Catholic question: Where would Exodus 20:4,5 apply to your faith?

Question

You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them

I am not expecting a lot of replies since it is easier to say where they wouldn't apply it rather than where they do apply it.

Fatima why not just answer? The church must of taught it where it applies.
Sorry if the question embarresses you.

Confusion? The question is straight forward as can be. Where would Exodus 20:4,5 apply to your faith?
There that is the question. What you mean is you are stuck for an answer.

Answer 1

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.

How can a nativity set set up in your house to constantly remind you and teach your children of God's love for use be idolotry?

Catholics do not worship statues but the almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

#1. The Catholic Church is not locked into the scripture, especially the Old Testament. Except for the basic precepts which are what all Christian religions are founded on, non-critical rules are decided by the heirarchy of the day. That goes back to the "whatsoever you shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven" scripture.

#2. They do not worship the statues. They are merely a representation of the idea of the person or thing. Do you worship the cross on top of your church?

#3. Do you not have photographs of yourself, your family, landscapes, etc? Because that is what Exodus implies.

Answer 3

Christmas is a Big Big Lie, So a Christian should not believe that Jesus was born on the 25th of December. it not in the holy scripture,because it is the word of God. before you become a Christian, you Must become a disciples, because you must learn the truth first, before he or she become a Christian.Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and ALL liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Jeremiah 10:2-5 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.Jeremiah 10:3. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. Jeremiah 10:4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. Jeremiah 10:5. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Answer 4

Images and Statues
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 5

The Catholic church loves to confuse people. Back about 2001 a Catholic friend of mine got herself a new Catholic Bible and those lines were missing from the slate design with ten commandments created by splitting the tenth into two commandments. So they are taught not to read them.
I was given a 50 year old Catholic Bible recently and that missing Commandment/lines were in it. But they never spoke in English or the native language then either.
Where the Catholic Bible has more books in it, it is better for missing lines.
Yet I got a Torah from a University library for a couple of weeks and read the books I was more acquainted with. Twice words seemed unfamiliar to me. So I looked them up in my Protestant Bible and they were not there. I guess IF we want all of the truth we need to read the Torah to get all of it of the Old Testament, instead of edited versions that we all get.

Answer 6

Why don't you just wish Catholics a Merry Christmas instead of instigating confusion??? Was your daddy a pest?

Answer 7

i agree with tone this girl said it was confuseing lol

Answer 8

lol im sorry but every thing you speak about that god clearly says not to do they are