why catholics face idols or graven images?

Question

the Bible book of Exodos clearly tell us that it's idolatry to worship graven images that God hates for He's a Spirit so must worship Him in spirit.why do catholics dont follow this? why they ignore such this commandment of God and they proclaim to be follower of Jesus?were they not aware of this or they just ignore this for what reason do u think?

Answer 1

Ugh...you really haven't read the Bible, have you?

Um, if you look again at the book of Exodus....you will see instuctions for the building of the Ark of the Covenant...which contains directions for putting what you would call 'graven images' right on the Ark.

The misconception here lies in what IS a graven image, what IS the commandment forbidding....and what IS a Catholic doing when gazing upon a statue.

First. A graven image is ANY image of ANY thing. Graven means 'drawn'.
Second. Does it make sense that God would forbid the creation of an image depicting any object on the earth or above the earth or below the earth. No. That would forbid any artistry, sculpture, photograhy, etc.

What is forbidden is the WORSHIP of false Gods, depicted through images. recall that the ancients often believed their Gods actually resided in the statues of them that they worshipped

Obviously, you have been brainwashed into believing that Catholics 'worship' statues.

Unless you have completely experienced and fully studied the Catholic Christian faith...PLEASE do not tell me what I believe as a Catholic and who I worship.

I worship the Triune God alone. Any Catholic who does not is not a Catholic. No, we do not worship Mary, we do not worship the saints.

God and God alone.

So, why the statues? Why do we appear to be 'praying to' a statue of Jesus?

Do you have any pictures in your wallet or around your house? Betcha do. Why? Because they remind you of someone you love, right? Perhaps they bring to mind a special time....or help you remember someone who has died or has moved away.

THAT is what the statues do for us in prayer. We gaze on Christ crucified. We recall His mighty deeds and love. We do not worship the image, the image draws us into deep focused worship of the One Who gave His life for us! It is an AID in prayer.

So, why the statues of saints? Because they remind us of holy people who set a great example for us as followers of Christ. For example, Mary was the perfect Mother and wife. She listened to and trusted in her Lord. Along with a picture of Christ in my kitchen, I have an image of Mary. When I see it, I ask Mary to pray for me that I may follow her example.

Oh- and the praying to saints part....it is purely intercessory prayer. When we 'pray to' Saints, it is not that we think they have any power to grant the request, we are asking them to PRAY FOR US, in addition to our own prayers directly to the Lord. ( to pray MEANS to ASK) No different than if I asked you to pray for my Grandma. Can you heal her? No. But you can help me storm Heaven with prayer on her behalf!

Answer 2

Do you have pictures of your loved ones?

Statues and pictures of people we love are not idols.

Statues and paintings of Jesus and the saints are just like pictures of the people we love and respect.

The King James Version of the Bible states in Exodus 20:4: "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"

Why were the Jews commanded not to make graven images? Graven images were the standard method of pagan worship. They were representations of false gods.

This is a very clear command. However God commanded the Jews in Exodus 25:18, "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them" and in 1 Kings chapter 7 Solomon made bulls and other images out of precious metals.

It seems obvious that the Jews did not worship the cherubims and Solomon did not worship the bulls he had made. These images did not violate the command of God. Therefore, an image not made for worship is acceptable.

How can a statue of our Lord Jesus Christ dead on the cross be considered an idol to a false god? A crucifix is the message of the Gospel without words held up for all to see, a visual reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus, no different from a painting, a play, or a movie.

Catholics do not worship statues but the almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

One thing first What does beside the Catholic have the cross on top of their churches why does the other Christian have the image of Jesus and angel and sometime demon in their church
let them lie their way out of that please and why do they wear the cross; You never been in the Catholic churches you just hear this and that they do worship one God no other and no idol,but let stop and think tell the other Churches to take down those crosses and see what will happen the will not because for an reason talking about Idolatry

Answer 4

Catholics do not have Idol or do not worship them. In Catholicism the statue of a saint or the image of Christ on the Crucifix is not an idol. The holy mother church calls them "sacramental" they are images to enhance the adoration of the person they represent. They are an object used to concentrate thought on while either asking the saint, for example for their intercession with god. The believe these people can be intercessors because of the good life they led and the belief that these people achieved salvation and are residing with God in heaven. Unlike the Egyptians or the Greeks or Romans, Indians with their god beasts, they do not pray to the image.

Answer 5

*Sigh.*

Why does everyone have the misconception that Catholics are worshipping these images?

We're not! They are used merely as a reminder of that which we cannot see, a way for our earthly minds to grasp what it is that we are REALLY worshippping and honoring.

We wear a cross because it is a mark of our faith, not because we're worshipping that little gold charm! We use a rosary to keep track of how many Hail Mary's we've said in a row, NOT because we think the string of beads has any real power. We have statues and crucifixes in our churches and homes so that when someone walks in, they know instantly what we're about, and so that when we look at them, we are instantly reminded of why we are here, and how we should be living, NOT because we think the crucifix is the supreme being of the universe.

What you should be asking is why do people worship the false gods and idols of money, status, power, etc. THESE are the things that cause us to not live for God, but rather for ourselves. No servant can serve two masters.

Answer 6

Catholics do NOT worship statues and pictures. These are merely symbols of people who have done great things for christianity. Catholics ask saints for intercession on their behalf, but in NO WAY regard them before Jesus or God. They simply pay their respects to them since they did great things and earned the right to be called a saint and garner admiration and respect.

There are people out there who do much worse. People are out there now worshipping celebrities for goodness sake and worshipping them with "graven" images in magazines and with idols in the form of oscars and grammys and such in elaborate awards ceremonies that cost enough to feed half the US's homeless population.

Don't worry about what the Catholics are doing. Atleast the ones who are there praying are trying to keep faith in God and do something to keep a relationship with God.

Quit bashing other religions and worry about perfecting yourself first.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." - Gandhi

Answer 7

What is a graven image but something that we consider to be a god? Catholics do not do this. We keep pictures and statues of Saints around as reminders. Plus, we don't believe that just because someone is dead that they can't pray for us.

Now let me ask a question: Do many fundamentalists realize that they've made the Bible into a graven image?

Answer 8

Well, back in those days God was competing pretty hard with Baal, right? I mean, people in the Pentateuch just keep getting punished and smited and all for drifting off to Baal... and worshipping him meant worshipping an altar image of him, I think. So, maybe it's not so important anymore - worshippers of God aren't going to tempted into mixing Baal and God, and so if idols help them get closer... I mean, it's a pretty powerful way to show compassion, right?

Answer 9

Because they slowly adopted pagan religious belief during the time of Constantine and thereafter. If you research even the statue of the virgin Mary's origin it will take you back to a pagan church that was christianized and they left one of the goddess' statue there so that the pagans would feel comfortable to church, this is just a summary ofcourse. But the Bible specifically speaks out about images even images of the true God - He never instructed the Israelites or after them to erect anything in His image for them to relate to.

Answer 10

Early Catholic church, once made the official religion of the Roman Empire, replaced the old Roman religion while adopting many of the formats of the old religion. Old Roman household gods, represented by small statues, became saints and this trend continued throughout the new religion. All rather silly, considering that gods do not exist.