isnt christianity breaking the first commandment?

Question

the first commandment says:

THOU SHALT NOT HAVE strange gods BEFORE ME.


"Idolizing material images to the point they are held in superstition, and as men would suspect, suppose, determine 'The Creator of All Things' would be like; such as idols of human form or animal likeness also. (Pictures, Crosses,Holy Water Etc.)

Eliminating the Mystery of a Divine Being that no man can touch, see or feel. Replacing this Mystery with physical means and emphasis put on knowledge and man's own senses. (Saying Jesus Was God In human Form )

Interpreting God to fit a manner, mood and way, making Him humanly understandable rather than Divine." (What Would Jesus Do)

That Being Said isnt christianity breakin the first commandment?

Answer 1

+ 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 or crosses but the almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

With love in Christ.

+ Sacramentals +

Holy Water is a sacramental.

Sacramentals are sacred signs that help us live holy lives. Although they do not produce sanctifying grace

Sacramentals include blessings of persons, meals, objects (including water), and places.

The priest blesses the congregation during Mass.

Christians bless their meals. "Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts, ..."

Priests bless water, animals, ships, homes, and even automobiles. "God bless this home and all those who enter here."

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt4.htm#art1

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Interesting question. And you're right. Having idols such as crosses, etc is breaking the first commandment - which we still must keep (Matthew 22:37, 1 Cor. 10:14), so those claiming to be Christian who do such things should re-think. However, there are Christians who do not use images or idols, who don't say Jesus was God in human form. So, the answer to your question is yes, some are indeed breaking that first commandment, but not all Christians are.

Answer 3

The Jews certainly believed that Jesus was a heretic. His claim to be God Made Flesh was what got Him crucified. But the Resurrection demonstrates that He was indeed telling the truth, and that He is indeed God and Man.
Christians are not supposed to idolize the images and symbols associated with Christianity. Anyone who does, is indeed in error.
While the Mystery of Divinity is closer to understanding because of Jesus, it is still far beyond the capacity of mere men.
I love the WWJD people. I especially like when they think they can do what Jesus did. Like walking on water for instance...

So no, Christianity doesn't break any commandments. Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it.

Answer 4

You are whacko to say ALL Christianity is breaking the first commandment.

That's like saying "Muslims" think killing non-Muslims is OK.

Besides - this FIRST Commandment is:

"You shall have no other gods before me"

The Second Commandment deals with idol worship.

You need to research better.
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What these have to do with anything - I do not know.

"Eliminating the Mystery of a Divine Being that no man can touch, see or feel. Replacing this Mystery with physical means and emphasis put on knowledge and man's own senses. (Saying Jesus Was God In human Form )"

This argument is nonsense - Jesus said He and The Father were one.
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Interpreting God to fit a manner, mood and way, making Him humanly understandable rather than Divine." (What Would Jesus Do)

This argument is nonsense - The Bible also clearly shows Jesus had a human form - I mean , like, he was born, you know??
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Answer 5

Man, talk about being desperate to defame Christianity! You've twisted the definition of idolatry until it's about to snap.

Jesus IS God, and He chose to take on human form. That has nothing to do with "emphasis put on knowledge and man's own senses," since man had nothing to do with it. "Physical means" refers to creating an idol or some other tangible object in place of God.

And if you think that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are humanly understandable, apparently you've never met them up close and personal. Following Christ's example as spelled out in the Bible and knowing all that He is are two completely different things. You can serve Him all of your life and never finish knowing all about Him.

So no, sorry to burst your rhetoric bubble, but Christianity isn't breaking the First Commandment.

Answer 6

Catholics are Christians (sorry Chef Bob), simply because a Christian is a follower of Christ and we follow Christ. Just because the details of our practicing are different from those of other Christians, that does not mean that we are not Christians.

I can answer your question from the point of view of a Catholic. We belive that God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are one and the same. They are three incarnations of the same God - it's called the Trinity. Therefore, Jesus is not a strange god, He is The God, and we are worshipping him with no other strange god before Him. Pictures and crosses are ways of worshipping Him, not replacing Him. A "strange god" would be one different from God/Jesus, not a representation of Him. For example, if we believed in a separate god of fertility and prayed to him/her instead of Jesus, that would be putting a strange god before Him.

"What would Jesus Do?" is just a reminder to follow the ways and teachings of Jesus. If you are unsure of how you should behave in a situation, think of how Jesus would act, and since we should be following his example, that will guide us. To be honest, I have a feeling you may have understood that before you typed that sentence.

Oh, and we don't worship the Pope. He guides and teaches us in our religion. We know that he is not God, and we do not worship him as a god.

Answer 7

Ahh...

your asking alot in one Q. but lets see here...

Not all Christians idolize Pictures, Crosses, Holy Water, etc.
I believe it would be a sin to worship these things, and in The case of Christ, to have a picture of him. (ill answer this in the same answer as the nxt Q.

Christ is a man. Christ is God. one person with 2 distinct natures.
That is how we can call Christ God, how Christ could die for us, and why we shouldnt have images of him.
We can only have savior who is human, so Christ was born of Mary. He was also born of God. So he has both a human nature and is infinite, because God is inifinite. We need a saviour who is not finite because a finite saviour could only die for one person. Christ is infinite because he is God.
We shouldnt have images of him because we can never do justice to his divine nature.

lastly, We can not fully understand Christ. How in the world can one person have 2 distinct natures? i have no clue, yet it is clear from scripture he does.

Therefore, we are not braking the first commandment.
If we did what u said , we would be, but we, or some of us, are not doing what you said.

Oh, and the first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."

Answer 8

there are over 7000 Christian sects and techniques to have self belief and maximum except one is incorrect. We do understand an almighty functional God ought to have a real faith. That lets try it with assistance from its end result, or its moves. The issues they do. for the reason that contained in the bible the flood it says change into because the earth change into so violent. So ought to a faith that condones war be the authentic faith? not frequently! If a faith suggested now to not gamble, damage the body with tobacco, drugs or alcohol and each and every of the folk did that then that would not be the authentic faith. What in the adventure that they advised lies about God and suggested human beings should be kept alive merely so as that God ought to torture them? Hell? yet another suggested what God suggested contained in the backyard of Eden, "for dirt you're and to dirt you'll go back" then you fairly ought to determine that the second one should be the actuality. What in the adventure that they suggested the earth ought to dissipate? yet, Jesus suggested the Meek shalt inherit the earth, and the earth abidith continuously. and diverse different scriptures that say the earth change into made for righteous persons to stay to inform the tale continuously. that you'll hit upon the authentic faith you ought to imagine, pray, and be discerning. it truly isn't any ordinary notwithstanding the bible says "knock and it will be spoke back for you"

Answer 9

You're very confused. First of all, it says nothing about "strange God's" Secondly, the commandments were created before Christ. They are the Father's commandments and designed as a frame work for worshipping Him.

The entire basis of Christianity is to love God with all our hearts and to love everyone else as ourselves.

By the way, if you're ever wondering the entire truth of God, just show up in a church. They won't judge you, or try to trap you into anything. They will welcome you, sing, and give a message that pertains to everyday life and where God comes in.

God Bless you

Answer 10

Being a Christian simply means you've accepted Christ as your Savior. It doesn't mean we 'worship' anything other than God. Symbols such as crosses are only that - symbols and reminders. I only worship God. Jesus did come as God in human form - anything that makes him more understandable to man does not break the first commandment either. Again, there is no other god before God.