Considering Idolatry in The Catechesis of the Fathers of the Church: Towards Enriching the Faith in Nigeria

Abstract

Man’s search for God has time and again zealously veered towards reverence given to created objects or beings in the place of the one true God. This has continued to diminish what the Christian faith in the worship of the one true God stands for.  Such attitude has often time culminated in polytheism which was normal in the pagan culture but viewed askance in the Christian culture.  The biblical account is replete with tendencies of flagrant idolatry as evident in the case of the “Golden Calf”; and also its outright condemnation too. Many Christians suffered persecution and even martyrdom in the hands of some of the Emperors that forcefully wanted them to sacrifice to the gods. On another note, the Fathers of the Church in their process of spreading and defending the Christian faith, met with vehement opposition regarding pagan worship that not only thrived on but also promoted idolatry. Based on that, this research has established the centrality of the use of reason in the practice of faith and the importance of not abusing God’s given freedom in the promotion of any form of practice of faith that does total disservice to God’s gift of reason to man. The researcher employed the qualitative method through which information were sourced from pertinent literature and journals. Thus, the research through the exploration of patristic antiquity exposed how their dogged fight against idolatry ultimately enriched the Christian faith in Nigeria.