christian idol worship?

Question

was watching something on the history channel about the second commandment. there are many painting, statues, symbols in Christian churches, and way more in catholic churches with all the saints. The question is are these idols? most questions are quick to condem hindus as "idol worshippers" however hindus view statues as depictions of values they hold sacred such as wisdom, courage, etc only uneducated village folk view a statue as having any real power (however most people do have some sub concious respect for the statues i.e they would be upset if you disrespected it ). is it the same with christians? i would bet most christians do not believe the representation of jesus on the cross or of the virgin mary are not real, however they seem to hold the same respect hindus do towards them. how are the two differentiated

Answer 1

If you worship them and put your faith in them or pray to them
it is considered idolatry.

Answer 2

Idolotry implies that the "god" lives within or is the statue or whatever.
Back in the very olden days, people did indeed put excessive value in statues. The prayed to them, and worshipped them. Some cultures worshipped their grain fields, trees, the sun, and all sorts of things they thought were mystical at the time.
Christians are supposed to "know better" because God commanded that there be no other "gods" before Him.

Christians with all of their statues and artwork do not worship the artwork, but as you say, respect what it stands for.
Some congregations have local traditions that prefer to exclude such artwork because it may lead some inexperienced people to put their faith in the statues, rather than directly in God.

There is a good deal of misunderstandings between Christians in general and non-Christian religions. When Christians see the little statues of Bhudda, and have people tell us to rub his belly, it makes us wonder about that religion. The truth is this is a tradition, and the folks do not believe that the statue is the god, but merely a representation of a god.
They are not worshipping the statue itself, but the entity it represents.

But you never get to know the truth if you don't ask. I think most people tend to stop at the wondering part. There are only a few that try to find the truth behind the wonder.

Answer 3

Yay!!! Finally a Catholic question!!! Lemme explain if I can well enough!!!

You are pretty darn close with the analogy to Hindu's respect for an image/statue/etc. We do not worship the art (that is what it is by the way... art). It is merely a way of expression and interpretation of how we believe a scene or person might have looked... such as Jesus on the cross (crucifix), or the sacred heart statues. They merely remind us of what has happened. Only people truly ignorant of the religion can believe that we are worshiping the statues or saints or mary, etc. (not meaning to offend anyone of course). As to someone desecrating a statue/painting/etc. We would be about as mad as Europe would be about someone destroying the Mona Lisa (I hope that helps somewhat).

Answer 4

I would say that it comes down to what one person says over what another says. While a christian may venerate a holy object such as the cross, or the bible, they will swear up and down that they don't worship it. However, the same people will see the same sort of veneration in a religion like Hinduism and believe it to be idol worship, mostly because they don't understand the true nature of the religion. The true nature of "Idol worship" in the Judeo-Christian culture has more to do with putting the physical world ahead of the spiritual world. Unfortunately, the improper following of that commandment can lead to bigotry of other religions.

Answer 5

I have to agree with you one the cross. It's merely an object, and it's not like Christians beleive that Jesus is now incarnated in every cross shaped object on earth. And Christians (or at least some) worship the cross. In the Catholic church, when they rise from their pews, they kneel facing it, and cross themselves. Worship? Close enough. It's also in a place of honor. As for the Kaaba, that building wasn't there in Muhammad's time, there was a different one. The Black Stone was though. The Kaaba was just the building that was placed over the spot where Allah miraculously gave Abraham water from the well there. They face toward the Kaaba because facing any other way would be praying towards something unholy and is therefore idolatry, or at least as my Muslim friend in Turkey explained it to me.

Answer 6

I believe Jade is lying because i am Catholic and i was never taught to condemn Hindus as idol worshipers, so unless Jade does not know the difference between Catholics and the other "Christians" that really do say such things, she is just plain wrong. if she does not know the difference it is just an honest mistake and not a lie. To the Protestants and others that say we are not Christians and that we are idolaters, i hope you know what you are doing when you think you have the right to judge, because i believe that right belongs to God alone.

Answer 7

i·dol [ d'l ] (plural i·dols)


noun

Definition:

1. object of adoration: somebody or something greatly admired or loved, often to excess
2. object worshiped as god: something that is worshiped as a god, e.g. a statue or carved image
3. forbidden object of worship: in monotheistic religions, an object of worship other than the one God
[13th century. Via French idole < Greek eidōlon "image" < eidos "form, shape"]

Any object of adoration. The cross is one such graven image that all popular Christian denominations tolerate. Catholics also adore statues of Saints,Mary and artist renderings of Jesus. Even the Bible has been adored to the point of excess (people supposing the action of burning an old, tattered bible as blasphemy).
So I would tell you, Hinduism and the majority of Christianity are both guilty of idolatry.
The only difference is, Catholics believe they are God's authority and allowed to do anything the Pope declares. Protestants are misguided daughter's that follow every rule of Catholicism except Pope worship and each new doctrine they incorporate over time.

Answer 8

If there is any physical thing that you put before God, it is an Idol. If it is a statue of a God, you may start out using the statue as a way toward God but you find yourself worshiping the actual Idon, not the God.

Answer 9

The Idol worship which is condemned is meaning the false Gods or the demi gods. We should not put anyone higher than God. Some Hindus worship demi gods (Genesha, Shiva, Dhurgha ec.) and they can be worshiped but not as God. Just as one should worship ones mother. That means give respect. We can worship Idols but not false idols. We should worship the saints not as God, but as pure servants of God. It is all fanaticism to throw out the baby with the bath water and not worship statues at all. We should worhsip Krishna, Allah, Jehovah, Vishnu, They are all the same one God with many names.

Answer 10

Wow. We better all be removing all our pictures of flowers, animals, trees and oh especially pictures of our families from our wall too!! After all, we must be worshipping them, right? Wrong!! Pagans would actually worship these things. But, today most people have statues, art pictures and pictures of loved ones on their walls to display their faith and as reminders of who they love. God knows and judges our hearts, so we don't have to base our lives on what people think, but what God thinks and sees in us.

Answer 11

I don't think there's much difference at all. None of the items are really "idols" just symbols. Nobody actually worships them.