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The meaning of the Greek word eídolon is ‘image,’ ‘shadow,’ or ‘phantom,’ or also, in a narrow sense, ‘sacred image.’ In Greco-Latin ecclesiastical language, the concept attaches to the ‘image of the gods of the pagans,’ a ‘false god.’ In this sense, it denotes polemically an object or person shown an extravagant, immoderate reverence, or ‘deified.’ In a neutral sense, ‘idol' can also designate the material picture of a deity. In this meaning, it plays an eminent role in all cultures, whether as canon…