Idolatry Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Etymology and nomenclature== [[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 055.png|thumb|right|[[Moses]] breaks the original [[Tablets of Stone|two stone tablets]] inscribed with the [[Ten Commandments]] in response to the [[Israelites]]' worship of the Golden Calf; woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]], 1860.]] The term ''idolatry'' comes from the [[Ancient Greek]] word ''eidololatria'' ([[wikt:εἰδωλολατρία|εἰδωλολατρία]]), which itself is a compound of two words: ''eidolon'' ([[wikt:εἴδωλον|εἴδωλον]] "image/idol") and ''latreia'' (λατρεία "worship", related to [[wikt:λάτρις|λάτρις]]).<ref>{{cite book|author=John Bowker|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-861053-3|chapter=Idolatry|chapter-url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192800947.001.0001/acref-9780192800947-e-3375|doi=10.1093/acref/9780192800947.001.0001}}</ref> The word ''eidololatria'' thus means "worship of idols", which in Latin appears first as ''idololatria'', then in Vulgar Latin as ''idolatria'', therefrom it appears in 12th century Old French as ''idolatrie'', which for the first time in mid 13th century English appears as "idolatry".<ref>Douglas Harper (2015), Etymology Dictionary, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=idolatry Idolatry]</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Noah Webster|title=An American Dictionary of the English Language|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqNHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA857|year=1841|publisher=BL Hamlen|page=857}}</ref> Although the Greek appears to be a [[Calque|loan translation]] of the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] phrase ''avodat elilim'', (עבודת אלילים) 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 Judaism|Hellenistic Jewish writings]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} The original term used in early rabbinic writings is ''oved avodah zarah'' (''AAZ'', worship in strange service, or "pagan"), while ''avodat kochavim umazalot'' (''AKUM'', worship of planets and constellations) is not found in its early manuscripts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stern |first=Sacha |title=Jewish Identity in Early Rabbinic Writings |publisher=BRILL |url=https://archive.org/details/jewishidentityin00ster|url-access=registration |access-date=18 October 2013|page=[https://archive.org/details/jewishidentityin00ster/page/9 9] with footnotes 47–48|isbn=978-9004100121 |year=1994 }}</ref> The later Jews used the term {{Script/Hebrew|עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה}}, ''avodah zarah'', meaning "foreign worship".<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Idolatry |volume=14 |page=288}}</ref> Idolatry has also been called idolism,<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idolism idolism], Merriam Webster;<br />{{cite book|author=Anthony Ephirim-Donkor|title=African Religion Defined: A Systematic Study of Ancestor Worship among the Akan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndxOAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|year=2012|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-6058-7|page=4}}</ref> iconolatry<ref>[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/iconolatry iconolatry], Merriam Webster;<br />{{cite book|author=Elmar Waibl |title=Dictionary of philosophical terms| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyWybcPCe4YC&pg=PA42 |year=1997| publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-097454-6| pages=42 see Bilderverehrung}}</ref> or idolodulia in historic literature.<ref>{{cite book|author1=John F. Thornton|author2=Susan B. Varenne|title=Steward of God's Covenant: Selected Writings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGHKcZI3XAMC&pg=PA11| year=2006| publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4000-9648-0|page=11}};<br />See John Calvin (1537) ''[http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/calvin-the-institutes-of-the-christian-religion The Institutes of the Christian Religion]'', Quote: "The worship which they pay to their images they cloak with the name of εἰδωλοδυλεία (idolodulia), and deny to be εἰδωλολατρεία (idolatria). So they speak, holding that the worship which they call dulia may, without insult to God, be paid to statues and pictures. (...) For the Greek word λατρεύειν having no other meaning than to worship, what they say is just the same as if they were to confess that they worship their images without worshipping them. They cannot object that I am quibbling upon words. (...) But how eloquent soever they may be, they will never prove by their eloquence that one and the same thing makes two. Let them show how the things differ if they would be thought different from ancient idolaters."</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page