Would God approve if we prayed to a statue of mary?
Or some of the other saints?
2006-09-20 06:49:33 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Exodus 20:4 King James.4) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,or any likeness of any thing that is in Heaven or that is in the Earth beneath, or that is in the water under the Earth:
2006-09-20 06:56:55 · answer #1 · answered by whataboutme 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If using images and symbols brings us closer to God then it is acceptable. The danger occurs when one begins to believe that the image is God. Like the gentleman who so eloquently and so well explained the Buddhist’s focus on the personality rather than the icon itself, icons should be daily reminders of our Christian duty.
Catholics do not worship statutes; we only worship the One True God in Three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Mary and the Saints are daily reminders that ordinary people can achieve Heaven. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is blameless; those who hate her do so because Catholics love her. Anyone who claims that Jesus is his brother should also claim Mary as his celestial mother the way that Catholics do. Or would you presume to say to Christ, “Welcome into my home my brother Jesus, but that woman with you is NOBODY! She has to stay outside.” Mary is THE first Christian. God selected her out of all Creation to usher in His Divine Salvation Plan for Man. If God so honored her, who are we to disrespect her?
When the Day of Reckoning comes, I will be found wanting in many regards but I will never be found guilty of disrespecting that wonderful woman who is the mother of my Savior, Lord and God.
H
2006-09-20 07:28:54 · answer #2 · answered by H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm guessing you're not Catholic.
First of all, we don't pray to statues. We pray to saints.
Second, we don't hold the saints higher than God. What we are doing is asking our brothers and sisters in Heaven to pray for us, in much the same way we ask our brothers and sisters on earth to pray for us. If you're a non-Catholic Christian, and you believe death isn't the end (just like we do), why is it so difficult to imagine that those who have preceded us in death can't pray for us?
Third, what's wrong with symbols and images? Do you have pictures of your mother in your house? Then why shouldn't the body of Christ have pictures of our Mother in our house? Without Mary's consent to follow God's will, none of us would be able to call ourselves Christians. Since the first century, the followers of Christ have held Mary in high esteem as the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church.
As long as we keep things in perspective and understand that the image is a mere representation of the holy person it depicts, it is not an idol. I personally think it is helpful to have images in the church building, because they help keep me focused on God and not the people around me. It is also helpful to look at an image and be reminded of the life the person led. Whenever I don't feel worthy of God's forgiveness and grace, it's nice to look at St. Peter's image and recall what he did when he was a follower of Christ, and how God used him to lead the early Church.
2006-09-20 06:59:37 · answer #3 · answered by timi m 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Catholics do not pray to statues. I bet you have pictures of your family around in your home or in your wallet. This is basically the same thing for us Catholics--they are reminders of who we venerate. If you are a Christian and Jesus has said follow the commandments--How do you honor your Mother Mary? Did not Jesus say from the cross (and think about the effort it took to do this) " Son this is your Mother, and woman , this is your son" If I were some of you so called Christians I would be very careful in how you talked of the Lord's Mother. Also we only ask Mary or the Saints to pray for us. Don't you ask others to pray for you, and remember these people are not dead but, alive in Christ. Are you so much better than these Saints and our Blessed Mother? And about the graven image thing. God himself told the Israelites to fashion the Cheribim and Seriphim that were on top of the Arc of the Covenant. Did he also not tell them to fashion a serpent and put it on a pole in the middle of the camp so when people were bitten by snakes they could look at the serpent on the pole and recover and those that did not died. Notice he did not say to affix the serpent to the pole then take it down and have people look at the pole -- he said to tell them to look at the serpent on the pole. This all fortells the crucifixion of Jesus who orchestrated the death of sin on the cross so you would be alot better off looking at the crucifix in a Catholic Church then just a plain empty cross--remember there were three crosses on that hill and one did not represent salvation.
2006-09-20 06:59:32 · answer #4 · answered by Midge 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No we should not!!!! a long time ago God winked at this but now that the truth has come (the holy bible)he no longer allows it.. We are not to use any graven image made by the hands of men....No false pictures no false angels, no false anything. NO one knows what God looked like, nobody that lived anyway, so we are not to use any thing not MADE OF God.... The only thing we need is the HOLY BIBLE..
2006-09-20 07:04:44 · answer #5 · answered by littlecwoman 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not at all as it constitutes worshiping stones and idols. The God (Allah in Arabic) is not a man. He is the Creator, Sustainer and provider of all universe. Jesus never claimed that he is son of God. It was rabid Paul who introduced this rabod idea stolen from another Jewish tribe which attributed this blesphamy against God by taking Zubair as son of God. The God All Mighty is far superior and free of needs to have children. He is the One and only. If you really want to know your Creator, there is no better book than Quran.
2006-09-20 06:55:25 · answer #6 · answered by pathowiz 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Unequivocally no, praying to a statue is not praying to God,to Idolize a statue is to insult God, God himself is a great mystery we have no knowledge of what he may look like, so we pray with feelings of warmth and love for the father who has created us, so I pray like a child love for God unconditionally.
2006-09-20 07:07:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Images and symbolism are all throughout the Bible. The use of those items is OK. Unless of course you are praying TO the statue......the statue itself can do nothing for you. If you are only using the statue to remind you of to whom you pray, it's OK. You don't worship the statue.....you worship what the statue represents.
2006-09-20 06:56:10 · answer #8 · answered by kj 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
That would be considered as praying to other gods, instead of God.
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 23:13 And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
2006-09-20 06:58:41 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Idol worship is for those who cannot visualise God without a name & form.Its easier for man to conceive God in human form.So all great men close to God are treated as God.
2006-09-20 07:54:36 · answer #10 · answered by aum_sudha 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋