Why are Catholics so idolatrous?

Question

the ten commandments state that we should not have any gods before Him, that we should not make graven images and pray to them and it also sais that we should not worship and pray to any other images that are made by man. so why to the catholics pray to dead people and why do they give special places to other dead people. ie, the saints. the bible sais that all who choose to follow God are called saints. i am not knocking people, just a religion. if you take offence to this, i sincerely ask your forgiveness.

for those who haven't seen this question yet, there is a difference between catholics and christians. there are no protestants due to the fact that they died out ofer four hundred years ago. idolatry: 1. the worship of idols, 2. worship of a person or thing; great love or admiration; extreme devotion
idolatrous: 1. worshiping idols, 2. having to do with idolatry, 3. blindly adoring
idolater/idolatress: 1. a person who worships idols, 2. an admirer; adorer; devotee
idolize: 1. worship as an idol; make an idol of, 2. love or admire very much; be extremely devoted to
and you can make anything into a god. all you do is put things or people before the One True God.

Answer 1

to answer your question. Roman Catholics worship mary, not God. So that already classifies them as idol worshipers. Roamn catholics do not fall under christianity at all. They have their own beliefs. Do a bit of a study and you'll see they have ancient sun worshipping rituals. They are classified as the second biggest CULT next to satanism. And actually they are working hand in hand with satanism. Reas some books about them, i really encourage you to do some research. A few books that will help is the books by Rebecca Brown. and the internet has alot of info too.

Answer 2

I used to say that it isn't so much that we "pray" to the dead and saints and all them, but another user pointed out that the word pray has been used for centuries as another form of communication ... and not just with God. So it's not idolatry. And how many people out there can say that they NEVER talk to a deceased loved one?

What is a saint? Pick 5 theologians and you'll get 5 different answers, including the one you provided. One thing all answers will have in common is that saints are NOT divine, not God, and most certainly not to be worshipped. There is a difference between reverence and worship, and Catholics who cross that line need to be educated as to what they are doing; most of them would probably be horrified.

Answer 3

There is a difference between veneration and worship. All statues and works attributed to angels and saints as well as the crucifix and the Lord Jesus Christ are not regarded as true likenesses of the heavenly beings, but are attributed as a testimony of who they were, what disadvantageous it would have been to the illiterate in the dark and middle ages if they could only have received word of God by written written text alone aside for the teachings of a few preachers which in times of persecution in some areas were sparse. As for the VIRGIN Mary. As a Christian, you should also then acknowledge the the reverence to which the Hebrews gave to the actual Ark of the covenant of God, you know Cherubims , etc , the vessel which literally held the word of God. What then can be said of the Blesses Virgin, of who spring the Word made flesh ?

Answer 4

For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity was banned by the Roman empire, and Christians were terribly persecuted. This changed after the “conversion” of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine “legalized” Christianity at the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313. Later, in A.D. 325, Constantine called together the Council of Nicea, in an attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive development for the Christian church, the results were anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully embrace the Christian faith, but continued many of his pagan beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that Constantine promoted was a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism.

Constantine found that with the Roman Empire being so vast, expansive, and diverse – not everyone would agree to forsake their religious beliefs and instead embrace Christianity. So, Constantine allowed, and even promoted, the “Christianization” of pagan beliefs.

Answer 5

Catholics don't have any gods before Him.

We don't make graven images as idols to pray to. The statues and stained glass and icons in a Catholic Church are basically meant to tell Biblical truth in a picture, which was absolutely necessary before society became so literate. Used to be only rich/powerful people knew how to read, so a beautiful statue of Jesus holding a lamb or a stained glass window showing the resurrection of Christ was how illiterate people got the Bible. And today, even though so many of us know how to read, these images are "focal points" of inspiration that help us stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about things of the Lord.

We don't pray to DEAD people. Any of the saints are ALIVE again in Christ...didn't you get that message from the Bible? He conquers death, dude, and people who are in heaven are ALIVE, not dead. We pray to them because that's how you talk to a saint who is already in heaven, and we ask them to pray for us, because we believe in the Communion of Saints -- in other words, if you are a believer, you're part of the Church whether or not you are on earth or in heaven, and the Bible says that we should seek the prayers of the righteous (James 5:16). Who is more righteous than Jesus and the saints He has fully absolved and made alive in heaven?

Yes, all who choose to follow God are saints, but the ones in heaven have been completely purified and have no attachment to sins. I'd rather you ask one of them to pray for you than me, because I'm still an imperfect person (although I would be glad to pray for you!).

Please get more FACTS about Catholicism. We're a lot more like you in faith than you think.

Answer 6

How often does it have to be said that Catholics do NOT pray TO statues? They use them as symbols. You might say they help the person who is praying to focus on who the statue represents.
Yes, Catholics would say that anyone in heaven is a saint. The people who the Church has canonized are those whose lives are especially noteworthy. Think of this analogy-- there have been hundreds of millions of citizens of the U.S., but there are only a select number for whom statutes have been set up in Washington, D. C. Finally, Catholics do not adore saints, but may pray to them to intercede for them with God.
No offense taken.

Answer 7

Yawwwwwwwwwwwn! Different day, same tired questions and misconceptions. The Catholic bashing gets very old.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a man, loved by people of all faiths because of his zeal for ecumenism, once said, "There are not over a 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church -- which is, of course, quite a different thing."

Years later his statement is more true than ever.

Evan R said, "Roman Catholics worship mary, not God. "

LOL! We don't worship God? What planet are you from? I'll be praying for your poor misguided soul, so that you'll stop spreading such lies.

Answer 8

I take no offense. I'm happy to attempt to help you understand.

First off, we don't pray TO them. We ask THEM to pray FOR us.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray FOR us sinners..."

We Catholics believe there are three parts to our church. The Church Militant - that is us here on earth. The Church Suffering - those in purgatory. And the Church Triumphant - those who have attained Heaven.

This means that no matter what state we are in, living or dead, we are still part of the Body of Christ. The Church of Christ.

Protestants do not normally read the Book of Maccabees. It was removed from their bibles 500 years ago. The Maccabees discusses prayers and sacrifices for the dead. Early Christians even "stood in the gap" - a term even the Protestants use - and were baptised for their dead.

So, we don't pray TO saints. We don't expect them to grant us wishes like some sort of genie. We ask for their intercession. All Christians will ask others to pray for them. I know of many Protestants who ask dead family members and friends to pray for them. And yet, they get very hostile about saints.

We certainly don't worship images. We don't expect a statue of a saint to DO anything for us. It is nothing more to us than a photo you might have of someone you love. If that person is dead, you might look a the photo and carry on a conversation.

Yes, the bible calls all of us saints. However, some Christians reach what the Catholic Church calls Heroic Virtue. Heroic Virture pertains to people like Mother Theresa. I will never reach a state of holiness like she did.

People who reach states of Heroic Virtue are good to learn about. They help us average Joes on our own paths to holines. That's why the church gives them official recognition.

I hope that helps.

I'd like to correct Mr. Crazy's statement that saints grant miracles. They do not. They are intercessors. They go to God on our behalf. God grants the miracle. AND he will only grant the miracle if it is to the benefit of our souls.

Even when Jesus performed a miracle he told people to give thanks to God.

Answer 9

Southey feel very Strong about them, and will never give them up, but now some Cathedrals have pictures adorning the walls instead of statues--makes them just like Protestants, Huh?

There were Christians around the Mediterranean who did not believe in icons. About 498 AD Clovis was baptised as Catholic on Christmas day with his troops. Then they started military campaigns in France that eliminated those who felt Icons were idols.

Then, about 536 AD, Belesarius began military campaigns against North Africans who upheld God´s law. He launched about 35,000 troops against the Arians. When Islam over ran N. Africa, the Arians saw them as liberators. They would not have that opinion today in Sharai states.

Read about Catholicism and Bible prophecy at http://abiblecode.tripod.com. For history of Islam and bible prophecy, select the Islam link.

Blessings, Balaam

Answer 10

Main Entry: idol·a·try
Pronunciation: -trE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -tries
Etymology: Middle English ydolatrie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin idolatria, alteration of Late Latin idololatria, from Greek eidOlolatreia, from eidOlon idol + -latreia -latry
1 : the worship of a physical object as a god

Anyone who believes the Catholic Church does this is either an idiot or purposefully spreading misinformation about the Church. Same goes for anyone who doesn't think Catholicism is Christianity. Please read the Bible.

Answer 11

Why is it that Fundamentalist Protestants never notice Exodus 25 or 1Kings 6&7( the angels' istatues God COMMANDED to make and honor)?