CCC 2113
Life in Christ›SECTION TWO THE TEN COMMANDMENTS›CHAPTER ONE YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND›III. "You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me"
Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon." Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.
Footnotes
- ⇒ Mt 6:24.
- Cf. ⇒ Rev 13-⇒ 14.
- Cf. ⇒ Gal 5:20; ⇒ Eph 5:5.