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Objection 1: It would seem that the cause of idolatry was not on the
part of man. In man there is nothing but either nature, virtue, or
guilt. But the cause of idolatry could not be on the part of man's
nature, since rather does man's natural reason dictate that there is
one God, and that divine worship should not be paid to the dead or to
inanimate beings. Likewise, neither could idolatry have its cause in
man on the part of virtue, since "a good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit," according to Mt. 7:18: nor again could it be on the
part of guilt, because, according to Wis. 14:27, "the worship
of abominable idols is the cause and the beginning and end of all
evil." Therefore idolatry has no cause on the part of man.
Objection 2: Further, those things which have a cause in man are
found among men at all times. Now idolatry was not always, but is
stated [Peter Comestor, Hist. Genes. xxxvii, xl] to have been
originated either by Nimrod, who is related to have forced men to
worship fire, or by Ninus, who caused the statue of his father Bel
to be worshiped. Among the Greeks, as related by Isidore (Etym.
viii, 11), Prometheus was the first to set up statues of men: and
the Jews say that Ismael was the first to make idols of clay.
Moreover, idolatry ceased to a great extent in the sixth age.
Therefore idolatry had no cause on the part of man.
Objection 3: Further, Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xxi,
6): "It was not possible to learn, for the first time, except
from their" (i.e. the demons') "teaching, what each of them
desired or disliked, and by what name to invite or compel him: so as
to give birth to the magic arts and their professors": and the same
observation seems to apply to idolatry. Therefore idolatry had no
cause on the part of man.
On the contrary, It is written (Wis. 14:14): "By the
vanity of men they," i.e. idols, "came into the world."
I answer that, Idolatry had a twofold cause. One was a dispositive
cause; this was on the part of man, and in three ways. First, on
account of his inordinate affections, forasmuch as he gave other men
divine honor, through either loving or revering them too much. This
cause is assigned (Wis. 14:15): "A father being afflicted
with bitter grief, made to himself the image of his son, who was
quickly taken away: and him who then had died as a man he began to
worship as a god." The same passage goes on to say (Wis.
14:21) that "men serving either their affection, or their
kings, gave the incommunicable name," i.e. of the Godhead, "to
stones and wood." Secondly, because man takes a natural pleasure in
representations, as the Philosopher observes (Poet. iv),
wherefore as soon as the uncultured man saw human images skillfully
fashioned by the diligence of the craftsman, he gave them divine
worship; hence it is written (Wis. 13:11-17): "If an
artist, a carpenter, hath cut down a tree, proper for his use, in
the wood . . . and by the skill of his art fashioneth it, and maketh
it like the image of a man . . . and then maketh prayer to it,
inquiring concerning his substance, and his children, or his
marriage." Thirdly, on account of their ignorance of the true God,
inasmuch as through failing to consider His excellence men gave divine
worship to certain creatures, on account of their beauty or power,
wherefore it is written (Wis. 13:1,2): "All men . . .
neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who was the
workman, but have imagined either the fire, or the wind, or the swift
air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and
the moon, to be the gods that rule the world."
The other cause of idolatry was completive, and this was on the part
of the demons, who offered themselves to be worshipped by men, by
giving answers in the idols, and doing things which to men seemed
marvelous. Hence it is written (Ps. 95:5): "All the gods of
the Gentiles are devils."
Reply to Objection 1: The dispositive cause of idolatry was, on
the part of man, a defect of nature, either through ignorance in his
intellect, or disorder in his affections, as stated above; and this
pertains to guilt. Again, idolatry is stated to be the cause,
beginning and end of all sin, because there is no kind of sin that
idolatry does not produce at some time, either through leading
expressly to that sin by causing it, or through being an occasion
thereof, either as a beginning or as an end, in so far as certain sins
were employed in the worship of idols; such as homicides,
mutilations, and so forth. Nevertheless certain sins may precede
idolatry and dispose man thereto.
Reply to Objection 2: There was no idolatry in the first age,
owing to the recent remembrance of the creation of the world, so that
man still retained in his mind the knowledge of one God. In the sixth
age idolatry was banished by the doctrine and power of Christ, who
triumphed over the devil.
Reply to Objection 3: This argument considers the consummative
cause of idolatry.
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