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| == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_81462" /> ==
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| <p> may be described to be either the careful and anxious observation of numerous and unauthorized ceremonies in religion, under the idea that they possess some virtue to propitiate God and obtain his favour, or, as among [[Pagans]] and others, the worship of imaginary deities, and the various means of averting evil by religious ceremonies, which a heart oppressed with fears, and a perverted fancy, may dictate to those ignorant of the true God, and the doctrines of salvation. Dr. Neander observes, The consideration of human nature and history shows us that the transition from unbelief to superstition is always easy. Both these conditions of the human heart proceed from the self-same ground, the want of that which may be properly called faith, the want of a life in God, of a lively communion with divine things by means of the inward life; that is, by means of the feelings. Man, whose inward feelings are estranged from the divine nature, is inclined, sometimes to deny the reality of that of which he has nothing within him, and for the conception and application of which to himself he has no organ. Or else, the irresistible force of his inward nature impels man to recognize that higher power from which he would fain free himself entirely, and to seek that connection with it which he cannot but feel needful to his comfort; but, inasmuch as he is without any real inward sympathy of disposition with the Divinity, and wants a true sense of holiness, the [[Divinity]] appears to his darkened religious conscience only under the form of power and arbitrary rule. His conscience paints to him this power as an angry and avenging power. But as he has no idea of that which the Divinity really is, he cannot duly understand this feeling of estrangement from God, this consciousness of divine wrath, and, instead of seeking in moral things the source of this unquiet feeling, which leaves him no rest by day or night, and from which there is no escape, he fancies that by this or that action, which of itself is perfectly indifferent, he may have offended this higher power, and he seeks by outward observances again to reconcile the offended power. [[Religion]] here becomes a source, not of life, but of death; the source, not of consolation and blessing, but of the most unspeakable anxiety which torments man day and night with the spectres of his own imagination. Religion here is no source of sanctification, but may unite in man's heart with every kind of untruth, and serve to promote it. There is one kind of superstition in which, while man torments himself to the utmost, he still remains estranged from the true nature of inward holiness; and while he is restrained from many good works of charity by his constant attendance on mischievous, arbitrary, and outward observances, he is still actuated by a horror of any great sin, a superstition in which man avoids pleasure so completely that he falls into the opposite extreme; and even the most innocent enjoyments, which a childlike simplicity would receive with thankfulness from the hand of a heavenly Father, he dares not indulge in. But there is also another kind of superstition, which makes it easy for man, by certain outward observances, to silence his conscience under all kinds of sin, and which therefore serves as a welcome support to it. </p> | | Superstition <ref name="term_62670" /> |
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| | <p> (Lat. superstitio) had for its ancient sense that of worship over and above that which, was appointed by proper authority. Hence religious systems not recognized by the Roman State were called superstitions, [[ Christianity]] itself being for some centuries among the number. The word has been used so indefinitely that it is difficult to determine its precise meaning. It does not seem always to have been used in a bad sense in old English, as is shown by Acts 17:22, where it represents, '''''Δεισιδαιμονία''''' , a word used by the apostle as indicating that the [[ Athenians]] were a God-fearing people who would not refuse to listen to his appeal about the "unknown God. " [[ Superstition]] must not be understood to mean an "excess of religion, " as if any one could have too much of true religion, but any misdirection of religious feeling, manifested either in showing religious veneration or regard to objects which deserve none-that is, properly speaking, the worship of false gods or in an excess of veneration for an object deserving some veneration, or the worship of God through the medium of improper rites and ceremonies" (Whately, On Bacon, p. 155). It is generally defined to be the observance of unnecessary and uncommanded rites and practices in religion; reverence of objects not fit for worship; too great nicety, fears, or scrupulousness; or extravagant devotions; or religion wrong directed or conducted. The word may be applied '''''‘''''' to the idolatry of the heathens, the traditions of the Jews, the unscriptural rites of the Catholics; to the dependence placed by many on baptism, the Lord's supper, and other ceremonies. It may be extended to those who, without any evidence, believe that prophecies are still uttered or miracles are performed. Some forms of intellectual skepticism involve superstition' of a far more dangerous kind than that involved in the credulity of ignorant piety, as belief in witchcraft, magic, table-turning, spirit-rapping, etc. </p> <p> "Superstition, " says Claude, "usually springs either </p> <p> '''(1 )''' from servile fear, which makes people believe that God is : always wrathful, and invents means to appease him ; or </p> <p> '''(2 )''' from a natural inclination we all have to idolatry, which makes men think they see some ray of the [[Divinity ]] in extraordinary creatures, and on this account worship them ; or </p> <p> '''(3 )''' from hypocrisy, which makes men willing to discharge their obligations to God by grimace and by zeal for external services ; or </p> <p> '''(4 )''' from presumption, which makes men serve God after their own fancies. See Claude , ''Essay On The Compositions Of A Sermon'' , 2 '' ,'' 49, 299; Saurin, '' Sermons'' ( Eng. ed.), 5, 49; '' Gregory, Essays,' ' [[ Essay]] 3 ; Blunt, '' Dict. Of Hist. Theol. S. V.'' ; Buck, '' Dict.'' s. v.; Fleming, '' Vocabulary Of Phil. Science, S.V.'' </p> |
| == Charles Buck Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_20524" /> ==
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| <p > Is a word that has been used so indefinitely, that it is difficult to determine its precise meaning. From its resemblance in sound to the Latin word superstes, a survivor, it is evidently derived from it; and different attempts have been made to trace their connexion in signification, but without any degree of certainty. It is generally defined to be , the observance of unnecessary and uncommanded rites and practices in religion; reverence of objects not fit for worship; too great nicety, fears, or scrupulousness; or extravagant devotions; or religion wrong directed or conducted. The word may be applied to the idolatry of the Heathens, the traditions of the Jews, the unscriptural rites of the Catholics; to the dependence placed by many on baptism, the Lord's supper, and other ceremonies. It may be extended to those , who, without any evidence, believe that prophecies are still uttered , or miracles are performed. It is also applied to those who believe in witchraft, magic, omens, &c. Superstition, says Claude, usually springs either , </p> <p> 1 . From servile fear, which makes people believe that God is always wrathful, and invents means to appease him . </p> <p> 2 . Or from a natural inclination we all have to idolatry, which makes men think they see some ray of the Divinity in extraordinary creatures, and on this account worship them . </p> <p> Or, </p> <p> 3 . From hypocrisy, which makes men willing to discharge their obligations to God by grimace , and by zeal for external services . </p> <p> Or, </p> <p> 4 . From presumption, which makes men serve God after their own fancies. Claude' s [[Essay ]] on the [[Composition]] of a Sermon , vol. 2: p. 49 and 299; Saurin' s Sermons vol. 5: p. 49, Eng. edit. Gregory' s Essays, essay 3: </p> | | == References == |
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| == Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_181848" /> ==
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| <p> '''(1):''' ''' (''' n.) The worship of a false god or gods; false religion; religious veneration for objects. </p> <p> '''(2):''' ''' (''' n.) Belief in the direct agency of superior powers in certain extraordinary or singular events, or in magic, omens, prognostics, or the like. </p> <p> '''(3):''' ''' (''' n.) Excessive nicety; scrupulous exactness. </p> <p> '''(4):''' ''' (''' n.) An excessive reverence for, or fear of, that which is unknown or mysterious. </p> <p> '''(5):''' ''' (''' n.) An ignorant or irrational worship of the [[Supreme]] Deity; excessive exactness or rigor in religious opinions or practice; extreme and unnecessary scruples in the observance of religious rites not commanded, or of points of minor importance; also, a rite or practice proceeding from excess of sculptures in religion. </p>
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| == King James Dictionary <ref name="term_63497" /> ==
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| <p> SUPERSTI'TION, n. L. superstitio, supersto super and sto, to stand. </p> 1. Excessive exactness or rigor in religious opinions or practice extreme and unnecessary scruples in the observance of religious rites not commanded, or of points of minor importance excess or extravagance in religion the doing of things not required by God, or abstaining from things not forbidden or the belief of what is absurd, or belief without evidence. <p> [[Superstition]] has reference to god, to religion, or to beings superior to man. </p> 2. False religion false worship. 3. [[Rite]] or practice proceeding from excess of scruples in religion. In this sense, it admits of a plural. <p> They the truth </p> <p> With superstitions and traditions taint. </p> 4. Excessive nicety scrupulous exactness. 5. Belief in the direct agency of superior powers in certain extraordinary or singular events, or in omens and prognostics.
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_62637" /> ==
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| <p> ( '''''Δεισιδαιμονία''''' , ''Damon-Terror).'' Festus, governor of Judaea, informed [[Agrippa]] that Paul had disputed with the other [[Jews]] concerning matters of their own superstition ( Acts 25:19), in which he spoke like a true pagan, equally ignorant of the [[Christian]] religion and of the Jewish. Paul, writing to the Colossians ( Colossians 2:23), recommends to them not to regard false teachers, who would persuade them to a compliance with human wisdom in an affected humility and superstition; and, speaking to the Athenians, he says, "I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious" ( Acts 17:22). The heathen idea of religion has always been one of terror. A superstitious man looks on God as a severe and rigid master, and obeys with fear and trembling. Varro says the pious man honors and loves God, the superstitious man dreads him, even to terror, and Maximus [[Tyrius]] observes that a man truly pious looks on God as a friend full of goodness, whereas the superstitious serves him with base and mean flattery. In the New Test., however, the word "superstition" or "superstitious" is used in a less offensive sense. Festus, a governor newly arrived in his province, would hardly have paid so ill a compliment to Agrippa, a king of the [[Jewish]] religion, as to call his religion superstitious; and when Paul at [[Athens]] tells the Areopagites that they are too superstitious, he uses a word no doubt susceptible of a good as well as of a bad sense, as it would have been highly indecorous, nor less unnecessary, to calumniate the religious disposition of his judges whom he was addressing. If we take the word in the sense of worship or reverence, [[Festus]] may say, "Paul and: the Jews differ in respect of certain objects of spiritual reverence," and Paul may say, "I perceive ye are greatly attached to objects of spiritual reverence," not only without offense, but as a very graceful introduction to a discourse which proposed to describe the only proper object of such reverence. (See [[Paul]]). </p> <p> The Hebrews were never given to such gross superstition as the heathen nations of antiquity; yet there are traces of the same weakness of the human mind in their various modes of divination (q.v.) and their views of possessed persons (q.v.). A special instance has been found in the case of [[Azazel]] (q.v.); also in the satyr (q.v.) and the night-monster (q.v.). (See Spectre). The modern Mohammedans are given to superstitions. Those of Egypt may be found in Lane's ''Modern Egyptians,'' 1, 322, 336, 376; 2, 283, 308, 312. In [[Palestine]] the peasantry have numerous superstitions: they believe in incantations, in charms, in divination by sand and other means, and in the evil eye, their children being left purposely dirty, or even be soiled in order to avoid the consequences of an envious look. The belief' in spirits is also general. These include, first, the Jan, or powerful daemon, good or bad, the latter kind having for bodies the tall smoke-pillars of the whirlwind, so commonly seen in summer; secondly, the Afrit, who is seemingly equivalent to a ghost; thirdly, the ghoul or hag of the cemetery, which feeds on the dead (a place haunted by one of these daemons is carefully avoided, or at least never approached without the most polite salutations, intended to appease the unseen spirit); fourthly, there are Kerad, or goblins, whose name is akin to the Arabic word for monkey; lastly, there is the Shaitan, or Satan, a name often applied to human beings of an evil disposition. (Conder, Tent Work in Palest. 2, 233). (See [[Demon]]). </p> <p> On the general subject, see Xavier, De Superstitione. Judaeor. (Hamb. 1720); Reineccius, id. (pref. to Christiani's Werice [Leips. 1705]); Spizelius, '''''Δεισιδαιμονία''''' ''Hebraeo-Gentilis'' (ibid. 1608); Manzel, ''De Voce '''''Δεισιδαιμονίᾷ''''' '' (Rost. 1758); and the monographs cited by Danz, ''W '''''Ö''''' Rterb. S.V.'' Aberglaube." (See [[Witch]]). </p>
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| == The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_80322" /> ==
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| <p> The fear of that which is not God, as if it were God, or the fear of that which is not the devil, as if it were the devil; or, as it has in more detail been defined by Ruskin, "the fear of a spirit whose passions and acts are those of a man present in some places and not others; kind to one person and unkind to another, pleased or angry, according to the degree of attention you pay him, or the praise you refuse him; hostile generally to human pleasure, but may be bribed by sacrificing part of that pleasure into permitting the rest." </p>
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| ==References == | |
| <references> | | <references> |
| | | <ref name="term_62670"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/superstition+(2) Superstition from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref> |
| <ref name="term_81462"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/superstition Superstition from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref> | |
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| <ref name="term_20524"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/charles-buck-theological-dictionary/superstition Superstition from Charles Buck Theological Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_181848"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/webster-s-dictionary/superstition Superstition from Webster's Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_63497"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/king-james-dictionary/superstition Superstition from King James Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_62637"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/superstition Superstition from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_80322"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/superstition Superstition from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
Superstition [1]
(Lat. superstitio) had for its ancient sense that of worship over and above that which, was appointed by proper authority. Hence religious systems not recognized by the Roman State were called superstitions, Christianity itself being for some centuries among the number. The word has been used so indefinitely that it is difficult to determine its precise meaning. It does not seem always to have been used in a bad sense in old English, as is shown by Acts 17:22, where it represents, Δεισιδαιμονία , a word used by the apostle as indicating that the Athenians were a God-fearing people who would not refuse to listen to his appeal about the "unknown God." Superstition must not be understood to mean an "excess of religion," as if any one could have too much of true religion, but any misdirection of religious feeling, manifested either in showing religious veneration or regard to objects which deserve none-that is, properly speaking, the worship of false gods or in an excess of veneration for an object deserving some veneration, or the worship of God through the medium of improper rites and ceremonies" (Whately, On Bacon, p. 155). It is generally defined to be the observance of unnecessary and uncommanded rites and practices in religion; reverence of objects not fit for worship; too great nicety, fears, or scrupulousness; or extravagant devotions; or religion wrong directed or conducted. The word may be applied ‘ to the idolatry of the heathens, the traditions of the Jews, the unscriptural rites of the Catholics; to the dependence placed by many on baptism, the Lord's supper, and other ceremonies. It may be extended to those who, without any evidence, believe that prophecies are still uttered or miracles are performed. Some forms of intellectual skepticism involve superstition' of a far more dangerous kind than that involved in the credulity of ignorant piety, as belief in witchcraft, magic, table-turning, spirit-rapping, etc.
"Superstition," says Claude, "usually springs either
(1) from servile fear, which makes people believe that God is: always wrathful, and invents means to appease him; or
(2) from a natural inclination we all have to idolatry, which makes men think they see some ray of the Divinity in extraordinary creatures, and on this account worship them; or
(3) from hypocrisy, which makes men willing to discharge their obligations to God by grimace and by zeal for external services; or
(4) from presumption, which makes men serve God after their own fancies. See Claude, Essay On The Compositions Of A Sermon , 2 , 49, 299; Saurin, Sermons (Eng. ed.), 5, 49; Gregory, Essays, Essay 3; Blunt, Dict. Of Hist. Theol. S.V. ; Buck, Dict. s.v.; Fleming, Vocabulary Of Phil. Science, S.V.
References
