For Jehova Witnesses it means they cannot pledge allegience to the flag, a peice of cloth, or even the state it represents.
For muslims, it means they cannot even have images, sculptures, paintings, etc of their god Allah. Muslims hold the ten commandments to be true also.
What does it mean for christians who pledge allegience to the flag and state and worship at the foot of sculptures of Jesus and/or Mary?
2007-05-20 17:04:06 · 13 answers · asked by trovalta_stinks_2 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Lawrence,
Most churches seem to have large sculptures of Jesus on a cross. They kneel and pray before it.
As I said before, muslims also hold the ten commandments to be true, but they will not even dare to come up with idols/images to represent Allah or Muhhamed.
2007-05-20 17:13:53 · update #1
Simple. It means do not worship idols.
Jehovah Witnesses stretch the commandment too far. Allegiance with others is not idol worship. They are allied with each other, aren't they?
Muslims are rather foolish, in that their blanking out of even the face of Mohamed was done *after* other Muslims painted his face. This is not idol worship, it is art.
Christians do not worship idols, the statues are art. Christians worship the Lord. The sculptures are a place at which they worship the Lord. The art can serve as a reminder, nothing more.
2007-05-21 05:00:40 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Idol worship is when you put something in a place more important than Jesus/God. Christians can pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag (or the flag of their country) without placing it above God. Christians do not worship at the feet of sculptures, although there are some people of one denomination who tend to do that. However, that doesn't mean that all the people of that, or any other Bible-believing denomination, are not Christian.
2007-05-20 17:10:06 · answer #2 · answered by †Lawrence R† 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I am a Christian, but I don't worship at the foot of sculptures of Jesus or Mary. I do pledge allegiance to the flag. I love my country, but I do not worship it. I am very thankful for the America that I was blessed to grow up in. America has been blessed by God in the past and the Gospel has reached around the world from her missionaries. I am concerned for the current spiritual state we are in.I pray for revival and that God can once again bless our nation.Idol worship to me is anything that you put before your Lord. For some it is work, or money, for some it is the approval of others.... it can be so many things besides the obvious things like going to a fortune teller for advice instead of going to God,or actual Satan worship.You can make up a god to suit your own life style, who allows you to live comfortably with your sin of choice. That is probably the most common form of idolatry in this nation today.Honoring your king or your nation is not idol worship.God appointed king David and king Solomon. I believe that He is happy when we appreciate it when He blesses us with a godly nation and godly leaders.I hope we can become that nation again! I believe there are many places in the Bible that tell us to honor and respect our kings and our governments, except for cases where they ask you to go against what God tells you to do.Daniel for instance, wouldn't bow before the idol. God bless America!!!
2007-05-20 17:20:11 · answer #3 · answered by BERT 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
God first.
Thats it period.
no idols, no matter the form - images, sculptures, paintings, or whatever should be bowed down before or revered as an object of power or blessing inductive source.
Pledging allegiance to the US is not worshipping.
1 God first.
2 Family second - unless it interfers with #1
3 Country third - unless it interfers with #1 and #2.
2007-05-20 17:20:47 · answer #4 · answered by cordsoforion 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
It's a heart issue. You cannot love something more than you love God. If you are honoring your country by saying the Pledge of Allegiance,that's fine; if the flag or your country is what you love most that's wrong. I don't believe praying at the foot of a statue is wrong, either, if it helps you feel closer to God; but if you are praying to the statue that's the problem.
2007-05-20 17:10:19 · answer #5 · answered by Maggie M 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
TRUE Christians do NOT worship Mary or ANY STATUE OR WORK OF ART. (One of the words used in the original Greek of the New Testament translated into English as "worship" means literally "to kneel before" which is what many SUPPOSED Christians do to their statues while claiming to worship God.)
The Biblical commentary on idolatry points out just how stupid it is to worship anything man-made. Here is a little bit on the subject:
Isaiah 44:15 Man gets wood from trees for fuel. He uses some of it to warm himself. He starts a fire and bakes bread. But he also uses some of it to make a god and worship it. He makes a statue of a god and bows down to it.
16 He burns half of the wood in the fire. He prepares a meal over it. He cooks meat over it. He eats until he is full. He also warms himself. He says, “Good! I’m getting warm. The fire is nice and hot.”
17 From the rest of the wood he makes a statue. It becomes his god. He bows down and worships it. He prays to it. He says, “Save me. You are my god.”
18 People like that don’t even know what they are doing. Their eyes are shut so that they can’t see the truth. Their minds are closed so that they can’t understand it.
-- Isaiah comments extensively on the idol worship among both the Jews and other countries. Several times the artisans that make objects of worship are discussed and their folly exposed.
As for the pledge and related comments...
1Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Scripture upholds the authority of ALL rulers. To honor or respect is not the same as to worship, so there seems to be no conflict between TRUE Christianity and showing the honor which is due to governments or their officials.
Jesus submitted himself to Pilate, though he could have easily done otherwise. He told Pilate that God had given him (Pilate) the authority he had. -- John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You were given power from heaven. If you weren’t, you would have no power over me. So the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
2007-05-20 17:07:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The bible does make some pretty strong statements about idolatry. True Christians (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) work to follow the bible's plain instruction about idols.
(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/
http://watchtower.org/e/20050908a/
2007-05-24 10:01:57 · answer #7 · answered by achtung_heiss 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, Catholics don't worship Mary. To me, idolatry means anything I allow to become all-important, or allow it to displace the truly important things in life, the first being God.
2007-05-20 17:12:26 · answer #8 · answered by keri gee 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It means not to put anything higher than God. Not to make anything to worship and call it God.
2007-05-20 17:12:23 · answer #9 · answered by Abbasangel 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No TV
The commandment is about putting God first in your thoughts, words and deeds. TV is a big stumbling block for me. Actually, my brain is a big stumbling block for me.
2007-05-20 17:08:42 · answer #10 · answered by Shinigami 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋