f the
true God?

(2) Whether there can be anything superfluous therein?
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FIRST ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 93, Art. 1]

Whether There Can Be Anything Pernicious in the Worship of the True
God?

Objection 1: It would seem that there cannot be anything pernicious
in the worship of the true God. It is written (Joel 2:32): "Everyone
that shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now
whoever worships God calls upon His name. Therefore all worship of
God is conducive to salvation, and consequently none is pernicious.

Obj. 2: Further, it is the same God that is worshiped by the just in
any age of the world. Now before the giving of the Law the just
worshiped God in whatever manner they pleased, without committing
mortal sin: wherefore Jacob bound himself by his own vow to a special
kind of worship, as related in Genesis 28. Therefore now also no
worship of God is pernicious.

Obj. 3: Further, nothing pernicious is tolerated in the Church. Yet
the Church tolerates various rites of divine worship: wherefore
Gregory, replying to Augustine, bishop of the English (Regist. xi,
ep. 64), who stated that there existed in the churches various
customs in the celebration of Mass, wrote: "I wish you to choose
carefully whatever you find likely to be most pleasing to God,
whether in the Roman territory, or in the land of the Gauls, or in
any part of the Church." Therefore no way of worshiping God is
pernicious.

_On the contrary,_ Augustine [*Jerome (Ep. lxxv, ad Aug.) See Opp.
August. Ep. lxxxii] in a letter to Jerome (and the words are quoted
in a gloss on Gal. 2:14) says that "after the Gospel truth had been
preached the legal observances became deadly," and yet these
observances belonged to the worship of God. Therefore there can be
something deadly in the divine worship.

_I answer that,_ As Augustine states (Cont. Mendac. xiv), "a most
pernicious lie is that which is uttered in matters pertaining to
Christian religion." Now it is a lie if one signify outwardly that
which is contrary to the truth. But just as a thing is signified by
word, so it is by deed: and it is in this signification by deed that
the outward worship of religion consists, as shown above (Q. 81, A.
7). Consequently, if anything false is signified by outward worship,
this worship will be pernicious.

Now this happens in two ways. In the first place, it happens on the
part of the thing signified, through the worship signifying