Catechism of the Catholic Church

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2113 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." ⁴⁴ Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" ⁴⁵ refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God. ⁴⁶

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

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SECTION TWO: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

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CHAPTER ONE: YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND

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ARTICLE 1: THE FIRST COMMANDMENT I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. 3 It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." 4

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III. "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME"

Notes for the above paragraph:

44 Mt 6:24.

45 Cf. Rev 13-14.

46 Cf. Gal 5:20; Eph 5:5.

English Translation of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc.

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