What is "odium theologicum"

Odium \O"di*um\ ([=o]"d[i^]*[u^]m), n. [L., fr. odi I hate. Cf. Annoy, Noisome.]

1. Intense hatred or dislike; loathing; abhorrence.

2. The quality that provokes hatred; offensiveness.

   She threw the odium of the fact on me.
   --Dryden.

3. The state of being intensely hated as the result of some despicable action; opprobrium; disrepute; discredit; reproach mingled with contempt; as, his conduct brought him into odium, or, brought odium upon him.

   Odium theologicum[L.], the enmity peculiar to contending theologians.

   Syn: Hatred; abhorrence; detestation; antipathy.

   Usage: Odium, Hatred. We exercise hatred; we endure odium. The former has an active sense, the latter a passive one. We speak of having a hatred for a man, but not of having an odium toward him. A tyrant incurs odium. The odium of an offense may sometimes fall unjustly upon one who is innocent.

   I wish I had a cause to seek him there, To oppose his hatred fully.
   --Shak.

   You have . . . dexterously thrown some of the odium of your polity upon that middle class which you despise.
   --Beaconsfield.

n. rancor generated by theological disputes

The Latin phrase Odium theologicum (literally meaning "theological hatred") is the name originally given to the often intense anger and hatred generated by disputes over theology. It has also been adopted to describe non-theological disputes of a rancorous nature.

John Stuart Mill, discussing the fallibility of the moral consensus in his Essay "On Liberty" (1859) refers scornfully to the odium theologicum, saying that, in a sincere bigot, it is one of the most unequivocal cases of moral feeling. In this Essay, he takes issue with those who rely on moral feeling rather than reasoned argument to justify their beliefs.