In early Victorian England the cross was widely thought to be a deadly idol that led worshippers to the devil. This book is a study of the intense anxieties surrounding ‘idolatry’ which was, in a narrow sense, the worship of idols, but in a broad sense could mean worship of or devotion to anything that intervened between the believer and God. In early Victorian England there was intense interest in understanding the early Church as an inspiration for contemporary sanctity. One aspect of this was a surge in archaeological inquiry and the construction of new churches using medieval models. A num ... More

In early Victorian England the cross was widely thought to be a deadly idol that led worshippers to the devil. This book is a study of the intense anxieties surrounding ‘idolatry’ which was, in a narrow sense, the worship of idols, but in a broad sense could mean worship of or devotion to anything that intervened between the believer and God. In early Victorian England there was intense interest in understanding the early Church as an inspiration for contemporary sanctity. One aspect of this was a surge in archaeological inquiry and the construction of new churches using medieval models. A number of Anglicans began to use a much more complex form of ritual involving vestments, candles, and incense. They were opposed by evangelicals and dissenters on the grounds that this represented the vanguard of Popery. The disputed buildings, objects, and artworks were regarded by one side as impure additions to holy worship, and by the other as sacred and beautiful Anglo-Catholic expressions of devotion. This situation forms the background to this study, the aim of which is to understand accusations of idolatry and to understand the fierce passions that were thereby unleashed. Comparative religion provided access to modes of reading Catholicism as being related to paganism and Hinduism. The reinterpretation of ‘primitive’ religion as a site of gothic excitement led to the production of texts (such as novels and newspapers) which were sold as commodities. In this way, the challenging bodily ‘primitiveness’ of medieval forms of ritual and material culture were uneasily but excitingly accommodated into the world of Victorian textuality, capitalism, and Protestantism.