to all catholics...?

Question

what is your understanding about one of the ten commandments saying... "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the image of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not BOW down to them or worship them"

Answer 1

Don't worship yourself. Don't make any kind of picture of anything that is in heaven, hell, or below the sea. Do not worship them either.

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 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 3

I'm not Catholic (heck, I'm not even a CHRISTIAN), but what it means is that we should not make statues or pictures or stuff of creatures in the sky, on the land, or in the sea, and worship the image as a god in and of itself. If you are trying to turn this into an issue of icons and Madonnas, look around your own house. You probably have a Crucifix or two yourself. By the standard you seem to be placing upon others, this would constitute an "idol" as well. It is "an image of what is on the earth", right???

Answer 4

Rather than find a problem with catholics, find fault with that commandment. Or can't we question the infallible moses? Wait a minute... Jesus replaced those lines with a law of Love. If any person needs an image or a statue to give them a focus for prayer and veneration, well, whatever rocks yr boat. Leave the torah to Judaism and lets practice Christianity with Christ in mind.

Answer 5

Question: "What does the Bible say about the virgin Mary?"
Answer: The Bible never says that Mary was anyone but an ordinary human female whom God chose to use in a extraordinary way. Yes, Mary was a righteous woman and favored by God (Luke 1:27-28). Mary was also a sinful human being just like everyone else – who needed Jesus Christ as her Savior just like everyone else (Romans 3:23; 6:23-24). Mary did not have an “immaculate conception” – there is no Biblical reason to believe Mary’s birth was anything but a normal human birth. Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus (Luke 1:34-38

Answer 6

You have to think of this in context....Moses just went up the mountain to chat with God came back and found the people worshipping a cow...many of the religions of the day worshipped the sun, moon, dog, cat, fat guy, rock star etc(not much different from today) and God was trying to set them straight...about one God their Creator which noone had seen...so their faith had to be directed from their heart or soul to Him rather than to some funky image created in someone`s head.
And for KimC you are out to lunch...there are plenty of bible references for the ever virgin Mary...there is even one in the Quran...

Answer 7

It means to worship God alone. Even worshipping or bowing down to an image of God is wrong because a picture or sculpture of God is not God.

I'm not Catholic, I assume you posted this in regards to Mary the mother of Jesus. She was nothing more than "blessed" as the bible says because she was chosen as the vessel to have born Christ. Worship of her is strictly forbidden.

Answer 8

Seems pretty self-explanatory to me...
But why address this question just to Catholics? Surely you are not ignorant enough to believe that we worship idols?

Answer 9

I was raised as a catholic and that was one of the reasons I'm not even christian anymore. Catholics are hemorraging graven images, idols, etc. One of many contradictions that most christians just don't see.

Answer 10

it's saying that when you pray, don't pray to a statue of Jesus, or of the Virgin Mary. Your not supposed to pray to a physical thing, like a statue or a picture of them.
i'ts because they're not to be THINGS, u pray too, the sculptures and statues and photos are NOT Jesus or God....it's more of aa spiritual thing.