Hi again netters,
Joining in on the discussion on 'odol worship'. Sharing a few lines from
authorised catholic sites, and also a few of what the Lord taught. It is
rather lengthy. Praise the Lord.
Do Catholics Worship Statues?
"Catholics worship statues!" Despite how ridiculous the claim is, people
still make this accusation. They say that because Catholics have statues in
their churches and pray in front of them, they are violating God's
commandment: "You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is
in water under the earth: you shall not bow down to them or serve them" (Ex.
20:4-5); "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for
themselves gods of gold" (Ex. 32:31).
This tract will examine the standard Fundamentalist arguments against the
ancient Christian practice of using images, and it will as provide a brief
biblical response to these arguments, showing the Scriptural evidence for
this practice.
First, let's point out that it's right to warn people against the sin of
idolatry. But the accusation that Catholics are idolaters because they have
images of Christ and the saints is completely incorrect, being based on a
misunderstanding or ignorance of what the Bible says about the purpose and
use (both good and bad) of statues.
Anti-Catholic writer Loraine Boettner, in his book Roman Catholicism, claims
that it is a sin to have statues because "God has forbidden the use of
images in worship" (p. 281). Many Protestants embrace this claim, yet if
they were to "search the scriptures" (cf. John 5:39), they would find that
exactly the opposite is true. Not only did God never condemn the use of
statues in worship (though to be sure he did condemn the worship of
statues), he actually commanded their use!
GOD SAID TO MAKE THEM
While Protestants and others quote Exodus 20:4-5 to bolster their charge of
Catholic "statue worship," they forget about the numerous other passages
where the Lord commands the carving of statues: "And you shall make two
cherubim of gold [i.e., two carved statues of angels]; of hammered work
shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 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. The cherubim shall spread out
their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their
faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim
be" (Ex. 25:18-20).
David gave Solomon the plan "for the altar of incense made of refined gold,
and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that
spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this
he made clear by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all, all
the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18-19). Note that all
this was directed according to divinely inspired writing.
Ezekiel 41:15 describes graven images in the Temple: "on the walls round
about in the inner room and [on] the nave were carved likenesses of
cherubim."
THE RELIGIOUS USE OF IMAGES
During a plague of serpents he sent to punish the wicked Israelites, God
told Moses to "make [a statue of] 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; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look
at the bronze serpent and live" (Num. 21:8-9).
The fact that one had to look at the bronze statue of the serpent in order
to be healed shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as
religious decorations.
Catholics use statues, paintings, and other artistic devices to recall the
person or thing depicted. Just as it is helps to remember one's mother by
looking at her photograph, so it helps to recall the example of the saints
by looking at pictures of them. Catholics also use statues as teaching
tools. In the early Church they were especially useful for the instruction
of the illiterate. Many Protestants themselves have pictures of Jesus and
other Bible pictures in Sunday school for purposes of teaching children,
especially those who haven't learned to read. Catholics also use statues to
commemorate certain people and events, much like Protestant churches that
have three-dimensional nativity scenes at Christmas.
If one measured Protestants by the same rule, then by using these "graven"
images, they would be practicing the "idolatry" which they accuse Catholics
of practicing. But the fact is, there's no idolatry going on in these
situations. God forbids the worship of images, but he doesn't ban the making
of images in general. If he had, movies, videos, photographs, manger scenes,
paintings, drawings, and all sorts of things would be banned, since they too
are images.
WHAT ABOUT BOWING?
Sometimes anti-Catholics cite Deuteronomy 5:9, where God said concerning
statues, "You shall not bow down to them." Since many Catholics sometimes
bow or kneel in front of statues of Jesus and the saints, anti-Catholics
confuse the legitimate veneration of a sacred image with the sin of
idolatry. The fact is, Deuteronomy 5:9 doesn't help the anti-Catholic
argument.
First, remember that although bowing can be used as a posture in worship,
not all bowing is worship. For example, in Japan it is the custom for people
to show respect and politeness by bowing in greeting (the equivalent of
shaking hands in the West). Obviously there is no "worship" going on here.
The Catholic who kneels in front of a statue when praying isn't worshipping
or even praying to the statue anymore than the Protestant who kneels with a
Bible in his hands when praying is worshipping or praying to the Bible.
When people had to look to the bronze serpent to be healed, they were not
worshipping it, as shown by the fact that, years later when they did worship
it, and even gave it a name ("Nehushtan") as a snake-god, the righteous king
Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kgs. 18:4).
Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate
of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and 'he bowed himself'
with his face toward the ground;
"HIDING" THE 2nd COMMANDMENT?
Another charge made by Protestants is that the Catholic Church "hides" the
second commandment. This is because in Catholic catechisms the first
commandment is: "You shall have no other Gods before me" (Ex. 20:3) and the
second is: "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." (Ex. 20:7).
They argue that Catholics have deleted the prohibition of idolatry in order
to justify their use of religious statues.
But this is false. The fact is, Catholics simply group the commandments
differently than Protestants traditionally have and abbreviate them for ease
of memorization.
That such abbreviating is reasonable to Protestants is demonstrated by their
common rendering of the Sabbath Commandment as simply, "Remember the Sabbath
to keep it holy," though the actual text of the commandment is quite
lengthy: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall
labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord
your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your
daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the
sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day;
therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Ex. 20:8-11).
Martin Luther recognized that the statements "You shall have no other gods
before me" (Ex. 20:3) and "You shall not make for yourself a graven image"
(Ex. 20:4) are in fact two parts of a single command, and he abbreviated
them to "You shall have no other gods before me."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that "The division and
numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history. The
present catechism follows the division of the Commandments established by
St. Augustine, which has become traditional in the Catholic Church. It is
also that of the Lutheran confession. The Greek Fathers worked out a
slightly different division, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and
Reformed communities" (CCC 2066).
Some anti-Catholics appeal to Deuteronomy 4:15-18, which says "[S]ince you
saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst
of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for
yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the
likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird
that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground,
the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth." They try to
use this text to "prove" the prohibition of statues and images.
We've already shown that God doesn't prohibit the making of statues or
images of various creatures (e.g. angels, serpents, oxen, flowers, lions,
etc.) for religious purposes (cf. 1 Kings 6:29-32; 8:6-67; 2 Chr. 3:7-14).
But what about statues or images that represent God himself? Many
Protestants would say that that's wrong because Deuteronomy 4 says God has
no form, therefore we should not attempt to make images of him. But does
Deuteronomy 4 actually forbid these kinds of images of the Lord?
THE ANSWER IS NO
Early in its history Israel was forbidden to make any depictions of God
because he had not (yet) revealed himself in a visible form. Had the
Israelites made depictions of God, they might have been tempted to worship
him in the form of an animal or some natural object (e.g., a bull or the
sun) just as the pagans around them worshipped such images.
But later God did reveal himself under visible forms, such as in Daniel 7:9:
"As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was Ancient of Days took his
seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure
wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire."
Protestants themselves make depictions of the Father under this form when
they do illustrations of the Old Testament prophecies.
The Holy Spirit revealed himself under at least two visible forms--that of a
dove, at the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, John
1:32)--and as tongues of fire, on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).
Protestants make use of these images (especially the dove) when drawing or
painting these biblical episodes and when they wear Holy Spirit lapel pins
or place dove emblems on their cars.
But more importantly, notice that in the Incarnation of Christ his Son, God
showed mankind an icon of himself. Paul said, "He is the image (Greek: ikon)
of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation." Christ himself is the
tangible divine "icon" of the unseen, infinite God of the universe.
We read of the Magi that when the were "going into the house they saw the
child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then,
opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and
myrrh" (Matt. 2:11).
The bottom line is, Protestants too use all sorts of religious images:
Pictures of Jesus and other biblical personages appear on a myriad of
Bibles, biblical picture books, T-shirts, jewelry, bumper stickers, greeting
cards, CDs, and manger scenes. Christ is even symbolically represented
through the Icthus symbol--the "fish" emblem popular among American
Evangelicals.
Common sense tells us that since God has revealed himself in various images,
most especially in the Incarnate Jesus Christ, we realize that it's not
wrong for us to make use of images of these forms to strengthen and deepen
our knowledge and love of God. That's exactly the purpose that Catholic
statues of Jesus and the saints have: They are images that represent persons
we cannot see with our physical eyes.
IDOLATRY CONDEMNED BY THE CHURCH
Since the days of the Apostles, the Catholic Church has clearly and
consistently condemned the sin of idolatry. The early Church Fathers warn
against this sin, and Church councils also dealt with the issue. Here some
examples:
The Second Council of Nicaea (787), which dealt largely with the question of
the veneration of sacred images and icons, said, "[T]he one who redeemed us
from the darkness of idolatrous insanity, Christ our God, when he took for
his bride his holy Catholic Church, having no blemish or wrinkle, promised
he would guard her and assured his holy disciples saying, 'I am with you
every day until the consummation of this age.'
"This promise, however, he made not only to them but also to us, who thanks
to them have come to believe in his name. To this gracious offer some people
paid no attention; being hoodwinked by the treacherous foe they abandoned
the true line of reasoning . . . and they failed to distinguish the holy
from the profane, asserting that the icons of our Lord and of his saints
were no different from the wooden images of satanic idols. . . . Certainly
[this respect] is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which
is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to
the figure of the honored and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books
of the gospels and to other sacred . . . objects."
The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) taught that idolatry is
committed "by worshipping idols and images as God, or believing that they
possess any divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to,
or reposing confidence in them" (p. 374).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993) explains that "Scripture
constantly recalls this rejection of 'idols, [of] silver and gold, the work
of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
'These empty idols make their worshippers empty:' 'Those who make them are
like them; so are all those trust in them' [Ps. 115:4-5, 8]. God, however,
is the 'living God' [c.f. Joshua 3:10, Psalm 42:3.] who gives life and
intervenes in history."
"Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant
temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. man
commits idolatry whenever he honor and reveres a creature in the place of
God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power,
pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. . . . Idolatry rejects the
unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with
God.
"Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. The commandment
to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless
disintegration.
"Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An idolater is
someone who 'transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other
than God'" (CCC 2112-2114, citing Origen, Contra Celsum 2:40).
At the time God had given the 10 commandments nobody in the land knew the
real true God, the one and only Yahweh, and so it was a time when people of
then worshipped images of animals, birds, reptiles, etc and trees, the sun,
etc. So God intervenes and forbids the making of images of ‘any form’ and
the worship of any other god. In the 1st commandment we see God telling not
to worship idols and not to worship any other gods as He is the only One God
and that there is no other. In the same Bible we see the same Almighty God
commanding for images of ‘Winged creatures or Cherubs to be made to
represent His presence. He also later commands Moses to make a bronze snake
by looking at which people would be healed. Is the Lord God going back on
His command of forbidding making of images when He asks for images of
Cherubs and the bronze snake to be made or has He forgotten His earlier
command. Not in any way. Actually what He means in His 1st commandment is
only that 'there is no God but Him, and that nobody shall worship any other
god but Him as He is the one and only God and tolerares no rivals'. Thus He
wants to put an end to the worship of any other so called gods.
Please find below the verses from the Bible that will help understand
certain points.
["And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two carved statues of
angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy
seat. 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. The
cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat
with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall
the faces of the cherubim be" (Ex. 25:18-20).]
David gave Solomon the plan "for the altar of incense made of refined gold,
and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that
spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. All this
he made clear by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all, all
the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18-19). Note that all
this was directed according to divinely inspired writing.
Ezekiel 41:15 describes graven images in the Temple: "on the walls round
about in the inner room and [on] the nave were carved likenesses of
cherubim."
Ex:25:22: And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark
of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto
the children of Israel.
Ex:37:7: And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he
them, on the two ends of the mercy seat;
Ex:37:8: One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other
end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two
ends thereof.
Ex:37:9: And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with
their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to
the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.
Heb:9:5, 6: And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of
which we cannot now speak particularly. 6. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God.
An image of Christ or any of the saints is not seen by a Catholic as a god
in itself and so is not against the 1st commandment. The Catholic church
also teaches that there is only one God and He is the only one to be
worshipped. The church does not ask for the images of Christ and the saints
to be worshipped as gods. These images representing Christ and the saints
are to be honoured and venerated, not to be worshipped as gods. 1Corinthians
8:4 to 6 also clearly states the meaning of the 1st commandment.
So 1Cor 8:4-6 also clearly states that in the Bible an idol and a god mean
the same as both were treated the same, well that is not how it is now, is
it? From 1Cor 8:4-6 we see that when telling you shall not have other gods
as well as you shall not worship idols both mean the same thing. This is the
content of the 1st command. Protestants divide the 1st command as 2
commands. Thou shall not have other gods as one command and Thou shall not
worship idols as a different command, and this causes the confusion.
1Cor 8: 4-6 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are
offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the
world, and that there is none other God but one. 5 For though there be that
are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and
lords many,) 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all
things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by him.
Common sense tells us that since God has revealed himself in various images,
most especially in the Incarnate Jesus Christ, we realize that it's not
wrong for us to make use of images of these forms to strengthen and deepen
our knowledge and love of God. That's exactly the purpose that Catholic
statues of Jesus and the saints have: They are images that represent persons
we cannot see with our physical eyes.
Since the days of the Apostles, the Catholic Church has clearly and
consistently condemned the sin of idolatry. The early Church Fathers warn
against this sin, and Church councils also dealt with the issue. Here some
examples:
The Second Council of Nicaea (787), which dealt largely with the question of
the veneration of sacred images and icons, said, "[T]he one who redeemed us
from the darkness of idolatrous insanity, Christ our God, when he took for
his bride his holy Catholic Church, having no blemish or wrinkle, promised
he would guard her and assured his holy disciples saying, 'I am with you
every day until the consummation of this age.' "This promise, however, he
made not only to them but also to us, who thanks to them have come to
believe in his name. To this gracious offer some people paid no attention;
being hoodwinked by the treacherous foe they abandoned the true line of
reasoning . . . and they failed to distinguish the holy from the profane,
asserting that the icons of our Lord and of his saints were no different
from the wooden images of satanic idols. . . . Certainly [this respect] is
not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid
only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the
honored and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and
to other sacred . . . objects."
The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) taught that idolatry is
committed "by worshipping idols and images as God, or believing that they
possess any divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to,
or reposing confidence in them" (p. 374).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993) explains that "Scripture
constantly recalls this rejection of 'idols, [of] silver and gold, the work
of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
'These empty idols make their worshippers empty:' 'Those who make them are
like them; so are all those trust in them' [Ps. 115:4-5, 8]. God, however,
is the 'living God' [c.f. Joshua 3:10, Psalm 42:3.] who gives life and
intervenes in history." "Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It
remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what
is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honor and reveres a creature in
the place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism),
power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. . . . Idolatry
rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with
communion with God. "Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one
God. The commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him
from an endless disintegration. "Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate
religious sense. An idolater is someone who 'transfers his indestructible
notion of God to anything other than God'" (CCC 2112-2114, citing Origen,
Contra Celsum 2:40). 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.'[St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto
18, 45: PG 32, 149C; Council of Nicaea II: DS 601; cf. Council of Trent: DS
1821-1825; Vatican Council II: SC 126; LG 67.] The honor paid to sacred
images is a 'respectful veneration,' not the adoration due to God alone:
2131. "Basing itself on the mystery of the incarnate Word, the seventh
ecumenical council at Nicaea (787) justified against the iconoclasts the
veneration of icons - of Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels,
and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son of God introduced a new
'economy' of IMAGES."
To
1160. "Christian iconography expresses in IMAGES the same Gospel message
that Scripture communicates by words. Image and word illuminate each other:
We declare that we preserve intact all the written and unwritten traditions
of the Church which have been entrusted to us. One of these traditions
consists in the production of representational artwork, which accords with
the history of the preaching of the Gospel. For it confirms that the
incarnation of the Word of God was real and not imaginary, and to our
benefit as well, for realities that illustrate each other undoubtedly
reflect each other's meaning.[Council of Nicaea II (787): COD 111.] "
To
Following the divinely inspired teaching of our holy Fathers and the
tradition of the Catholic Church (for we know that this tradition comes from
the Holy Spirit who dwells in her) we rightly define with full certainty and
correctness that, like the figure of the precious and life-giving cross,
venerable and holy IMAGES of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our
inviolate Lady, the holy Mother of God, and the venerated angels, all the
saints and the just, whether painted or made of mosaic or another suitable
material, are to be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on sacred vessels
and vestments, walls and panels, in houses and on streets.[Council of Nicaea
II: DS 600.]"
To
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.[St. Thomas Aquinas, STh
II-II, 81, 3 ad 3.]"
The real intention of Yahweh when giving the 1st commandment is clearly
revealed in Deuteronomy chapter 4:15 to chapter 5:9.
1) 4:15 ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto
you in Horeb.
2) 4:19 lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the
sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be
driven to worship them, and serve them
3) 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD
your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the
likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.24: For
the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
4) 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me
5) Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy God am a jealous God
Clearly it is seen here that the reason for the Lord’s fordidding
making of graven images was because ‘He is the only God, and is a jealous
God ; meaning He will not tolerate any other to be called or treated as gods
i.e He does not will to let any other take His place..
Now for some examples from the Bible with regards to how the apostles and
holy objects were considered in the early church.
Acts 4:34, 35 says that the believers sold all their
possesions and brought the prices of the thins and
“”laid them at the apostles feet””. (The apostles were
then honoured as special people)
Acts 5:15 and 19:12 & 13 show how even the ‘shadow of
Peter’ and ‘handkerchiefs, aprons’ touched
by Paul were instruments in curing the sick. This
shows the difference between the idols of the Old Testament times and the
images of now. The images in the church now, on being blessed with holy
water is sanctified and the Holy Spirit is imparted on it thus giving it a
purpose like the aprons, etc mentioned in Acts 19:12.
Ac:7:33 again shows that the site of the burning bush
is proclaimed by the Lord as ‘holy ground’. Likewise we have Jerusalem being
called ‘the holy city’. So, places where the Lord had made His presence felt
in a special manner are of course to be treated as ‘holy places’
A picture, or an image when blessed with the holy water does have the
Spirit's presence and is holy indeed. In the Old Testament as well as the
New Testament we see the role of holy water which is another form of the
Holy Spirit, in the sanctification or dedication of objects.
1218. "Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a
creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture
sees it as 'oveshadowed' by the Spirit of God:[Cf. Gen 1:2 .]
At the very dawn of creation your Spirit breathed on the waters, making them
the wellspring of all holiness.[Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 42: BLESSING of
Water.]"
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