Bar 6, 3-4. 63 Gods of silver cannot benefit man

Baruch

(Bar 6, 3-4. 63) Gods of silver cannot benefit man

[3] And now in Babylon you will see borne upon men's shoulders gods of silver and gold and wood, which cast fear upon the pagans. [4] Take care that you yourselves do not imitate their alien example and stand in fear of them. [63] So that it is unthinkable, and cannot be claimed, that they are gods. They can neither execute judgment, nor benefit man.

(CCC 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" (Mt 6:24). Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" (Cf. Rev 13-14) refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God (Cf. Gal 5:20; Eph 5:5). (CCC 2114) Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God" (Origen, Contra Celsum 2, 40: PG 11, 861).