Do Catholics worship statues? This article published in the Herald, a Catholic weekly brought back memories to the time when I first refused to hold joss sticks and bowed before our ancestral tablet.
I had announced it was against Christianity to pray to idols. Images made from stones, wood or other materials are forbidden.
My mother wanted me to explain the presence of the statues of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary at the altars of every Catholic church. The Virgin Mary is not God and why am I praying to her. I was confused. I was loss for words. I had no ammunition to fight back. I lost that verbal battle. She is wiser than me. It took me years to realize I was at the wrong place.
After God delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, He gave Moses the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. The 2nd Commandment taught us.
“You shall not make yourselves any idols: any images resembling animals, birds or fish” (Ex 20:4). “You must never bow to an image or worship it in any way “ (Ex 20:5).
In his article on August 10, 2004, Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego Diocese , defended claims raised by other Christian denominations that Catholics are idolaters. He argued Catholics do not worship idols but only use images of Jesus Christ and saints “to recall the person or thing depicted” and “use statues as teaching tools”. He further added that “God does not even forbid the ritual use of religious images” and “It is when people begin to adore a statue as a god that the Lord becomes angry.”
He quoted several bible contents to substantiate his statement that God encouraged the makings of statues.
Ex 25:18
God instructed Moses to erect images of angels on the Ark in his Tabernacle
1 Chr 28:18
God specifically wanted Solomon to build his temple, which included the erection of gold angels with their wings spread over the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord
Ezekiel 41:17
Ezekiel in one of his visions from God saw carvings of cherubim with two faces one of a man and the other of a young lion in the inner wall leading into the Holy of Holies of the Temple.
Num 21:8
When the King of Edom refused to allow the Israelites to pass through his land on their way to the Promised Land, the depressed Israelites complained to Moses about the wilderness and the lack of food. God seeing their impatience and ungratefulness sent poisonous snakes as punishment. Moses was then asked to make a bronze serpent to heal those who were bitten by those snakes. Just one look at the image and whoa! they were cured.
I am not a theologian. Who am I to judge the Catholics? To each his own.
I had announced it was against Christianity to pray to idols. Images made from stones, wood or other materials are forbidden.
My mother wanted me to explain the presence of the statues of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary at the altars of every Catholic church. The Virgin Mary is not God and why am I praying to her. I was confused. I was loss for words. I had no ammunition to fight back. I lost that verbal battle. She is wiser than me. It took me years to realize I was at the wrong place.
After God delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt, He gave Moses the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. The 2nd Commandment taught us.
“You shall not make yourselves any idols: any images resembling animals, birds or fish” (Ex 20:4). “You must never bow to an image or worship it in any way “ (Ex 20:5).
In his article on August 10, 2004, Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego Diocese , defended claims raised by other Christian denominations that Catholics are idolaters. He argued Catholics do not worship idols but only use images of Jesus Christ and saints “to recall the person or thing depicted” and “use statues as teaching tools”. He further added that “God does not even forbid the ritual use of religious images” and “It is when people begin to adore a statue as a god that the Lord becomes angry.”
He quoted several bible contents to substantiate his statement that God encouraged the makings of statues.
Ex 25:18
God instructed Moses to erect images of angels on the Ark in his Tabernacle
1 Chr 28:18
God specifically wanted Solomon to build his temple, which included the erection of gold angels with their wings spread over the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord
Ezekiel 41:17
Ezekiel in one of his visions from God saw carvings of cherubim with two faces one of a man and the other of a young lion in the inner wall leading into the Holy of Holies of the Temple.
Num 21:8
When the King of Edom refused to allow the Israelites to pass through his land on their way to the Promised Land, the depressed Israelites complained to Moses about the wilderness and the lack of food. God seeing their impatience and ungratefulness sent poisonous snakes as punishment. Moses was then asked to make a bronze serpent to heal those who were bitten by those snakes. Just one look at the image and whoa! they were cured.
I am not a theologian. Who am I to judge the Catholics? To each his own.
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