or the worship of idols, may be distinguished into two sorts. By the first, men adore the works of God, the sun, the moon, the stars, angels, demons, men, and animals; by the second, men worship the work of their own hands, as statues, pictures, and the like; but to these may be added a third, that by which men have worshipped the true God under sensible figures and representations. This indeed may have been the case with respect to each of the above kinds of idolatry; thus the Israelites adored God under the figure of a calf.

The host of heaven were the first objects of idolatrous worship, on account of their beauty, their influence on the productions of the earth, and the regularity of their motions, particularly the sun and moon, which are considered as the most glorious and resplendent images of the Deity. But afterwards, when the sentiments of mankind became more corrupt, they began to form images, and to entertain the opinion, that by virtue of consecration, the gods were called down to inhabit or dwell in these statues. Hence Arnobius takes occasion to rally the pagans for guarding so carefully the statues of their gods, who, if they were really present in their images, might save their worshippers the trouble of securing them from thieves and robbers.

As to the adoration which the ancient pagans paid to the statues of their gods, it is certain, that the wiser and more sensible heathens considered them only as simple representations or figures designed to recall to their minds the memory of their gods. This was the opinion of Varro and Seneca; and the same sentiment is clearly expressed in Plato, who maintains that images are inanimate, and that all the honour paid to them has respect to the gods whom they represent. But as to the vulgar, they were stupid enough to believe the statues themselves to be gods, and to pay divine worship to stocks and stones.