Why do Christians & Catholics lets face it basicly worship crucifixes and effigys of jesus?

Question

If idol worship is a sin then why do Christians and Catholics alike when their in church they bow their heads cross their chests and pray to Crucifixes and images of Jesus. Isnt that hypocritical? I'm an Atheist so I see most religious writing to be full of it and hypocritical.oh and b4 any of you hard butt religious people out there start saying im gonna go for hell for whatever reason that just shows how little your faith accomplished

just on a quick note the bible says to worship god and noone else including his son so there for every time you say " Our Lord Jesus Christ" you are taking "GODS" name in vein and arguing against that little detail just proves you wrong

and for most of you who say you dont worship these things then why do you find the time to go to a building full of the stuff? and the 1's who just wear a necklace of a cross and u say its to remind you of jesus ummm why dont you just remember? its still idol worship

no i do not salute the flag ill wipe my *** with it b4 i salute it, its nothing more than a peice of cloth to me i could care less if someone burns it craps on it urinates on it vomits on it uses it for a napkin it means nothing to me i love my country but the flag and government i dont care about and about me having pictures of my family or what not is irrelevant because millions of people arnt worshiping my family or thier OWN family because some very poorly written book tells them to or their going to burn. dont get me wrong people i think its a very good to have a faith but not a religion and yes there is a difference between the 2 faith is personal religion is mass and with faith you dont need any kind of symbol to beleive in what you want to beleive in and like i said b4 those of you who wear your lil cross necklace and have crucifixes and images of jesus in your churches or homes well what good is your religion if you need reminders? you either belive or you dont, no grey line

and my best freind is a hardlined 100% christian im not the kind of person who discriminate cause of someones beliefs I just strongly believe that religion has done nothing more than destroy free thinking

Answer 1

You are actually right!

Christians are not supposed to worship a crucifix or an image of Jesus. The Bible clearly states that "you shall not have any other god before me". This refers to idol worship, and worshiping anything or praying to anything other than God himself, is not true worship, as defined by the Bible.

You are further correct in stating that it shows "little faith". If you truly believe in God, you don't need a ritual, a crucifix, holy water, or a cracker.

Mankind has added all of this to religion. James 1:27 says Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (NASB ©1995)


KAL --- I thought at Easter we are talking about the
Resurrection?

Questioner: Are you serious about your additional details? With all due respect, you really just don't understand the very subject you are questioning. What is troubling is that instead of seeking to educate and better yourself, you are simply criticizing the answers. Does that make you feel better?

Answer 2

Be careful of generalizations...I'm a Christian and you won't find an idol of Jesus, God, or any other spiritual person or being anywhere in my house or in my church! I have necklaces with a cross and I've seen a cross in my church on certain occasions (for example on Easter Sunday when we are actually talking about the crucifixion)...but I've never worshiped a cross...for me, it is simply a reminder of God's love for me not an idol.

Actually, this is one area where I agree with you...it seems to be a basic human failing to put a face to the things we worship...to make something we can see and touch to represent something we can't. People have been creating idols since the beginning of time. Heck, we still put the faces of dead presidents on our money...and money is certainly an idol for many people!

Oh, and I'm certainly not saying that I don't have my own "idols" to worship...I'm not perfect...I struggle every day to put God first in my life and I fail in some way every day. However, I do have a problem with churches that encourage Christians to focus on an idol and use it as an intermediary between them and God.

Answer 3

I do not know of any Christian groups or individuals that worship crucifixes or images of Jesus.

We may genuflect when we are reminded of Jesus and His sacrifice for you and I but we do not worship that which reminds us of Him. Worship is reserved for God alone.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

It seems that many people have a gross misunderstanding of what God's word says about idol worship and use God's commandment to attack His Church and His faithful. God commanded that we not put any other God before Him. He did not say that we are not to use objects as a reminder to worship Him or recognise His passion for us represented by the cross.

One must sometimes put aside their hatred and use reason instead. If God did not like images why did He order the images on the Ark of the Covenant or Solomon's temple. And, to carry reason a bit further, why do Protestants who hate His Church use Bibles which are written with nothing but literal graven images. Is that idolatry as well. If not, why not? One should think and have knowledge and reason before appearing ignorant and bigoted. Someone said it is better to appear ignorant than to speak and remove all doubt. Do you really believe that the Church teaches or the faithful believe that they are worshipping these objects? If you do then you are responding only to bigoted hatred.

Answer 4

Christians don't worship the actual crucifix or representation of Jesus. That would be stupid.

We use pictures, statues, crosses, etc. to help us focus on who it is representing.

It's like when you have a picture of your boyfriend or girlfriend. Sometimes you like to look at it when you think about him/her. That doesn't mean you are in love with that actual picture. It's just a kind of device to help you focus your thoughts on that person.

And you're right about the pagans worshipping idols. Their idols were of false gods, so I guess somebody in the early church decided it was ok to have an "effigy" as long as it was of the True God.

Just a guess here....

Answer 5

It's not that they are worshipping the cross, or crucifix, or even saints. It is a symbolic gesture of honor, much like you would curtsy or bow in the presence of royalty, or at least a civilized person would. I have my doubts about just how much "religious writing" you've actually read, and it's no part of my faith to tell you you're going to hell or anywhere else.

Answer 6

do you worship the flag or the cloth and colors when you salute it? are you an idolator? are you a hypocrite? How do you see icon -veneration as hypocritical? It's not idolatry. Can you distinquish between a symbol and it stands for? do you find visual reminders like photos of loved ones helpful?

Answer 7

In our church buildings, we don't have crucifixes, crosses, or images of Jesus for that very reason. (I'm a member of the Church of Christ; it's non-denominational.) We don't cross ourselves, nor do we wear crosses as "reminders". We do bow our heads to show reverence to God. When we mention Jesus in our prayer, we are either thanking God for Him, or we are praying "in Jesus' name" because it's in Jesus, or through Him, that we are saved; it's not blasphemous.

I hope this helps.

Answer 8

J & J, darlings!
I am a Christian (Evangelical, some call us), not Catholic, and we don´t whorship, don´t cross our chests or bow our heads, don´t pray to idols, saints, nor have any crucifixes or images of Jesus in our churches.
In the Bible (that, for us, contains Words of God) it says this worshipping this objects (or any other) is not pleasing to God, it is abbomination to Him.
We adore and pray only to GOD, that is a spiritual being.
I don´t think that you are going to hell. I am sure that you will meet personally this marvellous person that is Jesus, the Son of God.
Love from
Grandma.

Answer 9

You have Christians mixed up with Catholic.Christians don't bow their heads and make a cross sign at the chest when entering church.The Catholics are the ones who still having Jesus hangiing on the cross not Christians.We know he left that cross over 2000 years ago.We don't pray to the crucifixe either.So you'll need to ask Catholic only this question.And by the way yes it is worshipping idols.

Answer 10

No, false idols mean other religions and icons. Considering a cross is a Christian symbol it is ok to worship it as you are showing your faith to the lord.