Question:

Catholics and protestant answer this?

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it is said in the bible not to worship idols(pictures and statues). it is said in the bible not to worship statues and pictures. why do catholics and protestants worship statues and pictures? basically what i can see is they are worshiping a piece of stuff wood, metal, etc.. instead of God himself.

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  1. um... i am sleepy


  2. What might you be then? A person judging the flaws (as you might perceive) of others. If you are a Christian you should focus on your own sins before pointing fingers. You are casting stones around here.


  3. Why do people have pictures of a dead person. Are they worshiping or just being reminded of that person.  You must have a strange idea of what worship is all about.

  4. Your question is very insightful. Reverence and Glory is due alone to God through Jesus Christ. There are no images that can accurately portray the beauty and the light of God.

    Jesus is not dead on the cross.

    Jesus does not turn into bread and wine.

    Jesus does not tell us to pay special homage to his mother, to images or clergy.

    The issue is at hand is that we obey the commandments. The issue is that we love thy neighbor. While the Protestant may take the issue of icons, symbols and Mary less seriously there are still blemishes of sin in everything. The Catholic is usually quick to point out that the Protestant is in error while making mistakes of his own. And this just causes more strife and division. There needs to be harmony among all of the believers. But, you can only do so much... Only God really has all of the answers. And while the pagentry all seems nice, the time will come when "the wheat is seperated from the chaff".

  5. We don't. Do you worship your pictures? Your decorative statues?

  6. The use visual devices as aides in worship of something that is unseen.  It should not be assumed that they worship the object themselves.  Just as words and music are used in worship but are not themselves the objects of worship.

  7. The cross is a reminder of the pain and suffering that Jesus went through when He was crucified.

    You do not worship material things

    You worship and praise Jesus

    You receive Jesus in your heart And You have a personal relationship with Jesus

  8. They are not worshipping the statue/picture, they are worshipping what that statue/picture stands for - being god.

  9. I can't speak for others, but as a Catholic I do not worship pictures or statues, but I have them.  Think of them as pictures of your family.  You keep them around as a reminder.  Just like photos in your wallet.  

  10. Following St.Faustina is the only true Christian here(he never damned anyone with h**l) , you should be more like him/her .

  11. You need to know the difference between worship and veneration,and the difference between idols and images. We worship God in the form of the Blessed Trinity only, I'm surprised that you haven't read that in this forum before. We Catholics honor and venerate the Saints Angels and Our Lady because they are heavenly beings enjoying a special relationship with God, but we do not worship them

  12. Well, your interpretation of "what you see" is incorrect. Could I tell you what was in your heart? No, of course not. You cannot tell Catholics what is in their hearts either. Only they and God know this for sure.

    There are many false gods a person can "worship" and never bow down in front of it. People worship money, s*x, other persons, without ever bowing in front of them. To reduce worship to nothing more than an act of "bowing" or "praying" over simplifies and under values the act of worship. When we worship God it is with our entire being.

    How do you "show" your worship of God? What obvious things do you do that would let others know you are worshiping God? Actually, I was protestant for years, and I can't think of anything we did that would qualify as an obvious act of worship. Someone watching my Methodist service would not know we worshiped God, except that we would have said so. Catholics also say they worship God alone and I would think that we would know what is in our own hearts better than you.

  13. In the book Kknowing God,  JI PAcker warns about worshiping an imaginary image of an overly boxed in God.  In the Old Testament there were some images and stautes in the temple  of God's design.  I would avoid designs from the imagination of man.

    As an orthodox protestant  I prefer simple worship and avoid images and statues.  In many cases people that have these do not worship them but use them as memorial reminders.  In some cases people do kneel in formnt of them and direct prayers to a Saint or Mary and I would avoid this.

  14. No. Catholics, Protestants, and all other Christians do NOT worship anything other than the One True God as three persons in the Holy Trinity. Because the human mind so often wanders, Christians pray in front of statues to help their conscious mind focus it's thoughts, thus projecting more devotion onto God.

    Such a behavior is not to be confused with worship.  

  15. You must be new at this anti-Christian thing. . . very well:

    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.


  16. Yes, the bible condemns idolatry, and so does the Catholic Church (who wrote and compiled the bible, by the way).  Statues and pictures of saints and Jesus are not idols, but reminders (family pictures, if you will) of loved ones, just like the pictures of your family you keep in your wallet or purse.

    God bless.

  17. Honestly, this question has been answered tooooooooooo many times. Use the search box.

    Catholics use statuary and other icons in the same way most people use photographs of their children on their desks at the office: to remind them of someone. A statue of Christ reminds us where all salvation comes from.

    Worship is for God.....and Catholics know that.

    The Bible is not the only authority.


  18. Catholics and protestants don't worship statues and pictures...do you have pictures of family members, loved ones....dear friends?  How is that any different than statues and pictures?

  19. We don't but that is not what you want to hear is it? 'Rolls eyes'. Catholics worship the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and Him only.  There is a big difference between "worship" and "honour." Catholics honour (show respect to) statues of Jesus, for example, in exactly the same way patriotic Americans honour (show respect to) the American flag. The flag is just a piece of colourful cloth, but it is honoured it because of what it represents. In the same way, a statue of Jesus is just plaster and paint, but we honour it because of Who it represents. A Catholic no more worships a statue of Jesus than a patriotic American worships the American flag.

    We worship God and God alone!.


  20. Catholics and Protestants do not worship statues or pictures.  These symbols are used to bring the Christian in mind of what they represent.  All Christians are well aware that we're not supposed to worship idols, and we don't.

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