catholic graven images

A non-Catholic once asked me if it was true that Catholics worship idols. IV. It is no secret that Catholics make use of statues in their worship. CHAPTER ONE YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. The Catechism includes quotations from many papal encyclicals, church council documents, and the Scriptures. Statues! One cannot wiggle, squirm, eschew, or find some excuse or so-called interpretation to Not obey His direct command. He reminded me about the reference in the book of Exodus where the command was given to worship no graven images. The Response of the Church. Have you ever read it?) That is directly going against GOD what He personally wrote with His own finger. No, not in the least!! We are not to have ‘graven images,’ or statues, yet what do you see in almost every Catholic Church around the world? . 25:18-19). It should be noted that each of the scenarios mentioned where GOD specifically commanded images to be made, …was due to Him actually commanding it be done. They ask Moses to intercede for them. Learn how your comment data is processed. Only God is worthy of worship. What lessons can we learn from this? 7:25). In Exodus 20:3-6 God forbids making graven images for the purpose of idolatry but does not forbid the making of graven images per se. I pray that you will be enlightened and learn the biblical truth, not the falsehoods of the Catholic church. Now we can see that when the commandment is not referring to the act of carving statues, but of carving them and worshipping them in the place of God. The actions listed above are acts of honor for what the statues represent. Required fields are marked * Type here.. Name* Email* Website. One incident in the book of Numbers involves God specifically commanding Moses to make a statue. He carved all the walls of the Temple round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers” (1 Kgs. Later, however, the bronze serpent is destroyed. It is not just an image, but a channel through which God gives the gift of physical health. Required fields are marked *, Looking at the Context: The Rest of Scripture. Full stop. Rev 13:18 [GNB] “This calls for wisdom. Just saying. (The Amish today even consider photographs of loved ones graven images.) Catholic Idolatry - do Catholics worship statues? For example: “And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Which makes you wonder what our compatriots in the Bible Belt were thinking when they installed hundreds of graven images. The Bible says that Hezekiah, a king of Israel, “did what was right in the LORD’s sight” (2 Kings 18:3). We honor these objects because of what they represent. Are we disobeying God by having these statues? Personally, I see this as an act of ignorance; if only they (i.e those who accuse the Catholic Church of idolatry), had read the bible properly, they would have understood better and stop their criticisms. Kneeling in front of a statue is worshiping the statue. Leave a Comment Cancel Reply. Like, personally offensive, and let me explain a little bit why: growing up in the Amish tradition, you don’t even take pictures, because those are “graven images,” you know? Rather, God is telling Joshua to get up and start doing things that will help God answer Joshua’s prayer. . When you go into a Catholic Church you might see someone kissing an icon or a crucifix, kneeling before a statue of Mary, leaving flowers by a statue of her favorite saint, or otherwise honoring statues. Why? You shall not have other gods beside me. . Among the things Hezekiah did as king, he “smashed the bronze serpent Moses had made” (2 Kings 18:4). 26:1). Even if a Catholic is kneeling before a statue, this does not mean the Catholic is worshipping the statue. “He made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. When we read the Bible as a whole we see many instances in which images are used in worship. Even if a Catholic is kneeling before a statue, this does not mean the Catholic is worshipping the statue. That is idolatry and a worshipping of other gods, thus violating the first commandment. There are good reasons for not using images in worship. Modern Irish Politics. In Exodus 20:3-6 God forbids making graven images for the purpose of idolatry but does not forbid the making of graven images per se. Woman in Dubai imprisoned for being raped . And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. Before the invention of photographs, man-made images were the only things we could use as physical reminders of these people. If someone was bitten, he or she could look at the bronze serpent and be healed. The Catholic Church permits statues because they remind us of unseen things, but it condemns the idolatry of statue worship. The reason for this is that Catholics look at the context of this verse in light of what precedes and follows it. In memory of the founder of Seventh Day Adventist Ellen G. White who happened to attack the doctrine of images in the Catholic Church but she herself was given an honor thru this graven image of her. To further understand this verse, we need to look at what follows it: …you shall not bow down before them or serve them. The Catholic church contends that these graven images are "intended to awaken and nourish our faith in the mystery of Christ" which is a transgression against the second commandment: "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:" -Ex. When human beings are not seen to be made in the image of God, they lose their meaning. Period. Your email address will not be published. They resolve this problem by splitting Commandment number 10 into 9 and 10. Furthermore, in this instance, God works through an image. Catholic Topics. The Ark of the Covenant was the place where God’s presence dwelled. However, God does not ask this because Joshua shouldn’t be honoring an object with images on it. Allegedly the Catholic Church condones statue worship. Given that Exodus 20:5 comes right in the middle of verses about worshipping God, it makes sense to interpret it as a prohibition against worshipping images, rather than against making them. The bronze serpent is so important that Jesus compares it to himself: And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. This is not only part of the Bible, but part of exactly the same book that contains the prohibition in Exodus 20:4. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a teaching tool. They can even be present in the very place where God is worshipped. Commandments do not and have never needed interpretation. And here are some awesome resources that will help defend your faith. It is not an image itself that is the problem, but how that image is used. “[The brazen sea] stood upon [statues of] twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east” (1 Kgs. 20:4 Make no graven images. The Catholic, and in my opinion more reasonable view is that God’s concentration is not the graven images per se, but if one makes those graven images, and serves those graven images, one is making those graven images god. Biblical Primacy of Peter. Read more: Graven Image Exodus 20:4 " Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth." Click here to hide the links to … This fact alone disproves that God has commanded that no images be made. That is: 9. Catholics use statues, paintings, and mosaics to remind us of those who have gone before us. (When my evangelical friends tell me that the Bible is the Word of God, I have to ask them: Really? .” (Ex. God tells Moses to make a seraph out of bronze and mount it on a pole. Faced with these consequences, the people recognize their sin and repent. 6:23, 27-29). 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] ... the teaching of the Catholic Church proscribes superstition as well as irreligion and explains the commandment is broken by having images to which divine power is ascribed as well as in divinizing anything that is not God. Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 47 total) 1 2 3 → Author Posts May 26, 2007 at 2:45 am #1690 AnonymousInactive Let’s forget that God … Graven Images … Search this site. If our separated brethren (pentecostals) accuse Catholics of worshipping images, what of those wearing their pastors images or using their pastors pictures to pray????? Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. This act of destroying an image is now one of the things he did that was right. The 2nd commandment specifically stated GOD as commanding that NO images are to be made. A prohibition against graven images, if read literally, would cause a number of problems for Catholics. Easter Appeal: (1.) As saints, they point in the direction of Christ by the virtues of their lives. Now let us examine their claims… Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. People who oppose religious statuary forget about the many passages where the Lord commands the making of statues. Home; Home (i) The Church Militant. Elsewhere he. Given that Catholic churches are often full of the likenesses of things in heaven and on earth, this seems to be a clear violation of the commandment in Exodus. We’re not worshipping our loved ones in honoring images and physical objects associated with them. The Bible tells us not to worship graven images yet Catholics have statues all over the place. Catholics number this differently, as part of the First Commandment. In this larger context it is clear that images of angels did not contradict the commandment about images. Because people were not worshipping them. Many non-Catholic Christians use the passage you refer to, Exodus 20:4-5, to “prove” to Catholics that making “any graven images or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath” is detestable to God. 10. “You shall make the tabernacle with . You shall not covet your neighbour's goods. Reminding ourselves of them reminds us of the virtues we should try to pursue. The Catholic Church removes the second Commandment against MAKING graven images from the list of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. So that was in the past; but even now today, a couple times I’ve been in Catholic churches and I find the statues really offensive. The Catholic Church permits statues because they remind us of unseen things, but it condemns the idolatry of statue worship. ." 20:2–5). Petition to bishops over Pope Francis. And please, do not give me any of this nonsense about equating the statues in your churches to carrying a photograph of a loved one in your wallet. . The World Economic Crisis. Doesn’t this violate what the commandment means? 7:36). Why any person or entity would argue or go against His direct command? The Roman Catholic Church is full of male and female statues representing Jesus, Joseph, Mary, and others. What did the great heroes of the Old Testament do with images? Does this not go against God's commandments? In some cases we even see God commanding people to make images. “The Lord said to Moses, `Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole” (Num. For Catholics, the prohibition against images is understood in the context of having no other gods. The serpents bite many people and killed them. 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