6 - Of Idolatry and Other Like Crimes

Summary

What evils are to be avoided in the church.

From henceforth the worship of idols, magic, divination, fortune telling and superstitions are to be avoided and wiped out, and if anyone contaminates himself with such crimes, he shall pay a penalty at the discretion of the ecclesiastical judges. If he refuses to do so, he shall be thrown out of the church by the thunderbolt of excommunication. In order for us to be able to stay away from these things more easily, we shall define each of them separately by itself.

What the worship of idols is.

Idolatry, as we commonly call it, is a form of worship in which not the Creator, but a creature or some figment of man's imagination, is worshipped.

What magic is.

Magic is a pact or alliance forged with the devil and his servants, which is conflated with songs, prayers, signs and other similar tools of ungodliness, which deal either with the investigation of future events or with the obtaining of certain things which we want.

What divination is.

Divination is the announcing of secret things, coming from the intuition of some evil and ungodly spirit, which is supported by auguries, auspices, omens and other such wicked inanity, to which condemnation is added the perverse genius of those who claim to know ways and events, by the form of figures delineated deli[ne/m]at[a/o]rum, ut videri volunt, rerum, vel furto, vel alia ratione quacunque summotarum, deinde etiam actionum in omni vita susceptarum, vias et eventus se scire profitentur.

Quid sortilegium sit.

Sortilegium intelligitur cumper sortes cuiuscunque generis abditae res patefactae sunt, vel futurus praesentium factorum aliquis finis p[rae/er]significatur.

Quid superstitio sit.

Superstitio cultus est ad Deum relatus immenso quodam proficiscens humano studio, vel animi certa pro[17a]pensione, quam vulgo bonam intentionem vocant, et ortum sender habet ex hominis ingenio separatim sine Scripturarum divinarum auctoritate.

Pastoris in his criminibus officium.

Pastores diligenter populum commonefaciant ut ab his flagitiis tanquam gravissimis quibusdam Christianae fidei pestibus, se longissime abducan*t, nec ullo respectu quarumcunque rerum (sive lucrum exempli causa sit, sive voluptas, sive sit honor aut sanitas, aut rerum abstrusarum intelligentia, sive quisquam alius in animis obstrepat aut tumultuetur pravus affectus) nunquam huiusmodi impulsu vitiosorum motuum diaboli vinculis nos se teneri patiantur, et [a] suavissima Christiana[e religionis] liberiate des[c]is[c/t]ere.