ced certain spiritual substances created by the supreme
god. These they called "gods," on account of their having a share of
the godhead; but we call them "angels." After these they placed the
souls of the heavenly bodies, and beneath these the demons which they
stated to be certain animal denizens of the air, and beneath these
again they placed human souls, which they believed to be taken up
into the fellowship of the gods or of the demons by reason of the
merit of their virtue. To all these they gave divine worship, as
Augustine relates (De Civ . . Dei xviii, 14).

The last two opinions were held to belong to "natural theology" which
the philosophers gathered from their study of the world and taught in
the schools: while the other, relating to the worship of men, was
said to belong to "mythical theology" which was wont to be
represented on the stage according to the fancies of poets. The
remaining opinion relating to images was held to belong to "civil
theology," which was celebrated by the pontiffs in the temples [*De
Civ. Dei vi, 5].

Now all these come under the head of the superstition of idolatry.
Wherefore Augustine says (De Doctr. Christ. ii, 20): "Anything
invented by man for making and worshipping idols, or for giving
Divine worship to a creature or any part of a creature, is
superstitious."

Reply Obj. 1: Just as religion is not faith, but a confession of
faith by outward signs, so superstition is a confession of unbelief
by external worship. Such a confession is signified by the term
idolatry, but not by the term heresy, which only means a false
opinion. Therefore heresy is a species of unbelief, but idolatry is a
species of superstition.

Reply Obj. 2: The term latria may be taken in two senses. In one
sense it may denote a human act pertaining to the worship of God: and
then its signification remains the same, to whomsoever it be shown,
because, in this sense, the thing to which it is shown is not
included in its definition. Taken thus latria is applied univocally,
whether to true religion or to idolatry, just as the payment of a tax
is univocally the same, whether it is paid to the true or to a false
king. In another sense latria denotes the same as religion, and then,
since it is a virtue, it is essential thereto that divine worship be
given to whom it ought to be given; and in this way latria is applied
equivocally to the latria of true religion, and to idolatry: just as
prudence is applied equiv