I'm Catholic and My Friend Asked Me Why We Worshipped Idols/Statues!?

Question

My friend was over like last week and I have this mini statue of mary that plays ave maria and its on my dresser...she saw it and was like why do u have a statue of mary in your room! Then she was like why do Catholics worship idols and bow down to statues! And I was like we don't worship them like that! It really annoyed me! This girl is baptist and she thinks her religion is superior to everyone elses! And I told her we don't worship them like she thinks we do and she was like yeah and you pray to them to and then she was like you say that one prayer and I was like Hail Mary? and she was like yeah! I think this it total crap and I hate how Christians like Protestants, Baptists, etc always say that about Catholics!

my friend is deff a baptist and i tried explaining to her that catholics don't worship them we just pray to saints and stuff like that and that theres nothing wrong with that but she still is being ignorant and its really starting to make me mad! i love being catholic and its like shes trying to "solocit" her religion on me!

I never said I hated my friend...she still is my best friend for life but sometimes when we get on the subject of religion we tend to get into arguments! they never get out of hand and i don't think they would ever ruin a friendship!

Answer 1

If she is trying to make you doubt your faith, I would say her own faith is not that strong.
I am not a Catholic but I do know for a fact that they do not worship Mary or the saints. I am a Buddhist and have saints in my house that my father and brother have given me. I do not worship them, but see them as people who should be respected for the lives they led. I am also secure enough in my beliefs that I do not feel the need to tell others that their faith is wrong.
I suggest that you tell your friend that she either needs to respect your beliefs or leave you alone. And I am sorry for all the hateful responses you have gotten. Again, if they feel the need to tear down your faith, their faith is not that strong.

Answer 2

Well this is an old argument isn't it? Catholic V Protestant. One of the main differences back 500 years ago was the attitude towards "idols" and ceremonies. Since Protestantism has since split into a whooooole hell of a lot of other denominations, it's a difference that has evolved to mean that within the Christian spectrum, only Catholics understand how Catholicism works - the original Protestant idea was of a personal relationship with God, which removed the idea of "intercession" - which is what things like the Hail Mary and the statues are about, right? So if you've been taught that idols are banned by the Commandments, and that they're unnecessary for a direct relationship with God, you're not going to appreciate that idols can be for anything else than worship. It was an unfortunate and disrespectful reaction to an item that's in YOUR home, and evidently an uneducated one too. I hope your friend grows enough to stop and learn respect for you, whether or not she gains respect for your religion.

Answer 3

Religious statutes are not idols. If a person prays expecting a piece of wood that is made into a statue to answer there prayers, as if the wood is going to answer there prayers, then that is idol worship. If a person expects baby jesus to answer there prayers which is what the wooden statue represents then that is not idol worship. Primarily because they are praying that "baby jesus", will answer there prayers, not a piece of wood. There is a difference. Just like a religious medal worn around someones neck is not an idol either. People know that it is just a piece of metal worn around there neck. They are not worshipping the metal the religious medal is made of they are worshipping what it represents, the holy images of Mary, Jesus, and the saints as well as the heavenly protection that they bring. You think your clever and speak as if you think you caught a whole bunch of Catholics doing something wrong. You've actually done nothing of the sort. You've simply shown how uneducated you are and how little you know about the matter, bravo. Stop misleading people.

Answer 4

You shouldnt be mad at her. You shouldnt even have a figurine of mary, Jesus or any saint. God said in the old Test. not to set any graven images before Him. I guarantee you He never intended people to put their focus on mary. In the Bible mary had no spectacular faith, she didn't preach the gospel or plant churches, she only loved Jesus, like you, I and all Christians, other than that she was just a regular, non-amazing lady. That's why she shouldnt be "statuized/idolized". Baptist and Catholics are both Christian-same religion girl....its just that some demonizations....i mean denomi...whatever have certain emphasis. Really all that matters is you should ask yourself "is it Biblical"? When you do that you will find that a lot of Catholic (traditions) are not, and there are also some baptists traditions.....for instance after-church buffets. In Christianity if you wanna have a valid say on some kind of misunderstanding you gotta pull out some scriptures to support your point. The problem is there are no scriptures about statues of mary, paintings of Jesus, pendants of saints, praying to dead people, confession....etc. None. I wish you the best and just encourage you to read through your Bible again.

Answer 5

So ... DO you worship that little statue on your dresser?? Or do you worship God alone as all Catholics do? There's the answer to your question. The answer to the question "why do Catholics worship idols?" is "You are sadly misinformed. Catholics worship God alone." Worshipping a statue would be idolatry, and the Catholic Church absolutely condemns idolatry in every form (as anyone can discover for themselves if they bother to look it up in the Catechism of the Catholic Church).

It's really amazing that some non-Catholics are gullible enough to believe that more than a billion intelligent people WORSHIP marble or plaster. Then again, there is nothing rational about bigotry.

Answer 6

I'm presuming ya'll are teens, yes? She just needs some religion curtesy lessons. Perhaps she's heard the adults talk that way, but, still, it's not appropriate to attack someone in their own home. Had she just been curious and asked non-offending questions, it would have been o.k., even educational. It's good to share our beliefs with one another, and agree to disagree. I hate that that happened to you and hope it doesn't make you think we Christians are ready to jump on you like that. Most Christians are mature enough to share their beliefs without causing hurt to others. The object of sharing to follow a commandment given by Jesus to go forth into the world and teach the gospel to every nation. We are compelled by our faith to share. Whether someone chooses to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ or not is on them and we have no power to force anyone to accept what we believe to be the truth. We do have some major doctrine differences with the Catholic church, but in the end it comes down to trusting Jesus as your Savior. I have many believing friends in the Catholic church and I'm sure there are Chrisitans in almost all faiths ( granted they may be silent Christians, but Christian all the same). Please don't judge us all by your experience with one Christian.

Answer 7

It's very simple really, the statues are not idols, they are figures designed to remind us of the person they represent. A Hail Mary is offered to Our Lady, not the statue which just helps us focus our minds, which all Catholics know are inanimate objects and not idols worshiped in their own right.

Ask your non-Catholic friends if they have any photos of their loved ones (parents, spouse, children, friends etc). Why do they have those photos? To a Catholic, keeping a statue of the Virgin Mary or any other religious person of significance, is similar to that, it's a representation and reminder of someone we love. It's not that person, and its no different to the sign of the Cross which many Christian denominations utilise quite freely to remind them of the risen Christ.

Answer 8

Some Baptists, like your friend apparently, are extremely devoted to their "way" of doing things, theologically speaking.

Zeal for God is a good thing, but even good things can compel us to act in ways that leave much to be desired.

All you need to do, when faced with the situation you are in, is demonstrate that Catholic beliefs are indeed reasonable. Your best bet is using the Bible. Try these:

Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.

Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."

Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.

Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).

Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.

Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.

Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.

I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.

2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.

1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.

2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.

Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.

Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.

Answer 9

Problem is, Protties don't understand that PRAY does NOT mean WORSHIP.

PRAY is TO ASK. We ask Mary to pray for us. They don't get it.

If she wonders about the Hail Mary- tell her to read the Gospel of LUKE. It's straight out of scripture! And the last part is- fancy this!- a request for Mary's prayers.

If Mary is not favored and treated awesomely in Heaven, NO ONE DESERVES TO BE!!!

Answer 10

I've experienced both sides from Catholicism to Pentacostal.

Tell your friend that it's all a misunderstanding.

However, instead of discussing Catholicism to your friend, simply just talk about the love of God.

And also, tell your friend to stop being close-minded if she is a Christian (a close-minded Christian should really be a contradiction) and investigate the denomination. Same goes for you - investigate.