§1II. DE IDOLOLATRIA.
Principale crimen generis humani, summus saeculi reatus, tota causa iudicii idololatria.
II. ON IDOLATRY. The principal crime of the human race, the supreme guilt of the world, the entire cause of judgment is idolatry.
nam etsi suam speciem tenet unumquodque delictum, etsi suo quodque nomine iudicio destinatur, in idololatriae tamen crimine expungitur.
For although each individual sin retains its own form, and although each is designated for judgment under its own name, it is nevertheless discharged in the crime of idolatry.
omitte titulos, opera recognosce.
Dismiss the names, examine the deeds.
idololatres idem homicida est.
The idolater is the selfsame murderer.
quaeris quem occiderit? si quid ad elogii ambitionem facit, non extraneum nec inimicum, sed ipsum se.
Do you ask whom he has killed? If it contributes anything to the ostentation of the charge, it is no stranger nor enemy, but his own self.
quibus insidiis? erroris sui.
By what ambush? Of his own error.
quo telo? offensa dei.
With what weapon? The offense against God.
quot plagis? quotquot idololatriis.
With how many blows? As many as his acts of idolatry.
qui negat idololatren perisse, is negabit idololatren homicidium fecisse.
He who denies that the idolater has perished will deny that the idolater has committed murder.
perinde adulterium et stupram in eodem recognoscas; nam qui falsis deis seruit, sine dubio adulter est ueritatis, quia omne falsum adulterium est.
Likewise, you may recognize adultery and fornication in the same person; for he who serves false gods is without doubt an adulterer of truth, because all falsehood is adultery.
sic et stupro mergitur.
Thus he is also plunged in fornication.
quis enim immundis spiritibus cooperator non conspurcatus et cons tupratus incedit? atque adeo scripturae sanctae stupri uocabulo utuntur in idololatriae exprobratione.
For who that is a cooperator with unclean spirits walks about without being defiled and debauched? And indeed, the Holy Scriptures use the word of fornication in their reproach of idolatry.
fraudis condicio ea est opinor, si quis alienum rapiat aut alii debitum deneget, et utique erga hominem admissa fraus maximimi crimnis nomen est.
The condition of fraud is this, I think, if anyone seizes what belongs to another or denies to another what is due, and indeed, fraud committed against a human being is the name of a very great crime.
at enim idololatria fraudem deo facit honores illi suos denegans et conferens aliis, ut fraudi etiam contumeliam coniungat.
But in fact, idolatry commits a fraud against God, by denying Him His own honors and conferring them on others, so that it joins insult to fraud.
quodsi tam fraus quam stuprum atque adulterium mortem afferunt, iam in his aeque idololatria de homicidii reatu non liberatur.
And if fraud as well as fornication and adultery bring death, then in these too idolatry is equally not cleared of the guilt of homicide.
post talia crimina, tam exitiosa, tam deuoratoria salutis cetera quoque aliquem ad modum et seorsum perinde disposita in idololatria condicionem suam repraesentant.
After such crimes, so destructive, so devouring of salvation, the other sins also, arranged in some manner and separately, likewise represent their own condition in idolatry.
in illa et concupiscentiae, saeculi.
In it are also the lusts of the world.
quae enim idololatriae sollemnitas sine ambitione cultus et ornatus? in illa lasciuiae et ebrietates, cum plurimum uictus et uentris et libidinis causa frequententur.
For what solemnity of idolatry is without the ostentation of dress and ornament? In it are wantonness and drunkenness, since they are mostly frequented for the sake of food, the belly, and lust.
in illa iniustitia.
In it is injustice.
quid enim iniustius ea quae iustitiae patrem nescit? in illa etiam uanitas, cum tota eius ratio uana sit.
For what is more unjust than that which does not know the Father of justice? In it is also vanity, since its entire nature is vain.
in illa mendacium, cum tota substantia eius mendax sit.
In it is falsehood, since its entire substance is false.
ita fit, ut omnia in idololatria et in omnibus idololatria deprehendatur.
Thus it happens that all things are detected in idolatry, and idolatry is detected in all things.
sed et alias, cum uniuersa delicta aduersus deum sapiant, nihil autem, quod aduersus deum sapiat, non daemoniis et immundis spiritibus deputetur quibus idola mancipantur, sine dubio idololatrian admittit quicunque delinquit.
But also on other grounds, since all sins savor of opposition to God, and since nothing that savors of opposition to God is not assigned to the demons and unclean spirits to whom idols are subject, whoever commits a sin without doubt commits idolatry.
id enim facit quod ad idolorum mancipes pertinet.
For he does that which belongs to the possessors of idols.
§2Sed uniuersa nomina criminum discedant in operum suorum proprietates, remaneat idololatria in eo quod ipsa est.
But let all the names of crimes withdraw into the properties of their own works; let idolatry remain in that which it is itself.
sufficit sibi tam inimicum deo nomen, tam locuples substantia criminis, quae tot ramos porrigit, tot uenas diffundit, ut de hoc cum maxime materia suscepta sit, quot modis nobis praecauenda sit idololatriae latitudo, quoniam multifariam seruos dei nec tantum ignorata, sed etiam dissimulata subuertit.
Sufficient for itself is a name so hostile to God, a substance of crime so rich, which stretches out so many branches and spreads so many veins, so that on this account especially the subject has now been undertaken, in how many ways we must guard against the breadth of idolatry, since in many ways it subverts the servants of God, not only when undetected, but even when dissembled.
plerique idololatrian simpliciter existimant his solis modis interpretandam, si quis aut incendat aut immolet aut polluceat aut sacris aliquibus aut sacerdotiis obligetur, quemadmodum si quis existimet adulterium in osculis et in amplexibus et in ipsa carnis congressione censendum aut homicidium in sola sanguinis profusione et in animae ereptione reputandum.
Most people simply think that idolatry is to be interpreted in these ways alone: if anyone either burns incense, or sacrifices, or makes a sacred feast, or is bound by some sacred rites or priesthoods; just as if someone should think that adultery is to be assessed in kisses and embraces and in the physical union itself, or that homicide is to be reckoned only in the shedding of blood and the taking away of life.
at enim, dominus, quam eextensius ista disponat, certi sumus, cum adulterium etiam in concupiscentia designat, si oculum quis impegerit libidinose et animam commouerit impudice, cum homicidium etiam in uerbo maledicti uel conuicii iudicat et in omni impetu irae et in neglegentia caritatis in fratrem.
But indeed, how much more extensively the Lord disposes these matters we are certain, since He marks down adultery even in lust, if anyone should cast a lustful eye and move his soul unchastely, since He judges homicide even in a word of curse or abuse, and in every impulse of anger, and in the neglect of charity toward a brother.
sicut Iohannes docet homicidam esse qui oderit fratrem.
Just as John teaches that he who hates his brother is a murderer.
alioquin in modico consisteret et diaboli ingenium de malitia et dei dominium de disciplina, qua nos aduersus diaboli latitudines munit, si in his tantum delictis iudicaremur, quae etiam nationes decreuerunt uindicanda.
Otherwise, the devil’s ingenuity in malice and God’s dominion in discipline, by which He fortifies us against the devil's wide scopes, would consist in a small thing, if we were judged only in those sins which even the gentiles have decreed should be punished.
quomodo abundabit iustitia nostra super scribas et pharisaeos, ut dominus praescripsit, nisi abundantiam aduersariae eius id est iniustitiae perspexerimus? quod si caput iniustitiae idololatria est, prius est, uti aduersus abundantiam idololatriae praemuniamur, dum illam non solum in manifestis recognoscimus.
How will our righteousness abound above that of the scribes and Pharisees, as the Lord prescribed, unless we have thoroughly perceived the abundance of its adversary, that is, of injustice? And if the head of injustice is idolatry, it is a prior duty that we be fortified against the abundance of idolatry, while recognizing it not only in things manifest.