Moral Theology Part 110

2281. Idolatry Possible in Christian Worship.--The guilt of idolatry may be incurred even by Christians offering worship to G.o.d. (a) Thus, in the adoration of the Eucharist there would be idolatry, at least material, if an unconsecrated host were exposed for veneration or given in communion. (b) In the veneration of the Saints there would be idolatry, if they were honored or invoked as if they possessed divine attributes.

2282. Definition of Divination.--Divination (soothsaying, fortune-telling) is a form of superst.i.tion in which the evil spirits are invoked explicitly or implicitly with a view to the discovery of what is future or occult.

(a) It is a form of superst.i.tion, because it seeks to obtain through natural means knowledge that cannot be had except from G.o.d, or subst.i.tutes other teachers for G.o.d.

(b) It contains the invocation of evil spirits, for the information sought surpa.s.ses the powers of nature and, being illicit, cannot be expected from supernatural powers that are good (such as G.o.d, the Angels, the Saints).

(c) The invocation is explicit or implicit. There is explicit calling on the evil spirits when one prays to the demon or makes an agreement with him; there is implicit invocation when one does not address an evil spirit, but does employ means for the discovery of knowledge which are not adequate, either from their nature or from the will of G.o.d, for the desired effect.

(d) The knowledge desired is of future or occult things, that is, of such things as cannot be foreseen in their causes or discovered by natural means (such as the future acts of free beings, the secret thoughts of the heart).

2283. Distinction between the Fact and Sin of Divination.--(a) The fact of divination--that is, the actual manifestation by evil spirits of things humanly unknowable--is not impossible, since the demons are far superior to man in intelligence and knowledge, and it is the teaching of revelation that they use their powers to mislead and seduce mankind.

Their knowledge, however, does not extend to future contingencies, nor to the secrets of hearts, and their word cannot be relied on. A case of real communication by an evil spirit is that of the girl of Philippi possessed by a pythonical spirit (Acts, xiv. 16-18), and some think that the same can be said of the Witch of Endor (I Kings, xxvii. 7-25); but no doubt there have been many instances of divination in which the intervention of demons was only imaginary.

(b) The sin of divination is committed when one has the will to receive occult knowledge from forbidden sources, or uses the means to obtain knowledge from those sources, even though there be no communication or response on the part of the spirits of evil.

2284. Forms of Explicit Invocation.--Divination in which there is explicit invocation of the demon is of various kinds according to the medium through which instruction is given or expected.

(a) Thus, the medium is direct if it is an external sensible appearance representing the demon (_prstigium_) or an internal picture in the imagination or a dream containing his answer (oneiromancy).

(b) The medium is indirect and rational when it is a human being, dead or living. Divination through the evocation of the departed is known as necromancy, while that which is given through living possessed persons is called pythonism. Modern Spiritism partakes of the character of both necromancy (since the spirits of the departed are consulted) and pythonism (since persons supposed to be under the control of familiar spirits act as mediums).

(c) The medium is indirect and irrational when it is some solid body (such as iron, stone or crystal) in which figures or signs appear; idols from which oracles are received; tables or ouija boards from which answers are given by raps or writing; divining rods supposed to lead the way to any hidden person or thing, etc. (geomancy); or some liquid body (hydromancy), or air (aromancy), or fire (pyromancy), or the entrails of sacrificial victims or natural prodigies, such as lightning (haruspicy). Here also may be mentioned the superst.i.tion of ordeal by fire, boiling water, combat, etc., once used to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused person.

2285. Forms of Implicit Invocation.--Divination in which there is only implicit invocation of evil spirits is manifold, just as the natural causes from which preternatural knowledge is expected are manifold.

Among the princ.i.p.al forms are the following:

(a) that which is made from the human mind, when clairvoyance or clair-audience is employed. It is supposed that certain persons have the natural gift, at least when in a trance or hypnotic state, of perceiving what is done or said at a distance without any of the normal means of communication, and even of reading minds. This supposed inborn gift is sometimes called second sight or telepathy. Some authorities hold that there is sufficient evidence for vision at a distance as a sixth sense in certain individuals, especially among primitive peoples and persons bound by a tie of blood or intimate friendship. Moreover, many facts learned through telepathy seem to have been verified sufficiently to render telepathy probable. Accordingly, to believe telepathy or to practice it, excluding all superst.i.tion and invocation of demons, is not illicit.

(b) divination that is made from the human body in physiognomy, phrenology, and chiromancy. The physiognomist pretends that he is able to discover the hidden character, latent abilities or defects, secret thoughts, etc., by a study of the features or expression of the countenance. The phrenologist claims that he can read the mental and moral traits of a person from the b.u.mps or prominences of the skull.

The chiromantist, or palmist, promises to foretell the future, read the past, discover the present secret character and apt.i.tudes of an individual from an inspection of the shape, lines and configuration of his hand and of the character of the lines and marks of his palms;

(c) divination that is made from non-human and necessary events in astrology. This pseudo-science gives predictions about the fortunes of an individual drawn from a study of his horoscope (i.e., the aspect of the heavenly bodies at the moment of his birth) and of certain rules of interpretation;

(d) divination that is made from non-human and contingent events in augury and auspice, which divine from the voices or manner of flight of birds; in omen or portent, which divine the future from some chance happening (such as meeting with a red-haired woman or a hunchback, a sneeze, etc.), in sortilege, which divines by lots or signs arbitrarily chosen (such as the letters that appear on opening a book at random, the numbers or figures that appear when cards are drawn or dice thrown). Superst.i.tions about omens are of two kinds, some happenings being regarded as signs of good luck (e.g., to find a pin), others as signs of bad luck (e.g., to meet a black cat, to spill the salt, to break a mirror, to raise an umbrella in the house).

2286. The Malice of the Sin of Divination.--(a) The Theological Species.--If there is explicit invocation of evil spirits, divination is of its nature a mortal sin that admits of no lightness of matter, for it gives divine worship to a creature, acts on friendly terms with the enemy of G.o.d, and prepares one for apostasy and eternal d.a.m.nation.

If there is no explicit invocation of the spirits of evil, the sin is of its nature mortal on account of the implicit commerce with the devil; but generally the sin will be light on account of the dispositions of the offender (e.g., because he is ignorant, or consults divination as a joke or from curiosity, or has no faith in it). Hence, the faithful should be warned not to go to fortune-tellers or put faith in dreams, but, apart from such cases as serious scandal, habitual direction of one's life by superst.i.tion, coperation in serious sin of a diviner, etc., the sin will usually be venial, at least in young people. Persons who occasionally act or omit to act in some indifferent matter on account of dreams they have had are often excused from all sin on account of the fear or hope which the dreams excited.

(b) The Moral Species.--All forms of divination, it is commonly held, belong to the same species of worship of a false G.o.d (Deut., xviii.

10-12). Yet, the confessor should be told about an explicit pact with evil spirits, if there was one, since thus he will be able to decide the gravity of the sin and to make inquiries about other sins that usually accompany such a pact (e.g., blasphemy, promise to serve the devil, sacrileges, etc.).

2287. When Knowledge Is Obtained from G.o.d.--There is no sin of divination when knowledge is obtained from G.o.d.

(a) Thus, G.o.d can communicate directly in a vision or dream, and there are examples of this in Scripture, But generally one should not be guided by dreams as if they were means for supernatural knowledge, since nearly all dreams are produced by natural causes. It is not sinful to believe that a dream of an extraordinary kind (e.g., one in which the future is wonderfully foretold or a warning given, or which produces great spiritual good) was sent by G.o.d.

(b) G.o.d can communicate through other human beings, and hence it is not superst.i.tious to put faith in the private visions or revelations that have been recognized by the Church, or that have the marks of genuineness required by the Church.

(c) G.o.d has sometimes communicated through the instrumentality of irrational beings or by means of portents. Thus, Gedeon took the words of enemy soldiers as a premonition of victory (Judges, vii. 15); Eliezer chose a sign by which to recognize the woman who should be the wife of Isaac (Gen, xxiv. 14); the ordeal of bitter waters was prescribed in Numbers, v. 11 sqq.; Josue discovered the guilt of Achan by lots (Josue, vii. 14), and St. Matthias was elected to the Apostolate by lots (Acts, i. 23-26). But these were exceptional cases in which men were inspired to consult G.o.d as they did, and it would be superst.i.tious to seek knowledge in these ways against the will of G.o.d.

Those who desire light and guidance should have recourse to the teachers G.o.d has provided on earth and should pray to G.o.d, leaving to Him the ways and means of His answer. Hence, the Church has declared it unlawful, even in private, to call upon the good spirits to give answers through automatic writing (_Collect. de Prop. Fide_, 1894), or to interrogate the dead at spiritistic seances (AAS, 1917, IX, 268). It is not superst.i.tious, however, in a grave matter when there is no ordinary means of instruction at hand, to offer a prayer to G.o.d and then have recourse to lots to decide what course shall be followed (Prov., xvi. 33).

2288. When Knowledge Is Obtained Through Natural Causes.--There is no sin of divination when knowledge of the future or of hidden things is obtained through proportionate natural causes or indications.

(a) Thus, knowledge of future happenings is naturally deducible from their necessary causes, when these causes are known. The effect may be predicted with certainty if the cause is so determined to one course that its result is invariable (e.g., the revolution of the earth around the sun always brings on the four seasons of the year); it may be predicted with the greatest probability if the cause is so const.i.tuted that almost always it has a certain consequence (e.g., a seed properly planted usually grows into a tree). Hence, there is no superst.i.tion in astronomical predictions, weather forecasts by meteorologists, tables of life expectancy drawn up by insurance experts, etc., since these are inferences from known scientific laws.

(b) Knowledge of hidden things is naturally deducible with more or less certainty from the presence of their known causes, or effects, or indications. Hence, a physician is not accused of superst.i.tion if he reasons out the character or phase of an internal disease from the symptoms that exhibit themselves. Moralists today generally agree that the use of the magic wand (divining rod, dipping rod, dowser) for the discovery of subterranean springs, mineral deposits, oil wells, etc., is not superst.i.tious, although there is some difference of opinion and uncertainty about the cause of the phenomenon. It is true that many means of detection or discovery, supposedly scientific, are due to misunderstanding of scientific principles or of logic; but their authors, since they rely on natural causes, are guilty of ignorance or quackery rather than superst.i.tion.

2289. Use of Lots.--Is it lawful to use lots in settlement of some business, when there is no intention to seek preternatural oracle?

(a) It is lawful to do this, if there is some reason of necessity or utility or amus.e.m.e.nt to justify the lots, and no injustice or prohibition of law. Hence, if there is no other convenient method of decision, one may use the drawing of straws or cards to decide how lands or goods shall be divided between claimants, or which of several compet.i.tors shall receive a reward or office.

(b) It is not lawful to do this, if there is a prohibition of law (e.g., ecclesiastical elections may not be made by lot), or if there is no necessity for the lots (e.g., it is at least foolish to use the Gospels for deciding by lot matters that could be decided by reflection), or if injury is done another person (e.g., to decide by lot when the merits of two contestants are unequal, to practise unfairness in the drawing).

2290. Vain Observance.--Vain observance is a superst.i.tion that ascribes to certain things effects for which they have no natural or communicated power.

(a) It ascribes the effects to natural things, but it supposes that in some way supernatural forces, not of religion, are at work in or through these things. Thus, just as in divination, there is in vain observance either an express or an implied invocation of the spirits of evil. The alchemists, who thought there was a philosopher's stone able to trans.m.u.te base metals into gold or an elixir that could greatly prolong life, looked to natural causes, and hence to that extent seem to be guilty of false science, rather than of superst.i.tion. Scientific materialism, though, is a cra.s.ser form of ignorance than any superst.i.tion that trusts in super-material powers.

(b) The things which vain observance makes use of are persons, acts, objects, circ.u.mstances, happenings, etc. Even sacred things may be employed as the material for vain observance, as happens when some accidental and unnecessary circ.u.mstance of a sacred rite (e.g., the size or color of candles) is given the credit of the sacred results.

Here again vain observance and divination are alike, since the same means are employed by both.

(c) The effects looked for in vain observance, or the purpose had in view, is some fact or event. It is this characteristic that distinguishes vain observance from divination: the latter aims at occult knowledge, the former at supranatural results. The expected fact or event is something that surpa.s.ses the natural powers of physical or human agencies (e.g., sensation without sense excitants, mind-reading without external indications, scientific knowledge without study, bodily feats without corresponding bodily powers, detection of secret and hidden things without human means for detection), or even of the invisible world of spirits (e.g., creation, generation of new substances, evocation of the dead, internal motion of man's will).

(d) There is no natural power in the things used for producing the substance or mode of the desired effects, that is, no inherent and sufficient force or activity. Hence, vain observance is not to be confused with scientific marvels or natural wonders whose explanation is unknown to the general public, or which cannot be fully explained by scientists themselves. Thus, the baffling tricks of white magic are due to legerdemain, ventriloquism, ocular delusions, and the like; the physiological changes (e.g., convulsions, hysteria, somnambulism, bodily cures) produced in mesmerism, hypnotism, thought healing, etc., are explained by suggestion and the motor power of images excited to produce bodily motions, pa.s.sions, or changes; the mental phenomena (e.g., hypersthesia, wondrous visions, increased vigor of mind) of certain drugs such as hashish, mescal and opium, are caused by properties of these drugs.

(e) There is no communicated power in the things employed, that is, no instrumental virtue bestowed by a higher cause. Hence, since Sacraments, sacramentals, and miracle-working relics have from G.o.d in a greater or less degree an efficacy for results above nature, there is no superst.i.tion in their proper use, But, as was noted just above, sacred things themselves may be used superst.i.tiously, as happens when they are regarded as princ.i.p.al agents, or when, contrary to fact, they are deemed to act infallibly or independently of any human coperation or disposition.

2291. Forms of Vain Observance.--Among the forms of vain observance are the following:

(a) those by which one puts into use vain ceremonies or objects in the expectation that they will secure certain desired effects, or puts an exaggerated confidence in lawful rites or sacred objects;

(b) those by which one directs one's life through fortuitous and impertinent happenings in the belief that they have the power to influence one's fortunes favorably or adversely. This form of superst.i.tion is like divination by omens; the difference is that in using omens one chiefly seeks for knowledge of the future, while in observing chance events one chiefly intends the direction of one's conduct. Examples are found in persons who fear to make a journey on Friday or to begin any important affair during the dark of the moon.

2292. Vain Observances from which Desired Effects Are Expected.--(a) Useful results are sometimes expected, such as knowledge for the mind (notorious art) or health for the body (healing observances). The notorious art consisted in the repeating of certain formulas or the gazing upon certain figures, prayers and fasts at times being added, and it was supposed that these practices would obtain infused knowledge without the necessity of labor or study. Healing observances are remedies used for man or beast that manifestly have no natural curative properties (e.g., a buckeye or rabbit's foot carried in the pocket to ward off rheumatism).

(b) Wondrous results are sometimes expected, such as the power to bring on storms, telekinesis, materialization, and levitation, through the use of incantations, theurgic sacraments, spiritistic rites, etc. This is known as the black art or black magic.

(c) Evil effects are sometimes expected, such as the power to blight another by a glance (evil eye or fascination), the power to cast a spell over another person by certain spoken words, to bring disease or misfortune on a person by piercing or striking his effigy, to excite impure love for a determinate person by the administration of love philtres or charms, etc. (sorcery, witchcraft).

2293. Distinction between the Fact and the Sin of Vain Observance.--(a) The Fact.--The demons have naturally powers over our world that surpa.s.s those of human or physical agents, and it is not impossible for them to produce prodigies or seeming miracles. The magicians of Egypt by enchantments and certain secrets changed rods into serpents, etc.

(Exod., vii. 12, viii. 7); the New Testament narrates that Simon the Magician bewitched the Samaritans by his magic (Acts, viii. 11), and it clearly foretells the lying wonders of Satan and Antichrist (Matt., xxiv. 24; II Thess., ii. 9). But there are limits to the power of the fallen spirits; for example, they cannot infuse knowledge, and occultism has contributed nothing to the advancement of science or civilization. Moreover, many effects that have been attributed to demonic intervention were due to natural causes or to fraud (e.g., a large proportion of spiritistic phenomena), or they were supposed to exist only because the popular mind was carried away by excitement or was bent on persecution (e.g., most of the witchcraft accusations of a few centuries ago).

(b) The Sin.--Vain observance in which there is no express invocation of evil spirits is common enough; even religious, educated and practical persons are found to act on superst.i.tious hopes or fears or to put confidence in charms or amulets. But vain observance that includes an express invocation of demons is a comparatively rare sin.

It is not impossible, however, that a person should come to such a pa.s.s of despair or malice as to wish to have dealings with Satan, or should be so carried away by curiosity, desire of wealth, power, fame, or honor as to be willing to barter his soul in exchange for them. That there were professional wizards from ancient times is a matter of history, and Scripture contains severe prohibitions against dealings with them (Levit., xix. 31, xx. 27; Deut., xviii. 10).

2294. Superst.i.tion in Religious Observances.--Superst.i.tion is sometimes found even in religious observances. (a) Thus, there is superst.i.tion in the observance itself when vain additions are made to an approved usage (e.g., the addition to a prayer against sickness of gestures, breathings, gibberish, etc., that have no significance of reverence for G.o.d). (b) There is superst.i.tion in the manner of the observance when one attributes the virtue of a sacred rite or object to some unimportant circ.u.mstance (e.g., the shape of the reliquary in which a relic is carried, the "propitious" day on which a sacramental was received), or expects from a sacred thing an effect which it has no power to produce (e.g., infallible certainty of salvation from the performance of a certain devotion or the presence of a holy picture or blessed object). It is not superst.i.tion, however, to attach significance to circ.u.mstances that have a sacred meaning (e.g., holydays, figures that have a religious symbolism), or to put a confidence in sacred things that is based on their character or approved usage (e.g., the hope and trust that blessings will be impetrated and salvation itself through fidelity to an authorized devotion).

2295. Sinfulness of Vain Observance.--The malice of vain observance is essentially the same as that of divination, for in both superst.i.tions the same virtue of religion is offended by the sinful cult that is performed.

(a) Thus, there is mortal sin from the nature of the act, when vain observance is exercised with invocation of evil spirits or with false religious rites (for a serious injury is done to the honor due to G.o.d), or when a vain observance is meant to bring a curse or grave misfortune on a neighbor (for a serious injustice is willed).