What do Catholics do about this idolitry? And general christians who have a cross with Jesus on it?

Question

Deuteronomy 4:16:
16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,

Exodus 20:4:
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below

Answer 1

I don't know what a "general christian" is, but if you mean non-catholic, we don't wear crosses with Christ on it, that's called a crucifix, which is catholic. We just wear the plain cross, no figure of Christ on it.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

I don't see why you couldn't. I am a Catholic Christian but I have Protestant Christian friends. I have heard some criticisms about having Jesus on a Cross whether it's on the neck or on the wall. They say that Jesus was resurrected and ascended into Heaven so that His Crucifixion is over. As far as I know, the Catholic position is exactly the same as your idea, that having Jesus on the Cross reminds us of what He did to enable our Salvation. When I see an empty Cross it doesn't remind me of what Jesus did. I was a Protestant Christian until I was 27 y/o and I didn't like the idea of an empty Cross then either. In my mind you can wear what you want to but don't be surprised if some of your Protestant Christian friends don't at least ask you about it. I also think your right in that what kind of Cross a person wears has nothing to do with their salvation.

Answer 4

I am a Christian who wears a cross daily. It is not an idol. I do not pray to it, bow down before it, think that I can't get through a day without it, worship it, and so forth. It is simply a necklace. You have to really understand what these rules in Deuteronomy and Exodus stemmed from. At this point in history, there were new carvings of idols popping up everywhere. People were worshiping all kinds of things. These laws do not imply that we cannot have necklaces or decorative items. These laws are meant to tell us that we should not make anything with the intention of worshiping it. God is the only one worthy of our worship. And He is a jealous God.

Answer 5

I think you are perhaps slightly confused about the definition of the word "idol". It's not an image, itself, which is a problem. If it were, then you would be committing a grave sin by carrying a photograph of your children, grandchildren, or other family members in your wallet. Never mind the pictures of relatives in your wallet, the *money* in your wallet should also be cast away because it all features pictures of our past heads of state.

The American Heritage dictionary defines an "idol" as:

i·dol (īd'l)
n.
1.
a. An image used as an object of worship.
b. A false god.
2. One that is adored, often blindly or excessively.
3. Something visible but without substance.

The first definition is applicable here. An image or object is a problem if the image, itself, is worshipped. An image can also be a problem if it is of something other than God, and the thing represented by that image is worshipped instead of God.

That's kind of convoluted, so let me use an example. I have a picture of my sister and brother-in-law on my fireplace mantle. First of all, simply being in possession of this picture does not make me an idolator. I do not worship the paper, ink, wood, and glass that make up the picture.

When I see the picture of my sister and her husband on my way past the fireplace, I often smile and think of them fondly. The picture of them reminds me of their presence in my life, for which I am very grateful. Am I an idolator because I use this visual aid both to remind myself and demonstrate to visitors that I have a great family? Do I worship my sister and her husband simply because I display a picture of them? I hardly think so.

Moreso than protestantism, Catholicism does use visual images as part of the practice of the faith. This is not, NOT, because we worship anything besides God; we absolutely do not. For over a thousand years, Catholic congregations were almost entirely illiterate. If the Faithful can't read, then you communicate to them with pictures, statues, stained glass, music, etc. This is why, historically, Catholicism has been a more visually oriented expression of Christian faith. We have our statues and our stained glass, but we do not worship the images or objects, nor do we worship the saints they represent.

Statues of saints are like pictures of beloved family members. We keep them to remind ourselves that these are the people whose lives we seek to emulate. These are the people, in addition to our earthly friends and family, whom we ask to pray for us to God. That's all there is to it; no worship involved. (I'm not going to go into intercessory prayer here, as that's not part of your question, but there's plenty of Scriptural justification for it.)

Answer 6

The point of idolatry is worshipping the idol. I worship God. I appreciate the beauty of all the religious art. Yet not once have I worshipped it. I have a cross as a remembrance not a charm. I have a Christmas tree, I find them beautiful..I do not worship it. I love Halloween, an I have never sacrificed anyone for Samhain. God knows what is in the heart. He can see though the outward appearance. How many people worship money? Don't be to quick to judge others.

Answer 7

definition of an idol: an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed.

A cross is not an idol. I would never pray to a piece of metal, I PRAY TO GOD. I wear a cross as a symbol of my faith, I dont know anyone that prays to it. If you do, they need to be further educated on Christianity. Thats all. God will show them the proper way I am certain.

Answer 8

Exodus 25:18-20
"And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be."

It appears that you didn't read all of Exodus, for the Lord commanded the use of images. Images which are used to adorn churches, to help us focus on holy things, or to remind us of saints who have long passed are not graven images. A graven image is something which is worshiped, a false god.

Answer 9

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:
Exodus 25:18- And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

Answer 10

First of all we don't idolize figures or statues, this is a myth spawned on by people like yourself, who could care less about truth. But if you are really interested,
God and Jesus and the Spirit are one in the most Holy Trinity, the statues used are there as a reminders, like paintings, like stories, like the newspaper clippings, of what our savior did for us. So to have these reminders is not idolotry, we don't offer sacrifices to it, we don't give our lives up to it, we don't offer up prayers to it.
Secondly, when Christ came He became God in the flesh, we no longer needed to follow the laws of Moses, because not even the Jews could coincide one which ones must be followed and which ones could be bent a little. So the new commandments also repeated by Christ but taken out of the Old Testament where "Love God with all your heart mind and soul, and your neighbor as yourself". These two are what we follow when we show our devotion in the presence of the Cross. Our devotion to the FACT that he dies for you and I on that Cross and we are not deserving of this ultimate love.
God bless and may His name be praised forever.

Answer 11

You are quoting the Old Testament, Jewish text - to be revered as the beginnings of the Christian religion, but that is it...Jesus came and replaced the Judaic faith, according to the New Testament.
Christians do not worship the cross, of an image of Jesus on a cross - it serves as a reminder of his sacrifice for the rest of humanity - at least in the traditional understanding of Jesus' death that is..

Even Paul in his letters in the NT says not to worship idols, etc..but I would imagine he would accept the image of Jesus on the cross - as a reminder only. It would inspire piety.