why do catholics worship idols?

Answer 1

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 1 Chronicles 28:18–19, "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.

In Numbers 21:8-9, "And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered."

And in John 3:14-15, Jesus says in correlation, "And just as Moses lifted up the [image of a] serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

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 2

Only ignorant cultists make this false charge against Catholics.

The Incarnation (God became flesh) meant that everything can be used for good use, including statues to help ascend the mind to God. Only an idiot would conclude that the prayer stops at a hunk of wood or plaster. The false charge is done out of a preconceived notion and prejudice against Catholics.

Those who claim that all physical matter is evil are really Gnostic heretics. They indirectly DENY the Incarnation principle.

By the same standard used against Catholics, praying at your bedside MUST mean you are worshipping your mattress.

By the same standard used against Catholics, praying in your own church means you MUST be worshipping the pew in front of you.

By the same standard used against Catholics, that person on your Christian CD is an idol, that "T" shirt has idols on it, your bumper sticker.. etc.

But this silly attack has been explained and refuted a billion times. The real issue is prejudice and bigotry.

http://www.catholic.com/library/do_catholics_worship_statues.asp

Answer 3

Catholics do not worship idols. Catholics ask the Saints and Mary, the mother of Jesus, to intercede on their behalf to God. Catholics have a great love for God and a very real feeling of unworthiness at times in the face of His goodness. That would be one of the reasons why they would speak in prayer to someone that God loves-for intercession with Him for them. For nonbelievers look at it like this: a court case; The Judge - God; The defendant - Catholic; Lawyer - interceder or Saint. A crude example but I cant think of any other way to explain.

Answer 4

Catholic theology does not include the worship of idols.

Ask yourself this -- Do you have a photo of you wife/children/other family in your wallet? Is that an idol?

Worship is glorifying and acknowledging power. Catholics don't worship the saints. They talk to them, nothing more. If you define 'prayer' as 'communicating with those in heaven', then yes, this is prayer.

So... think of 'praying to the saints' as nothing more than you pulling out a picture of your wife and looking at it while you call her on the phone so you can see her while you chat. It's nothing more than that.

Cured Catholic/Christian [aka: atheist]

Answer 5

Is keeping a photo worshipping an idol?

Catholics don't worship idols. We keep statues for the same reason we keep pictures. Reminders of those we love.

Answer 6

They have statues of Mary and Joseph and all sorts of idols and they do pray to them and hope they intercede before God for them. We have a spiritual side and a desire to worship something. Some higher power we can call on for help.
We cannot see God so we look to other things that are not real.
While all the time God is not far of from us. We can't see him but he has no problems seeing us. Gives us information about him and tells us even in prisions that he is there with us.

Answer 7

I think your right.

That they worship idols.

If you pray to Mary, or saints, or statues you are woshipping.

Prayer is worship.

They worship them because they have been mislead.

Most Catholics don't learn God's word on their own (study the Bible). They just follow what their priest tells them to. (Which is a bad idea, because not all priests, catholic or baptist or whatever, are men of God)

If you pray to anything other than God, your praying to the devil!

Because there is nothing else in the spiritual realm to listen to your prayers. Only God and his angels and the devil and his demons. So if your not praying to God...

And another thing about the Catholic Church... Jesus said no man shall be higher up than another in their religion. No man should have any more power than another. All Christians are created equal.

So why can the Pope kick people out of the Church? NO ONE CAN TELL A PERSON THEY CANNOT WORSHIP. Unless THEY (THE POPE) ARE NOT OF GOD!

Answer 8

Catholics think the idols are 3 dimensional icons. While 2 dimensional icons are venerated by the Orthodox church, the Catholics have gone a bit far with the 3 dimensional images. I think the Renaissance influence on 15th and 16th century Catholicism is to blame.

Answer 9

why do catholics worship idols?

They don't Worship idols AT ALL!

Just Jesus and Mary, as well as Joseph to a very small degree.

They Do pray to many saints thinking they have an ""in "" with Jesus that they do not have.

Answer 10

I don't understand it either, but I've asked them and they seem to think that all they are doing is holding them to a higher standard than others...hmmm...isn't that idol worship? Sounds like it to me.
Plus, they say they pray to Mary because God chose her to be the mother of Jesus, and so they think she has some strings to pull in their favor when they pray.
So...if praying to her will pull the strings, imagine what God would do if you prayed to HIM...hmmm, interesting concept. It actually works, try it sometime!! (speaking to Catholics)
Plus, I do not believe that Mary is in Heaven just yet. I'm new to Bible study, but it seems that when people die they wait until Jesus calls us ALL up into Heaven. So...they're praying to someone who (according to what I have studied) is even more incapable of helping than anyone else alive on Earth.
I've never understood the Catholic religion. It's a little bit weird.