do christans realize they are breaking one of the 10 commandments.?

Question

No this mainly refers to Catholics but all christens break it to a lesser extent (note I can bring this up sense I was raised catholic. ) anyhow if I rember correctly one of the commandments is "thou shall not make graven images of things in heaven and hell. So no more crucifixes, no more statues of angels and demon and any thing else that is a graven image.

Now if I am taking the commandment wrong then tell me. However, do not be a jackass.

In addition, when Catholics say the rosary prayer I think we are breaking another command. Thou shall not have any other god before me. Not sure if that’s one or not but sense the rosary is a prayer to Mary and no god him self then we are kind of making a no no.

we are not pagans. we are as close to the orignal church that one can get with out having jesus alive again

so far i dislike only 1 answer. and on a side note i said i was raised catholic. never said i ever listend. "now i am sort of tying to make up for lost time"

Answer 1

Because they ignore what God says about not making statues.

Many people say "We don't pray to the statues they are just symbols that help us focus on God."

The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, etc prayed to statues of Zeus and other gods and they knew that it was not literaly Zeus. Zeus had many temples with many statues. They knew that it was only a symbol. So yes you are praying to the statues or else why would GOD say not to do it. When you make idols you don't elevate your concept of God rather you debase it by confining an omnipotent, ominpresent God into a "graven image".

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of ANY THING that is in HEAVEN above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exodus 20:4





Many people are saying that "thou shalt not make unto the any graven image" is not one of the 10 commandments Please read Exodus 20, Deut 5

Answer 2

There is a difference between a graven image and and a symbol. A graven image is a representation of some sort of Diety. A cross or crucifix is a symbol-not the same thing.

Though they are common Christian symbols, not all Christian religions use crosses or crucifixes. Though they respect others' use of it, they focus on the Atonement and Resurrection without an emphasis on a cross or a crucifix. So even if crosses were graven images, it is innacurate to state 'all Christians break it to a lesser extent' .

Answer 3

The ten commandments have been changed by the Catholic church to maintain it's needs, demands, and philosophy. They have deleted commandments and have divided other ones to make up the ten commandments. God is the ultimate source of all help, and should be the one we pray too at all times for everything and that man is just an intermediary and is not necessary to commune with God. The Catholic church has introduced Saints, and Mary, just to give a more human face on God cause it's always easier to have faith in something that you can see, rather than the difficulty of having to pray to something you have never seen and put your total faith in God. These are all changes made by the Catholic Church in the bible, and are interpretations made by man, not by God.

Answer 4

For one thing, the crucifix is not a "thing in heaven or hell." The crucifixion took place on Calvary, on earth and so I'm certain that the catholic scholars who debated this issue took all of that into careful consideration before allowing such images to be made. I am certain that some jesuit - probably more than one and probably lasting for quite a while - argued your point.
Since Angels are spirits, you cannot depict them - how would you depict a spirit? When they take human form, they are on earth - catch22, again.
When did you last call your mother? I don't think that saying the rosary constitutes placing Mary before Jesus. The words to the prayer consist of the words taken from the bible spoken by the angel when he greets Mary and tells her that she will have a child.
"Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus."
The second part of the prayer asks her to please have a chat with her son for us. That prayer was written back when kids listened to their mothers. I know - alien concept.

Answer 5

Please don't put all Christians into one package. There are many religions -- religion is man's idea of how they think they should worship God. We are to have a personal relationship with God. We are not to worship graven images. We are not to worship people, animals, things. We are to pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus. We are to pray directly to Him -- Jesus is the way -the truth and the life. No one goes to the Father except through Jesus. I don't agree with the Catholic way of praying the rosary and praying to Mary or any other saint. Religion won't get you into Heaven, but a personal relationship with Jesus will.

Answer 6

"Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..." This prohibits the construction or fashioning of "idols" in the likeness of created things (beasts, fish, birds, people) and worshipping them. Catholics and Christians do not worship the wood the crucifix is made of, or the plaster the statue is made of. They worship the Lord that is represented.

When Catholics say the Rosary, they are not making Mary a God. They are simply (in my mind anyway) using her as a vessel. Just as Christians ask for things in the name of JEsus Christ.

Answer 7

Do you understand what is meant by graven image and why Catholics have crucifixes (hint: it's the same thing you do with that picture of your mother in your wallet)?

We are the communion of saints. The Bible teaches that the saints in heaven love us more intensely than they ever could have loved us while on earth. They pray for us constantly (Rev 5:8) and their prayers are powerful (Jas 5:16). In addition, the Bible teaches that Mary, God's earthly mother, was FULL of Grace and blessed among all women. When we ask Mary to "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death", according to the Bible, it is good and more efficacious than asking a living "saint" to pray for us (say, your pastor or next-door neighbor).

Did this help?

Try here, too: http://www.catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp

Answer 8

Dude what commandment number is that because I don't recall it being 1- 10.

We are not worshiping those statues so we are in no violation of that.

The rosary issue--please. I won't even touch that because your not making any sense.

Are you sure you were raised Roman Catholic? If you were, then you didn't pay much attention.

Answer 9

Brother, I can assure you that most of us have broken several of the commandments, some of us have broken all of them, and all of us have broken at least one.

However, the second commandment you are referring to is regarding idolotry. The implication is that you worship the image you've created. Typically, this is not the case with a crucifix. We don't worship the crucifix. It only serves as a reminder.

4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

Answer 10

Actually, I agree with you. That is a topic of much debate among Christians. Personally, I believe that using pictures of Jesus, God and the heavenly host is wrong but many disagree with me. As well, I do not believe that praying to the so-called "saints" does any good at all. According to the Bible, all Christians are Saints and no one is any holier than another. However, I do not believe that it is exactly worshiping another god as the point is that the Saints will "put in a good word" with God.

It is a very interesting question though.