2. The worship of idols; the worship of images that are not God. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "idolatry" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1380. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Bible | Idolatry image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of idolatry are, (1.) Fetishism, or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc. (2.) Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as the supposed powers of nature. (3.) Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or of heroes. In Scripture, idolatry is regarded as of heathen origin, and as being imported among the Hebrews through contact with heathen nations. The first allusion to idolatry is in the account of Rachel stealing her father's teraphim (Gen. 31:19), which were the relics of the worship of other gods by Laban's progenitors "on the other side of the river in old time" (Josh. 24:2). During their long residence in Egypt the Hebrews fell into idolatry, and it was long before they were delivered from it (Josh. 24:14; Ezek. 20:7). Many a token of God's displeasure fell upon them because of this sin. The idolatry learned in Egypt was probably rooted out from among the people during the forty years' wanderings; but when the Jews entered Palestine, they came into contact with the monuments and associations of the idolatry of the old Canaanitish races, and showed a constant tendency to depart from the living God and follow the idolatrous practices of those heathen nations. It was their great national sin, which was only effectually rebuked by the Babylonian exile. That exile finally purified the Jews of all idolatrous tendencies. The first and second commandments are directed against idolatry of every form. Individuals and communities were equally amenable to the rigorous code. The individual offender was devoted to destruction (Ex. 22:20). His nearest relatives were not only bound to denounce him and deliver him up to punishment (Deut. 13:20-10), but their hands were to strike the first blow when, on the evidence of two witnesses at least, he was stoned (Deut. 17:2-7). To attempt to seduce others to false worship was a crime of equal enormity (13:6-10). An idolatrous nation shared the same fate. No facts are more strongly declared in the Old Testament than that the extermination of the Canaanites was the punishment of their idolatry (Ex. 34:15, 16; Deut. 7; 12:29-31; 20:17), and that the calamities of the Israelites were due to the same cause (Jer. 2:17). "A city guilty of idolatry was looked upon as a cancer in the state; it was considered to be in rebellion, and treated according to the laws of war. Its inhabitants and all their cattle were put to death." Jehovah was the theocratic King of Israel, the civil Head of the commonwealth, and therefore to an Israelite idolatry was a state offence (1 Sam. 15:23), high treason. On taking possession of the land, the Jews were commanded to destroy all traces of every kind of the existing idolatry of the Canaanites (Ex. 23:24, 32; 34:13; Deut. 7:5, 25; 12:1-3). In the New Testament the term idolatry is used to designate covetousness (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Forms of worship encompassed by the term idolatry include prostrating before an idol, offering prayers to idols, making material offerings, or animal sacrifices to idols. Sometimes statues or publicly displayed images of political rulers are condemned as idolatrous.
The worship of icons or images is, more specifically, known as iconolatry.
The word idolatry comes from the Greek word eidololatria, which is a compound of eidolon, "image" or "figure", and latreia, "worship". Although the Greek appears to be a loan translation of the Hebrew phrase avodat elilim, which is attested in rabbinic literature (e.g., bChul., 13b, Bar.), the Greek term itself is not found in the Septuagint, Philo, Josephus, or in other Hellenistic Jewish writings. The term is also lacking in Greek pagan literature. In the New Testament, the Greek word is found only in the letters of Paul, 1 Peter, and Revelation, where it has a derogatory meaning. There are many Hebrew terms for idolatry such as avodah zarah, "foreign worship", and avodat kochavim umazalot, "worship of planets and constellations".
In a number of places the Hebrew Bible makes clear that God has no shape or form; thus no idol or image could ever capture God's essence. For example, when the Israelites are visited by God Himself in Deut. 4:25, they see no shape or form whatsoever. Many verses in the Bible use literary anthropomorphisms to describe God, (e.g. God's migthy hand, God's finger, etc.) but these verses are plainly poetic images, and are not meant to be taken literally.
Idolatry is prohibited by many verses in the Hebrew Bible. There is no one section that clearly defines idolatry; rather there are a number of commandments on this subject spread through the books of the Hebrew Bible, some of which were written in different historical eras, in response to different issues. Taking these verses together, idolatry in the Hebrew Bible is defined as the worship of idols (or images); the worship of polytheistic gods by use of idols (or images) and even the use of idols in the worship of the Bible's one monotheistic God.
The narratives in Genesis presuppose monotheism as the original religion. After its decline Abraham was called to spread the true knowledge of God, but the prophetic books still reflect the struggle against idols and idolatry. Even Jeremiah complains: "According to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah" (2:28).
The various terms, sometimes expressive of scorn and disdain, which were applied to idols and idolatry are indicative of the wide diffusion of polytheistic cults and of the horror with which they filled the Biblical writers. Thus idols are stigmatized "non-God" (Deut. 32:17, 21 [1]; Jer. 2:11 [1]), "things of naught" (Lev. 19:4 et passim [1]), "vanity" (Deut. 32), "iniquity" (1 Sam. 15:23 [1] ), "wind and confusion" (Isa. 41:29 [1]), "the dead" (Ps. 106:28 [1]), "carcasses" (Lev. 26:30; Jer. 16:18), "a lie" (Isa. 44:20 et passim [1]), and similar epithets. Idols are said to be made of gold, silver, wood, and stone, and are graven images, unshapen clods, and, being the work of men's hands, unable to speak, see, hear, smell, eat, grasp, or feel, and powerless either to injure or to benefit.
Idols were either designated in Hebrew by a term of general significance, or were named according to their material or the manner in which they were made. They were placed upon pedestals, and fastened with chains of silver or nails of iron lest they should fall over or be carried off (Isa. 40:19, 41:7; Jer. 10:14; Wisdom 13:15), and they were also clothed and colored (Jer. 10:9; Ezek. 16:18; Wisdom 15:4). At first the gods and their images were conceived of as identical; but in later times a distinction was drawn between the god and the image. Nevertheless it was customary to take away the gods of the vanquished (Isa. 10:10-11, 36:19, 46:1; Jer. 48:7, 49:3; Hosea 10:5; Dan. 11:8), and a similar custom is frequently mentioned in the cuneiform texts.
Temples, altars, and statues were erected to the gods, and figures of oxen and of other animals are also mentioned (Ezek. 8:10-11). In Israel the worship of high places was a favorite form of polytheistic cult, as is shown by the Book of Kings, where the reign of each monarch is judged chiefly from the standpoint of his participation in the worship of idols, so that the words "but the high places were not removed" form a stereotyped phrase. Prayer was offered to the gods (Ex. 20:5 [1], 23:24, et passim [1]), the hands were stretched out to them (Ps. 44:21 [A. V. 20]), they were invoked by name (1 Kings 18-19, 24), their names were praised (Josh. 23:7), knees were bent before them (1 Kings 19:18), incense was burned in their honor (1 Kings 11:8 et passim), they were invoked in the taking of oaths, and sacrifices were immolated to them (Jer. 7:18 [1]; Ex. 35:15), the victims including even human beings, such as the offerings made to Moloch. The custom of worshiping stars and idols by throwing kisses to them is mentioned in Job 31:26-28 [1]. The exchange of clothes, by which men put on women's clothes and women donned men's garments, was an idolatrous custom, and was consequently forbidden (Deut. 22:5 [1]). Human hair also served as a sacrifice, and the prohibition against shaving the head or having writing burned into one's body (Lev. 19:18, 27) was recognized by the Talmud (Mak. 3.6) and by Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed 3.37) as connected with idol-worship. There were, moreover, many other forms of worship, and numerous commandments of the Pentateuch, even though they omit the term "abomination" as a synonym of idolatry, refer to polytheistic worship; for idolatry was deeply rooted in the national character, as is shown by the many proper names compounded with names of idols, so that it became necessary to make every effort for its eradication.
These commandments were written as rejoinders to the beliefs and practices of the ancient polytheistic religions of the ancient near-east and middle-east; the Bible clearly is responding to the religions of Akkad, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Some polytheistic ancient near-eastern and middle-eastern religions had a set of practices which the Israelites found horribly immoral, such as orgiastic sex rites; cultic male prostitution; cultic female prostitution; passing a child through a fire; and child sacrifice.
One of the subjects of interest in regards to idolatry is whether or not the idolators of Biblical times believed that the idols that they worshipped literally were gods and/or spirits, or whether they believed that these idols were only representations of said gods and/or spirits. The various prohibitions against idolatry in the Bible usually do not explicitly make this distinction, and apparently outlaw such practices and beliefs in either form. Many historians of religions agree with Yehezkel Kaufman's study, which holds that the Biblical authors interpreted idolatry in its most literal form: most idolators really believed that their idols were gods. Kaufman holds that while such beliefs in fact did exist, the Biblical authors made an error in assuming that all idolatry was of this type. In point of fact, Kaufman holds, most idolators did not hold such beliefs, and that they only believed that their idols were representations of gods. Kaufman writes that "We may perhaps say that the Bible sees in paganism only its lowest level, the level of mana-beliefs...the prophets ignore what we know to be authentic paganism (i.e., its elaborate mythology about the origin and exploits of the gods and their ultimate subjection to a meta-divine reservoir of impersonal power representing Fate or Necessity.) Their {the Biblical author's} whole condemnation revolves around the taunt of fetishism.)
Kaufman admits that at least in a few instances, some Biblical authors did understand that idolators worshipped gods and spirits that existed independently of idols, and not the forms of the idols themselves. For instance, refer to the story in 1 Kings 18:27 [1], where the Hebrew prophet Elijah ridicules the priests of Baal atop of Mount Carmel. The pagan priests beseeched their god without the use of an idol, clearly indicating that Baal was not an idol, but rather one of the polytheistic gods that merely could be worshipped through the use of an idol. For Kaufman, these recognitions are the exception, not the rule, and are of little importance.
In Judaism, it is held that the Ten Commandments prohibit belief in, or worship of, any other deities, gods, or spirits. It is also held to be a prohibition against objects, such as crucifixes, and against the use of artistic representations of God.
The Talmud has a treatise on idolatry (Avodah Zarah), and also discusses the subject elsewhere in many passages. A midrash notes that "If one wished to write all the names of idols, all the parchment scrolls in the world would be insufficient" (Midrash Sifre on Deut. 43).
When Jewish monotheism was threatened by conquering Syrians and Romans, the Jews revolted, refusing to permit Roman troops to enter their territory with flags. Jews even detected idols in the portraits of the Caesars stamped on coins, and this was understandable, in view of the divine worship paid the emperors. Despite this fear of idols and images, the danger of inroads among the Jews by idolatrous customs and usages, which permeated the whole ancient world around them, was so great that the scholars could not invent too many "fences" against idolatry. They accordingly aimed at making intimate association with gentiles very difficult.
The ancient world regarded the Jews as atheists because of their refusal to worship visible gods. "Whosoever denies idols is called a Jew" (Talmud Meg. 13). To statements such as this the Jew responded: "Whosoever recognizes idols has denied the entire Torah; and whosoever denies idols has recognized the entire Torah" (Midrash Sifre, Deut. 54 and parallel passages). "As soon as one departs from the words of the Torah, it is as though he attached himself to the worship of idols" (Midrash Sifre, Num. 43).
Although the Jews were forbidden in general to mock at anything holy, it was a merit to deride idols (Talmud Meg. 25b). It was forbidden to look upon images (Tosefta to Talmud Shabbat 17.1), and even thinking of idolatrous worship was prohibited (Talmud Ber. 12b); if one saw a place where an idol had once stood, he was commanded to utter a special prayer (Talmud Ber. 61a). Sacrifice to an idol or anything which in any way might be associated with idolatry was forbidden. It was even insufficient to reduce an idol to powder and scatter it to the winds, since it would fall to earth and become a fertilizer; but the image must be sunk in the Dead Sea, whence it could never emerge (Talmud Avodah Zarah 3.3); nor might the wood of the "asherah" be used for purposes of healing (Talmud Pes. 25a). Among the three cardinal sins for which the penalty was death, idolatry stood first (Talmud Pes. 25a and parallels).
A small number of modern Jewish theologians, including Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, have suggested that perhaps only the Israelites were forbidden to worship idols, but that such worship was permissible for members of other religions. (J. H. Hertz, "Pentateuch and Haftorahs" Soncino Press, 1960, p.759). Most Jewish theologians disagree, saying that the original meaning of the text was to condemn idolatry in toto.
A growing number of theologically liberal Jewish theologians accept the condemnation of idolatry, but argue that most religions that appear idolatrous are not, and thus ought to be accepted as legitimate. They argue that modern day Buddhists, Hindus and others (a) do not literally worship "sticks and stones", as the idolaters in the Tanach were described doing. Their beliefs have more theological depth than ancient pagans, and are well aware their icons are only symbols of a deeper level of reality, (b) they do not practice child sacrifice, (c) they are of high moral character, and (d) they are not anti-Semitic. As such, some Jews argue that not only does God have a relationship with all gentile monotheists, but that God also maintains a relationship with Hindus, Buddhists and other polytheists.
Judaism's animosity towards these religions was inherited by Christianity, and Islam adopted such views as well. Although Judaism, Christianity and Islam define idolatry in different ways, all of these Abrahamic religions forbid idolatry, as they understand the term, and consider it a sin.
With the development of Christianity in the first century of the common era came a new theology with regards to idolatry. While the Hebrew Bible considers it a sin to portray even the one Biblical God in any image, the New Testament creates an ambiguous image of Jesus, who would later be seen by Christians as God incarnate.
Jesus, discussing the Ten Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount, does not speak of issues regarding the meaning of the commandment against idolatry, suggesting that he concurred in the current understanding of the Jews of his time. In the Gospel of John, Jesus claimed that because his disciples had seen him, they had seen God the Father (Gospel of John 14:7-9 [1]). Paul of Tarsus referred to Jesus as the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15 [1]). A major controversy among early Christians concerned whether it was permissible to eat meat that had been offered in pagan worship. Paul of Tarsus said that it was permitted to do so, provided that scandal was not caused by it; however, he says that the gods worshipped in idolatry are in fact demons, and that any act of direct participation in their worship remained forbidden. (1 Corinthians 10:14-22) [1] Paul's teaching is largely consonant with contemporary Jewish understandings; while he mocked the idols themselves as delusive non-entities, their worship was nonetheless a spiritual menace.
When Constantine I ended the persecution of Christians and began to favor Christianity, though, its status as the favoured imperial religion brought in a large influx of pagan converts who remained attached to their former religious practices. Protestant historians believe that over time, this tended to diminish the church's zeal to reject idolatry, and to encourage accommodation to polytheism and the worship or veneration of images and artifacts. Those Christians who reject these developments refer to this process as the Great Apostasy. Catholic and Orthodox historians believe the veneration of icons and relics began well before Constantine ended the state-sponsored persecution of Christians.
The oldest surviving Christian Byzantine icons were made in the Byzantine Empire; they date to the 500s. [1] Precursors to Byzantine iconography have been found in Christian catacombs from the 2nd and 3rd centuries, in the form of pictures of Old Testament scenes and of Jesus Christ. There are similar paintings of Old Testament scenes found in Jewish catacombs of the same time frame.[1] The Christian use of relics also dates to the catacombs, when Christians found themselves praying in the presence of the bodies of martyrs, sometimes using their tombs as altars for sharing the Eucharist. Many stories of the earliest martyrs end with an account of how Christians would gather up the martyr's remains, to the extent possible, in order to retain the martyr's relics.
Christianity holds that the essential element of the commandment not to make "any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above" is "and bow down and worship it". At the same time, Christian prayer services feature images, some feature statues, and, in some Orthodox services, icons are venerated. Christians avoid a conflict between idolatry and their practices in several ways:
Eastern Orthodoxy teaches that the incarnation of Jesus makes it permissible to venerate icons, and even necessary in order to preserve the truth of the Incarnation. For Jews and some Protestant Christians this practice is seen as an explicit rejection of the commandment. Very few Christians oppose the making of any images at all, but some groups have been critical of the use others make of images in worship. (See iconoclasm)
Orthodox Christians have criticized the Roman Catholic use of decorative statues; some Protestant groups have criticized the use of stained-glass windows by many other denominations, and Jehovah's Witnesses criticize the use of all of the above, as well as the use of a cross. The Amish are the only Christian group that forbids the use of images in secular life.
Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism allows, and in many cases, encourages the use of image in religious life, e.g. the veneration of the cross. Some also are allowed to and in some cases instructed to pray using depictions of deceased holy figures, known as saints. They also venerate images and symbolic liturgical objects used in their cult with actions such as kissing, bowing, and making the sign of the cross. However, they typically hold that saints and their depictions are venerated and not worshipped, and they therefore hold that these practices do not fall under the ban against idolatry.
They also point to the Old Testament patterns of worship followed by the Hebrew people as examples of how certain places and things used in worship may be treated with reverence or venerated, without worshipping them. The Ark of the Covenant was treated with great reverence and included images of cherubim on top of it, and certain miracles were associated with it, yet this was not condemned. Similarly, they see the staff with golden serpents (which God commanded Moses to make and lift high so as to cure any Israelites who looked at it of a plague that was sweeping through the people at the time) as an archetype (or foreshadowing) of Jesus Christ being lifted up on the Cross (Jesus referred to the serpent with staff himself once in the Gospels, when foretelling his death). King Hezekiah had this staff destroyed, however, when the Hebrew people began burning incense to it. (2 Kings 18:4 [1])
Christian critics of this position, usually Protestants, argue that such practices are in effect little different from idolatry. They are believed by critics to be wrong as they localize and particularize God, whom they argue is beyond human depiction. Many Protestants believe that in attributing holiness or power to human artifacts, they foster disbelief in God's omnipotence, and His independent and sovereign will, and suggest instead to human fallibility that He can be manipulated. To them, this is the essence of idolatry considered as a sin. For these believers, idolatry can be viewed as a sort of fetishism. Calvinist theologian J.I. Packer, in chapter 3 of his book Knowing God, asserted that even to imagine Jesus Christ as having a specific physical appearance would be a form of idol worship.
These critics are often accused of iconoclasm, which was officially condemned by Catholics and Orthodox at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). The Protestant Reformation also involved the removal and destruction of many shrines, images, and relics from churches converted to Protestant worship in the 16th century. This was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church in the Council of Trent.
The vast majority of Christian denominations hold that God particularized himself when he took on flesh and was born as Jesus; through this act God is said to have blessed material things and made them good again. By rising physically from the dead, ascending bodily into Heaven, and promising Christians a physical resurrection, God thus indicates that it is not wrong to be "attached" to physical things, and that matter is not inherently evil, unlike the contemporary teachings of Gnosticism. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have concluded from this, that while God the Father and God the Spirit are forbidden to be depicted in icons since they are invisible, it is acceptable within Christianity to depict God the Son because he came in such a way that people could see, hear and touch him.
In this view, the veneration of icons is mandatory; to not venerate icons would imply that Jesus was not also fully God, or to deny that Jesus had a real physical body. Both of these alternatives are incompatible with the christology defined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and summarized in the Chalcedonian Creed. While most Protestants agree that Jesus is God, they generally do not draw the same conclusion regarding the veneration of icons.
Jehovah's Witnesses argue that the common Christian practice of wearing a cross is a form of idolatry. Other Christians disagree, holding that they don't worship the symbols themselves and that Christianity has long maintained a elaborate and moral symbolic traditions.
Islam forbids idolatry and polytheism. Most sects of Islam forbid any artistic depictions of human figures, this being shirk, which originally means "partnership": the sin of associating some other being with the one God, Allah. This is considered akin to idolatry, if not idolatry outright.
The Bible's discussion of paganism does not directly discuss the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Shintoism; however, these religions have often been held to be idolatry by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Adherents of these faiths deny this characetrization of their religions.
A very small minority view holds that the symbols of the monotheistic Western religions are counterparts to the polytheistic figures of some Eastern religions. For example, some Buddhists consider the Catholic saints, as well as Jesus, to be examples of bodhisattvas. Some early Catholic missionaries believed that Guan Yin was a Chinese version of the Virgin Mary.
Ancient forms of Hinduism were polytheistic. Some Hindus today still are polythesists. However, over the milennia, a monotheistic version of Hinduism has evolved. In this latter view, the multiple Hindu divinities ("divine aspects", or "gods") have been reinterpreted to represent different aspects of one natural power. With the close relationship with Buddhism and, imagery influenced and developed to an elaborate scale where presently all gods have now been represented by statuettes. Claims of idolatry are present.
Shintoism is a religion which worships kami or nature spirits; it often uses various objects to represent these spirits in its shrines, which often gives the appearance of idolatry to westerners. Claims of idolatry are present.
The question of whether Buddhism, and Chinese folk religion, consists of worshipping a God or veneration of a saint was important to the Catholic church during the Chinese Rites controversy of the early 18th century. This dispute was between the Dominicans who argued that Buddhism and Chinese folk religion was worship, and therefore incompatible with Catholicism ,and the Jesuits which argued the reverse. The pope ultimately ruled in favor of the Dominicans; a decision which greatly reduced the role of Catholic missionaries in China.
Buddhist art employed different measures to represent the Buddha. Empty gaps were firstly used in murals or in another case, a footprint. Statues actually appeared half a century later within the Mahayana school and were often used to represent Gautama Buddha in his exact pose during Enlightenment under the bodhi tree. Since a Buddha comes only by the form of a man, this practice was not considered idolatry by the remaining schools; it was the (exemplar) human being represented and not the Nirvanic state (which is unconditioned, unmade; formless) that the Enlightened One would enter. This tradition partly grew and developed dramatically from the influence of Greek sculpture accidentally by Alexander the Great, who by trade introduced Greek statuary into what is now Afghanistan, from which the practice spread eastward to influence other religious art. Buddhists do not venerate the objects themselves, but rather the meaning and symbolism represented by the object, which is the beneficial practice of meditation. Often Buddhists will bow before the statue, not as an act of literal worship for the carved image, but to evoke faith and respect in the individual towards what the statue symbolizes; the doctrine and discipline that Gautama Buddha founded. It is considered a grave error, in Buddhist thought, to risk ones life (or the life of another) to rescue a statue, let alone worship one.
Adherents of polytheism and animism reject the charge of idolatry, often from monotheists, as an inaccurate description of their religious beliefs and practices. Polytheists generally do not believe that their statues (or other physical objects) are gods; rather, they are symbols of immaterial gods.
Polytheistic and Animistic beliefs that have given rise to the charge of idolatry include:
Scholars of religion generally do not equate idolatry with polytheism, primarily because polytheists accused of idolatry usually do not have the beliefs ascribed to them. Specifically, most polytheists hold that their idols or icons are only symbols of the gods they worship, and these idols or icons do not posses supernatural powers.
See also: Religious pluralism
Etymology
Idolatry in the Hebrew Bible
Terms for idolatry
Forms of idol worship
Historical-critical view of idolatry in the Hebrew Bible
Jewish views of idolatry
Modern Jewish views
Christian views of idolatry
Idolatry in the New Testament
Christian views on images
Generally, Christians of any denomination reserve the word idolatry for forbidden worship, and never refer to the images, icons, or artifacts that they in fact revere as "idols."
Eastern Orthodoxy
Critics of Christian use of images
Christian defense of icons and images
Muslim views of idolatry
Asian views of idolatry
Idolatry and Polytheism
These beliefs are generally held to be at variance with monotheism, which holds that all power comes from God alone, and not from any other gods or agents. In such systems, "God" at best is only the stronger of many other gods, and thus God would not be omnipotent or omniscient.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Idolatry."
Synonyms: IdolatrySynonyms: devotion (n), idol worship (n), veneration (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Heterodoxy | Hyperorthodoxy, precisianism, bibliolatry, sabbatarianism, puritanism; anthropomorphism; idolatry; superstition; (credulity); dissent. |
Idolatry | Noun: idolatry, idolism; demonism, demonolatry; idol-worship, demon-worship, devil-worship, fire-worship; zoolatry, fetishism, fetichism; ecclesiolatry, heliolatry, Mariolatry, Bibliolatry. |
Love | Yearning, gr/eros/gr, tender passion, amour; gyneolatry; gallantry, passion, flame, devotion, fervor, enthusiasm, transport of love, rapture, enchantment, infatuation, adoration, idolatry. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Idolatry |
| English words defined with "idolatry": Baalism ♦ Ethnicism, Ezekias ♦ Hezekiah ♦ Idolatries, idolatrous, Image worship ♦ Mawmetry ♦ Sabianism. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "idolatry": Chauvin ♦ Ehud, Ethbaal, Eth-baal ♦ Idols ♦ Wicked Prayer Book. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "idolatry": Ethnicism ♦ lordolatry ♦ Mawmetry. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Do not swear at all. Or, if thou wilt, swear by the gracious self which is the god of my idolatry, and I'll believe thee. (Romeo + Juliet; writing credit: Craig Pearce) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
John Selden | Idolatry is in a man's own thought, not in the opinion of another. |
Lord Chesterfield | Speak of the moderns without contempt, and of the ancients without idolatry. |
Martin Luther | Superstition, idolatry, and hypocrisy have ample wages, but truth goes a-begging. |
| Superstition, idolatry and hypocrisy have ample wages, but the truth goes begging. | |
Mary Baker Eddy | Is civilization only a higher form of idolatry, that man should bow down to a flesh-brush, to flannels, to baths, diet, exercise, and air? |
Mcilyar H. Lichliter | Our spiritual peril is the new idolatry -- the worship of the God of Bigness and the God of Speed. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | We boast our emancipation from many superstitions; but if we have broken any idols, it is through a transfer of idolatry. |
William Shakespeare | 'Tis mad idolatry To make the service greater than the god. |
William Wordsworth | Rapine, avarice, expense, This is idolatry; and these we adore; Plain living and high thinking are no more. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| "Idolatry" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Idolatry" is used about 58 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 58 | 44,427 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
idolatry | 38 |
idolatry modern | 2 |
bible idolatry | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "idolatry"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | idhujtari (heathendom, heathenism, idolatress), adhurim (adoration, deification, delight, worship). (various references) | |
Arabic | عبادة الأصنام, الوثنية (ethnocentrism, heathenism, idolatress), الحب الأعمى. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | култ (cult, fetish, religion, worship), обожание (adoration), идолопоклонничество. (various references) | |
Czech | modloslužebnictví, modlářství. (various references) | |
Dutch | afgodendienst (idol worship). (various references) | |
Esperanto | idolservo (idol worship), idolkulto (idol worship). (various references) | |
Farsi | بت پرست (Heathen, Ilolater, Pagan). (various references) | |
French | idolâtrie. (various references) | |
German | vergötterung (apotheosis, deification, idolization). (various references) | |
Greek | ειδωλολατρεία. (various references) | |
Hebrew | תרפות (paganism), עבו"ת אלילים (paganism), עבו"" זר" (paganism), אלילות (paganism), 'לולים (idols). (various references) | |
Hungarian | bálványozás, bálványimádás (adultery). (various references) | |
Indonesian | keberhalaan. (various references) | |
Italian | idolatria. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 偶像礼拝 , 偶像教 , 偶像崇拝 (worship). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ぐうぞうすうはい (worship), ぐうぞうきょう, ぐうぞうれいはい. (various references) | |
Manx | jalloonys (imagery). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | idolatryay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | idólatra (dotted line, heathen, heathenish, idolator, paganism). (various references) | |
Romanian | idolatrie (worship). (various references) | |
Russian | поклонение (adoration), идолопоклонство. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | idolatrija. (various references) | |
Spanish | idolatría (idol worship). (various references) | |
Swedish | avgudadyrkan (idolization). (various references) | |
Thai | การหลงใหลอย่างไม่ลืมหูลืมตา. (various references) | |
Turkish | tapma (adoration, deification, glorification, hero worship, image-worship, worship), putperestlik (heathenism, image-worship, paganism), puta tapma (image-worship). (various references) | |
Ukranian | ідолопоклонство (superstition), обожнювання (adoration, apotheosis, canonization, cult, deification, dotage, worship), поклоніня. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự sùng bái thần tượng. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | idola, idolatriae, idoli, idolis, idolo, idolorum, idolum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Acts Chapter 17, Verse 16 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | En de taiV aqhnaiV ekdecomenou autouV tou paulou parwxuneto to pneuma autou en autw qewrounti kateidwlon ousan thn polin |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Paulus autem cum Athenis eos expectaret incitabatur spiritus eius in ipso videns idolatriae deditam civitatem |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And while Poul abood hem at Atenys, his spirit was moued in him, for he saiy the citee youun to ydolatrie. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | Whyll Paul wayted for them at Attens his sprete was moved in him to se the cite geven to worshippinge of ymages. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | Now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was troubled, for he saw all the town full of images of the gods. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Acts Chapter 17, Verse 16 |
| Albanian | Ndërsa Pali po i priste në Athinë, po i ziente fryma përbrenda, kur pa qytetin plot me idhuj. |
| Bulgarian | И тъй разискваше в синагогата с юдеите и с набожните, и по пазаря всеки ден с ония, с които се случеше да среща. |
| Cebuano | ¶ Ug samtang si Pablo nagpaabut kanila didto sa Atenas, ang iyang espiritu sa sulod niya nahagit sa pagkasuko sa iyang pagkakita nga ang siyudad napuno sa mga larawan. |
| Chinese | 保 羅 在 雅 典 等 候 他 們 的 時 候 、 看 見 滿 城 都 是 偶 像 、 就 心 裡 著 急 。 |
| Croatian | Dok ih je u Ateni išèekivao, ogorèi se Pavao u duši promatrajuæi kako je grad pokumiren. |
| Danish | Medens nu Paulus ventede på dem i Athen, harmedes hans Ånd i ham, da han så, at Byen var fuld af Afgudsbilleder. |
| Dutch | En terwijl Paulus hen te Athene verwachtte, werd zijn geest in hem ontstoken, ziende, dat de stad zo zeer afgodisch was. |
| Finnish | Mutta Paavalin odottaessa heitä Ateenassa hänen henkensä hänessä kiivastui, kun hän näki, että kaupunki oli täynnä epäjumalankuvia. |
| French | Comme Paul les attendait Athènes, il sentait au dedans de lui son esprit s`irriter, la vue de cette ville pleine d`idoles. |
| German | Da aber Paulus ihrer zu Athen wartete, ergrimmte sein Geist in ihm, da er sah die Stadt so gar abgöttisch. |
| Haitian Creole | ¶ Antan Pòl t'ap tann Silas ak Timote lavil Atèn, sa te nwi lespri l' anpil lè l' wè ki jan lavil la te plen zidòl. |
| Hungarian | Athénben pedig, mikor azokat várá Pál, lelke háborog vala õ benne, látván, hogy a város bálványokkal van tele. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Sementara Paulus menunggu Silas dan Timotius di Atena, hatinya sedih melihat kota itu penuh dengan berhala-berhala. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka sedang Paulus lagi menantikan keduanya itu di Atina, marahlah hatinya tatkala memandang negeri itu penuh dengan segala berhala. |
| Italian | Mentre Paolo li attendeva ad Atene, fremeva nel suo spirito al vedere la citt piena di idoli. |
| Korean | " 울 이 아 덴 에 서 희 를 기 다 리 다 가 온 성 에 우 상 이 가 " 한 것 을 보 마 음 에 분 하 여 |
| Latvian | Kamçr Pâvils Atçnâs tos gaidîja, tâ gars viòâ iedegâs, redzçdams elkdievîbai atdotu pilsçtu. |
| Maori | ¶ Na, i a Paora e tatari ana ki a raua i Atene, ka oho tona wairua i roto i a ia, i tana kitenga i te pa e ki ana i te whakapakoko. |
| Norwegian | Mens nu Paulus ventet på dem i Aten, harmedes hans ånd i ham, da han så at byen var full av avgudsbilleder. |
| Portuguese | Enquanto Paulo os esperava em Atenas, revoltava-se nele o seu espírito, vendo a cidade cheia de ídolos. |
| Rumanian | Pe cknd ki awtepta Pavel kn Atena, i se kntqrkta duhul la vederea acestei cetqyi pline de idoli. |
| Russian | ч ПЦЙ"БОЙЙ ЙИ Ч бЖЙОБИ рБЧЕМ ЧПЪНХФЙМУС "ХИПН ТЙ ЧЙ"Е ЬФПЗП ЗПТП"Б, ПМОПЗП Й"ПМПЧ. |
| Shuar | ¶ Tura Papru Atenas péprunam pujus Sérasnasha Timiutéuncha Nákamiayi. Nui Nú péprunam ántar-yus ti írunkui Páprusha Kúntuts Enentáimmiayi. |
| Spanish | Mientras Pablo los esperaba en Atenas, su espíritu se enardecía dentro de él al ver que la ciudad estaba entregada a la idolatría. |
| Swahili | Paulo alipokuwa anawasubiri Sila na Timotheo huko Athene, moyo wake ulighadhibika sana alipoona jinsi mji huo ulivyokuwa umejaa sanamu za miungu. |
| Swedish | Men, Paulus nu väntade på dem i Aten, upprördes han i sin ande, när han såg huru uppfylld staden var med avgudabilder. |
| Thai | เมื่อเปาโลกำลังคอยสิลาสกับทิโมธีอยู่ในกรุงเอเธนส์นั้น ท่านมีความเ"ือ"ร้อนวุ่นวายใจเพราะไ"้เห็นรูปเคารพเต็มไปทั้งเมือง |
| Ukrainian | ¶ Як Павло ж їх чекав ув Атенах, у ньому кипів його дух, як бачив це місто, повне ідолів. |
| Uma | ¶ Bula-na Paulus mpopea-ra Silas pai' Timotius hi Atena, susa' -mi nono-na mpohilo kawori' -na pinotau to rapue' to Atena. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Misspellings | |
"Idolatry" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: idolarty, idolatary, idolatory, Idolatrie, idolitry, idoltry. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "idolatry" (pronounced īdÄ"lutrē) |
| 5 | -l u t r ē | helotry, toiletry, zealotry. |
| 4 | -u t r ē | asymmetry, banditry, basketry, bigotry, cabinetry, circuitry, dissymmetry, gadgetry, geometry, optometry, poetry, psychiatry, punditry, puppetry, rocketry, spectrometry, summitry, symmetry, telemetry. |
| 3 | -t r ē | ancestry, artistry, baptistery, biochemistry, carpentry, chemistry, complementary, country, dentistry, elementary, entry, forestry, gallantry, gantry, gentry, geochemistry, industry, infantry, Maestri, ministry, mitre, pageantry, palmistry, paltry, pantry, pastry, peasantry, pedantry, pleasantry, poultry, reentry, registry, sentry, sultry, tapestry, wintry. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: adroitly, dilatory. | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-i-l-o-r-t-y" | |
-1 letter: dilator, orality, tardily. | |
-2 letters: adroit, aliyot, aridly, artily, daylit, drylot, rialto, tailor. | |
-3 letters: aroid, daily, dairy, diary, dirty, doily, dorty, dotal, drail, drily, droit, laird, laity, lardy, liard, lidar, lirot, lyard, lyart, radio, ratio, riyal, roily, royal, tardo, tardy, tidal, toady, today, tolar, trail, triad, trial, triol, yaird. | |
-4 letters: adit, airt, airy, alit, alto, arid, aril, arty, aryl, dart, dato, dial, diol, dirl, dirt, dita, doat, doit, dolt, dory, doty, drat, dray, idly, idol, idyl, iota, lady, laid, lair, lard, lari, lati, liar, lido, lira, load, lord, lory, lota, loti, odyl, oily, oldy, orad, oral, raid, rail, rato, rial, riot, road, roil, rota, roti, rotl, ryot, tail, tali, taro, tidy, tirl, tiro, toad, tody, toil, tola, told, tora, tori, tory, trad, tray, trio, trod, troy, tyro, yald, yard, yird. | |
-5 letters: ado, aid, ail, air, ait, alt, art, dal, day, dit, dol, dor, dot, dry, lad, lar, lat, lay, lid, lit, lot, oar, oat, oil, old, ora, ort, rad, rat, ray, ria, rid, rod, rot, rya, tad, tao, tar, til, tod, tor, toy, try, yar, yid, yod. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-i-l-o-r-t-y" | |
+1 letter: thyroidal. | |
+2 letters: auditorily, botryoidal, cordiality, depilatory, dilatorily, modularity, radiolytic, solidarity, toroidally. | |
+3 letters: adorability, artiodactyl, crystalloid, dilatometry, doctrinally, editorially, maladroitly, maledictory, mandatorily, prodigality, roadability, tetraploidy, valedictory. | |
+4 letters: admonitorily, artiodactyls, coordinately, crystalloids, decoratively, deflationary, derogatively, derogatorily, disastrously, discordantly, idolatrously, immoderately, inordinately, stridulatory. | |
+5 letters: affordability, considerately, constrainedly, crystalloidal, deprecatorily, devolutionary, dictatorially, dissimilatory, documentarily, formidability, gradationally, hydroxylating, hydroxylation, periodontally, perissodactyl, predominantly, predominately, radioactively, solderability, subordinately, synarthrodial, traditionally. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)49 64 6F 6C 61 74 72 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).. -.. --- .-.. .- - .-. -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001001 01100100 01101111 01101100 01100001 01110100 01110010 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)I d o l a t r y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0049 0064 006F 006C 0061 0074 0072 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)4370817867868491 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Bible Trace | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
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