Ouestion about Catholics?

Question

I have had many people tell me that Catholics are wrong because they worship idols (example: Mary). I don't think they do but would a Catholic explain this to me so that next time I'll know what to say

no, I'm not Catholic but have always admired them and one of my best friends is Catholic. I have been to her church and really like it. I don't have a particular religion. I just love God and know Jesus died for my sins.

Answer 1

+ 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, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

And prayer to the saints is optional not required.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm#946

+ Graven Images +

Do you have pictures of your loved ones? Have you ever looked at the picture of someone while talking on the phone to them?

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.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I'm not a catholic but in my search to find out if my church was true i read a lot about them. Mary is the Mother of Jesus. As the mother of Jesus she has a special relationship with him. they pray to her because they feel that she is more capable of talking to Jesus than they are. It works the same with all the saints that the Catholics have. I have never known wether to call the catholic Idol worshipers or not.

Answer 3

I am a Catholic and though I am not terribly religious I know that we do not worship idols- it is strictly forbidden in the 10 Commandments. We don't "worship" Mary per se. We think she was a great woman who was the virgin mother of Jesus and we pray to her, but we don't worship her as a god or anything.
Also, Idols are images and figures or statues. They are not, like, false gods, which I think is what you mean when you say Mary.
Then again, everyone has their own opinions and could theoretically argue that the Eucharist is an idol or something like that. Hope this doesn't confuse you more.

Answer 4

Catholics do not worship idols. We do not hold the Blessed Vrgin Mary or any of the Saints to the same level as we do Jesus Christ. However, what most people do not understand is our seeking intercessions. Yes, we believe we can talk straight to God in His Son's name and He will hear us. But I ask you, have you ever asked someone else to pray for you or a loved one? This is called asking someone to intercede before God for you or the loved one. Catholics do this when we "pray" (notice the quotes, very important) to the Blessed Virgin Mary or one of the saints.

Another big problem people have is how we, Catholics, raise the Blessed Virgin Mary up (supposedly even with her Son). We actually do not do this but we do acknowledge the critical role she had as the mother of our Savior and as the Queen of Heaven as described in the Bible. It is meant to honor her and give her the respect and dignity the position entails.

I hope this helps. If you need more info, let me know.

Answer 5

Just as you may have a picture of departed loved one on the wall, that you occasionally look at and smile, we have statues.
We pray to God, through Mary and the Saints. We Worship God and not the Saint and not Mary.
However, Mary does have a special place in the hearts of our Lord and Catholics everywhere. God gave this young woman the option of saying no. She said yes, risking her life, and knowing she would endure great emotional pain, she said yes. Saying thank you every once in a while, is not too much to ask.

The crucifix, is there to remind us of the suffering our Lord went through for us, and for our sins. I think too many people see it as a cross, and not the man on it.

Answer 6

Catholics Christians do not worship Mary or any of the other saints. We only worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We honor Mary and recognize that she was a very special person "full of grace".

We, as Catholic Christians, talk to the dead in Christ, and ask that they intercede on our behalf (this would include Mary). This is no different than any Christian asking fellow believers to offer intercessory prayer on their behalf.

Answer 7

The original meaning of the word prayer was not worship but to ask or petition. We are asking Mary and the saints to pray for us just like you would ask a person in this life to pray for you.

If a person is actually worshiping the statue then they are guilty of idolatry. But the statue is a reminder of that saint. It has no value in itself.

Afterall the God asked that the Ark of the Covenant have cherubims carved on it.

Answer 8

practically my entire family is catholic. From what i see, the catholic church has twisted many a scripture and made a relationship into a religion. catholics say they are praying that mary would intercede for them to talk to Jesus who will then turn and talk to God for them. This is all unneccessary because we can all access God through Jesus. Jesus became a man so that He could relate to us and us with Him. He came for us so why not talk directly to Him? What can Mary do for us here on earth. She was just as normal a human being as you and I are. She has no divinity. She was a usable vessel and God honored her faithfulness by allowing her to bear His son. After that, she is just back to a normal human being. Praying to anything other than God, whether it be a saint, a crucifix, or a bucket of golf balls is idolatry.

the use of the rosary could also be considered idolatry... but thats a different story

A cross on the wall with a bloody Jesus hanging from it would be considered a reminder for Catholics. But what is it that we should be reminded of? Yes, He sacrificed His life for us and we should be grateful, but the real story is the resurrection. A simple cross could do the trick

Answer 9

I would presume that the church people who ask you this question have nothing but chairs in their Church--Like the Quakers. Even a cross can be cast as an idol.

Mary is a favorite of mine, real or fictional, mother of a God or Jewish Maiden, her story is one heck of a read. The pressures surrounding the things that happened in her family were far beyond what any woman would be asked to sustain in this day and age.

Worship, no, I'm a Pagan. However, even in this mundane world of ours, if your really want to communicate with a Jewish Son, you go to his Mother. Therefore, if I ever needed Jesus I would seek out Mary--and if there is a statue about that would help me to concentrate in reaching out to her, it would be very welcome.

I don't believe your God would be angry, for he is a Jewish Father and knows the drill.

Answer 10

We as Catholics worship and pray to Mary as a mother of Jesus, son of god. She gave birth to him and enabled him that he can be born as a human. He was born by her so that he colud experience all that humans do and directly teach us and inspire us with his word, which , in the end had much stronger outcome than when he mediated across prophets between himself and the people, which also have spread his word. By idols i think you are talking about saints ? Those are examples of a special , very very moral people who devoted their lives , one way or another, to fight against sin and help their fellow man. There are a whole lot of people in other faiths as well. They may not be worshiped in a way as we worship ours , but they are praised as well. I wold bet that Hindu people wold elevate Mathatma Ghandi to the saint , when that wold exist in their faith ( for all i know , maybe it does). It is a way we are giving thanks to them for everything that they fought for.