Cult is the
care (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''
cultus Cultus may refer to:
*Cult (religious practice)
* ''Cultus'' (stonefly), a genus of stoneflies
* Cultus Bay, a bay in Washington
* Cultus Lake (disambiguation)
*Cultus River, a river in Oregon
*Suzuki Cultus
The Suzuki Cultus is a supermini car ...
'') owed to
deities and temples, shrines, or churches. Cult is embodied in
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
and
ceremony. Its present or former presence is made concrete in
temples,
shrines and
churches, and
cult images, including
votive offering
A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
s at
votive sites.
Etymology
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
defined ''
religio'' as ''cultus deorum'', "the cultivation of the gods." The "cultivation" necessary to maintain a specific deity was that god's ''cultus,'' "cult," and required "the knowledge of giving the gods their due" ''(scientia colendorum deorum)''. The noun ''cultus'' originates from the
past participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
of the verb ''colo, colere, colui, cultus'', "to tend, take care of, cultivate," originally meaning "to dwell in, inhabit" and thus "to tend, cultivate
land ''(ager)''; to practice agriculture," an activity fundamental to Roman identity even when Rome as a political center had become fully urbanized.
''Cultus'' is often translated as "cult" without the negative connotations the word may have in English, or with the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
word "
worship", but it implies the necessity of active maintenance beyond passive adoration. ''Cultus'' was expected to matter to the gods as a demonstration of respect, honor, and reverence; it was an aspect of the contractual nature of Roman religion (see ''
do ut des'').
Augustine of Hippo echoes Cicero's formulation when he declares, "''religion'' is nothing other than the ''cultus'' of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
."
[Augustine, ''De Civitate Dei'' 10.1; Ando, ''The Matter of the Gods,'' p. 6.]
The term "cult" first appeared in
English in 1617, derived from the French ''culte'', meaning "
worship" which in turn originated from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ''cultus'' meaning "care, cultivation, worship". The meaning "devotion to a person or thing" is from 1829. Starting about 1920, "cult" acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions. In French, for example, sections in newspapers giving the schedule of worship for
Catholic services are headed ''Culte Catholique'', while the section giving the schedule of Protestant services is headed ''culte réformé''. Within the Catholic Church, the most prominent cults are those of the
saints.
Outward religious practice
In the specific context of the
Greek hero cult, Carla Antonaccio wrote:
In the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, outward religious practice in ''cultus'' is the technical term for
Roman Catholic devotions or
veneration extended to a particular
saint, not to the worship of God. Catholicism and the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
make a major distinction between ''
latria'', the worship that is offered to God alone, and ''
dulia'', which is veneration offered to the saints, including the
veneration of Mary, whose veneration is often referred to as ''
hyperdulia''.
See also
*
History of religion
*
Mythology
*
Place of worship
*
Religious fanaticism
References
Further reading
*
*
*
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