Venerate, worship, & deify are synonyms

[KennyMerriken]

Are the Oxford English and Merriam-Webster Thesauri in agreement that “venerate”, “worship” and "deify"are synonyms?

 

[angel12]

They’re available online.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

A dictionary of standard conversational usage won’t necessarily match up with the theological or philosophical definitions,

If you’re trying to find the loose thread of Catholicism that will unravel the whole thing?
This ain’t it.

 

[MT1926]

Not necessarily.

Go to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of venerate is to regard with reverential respect or with admiring deference.

Now go to the Merriam-Webster thesaurus they define venerate as to offer honor or respect to (someone) as a divine power.

Webster himself does not signify “As a divine power” in the TRUE definition of venerate. It is added as an example of the TYPE of veneration being performed.

So yes if you venerate God as a divine power then you are worshiping Him.

Just because worship and deify can be synonyms of Venerate doesn’t mean this is the only way to define venerate.

Venerate can also mean…admire, honor, love, regard, respect, apotheosize, canonize, dignify, exalt, lionize, magnify, extol (also extoll), laud, praise, delight, gratify, please, satisfy

I wouldn’t let anyone worry you with their slight of hand by trying to make something look true that isn’t true.

Hope this helps,

God Bless

 

[angel12]

If you’re trying to find the loose thread of Catholicism that will unravel the whole thing?
This ain’t it.

Not that anyone’s ever tried before.

 

[LostSheep7]

These distinctions are better expressed in the theological terms Latria, Hyperdulia and Dulia.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3103.htm#article3
The doubts behind your question have already been answered by Saint Thomas Aquinas.

 

[Vico]

…

The worship of something or someone other than God as if it were God is what is avoided, not the worship of something or someone other than God as if it were not God.

Catechism

460 The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature”:78 "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God."79 "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."80 "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."81

78 2 Pt 1:4. 4 Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.
79 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 19, 1: PG 7/1, 939.
80 St. Athanasius, De inc. 54, 3: PG 25, 192B.
81 St. Thomas Aquinas, Opusc. 57, 1-4.

 

[Entwhistler]

Also, dictionaries and thesauri are not the be all and end all of language. They are merely “barns” for words. Besides, language changes. The slang of today has words that don’t mean what they did 50 years ago. That’s why the Church uses Latin because in that language you don’t have the problem of shifting meanings in words like you have in English.

 

[stpurl]

Language changes. Case in point: Look up the meaning of the word "gay’.

If you used the word ‘gay’ prior to 1950 or so in any mainstream literature whatsoever, it didn’t mean what it means today.

So if you’re reading those works and you apply the current meaning to the word as used then, you’re not truly reading what the author intended that word to mean.

And if you’re reading the word ‘venerate’ in older works, it likewise doesn’t mean what a group of people have determined it means ‘today’.

Tell me, is prayer, “to God alone” or simply 'to ask"?

 

[BartholomewB]

“venerate”, “worship” and "deify"are synonyms?

A thesaurus groups together words having a similar meaning. It doesn’t mean they’re all exact synonyms.

Under “feline” you may find “lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, puma.” It doesn’t mean they’re all the same species.

Under “officer” you may find “lieutenant, captain, major, colonel.” It doesn’t mean they’re all the same rank.

 

[steve-b]

Are the Oxford English and Merriam-Webster Thesauri in agreement that “venerate”, “worship” and "deify"are synonyms?

It depends on context how and when they are used.

1. All 3 can be used for God.
2. worship and deify can only be used for God
3. Venerate can be used for non deity

 

[KennyMerriken]

Does the Oxford English Thesaurus say that “venerate”, “worship” and "deify"are synonyms?

 

[angel12]

Does the Oxford English Thesaurus say that “venerate”, “worship” and "deify"are synonyms?

Did you not see the answers above?

 

[stpurl]

Have you stopped beating your wife yet? Please answer only yes or no.

 

[MT1926]

Have you stopped beating your wife yet? Please answer only yes or no.

 

[joeybaggz]

Are the Oxford English and Merriam-Webster Thesauri in agreement that “venerate”, “worship” and "deify"are synonyms?

If you are trying to use the old "Catholics worship Mary, nonsense, you might want to understand that the canon on worship, or clear understanding of the terms in a theological sense will not be found in the Merriam Webster dictionary, but in the Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. It is found in the words, Laetria, dulia, and hyper-dulia defining the difference between worship and devotion or reverence. You might try attempting to understand what the RCC teaches before bringing out the old and very tired tripe of yesteryear.

 

[StephieNorthCo]

Using a thesaurus to analyze subtleties is futile. Context is lost.

I tried that once in driving school many years ago with right and privelege. The officer teaching the class didn’t buy that one either.

 

[Gertabelle]

Just in case our OP returns, here’s a bit from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about what we truly believe, so we can stop playing the “my-dictionary-is-better-than-yours” game.

487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

What that means is that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father and the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, that is, God the Son; and that Jesus was conceived in the flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity.

Because Mary was the New Ark of the Covenant, bearing within her own body God Himself – body, blood, soul, and divinity – she had been prepared since the moment of her conception to carry out this purpose for which God created her. We believe this about her because of what we believe about her Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

Here’s more, and if @KennyMerriken chooses to engage in this dialogue, someone can go into this more:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a9p6.htm#971

971 “All generations will call me blessed”: “The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.” The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of ‘Mother of God,’ to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs. . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an “epitome of the whole Gospel,” express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.