2006-10-15 13:34:20 · 16 answers · asked by I-C-U 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
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.
2006-10-15 18:07:20 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's a very good question and I don't believe any Catholic can give you a good answer. A true Christian church will not have any images of what the world thinks Jesus looked like or anything else. The Bible does say that and it stands true for all. No graven images should ever be in any place of worship.
2006-10-15 20:39:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
It's like blowing a kiss into the air or kissing a picture of someone you love. No one thinks that Christ is actually IN the crucifix.
And speaking of images, your avatar on Yahoo!Answers is an image. If you really believe that God forbids all images then you should remove that avatar immediately.
2006-10-15 20:42:51 · answer #3 · answered by Dysthymia 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well first of all you have that all wrong haha. The Bible says to have no GRAVEN images....that means not to let other thing's take the place of Christ. If you're going to go as far as to say kissing the image of Christ is wrong, then we shouldn't have pictures of him in our homes, or let poets write of him, or singers sing, authors auth...of him...
My religion doesn't kiss/worship pictures or statues or anything, but I say whatever it takes for you to remember him, keep him in your heart, all the more power to you. I think that that's what they tried to accomplish. It's just another form of expressing one's love of Christ.
2006-10-15 20:50:52 · answer #4 · answered by Amber 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it is the Koran that says not to have any images. The ten commandments say not to bow down before graven images, Christ says I have 2 commandments have one god and to love they neighbour.
2006-10-17 20:09:56 · answer #5 · answered by Chris C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It says not to make idols for the act of worship. If by an image of Christ you intend to worship Christ who is God, then it would be okay. I am not Catholic.
2006-10-15 20:37:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Just because you had to kiss it, doesn't mean you accepted it into your heart. The question is, now would you do it?
Read the story of Daniel and his 3 friends when they refused to bow before the king as GOD.
2006-10-15 20:51:00 · answer #7 · answered by JaimeM 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's because Catholics worship different, they're techncally Christian but do things differently like pray to Mary, kiss immages, etc...
2006-10-15 20:43:44 · answer #8 · answered by Kadi 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You have to interpret Old Testament Scripture in light of New Testament Scripture:
Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.
Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."
Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.
Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).
Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.
Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.
Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.
I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.
2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.
1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.
2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.
Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.
Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.
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II. Relics
Mark 15:43; John 19:38 - Joseph of Arimathea sought Christ's dead body instead of leaving it with the Romans. Joseph gave veneration to our Lord's body.
Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1 - the women came to further anoint Christ's body even though it had been sealed in the tomb.
John 19:39 - Nicodemus donated over one hundred pounds of spices to wrap in Jesus' grave clothes. This is also veneration of our Lord's body.
Matt. 9:21; Mark 5:28 - the woman with the hemorrhage just sought the hem of Christ's cloak and was cured. This shows that God uses physical things to effect the supernatural.
Acts 19:11-12 - Paul's handkerchiefs healed the sick and those with unclean spirits. This is another example of physical things effecting physical and spiritual cures.
Acts 5:15 - Peter's shadow healed the sick. This proves that relics of the saints have supernatural healing power, and this belief has been a part of Catholic tradition for 2,000 years.
Rev. 6:9 - the souls of the martyrs are seen beneath the heavenly altar. Their bones are often placed beneath altars in Catholic churches around the world.
2 Kings 13:21 - Elisha's bones bring a man back to life. The saints' bones are often kept beneath the altars of Catholic churches and have brought about supernatural cures throughout the Christian age.
Rom. 13:7; Phil. 2:25-29; Heb. 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:7 – we are taught to honor the people of God and in 1 Cor. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 11:1-2; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess. 3:7; Heb. 6:12; Heb. 13:7; James 5:10-11 – we are reminded to imitate them. Keeping relics of the saints serves both to honor and imitate their heroic faith in Christ (just as keeping articles of deceased loved ones helps us honor and imitate them).
2006-10-17 11:35:49 · answer #9 · answered by Daver 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christ is the IMAGE of the living and invisible God. catholics don't worship images (including crosses" but are perceptual reminders of what is holy and of our faith.
2006-10-15 20:37:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋