Note 3 — Front matter

This impulse must have been powerfully aided by the current translation of a familiar passage in the Psalms. Where we read (Ps. xcvi, 5): “All the gods of the nations are idols,” the early Church read: “All the gods of the nations are devils.” The passage is constantly cited by the Fathers in this sense. Even Wiclif translates: “Alle the goddis of hethene men ben feendis [fiends].”