Most orthodox Catholics I know have idols in their houses and churches. These are statues of the virgin and of saints. Also I have heard from the mouths of Catholics that they will pray to Mary before they will pray to Jesus to get what they want. I really don't get it.
2006-12-22 05:02:32 · 23 answers · asked by Let there be JIMBO 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
+ Mary and the Saints +
Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.
The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.
Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.
As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.
Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.
+ Graven images +
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.
2006-12-22 14:47:16 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Religious statutes are not idols. If a person prays expecting a piece of wood that is made into a statue to answer there prayers, as if the wood is going to answer there prayers, then that is idol worship. If a person expects baby jesus to answer there prayers which is what the wooden statue represents then that is not idol worship. Primarily because they are praying that "baby jesus", will answer there prayers, not a piece of wood. There is a difference. Just like a religious medal worn around someones neck is not an idol either. People know that it is just a piece of metal worn around there neck. They are not worshipping the metal the religious medal is made of they are worshipping what it represents, the holy images of Mary, Jesus, and the saints as well as the heavenly protection that they bring. You think your clever and speak as if you think you caught a whole bunch of Catholics doing something wrong. You've actually done nothing of the sort. You've simply shown how uneducated you are and how little you know about the matter, bravo. Stop misleading people.
2014-03-08 21:25:31 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you have recieved some good answers here from people, but i would like to add something. This is a loaded questions. You say that it is a serious question but if you were truly looking to understand why catholics beleive what they do you would form the question in a non offencsive matter. You basically accuse catholics of worshiping false idols. You should be more careful on how you word things if you want thoguht out truthful responces. Otherwise peopel will just write back rude responces or not respond assuming you are too narrowminded to listen. I hope you are not as narrowminded or judgemental as you sound in your question and i hope you are more careful how you put things in the future
2006-12-22 05:10:38 · answer #3 · answered by Courtney C 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps you should get a dictionary - or a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church - and look up "idolatry". Idolatry is defined as the WORSHIP of someone or something other than the one true God. It is not defined as having a statue on your dresser or a picture on your wall. Surely you are not so naive as to believe that Catholics WORSHIP a picture on the wall? Or a statue in a church?? Such representations serve the same purpose as pictures of your family on your wall or in your wallet - to bring to mind people who have played an important role in our lives. For the same reason we have shrines to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. But nobody worships these men.
As for asking Mary, or any other living Christian, to pray for us, the Bible makes it clear that all Christrians can intercede for one another. The Bible also makes it clear that Mary and the other saints are not dead, since Christ said that those who follow Him "will never die". I believe the Word of God. Do you?
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2006-12-22 05:27:06 · answer #4 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is an excellent question. People are willing to worship a twelve-dollar piece of plastic that was made in China (where the majority of residents don't believe in Jesus or Mary or Christianity in general), yet the First Commandment explicitly tells us not to idolize any other God except the Christian God. There is no justification for that. We might as well idolize a bronze statue of Merv Griffin; wouldn't make a lick of difference from idolizing a piece of plastic. Either way, they MUST go to Hell for this. But, keep in mind that the Christian faith is built upon thousands of loopholes; so many, in fact, that they justify everything by throwing the word "faith" into a sentence and quoting the Bible...
2006-12-22 05:08:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
If you look at your question carefully you will see that it contains the assumption that Catholics engage in idol worship. The difficulty with that is that Catholics do not believe that they worship idols, and therefore feel no need to justify doing so.
2006-12-22 05:11:19 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Prague is one of the cities worth-visit and to do that you can start planning your holiday with hotelbye . Starting with the wonderful region around the Prague Castle or the Strahov monastery with its remarkable library and finish with …the complete splendid city, Prague is just incredible. In Prague you may also visit the small house where Franz Kafka worked or the charming Prague Castle gardens from where you could have a unique see of the city with its picturesque red roofs. In that city you'll never get bored. If you should go through the spring you will find the spring woods in blossom; in the summer you will see extended dusks; autumn will give you vibrant leaves and unique light and in the winter you will like the complete town covered with innocent white snow.
2016-12-16 00:25:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
serious? jimbo buddy come on you're being serious? I don't think so. First you use the term idol than you change over to statue sounds very similar in how protestant evangelicals interchange the terms faith and believe which aren't interchangeable.
I think you really have to define what is an idol before attacking statues lest we create some foaming at the mouth Puritan revival that wishes to deface historical monuments and do away with Christmas humbug. Those damn Puritan they caused all the fuss so stuck up and prudish
2006-12-22 12:43:35 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Do you carry pictures in your wallet? Are you aware that they are not really human beings, just pictures?
I would think our Catholic friends would be able to discern statues from saints & deity too. Saints have a particular function in Catholic belief, that of interceding for (and with!) those that approach the throne of God. Catholics believe in Scripture as well as tradition, and the adoration and invocation of Mary & saints are part of that tradition even if those concepts are not found directly in the Scriptures.
2006-12-22 05:14:12 · answer #9 · answered by ccrider 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
We don't worship the actual idol itself my dear. Nor do we view Mary as an item to idolize. She is the mother of Jesus and we are taught to honor our mothers and fathers. As for the saints, the same logic applies. I'm not saying it makes sense, I'm simply saying that just because we pray, doesn't necessarily mean we are worshiping that particular statue.
2006-12-22 05:07:00 · answer #10 · answered by Hollynfaith 6 · 4⤊ 3⤋