Jehovahs Witnesses claims Catholics are pagans because they worship statues made of stones etc..is it true?

Answer 1

Jehovah's Witnesses do not engage in namecalling or judging. Instead, the Witnesses share the bible's message and invite householders to compare any religion with God's Word.

For example, the Witnesses recently performed a global work to advertise the bible teaching that false religion will soon end:
http://watchtower.org/e/kn37/

The bible does make some pretty strong statements about idolatry, and perhaps these biblical statements have interested sincere Catholics.

(1 John 5:21) Guard yourselves from idols.

(1 Corinthians 10:14) Flee from idolatry.

(Deuteronomy 4:25) Act ruinously and do make a carved image, a form of anything, and do commit evil in the eyes of Jehovah your God so as to offend him

(2 Kings 17:16) And they kept leaving all the commandments of Jehovah their God and proceeded to make for themselves molten statues

(Isaiah 42:8) I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20050508a/article_01.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20050908a/article_01.htm

Answer 2

Being a Jehovah's Witness and growing up as a Catholic, the short answer to your question is NO, JW's do not believe Catholics are pagan for worshiping statues --- but certainly in the wrong. Idolatry and the use of images is clearly condemned in both the Old (the 2nd commandment, for example, not to use images in worship) and New Testament (1 Cor. 10:14; Galatians 5:20).

Answer 3

Jehovah's Witness's are party poopers. Nothing clears out a room faster than some broad lugging around a huge purse full of The Watch Tower. I live in a good part of town and we don't have any. They're almost always lower income people and quite bizarre. I much prefer Catholics, but their stance on gay people is so disturbing to me. The Jehovas are the same about gay people. I'm going to have a talk with a nice gay couple that I know who are Catholics about becoming Episcopaleans. The Catholics have such lovely weddings and funerals. I can imagine those Jehovahs moping around a card table with folding chairs!

Answer 4

It may be true that they make the claim (I'm am not sure).

It is not true that Catholic worship statues.

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 family members who 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 5

Actually, Most Protestant sects also object to Catholic depictions in stone. But they don't generally feel Catholics are Pagan for doing so. Catholics do not worship statues. The statues referred to are most often of saints, such as Mary, the earthly Mother of God, and Joseph the earthly step-father of God, as well as many other people throughout the ages who have been classified as saints. But Catholics do not worship the saints.They feel that these are special people who they can call upon for comfort and guidance. Catholics are well aware that the saints are not God. Only God is God. They feel that these special people are in a position to talk to God on their behalf, more so than they themselves can. It's really more of a naive way of thinking rather than something evil.

All Christian sects should learn to live by the Golden Rule, and that includes not pouncing on each other for worshiping God in a different way. Also, each sect should stop claiming him as their exclusive property. Jesus was not Catholic. He was not Lutheran, Episcopalian or Baptist. Nor was he a Jehovah's Witness. He was a Jew.

Answer 6

years ago when I lived in new york, before I became a Jehovah Witness, I went into st patrick church in new york. just to see what it was all about. people where saying prayers and making the sign of the cross. I could not believe it. the statues does not see,hear, talk, smell. but we as Jehovah Witnesses do not judge, that is up to Jehovah God and his son Jesus Christ to judge people. Jehovah does not want us to worship anything but him. he is a Jealous God.

Answer 7

& Catholics claim that--& protestants claim that--& I claim that no one knows what they're talking about. What's the big deal about WORSHIP anyway?

Edit: If ANYONE thought logically about this--(if a blue bird is red)-I simply can't accept the need to have an "idol." Perhaps that's why there are so many questions about "celebrities." Same premise, really. Oh well. Different strokes for different folks.

Answer 8

Catholics know how to tell the difference between God and a statue.

Catholics also know how to tell the difference between Jesus and Michael the Archangel.

Catholics also know how to properly and accurately translate the Greek language into English.

That puts Catholics at least 2 up on the JW's.

Answer 9

I'm Catholic, and I've never worshipped (offered adoration to) a statue. In fact, to do so would go against Catholic teaching.

Answer 10

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian") is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions. The term can be defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This group may include the Dharmic religions, which incorporate seemingly pagan characteristics like nature-worship, idol-worship, polytheism and reverence of female deities, and are thus diametrically opposite to the Abrahamic faiths. Ethnologists avoid the term "paganism", with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as shamanism, polytheism, or animism. The term is also used to describe earth-based Native American religions and mythologies, though few Native Americans call themselves or their cultures "pagan". Historically, the term "pagan" has usually had pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel, and mushrik and kafir (كافر) in Islam. In modern times, though, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used by some practitioners of certain spiritual paths outside the Abrahamic and Dharmic religious mainstream to describe their beliefs, practices, and organized movements.[1]
Many religions stoop to name calling in order to denigrate others ways of worship. As long as you stick to the original teaching of Jesus the Christ and treat others with love, compassion, and respect you will be a true christian. This differs differently from religions that judge, call names or advocate against certain groups such as gays, or other races.