Chapter 120 — That the worship of latria is due to God alone

There have been some who deemed that the worship of latria should be given not only to the supreme author of all, but to all things, even creatures, that are above man. Hence some, whilst holding God to be the one universal cause of all, considered that we should offer latria first, after the supreme God, to the heavenly intellectual substances, which they called gods, whether such substances were entirely separate from bodies, or animated the spheres or stars.

Second, to other intellectual substances which they believed to be united to aerial bodies, and called demons. Nevertheless, deeming them to be above men, even as an aerial body is above an earthly one, they maintained that these substances should be honored by men with a divine worship, and that in comparison with men they were gods, as being between men and the gods. And as they believed that the souls of good men, through being separated from their bodies, passed to a higher state than that of the present life, they held that divine worship should be given also to the souls of the dead, whom they called heroes or ‘Manes.’

Others, believing God to be the soul of the world, held that divine honor should be given to the whole world and each part of it, not indeed on account of the body, but on account of the soul, which they said was God—even as we honor a wise man not for his body, but for his soul.

Others, again, thought that divine honor should be given even to things which, though beneath man by nature, participate in the power of a higher nature. Therefore, believing that certain images, made by men, receive a certain supernatural power either through the influence of a heavenly body or through the presence of certain spirits, they said that such images should receive divine honor. These images they called gods: for which reason they are called idolaters, because they offered latria to idols (that is, images).

But it is absurd for those who hold that there is but one separate first cause to give divine honor to another. For we worship God, as stated above, (Ch. 119.) not because he needs it, but that true notions about God may be confirmed in us by means of sensible things. Now, the notion that there is but one supreme God cannot be confirmed in us by means of sensible objects except by our offering him something distinct, and this we call the divine worship. It is clear, then, that a true notion about the one cause is weakened if divine worship be given to several.

Further. As we said above, (Ch. 119.) this external worship is necessary for man in order that his soul be roused to give spiritual homage to God. Now, custom is of great weight in moving the human mind to action, for we are more easily inclined to that which is customary. And the custom among men is that the honor given to the head of the state (for example, the king or the emperor) be given to no other. Therefore, the human mind should be urged to realize that there is one supreme cause of all by rendering to it something that it renders to no other. This is what we call the worship of latria.

Again. If the worship of latria were due to a being as superior and not as supreme, since one man, and one angel, is higher than another, it would follow that a man ought to give the worship of latria to another man, and one angel to another angel. And since he who is superior in one respect is inferior in another, the result would be that men would worship one another mutually: which is absurd.

Besides. It is customary among men that a special return be due for a special boon. Now, there is a special boon that man receives from the most high God, namely, his creation: for we proved in the second book (Ch. 21.) that God alone creates. Therefore, man must make to God a special return in recognition of this special boon, and this is the worship of latria.

Moreover. Latria means service, and service is due to a master. Properly and truly, a master is one who orders others to work, and receives orders from none: for he who carries out the orders of another is servant rather than master. Now, God, the supreme cause of all, orders all things to their respective actions by his providence, as we proved above: (Ch. 64.) hence Sacred Scripture describes the angels and higher bodies as serving both God, whose orders they carry out, and us, for whose good they work. (Cf. Ps 102:21; Heb 1:14.) Therefore, the worship of latria, which is due to the sovereign Lord, should be given to none but the supreme cause of all.

Also. Of all things pertaining to latria, sacrifice would seem to hold a special place: for genuflections, prostrations, and other like signs of honor may be given even to men, albeit with another intention than when given to God. But no one has thought that a sacrifice should be offered except to one whom he looked upon, or pretended to look upon, as God. Now the external sacrifice is a representation of the interior true sacrifice in which the human mind offers itself to God. And our mind offers itself to God as the principle of its creation, as the author of its operation, as the end wherein lies its happiness. This can only apply to the supreme cause of all, for it was shown above (Bk. 2, ch. 87.) that God is the sole cause of the rational soul, that he alone can incline the will of man wherever he will, (Bk. 3. ch. 88.) and that man’s final happiness consists in the enjoyment of him alone. (Ch. 37.) To God alone, therefore, must man offer sacrifice and the worship of latria, and not to any spiritual substances whatsoever.

Although the opinion which holds that the most high God is nothing else but the soul of the world is false (as we have proved), (Bk. 1, ch. 27.) while that is true which holds God to be a separate being from whom all other intellectual substances, both separate or embodied, originate, yet the offering of latria to various things is more consistent with the former opinion. For by offering the worship of latria to various things, one would seem to offer the same worship to the one most high God, to whom, according to this opinion, the various parts of the world are compared as the various members of the human body are compared to the soul. But reason again is in contradiction with this opinion. For they assert that the worship of latria should be given to the world not on account of its body, but on account of its soul, which they hold to be God. And though the body of the world is divisible into various parts, the soul is indivisible. Therefore, divine honor is not to be given to many things, but to one only.

Again. If we suppose the world to have a soul that animates the whole and every part of it, this cannot mean the nutritive or sensitive soul, since the operations of these faculties of the soul are not competent to all the parts of the universe. In fact, granted that the world has a sensitive and nutritive soul, the worship of latria would not be due to it on account of a like soul, since neither is it due to animals or plants. It follows, then, that in saying that God, to whom latria is due, is the soul of the world, they mean the intellectual soul. But this soul is not a perfection of certain definite parts of the body, but in some way regards the whole. This is clearly the case with our soul, which is of lower degree: for the intellect does not employ an organ of the body, as is proved in 3 De Anima. (On the Soul 3.4.) Consequently, according to their principle, divine honor would not have to be shown to the various parts of the world, but to the whole, on account of its soul.

Moreover. If, according to their opinion, there is but one soul animating the whole world and all its parts, and if the world is not to be called God save on account of its soul, there will therefore be but one God. Consequently, divine honor is due to one only. And if there be but one soul of the whole, and the various parts again have various souls, they must admit that the souls of the parts are subordinate to the soul of the whole: for the same proportion is between perfections and the things perfected. Now, where there is order among several intellectual substances, the worship of latria is due only to the one that has the highest place, as we proved against the other opinion. (See above: Further. As we said...) Consequently, the worship of latria would have to be given not to the parts of the world, but to the whole alone.

Again. It is evident that certain parts of the world have no soul of their own. Consequently, worship would not have to be given to them. Yet these people worshipped all the elements of the world, namely earth, water, fire and other like inanimate bodies.

Besides. It is clear that a superior does not owe the worship of latria to an inferior. Now man, in the order of nature, is superior to all inferior bodies at least according as he has a more perfect form. Therefore, man would not have to give the worship of latria to inferior bodies if such worship were due to them by reason of their own souls.

The statement that each part of the world has its own soul, and that the whole world has not one common soul, leads to the same inconsistencies. For it would follow that the highest part of the world has the highest kind of soul to which alone the worship of latria would be due, according to what we have said.

These opinions are surpassed in unreasonableness by the one which states that the worship of latria is to be given to images. For if these images derive power or excellence from the heavenly bodies, this is no reason for giving them the worship of latria, since it is not given to those bodies themselves, except perhaps on account of their souls, as some have asserted. (See above: Some there have been...) And these images are supposed to receive a certain power from the heavenly bodies in respect of their bodily power.

Besides. It is clear that they do not receive from the heavenly bodies a perfection equal to the human soul. Therefore, they are inferior in excellence to any individual man. Consequently, man does not owe them any kind of worship.

Again. The cause is more potent than the effect. Now, men are the makers of these images. Therefore, man owes them no worship.

And if it be said that these images derive power or excellence through association with some spiritual substance, this again is insufficient, for the worship of latria is due to no spiritual substance except only to the highest of all.

Moreover. The rational soul is associated in a more excellent way with the human body than a spiritual substance with the aforesaid images. Therefore, man still remains in a position of greater excellence than those images.

Again. As these images are sometimes made for producing baneful effects, it is clear that if such effects are brought about by spiritual substances, those spiritual substances are wicked. This is still more clear from the fact that they are deceitful in their answers, and demand of their worshippers things that are contrary to virtue. Hence they are inferior to good men. Consequently, the worship of latria is not due to them.

It is therefore evident from what has been said that the worship of latria is due to the one most high God alone. Hence it is said: Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the Lord only, shall be utterly destroyed (Exod 22:20); and: You shall adore (Vulgate: fear. Cf. Matt 5:10.) the Lord your God; you shall serve him only (Deut 6:13). Again, it is said of heathens: Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles (Rom 1:22–23); and further on: They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator (above all things God) (The words in brackets are not in the Vulgate.) who is blessed forever (Rom 1:25).

Since, then, it is wrong to give the worship of latria to any other but the first principle of all, and to incite to do wrong belongs only to an ill-disposed rational creature, it is clear that men were urged to the aforesaid unlawful forms of worship at the instigation of the demons, who, coveting divine honor, even offered themselves to man’s worship in the place of God. Hence it is said: All the gods of the gentiles are devils (Ps 96[95]:5); and: What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God (1 Cor 10:20).

Therefore, since the principal intention of the divine law is that man be subject to God, and give him a peculiar reverence not only in thought, but also in word and deeds of the body, thus in Exodus 20, when God’s law is set forth, first of all the worship of more than one God is forbidden: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything (Exod 20:3–4). Second, man is forbidden to utter irreverently the name of God in order to confirm a falsehood: and this is expressed in the words: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exod 20:7). Third, a certain time is prescribed for rest from external works, in order that the mind may have leisure to think of God. Hence it is said: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (Exod 20:8).