Is Mary Worshiped by Catholics? (The Latria / Dulia Distinction)

An evangelical Protestant asked me:

Could you find me a definition and word etymology of latria and dulia?

Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2nd ed., edited by F.L. Cross & E.A. Livingstone, Oxford Univ. Press, 1983, p. 430, "Dulia" - italics added, here and below):

This is consistent with the Catholic understanding. This dictionary goes on to define latria as follows (p. 803):

The standard non-Catholic lexical reference Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (eds. Gerard Kittel & Gerhard Friedrich; abridged edition by Geoffrey Bromiley, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1985) concurs:

Likewise, for latreia:

Douleia can also be located in Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words, in volume 1, p. 139, under "Bondage," and latreia in volume 3, p. 349, under "Service, Serving."

Douleia is Strong's word #1397. It appears five times in the NT, and is translated "bondage" in the KJV (Rom 8:15,21; Gal 4:24, 5:1; Heb 2:15: none referring to God). It is related to the following cognates:

#1398 douleuo "to be a slave" 25 times in NT
#1399 doule "handmaiden" / "female slave" 3 times, including Mary's description of herself: Lk 1:38,48
#1400 / 1401 doulon / doulos "servant" / "slave" 127 times
#1402 douloo: "make a servant" 8 times

Latreia is Strong's word #2999. It appears 5 times in the NT, and is translated "service" or "divine service" in the KJV - in reference to God (Jn 16:2; Rom 9:4, 12:1; Heb 9:1,6). It is related to cognate latreuo, Strong's word #3000, usually rendered "serve" or "service." It appears 21 times in the NT.

So, as usual, so-called exclusively "Catholic" words are found to have a completely biblical basis, and to follow the distinction even present in the pre-biblical Greek etymology, since the Latin dulia and latria are directly derived from the Greek.

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Final edit 8 March 1999 by Dave Armstrong.