Is the crucifix blasphemous?

Question

Exodus 20:4 says "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."

So even religious paintings and statues go against God's command right?

Answer 1

Only how you use it or relate to it. If you use a crucifix to ward away vampires, then that's blasphemous, not to mention ungodly stupid. If you worship the crucifix instead of simply focusing on it as a reminder of what Jesus our Christ has done for us, then that is blasphemous. Most non-Catholics wrongly assume that Catholics idolize or worship or pray to the crucifix or the statues we have in our churches. That is an absurd "thought", or acutally, a brainless one. We use it to remind us of what Jesus our Christ, the Only God, did to save our souls from Hell, and that is no blasphemy. God Bless you.

Answer 2

No

Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before or besides Me. 4) You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5) You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 6) But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments."

IDOLS - An image or anything used as an object of worship in place of the true God.

Answer 3

Well, remember the instructions for building the ark of the covenant called for the manufacture of a couple of images of cherubim.

There was also the bronze snake that caused healings when the Israelites looked at it.

Additionally the idea of the cross, symbolized by the letter X (chi) in Greek draws on the Hebrew word of mark, tav (t) --the sign of the tav was a fore-funner of the sign of the cross.

So, I think there have always been symbols that help people focus their worship.

The key idea in idolotry is the worship of idols, and that is what this verse is referring to, not religious art or symbols.

Answer 4

In response to all those who said that Christian images are not idols because they are not worshipped, then why don't Jews, to whom the Second Commandment was originially given, create sacred images? Is it just a difference of interpretation of the Law? Did the Law change with Jesus? (I've heard this said, and yet I have read that Jesus claimed to have not come to change the Law and that people who believe in Him must still follow the Law.)

And is the desecration/destruction of objects like the crucifix a sin? I realize that it may be offensive, just as the burning of the flag may be offensive, but is it a sin? If so, how so? Please use a scriptural reference as your defense.

Answer 5

Crucifixes, like all other statues of the saints could very well be construed as blasphemous if you pray to it or to the person it represents. The Cross, on the other hand, does not have Jesus on it so it just brings to mind only what He went through for us. You mention religious paintings, as for the "Last Supper" and other paintings like this, No it is not sacriligious, but again if you are referring to those for "adoration" then the answer is yes!

Answer 6

Yes. You shall not make an IDOL (being the key word). An idol is something you worship.

We do not worship crucifixes, statues, or paintings. We may take good care of them, but they simply edify us and lead us to think of Our Lord and the saints. They remind us to lead good lives. It would be wrong to treat any object as if it were a god.

Answer 7

It depends. Is the crucifix an idol to you? We were discussing this subject in Sunday School this morning. An idol is anything that draws you away from Jesus Christ. So if you are taking a part of the gospel and worshiping it instead of Jesus Christ, then it is an idol for you. I watch a lot of TV. Is it an idol? Could be (I'm still working on that one). For someone else, they could watch as much or more TV than I do and it's not an idol for them because it doesn't draw them away from worshiping Jesus Christ. For me reading my scriptures is not an idol, but for others it could be because they worship what is said in the scriptures and it takes them away from Jesus Christ.

Answer 8

Right. If we try to fashion God into an image of our making, then he will always be smaller than us. Interesting point, because my pastor just brought this up in church today and in a very unique way. He passed out the offering plates full of gum and told us all to take a piece (first time I'd ever chewed gum in church!). He then asked us at a later point to take out the gum and roll it into a ball. He said that making an image or statue of God was reductionary and therefore ridiculous. He then told us all to form an image of God with our little ball of gum. More than a few people scoffed at that, and our pastor reproached us saying that God finds it just as silly when we try to make any image or statue of him, no matter how big or grand or true we might believe it to be. It's all nonsense to God who is bigger and grander and holier than we could ever imagine and who cannot be contained by the miniscule workings of our brain and inadequate imaginations of our mind.

Sorry for such a rambling answer, but I thought that might be pertinent or, if not, at least interesting... =)

p.s. I suppose one could argue that since Jesus was truly a human, making a reproduction of him (his image) isn't entirely blasphemous because he really did exist in human form. But I would ask how this statue takes into account his divinity? Yes Jesus was human, but what's more important is that he was divine. That's what saved us, and that's what we cannot capture, nor should try to capture, in such visual reproductions. Also, it irks me that he's always displayed as a white guy when he lived in what's today the Middle East...

Answer 9

No, the crucifix is not blasphemous. Making an idol refers to worshiping an object or an image... making religious artwork, sculptures, etc. is appropriate as a way for us to tell stories, teach, remind us of our faith, express our love for God, show our unity to God, etc. Items such as the crucifix become blasphemous ONLY when they (the objects) are worshiped as gods in place of Our Lord.

Answer 10

The crucifix was used as a symbol among early Christians to communicate. It has grown into more.

I believe the true gift of Christ was the Resurrection. Many people had been crucified before and after. He is the only one that could take up his life again. I prefer to focus on his resurrection. Frankly, I think it looks odd wearing the method of his death.