Wouldn't Saints like "St. Mary" be considered graven images?

Question

I'm confused, if it is true that the Catholic Church upholds all of God's 10 Commandment Law, (which differs from the KJV in the way that it appears that commandment 1 and 2 and 3 have been combined), Well about the second commandment in the KJV regarding idolity and graven images, how is bowing and praying to all the saints and idols justified?

Ok, so according to Catholism, Bowing down is not an act of showing homage or worship then? If not, then why do Catholics do it?

Answer 1

there is no justification. they use the scripture out of context.
they say its only a reminder of the one they love, but why pray to an idol or to the saints. The bible is clear when it says that JESUS IS OUR ONLY INTERCESSOR, not mary or any saints. Yes we can pray together with people at church but not pray to them for help, we should all pray to God only in the name of Jesus Christ. for example i may have a pic of jesus and i can put it on my wall but i dont pray to it just because its suppose to be jesus. when i pray i close my eyes and kneel down and i pray to God, no one else.

Answer 2

How is an image of Jesus's Mother, or even Jesus himself, concidered an idol? Isnt something rather like, a golden calf, or a statue of a phoenix, those are likened to the false idols Jesus condemed, today it might also be, money, power, sex, bodies, these might be false idols today that we follow after. Has the protestants any opionion of the statues of former presidents? like Abe Lincoln? what say you of these images?

Answer 3

St Mary is venerated as Theotokos, or the Mother of God, by both Catholic and Orthodox. Some sects of Christianity have philosophical debates of the divinity of Jesus (i.e., whether he was God or Man), but in general this was the belief of the early Church as upheld by the Council of Ephesus in 431AD.

The term 'saint' was used as well in the early Church, and just means that one who has led a good life and acknowledged by the Church. Just as you would ask a friend to pray for you, the correct way of thinking of praying to Mother Mary is not *to* her, but *through* her.

There will always be some who misunderstand, but this is what the Church teaches. Mary is not an idol, but rather the Mother of Jesus and we ask our Mother to remember us in her prayers.

Answer 4

The church uses idols and pagan worship days. Note The commandments say The 7th day while the church say the 1st day. Note the 1st day was always a pagan sun worship day. The church does not follow Christ's example of 7th day worship.
http://www.jlfoundation.net/papacy.html

Answer 5

Yes they are. There was a movement in Christianity called the iconoclasts that objected to saints statues etc. for that very reason. While it is no longer a movement as such you will notice that in Protestant churches(and the root of Protestant is protest) there often are no such images and in perhaps most Protestan denominations there is no veneration of the Virgin Mary or saints.

Many believe there is a difference between saint worship and worship of Jesus because of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. However this is incorrect because it says in the Bible"thou shalt not make unto ME any graven images" meaning God is included in this command so portrayals of God are forbidden as well.

One good reason, and I do not know if it is God's reason, for forbidding these is that people can , do and have claimed that they were cloder to God because God looks like them.You can see this in the current argument by some that God is Black or that Jeus is white etc.

I hope this answers your question.
PEACE

Answer 6

"We do not pray to the crucifix or to the images of Christ and of the saints, but to the persons of whom they remind us". Contrary to popular misunderstanding, we Catholics do not worship statues! Rather, we use them to remind us of our beloved family in heaven, even as you might look at a photo of a relative when he or she is far away. We know the Ten Commandments and would never address our prayers to a plaster statue, since the statue itself can do nothing.
The First Commandment opposes the making of pagan idols to worship, such as the Golden Calf, which was an image of the false Egyptian god Apis. That's why God added the words "Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them." He doesn't want us to make images for the purpose of idolatrous worship. This commandment does not apply to artwork, like the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or monuments like the Lincoln Memorial or the Statue of Liberty, since none of these images are intended for idolatrous worship. And since we Catholics do not worship our holy images or attribute divinity to them, this commandment does not apply to Catholic practice either.

The Bible makes it clear that, as long as they are not worshipped, God does not absolutely forbid the use of statues and other images in houses of worship. After all, in Exodus 25:18, shortly after issuing the Commandment in question, God commands Moses: "Thou shalt make also two cherubims of gold: of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat". These cherubim on the Ark were images of things "in heaven above", and so seemingly prohibited by Exodus 20:4-5! Is God contradicting Himself? No, for although they were intended for use in the Tabernacle, and thus had a religious purpose, they were not themselves objects of worship!

Again, in Numbers 21:8-9, when the Israelites were plagued by serpents, the Lord told Moses to "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that everyone who is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live". Moses did so, and people were healed by looking at it! If God opposed all images, why would he have chosen to heal His people through one, and even made it a type of the Messiah (John 3:14-5)? Evidently, He does not oppose all images.

1 Kings 6:29 tells us that the walls of the Temple were covered with "carved figures of cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers, within & without". These are also likenesses of things in heaven and on earth. 1 Chronicles 28:18-19 indicates that King David made numerous gold and silver images to adorn the future temple, and that he did so according to God's command (vs. 19)! And 2 Chronicles 3:10-13 informs us that Solomon had two huge golden statues of angels constructed for the Holy of holies (in addition to the two on top of the Ark, that is!).

Nowhere does God ever object to this proliferation of images in the Temple of Jerusalem, in fact His blessing of the Temple implies divine pleasure with the whole thing (see 2 Chronicles 7:18). Many Catholic churches are similarly filled with holy images; indeed, the Temple of Solomon resembled a Catholic church more than it did a typical Evangelical one!

In the Old Testament, the images in the Temple could only be of angels since there were no human beings in Heaven yet. Now Christ has opened heaven to humanity, so we can adorn the houses of worship of the New Covenant with images of the saints in heaven. As long as the sacred images are not themselves worshipped, God has no problem with us making them.

From the official Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2130 Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim.
2132 The Christian veneration of images is not contrary to the first commandment which proscribes idols. Indeed, "the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype," and "whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it." The honor paid to sacred images is a "respectful veneration," not the adoration due to God alone: Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading us on to God incarnate. The movement toward the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends toward that whose image it is.

2141 The veneration of sacred images is based on the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God. It is not contrary to the first commandment.

Answer 7

I believe it is, yes. God had several commandments that dealt with worshipping or praying or even regarding someone or something as "powerful" or "holy" enough to replace Him with. Why should I pray to anything or anyone for that matter, besides God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was the "shredding of the veil" that kept mankind from personally interacting with God. Praying to a saint or idol is just ignoring what Christ did. Read what Paul has to say about Jesus Christ being our last and final "High Priest" in Hebrews.

Answer 8

We do not worship them. We ask them to pray for us, and the statues/pictures are focal point to help us concentrate

Answer 9

Yes. There is no scriptural justification for honoring or venerating saints. 2 Corinthians 6:16;1John 5:21;1Corinthians 10:14.

Answer 10

It is justified by saying the statue is a reminder, a representation of the person they love.
People really don't worship statues these days.
They used to back then though, so the law was for our enlightenment, not to chain us up.

edit: then where do other Christians who don't "worship" statues bow to? The east? The rising sun? Where to they bow to .... a blank wall? Would you then say other Christians and Muslims who have no statues are worshiping the Earth? That's just ludicrous thinking.