Published: 2025-12-04

Pseudoreligiosity in the Judgment of Selected Penitentials

Adam Budziński
Studia Teologiczne Białystok Drohiczyn Łomża
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.56898/st.15428

Abstract

Pseudoreligiosity constitutes one of the two main categories of sinful attitudes toward the obligation to worship God – the other being its neglect. Various forms of distortion of authentic religious worship include both caricatures of the worship of God Himself and acts of veneration directed toward beings to whom such worship is not due. Four key categories occupy a special place in this context: distorted worship of God, magic, divination, and superstitions. This study employs the method of analysis and synthesis, which enables the identification and interpretation of selected insular penitentials – documents rooted in the tradition of tariffed penance, characterized by distinctiveness and, in particular, a repetitive structure compared to the public penance widespread on the continent. The aim of the study is to present how manifestations of pseudoreligiosity were perceived and assessed in these sources – an issue that has not yet received broader scholarly attention – as well as to propose a typology of practices and the corresponding penances prescribed.

Keywords:

pseudoreligiosity, distortions of worship, penitentials, tariffed penance, superstitions

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Citation rules

Budziński, A. (2025). Pseudoreligiosity in the Judgment of Selected Penitentials. Studia Teologiczne Białystok Drohiczyn Łomża, 43, 153–180. https://doi.org/10.56898/st.15428

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