No Other Gods
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
Superstition and Irreligion (2110-2111)
The first commandment (forbidding worship of false gods) prohibits superstition (a perverse excess of religion) and irreligion (a defect of religion).
Superstition is a deviation of religious feeling and of religious practices. Even in true worship, a person can attribute some magical importance to certain prayers or stress the external performance of prayers without interior dispositions.
Idolatry (2112-2114)
Man must not believe in or worship many gods (polytheism). Also, Scripture constantly rejects idols made by hand. "They have mouths and they do not speak. Those worshippers who make them are like them" (Ps 115:4-5). Only the true God gives life and intervenes in history.
Idolatry is not just pagan worship. It also consists of honoring a creature who is not God. This could be demons (Satanism), power, pleasure, money, etc. "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt 6:24). Martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" (Rev 13-14). Idolatry always rejects the Lordship of God.
Adoring the true God gives unity to life, while idolatry is a perversion of man's religious sense, "transferring man's indestructible notion of God, to anything other than God" (Origen).
Seven Forms of Divination (2115-2116)
Certainly God can reveal the future to believers. However, man should not be curious about the future.
All forms of divination (false attempts to know the future) must be rejected:
- Recourse to demons
- Conjuring up the devil
- Horoscopes
- Astrology
- Palm reading
- Clairvoyance
- Mediums
These conceal a desire for power over history and other human beings.
Magic, Sorcery and Spiritism (2117)
Magic and sorcery, the attempts to tame the occult to gain supernatural powers, are against the virtue of religion, even when used for good purposes. These acts are especially evil when they involve recourse to demons. The Church also warns against Spiritism or seeking cures by invoking evil powers.
Three Forms of Irreligion (2118)
The first commandment condemns:
- Tempting God
- Sacrilege
- Simony
Tempting God (2119)
Tempting God means to put his goodness to a test by word or deed, e.g. Satan asked Jesus to throw himself from the Temple (supposedly to force God to save him). Jesus said, "You shall not put your God to the test" (Deut 6:16). This tempting wounds the respect we owe to God and shows doubts about his providence.
Sacrilege (2120)
Sacrilege is to treat unworthily the sacraments, liturgical actions, consecrated persons, places, or things. Sacrilege is a grave sin, especially when committed against the Eucharist.
Simony (2121)
Simony is the buying or selling of spiritual things. Simon the magician wanted to buy the spiritual powers of St. Peter (Acts 8:18-24). Concerning spiritual powers Jesus said, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give" (Mt 10:8). God, not the human person, is the owner of spiritual gifts.
Money and Sacraments (2122)
No one should be deprived of the sacraments because of poverty. Certainly, competent authority can determine appropriate "offerings."
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