A
cult image or idol is a material object, representing a
deity, to which religious worship is directed. It is also controversially and pejoratively used by some
Protestants to describe the
Orthodox Christian practice of worshipping the
Christian God through the use of
icons, a charge which Orthodox Christians reject. In a similarly controversial sense, it is also used by some Protestants to pejoratively describe various
Catholic worship practices such as
scapulars and the
veneration of statues and flat images of the
Virgin Mary and saints, which Catholics do not consider idolatry. Concern over idolatry is the driving force behind the various traditions of
aniconism in Christianity.