Impiety

Impiety is a lack of proper respect for religious institutions or customs^[1]. Impiety is often closely associated with Sacrilege though it is not necessarily a physical action. Impiety cannot be associated with a cult as it implies a larger belief system was disrespected. One of the Pagan objection to Christianity was that, unlike other mystery religions, early Christians refused to cast a pinch of incense before the images of the gods, an impious act in their eyes. Impiety in ancient civilizations was a civic concern, rather than religious. It was believed that impious actions such as disrespect towards sacred objects or priests could bring down the wrath of the gods.

Socrates was put to death for impiety (against ancient Greek gods); Anaxagoras was prosecuted for impiety and went into exile. Aristotle was also charged with impiety after the death of Alexander the Great. According to the Vita Aristotelis Marciana, a much mutilated single manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale di San Marco in Venice, written about 1300, Aristotle left the city, saying, "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy" (Vita Aristotelis, 41). The medieval Christian compiler has rendered the Athenians' crime as a "sin". However, sin was an alien concept to the Greeks and Romans. In the New Testament, which most scholars assert was initially composed in Greek, the word "hamartia" was used. Hamartia ("missing the mark") is only very approximately translated as "sin."

See also