Protestants and other Anti-Catholics say that Catholics worship statues and
saints.
When you have a picture of your gf in your wallet and when you miss her you take
it out and look at it and even talk to it and kiss it is that idol worship ?
Catholics do NOT worship statues or worship saints! A statue is merely a representation of someone who was once living,
or in secular terms it can also be a sign of something, such as independence. What about that picture of your family
that you have on your desk at work. Your picture helps you to remember and it brings back memories. Are you worshiping
your picture every day? Of course not!
Nowhere
in the catholic books, Library archives, Catechism, and ancient writings
that says we must worship to Mary, Saints, and Idols
Praying to Saints is really asking the saints to intercede for us since they are closer to God but we do not worship
them. The same way when you ask a friend to pray for you to God because you have a
final test coming up. This is called intercessionary prayer or asking someone to
pray for you to God.
To show
that we are only asking to pray for us, lets take a look of the Hail Mary
Prayer
Hail
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed art thou among women and
blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of god, pray for us
sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen
If
you notice we are only asking Mary to pray for us exactly the same when
asking friend or a relative to pray for us when you are sick or has a
test.
We ask
the Saints or Mary to pray for us because they are closer to God.
In
Fact Martin Luther was devoted to our Lady.
You can
also pray to God directly if you want. Praying to Saints is only optional like if
you need extra help so your prayer will be heard by God.
Veneration is showing respect or honor, not worship.
Veneration of Saints is asking them for intercession.
The only one worthy of worship is God, and God alone! If a Catholic did worship a statue or saint, they would be
excommunicated from the church. You must remember that the Catholic Church is traced back to the apostles. They could
not take a picture of Jesus and carry it around in their pocket--cameras did not exist. But in the early Church, one way
of remembering was by erecting statues of those of importance, such as Jesus, Mary, etc. Why do you think that it is so
odd that Catholics have statues in their churches and no other denomination does? Because Catholics carried the
tradition from the early Church!
If statues were so taboo by God, then why did God command Moses, while in the desert, to put a serpent on a pole?
Num 21:8 And the Lord said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass,
that every one that is bitten when he look upon it, shall live.
Then what about the construction of the Ark of the Covenant?
Ex. 25:18 God said to Moses - And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the
two ends of the mercy seat (vs. 20) And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat
with their wings, and their faces shall look at one to another…
1Kings 7:23 He made also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.
1Kings 7:24 And a graven work under the brim of it compassed it, for ten cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures.
1Kings 7:25 And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and three towards the east, and the sea was above upon them, and their hinder parts were all hid within.
1Kings 7:26 And the laver was a handbreadth thick: and the brim thereof was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two thousand bates.
Now, there is an instance when God forbids statues, and that is the well known incident in
Exodus 32-8 when the people created a molten calf. This calf was not a reminder but it was created to be a God so that
it could be worshiped.
As you see, a statue is harmless if it is being used as a representation of someone or something, but when the statues
becomes a God that is worshiped, then there is much harm and those who worship as such are wide open to the wrath of
God.
Idol Worship... This is another argument aimed against the Catholic Church since it has statues of Jesus and Mary, and
other saints.
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CATHOLIC TEACHINGS
REGARDING THE WORSHIP OF STATUES
It is not uncommon to hear Protestants accusing
Catholics of worshipping statues because they have images of Christ
and the saints in their Churches and in their homes. They quote the
Holy Bible, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any
likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the
water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them...”
[Exodus 20:4-5] They accuse Catholics of being idolaters because they
violate God’s commandment. How easy it is to charge falsely when you
do not understand the actions of a person or a group!
God did not forbid the religious usage of statues; He forbade the
worship of statues. There is a difference between the two. In one
Bible passage, we read of an instance when God commanded the making of
statues, “You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered
work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and
one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece
with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their
wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and
facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward
the mercy seat.” [Exodus 25:18-20]
In 1 Chronicles 28:11-18, we read of the instance when David gave
Solomon the plans to the Temple. Then in verse 19, we read, “All
this, in writing at the Lord’s direction, he made clear to me - the
plans of all the works.” The building of the Temple and the Altar of
incense was done because God had commanded it to be done.
In Numbers 21:8-9, we read, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a
poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten
shall look at it and live.’ So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and
put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person
would look at the serpent of bronze and live.”
This serpent on a pole was symbolic, represent Jesus Christ on the
Holy Cross. Equally, when Catholics look at a crucifix or a picture of
Jesus on the Cross, they are reminded that the Lord Jesus is their
Saviour. He is the way, the truth and the life. No one lives unless he
goes through Jesus Christ. As the serpent on the pole was part of a
Jewish religious ritual, the crucifix is part of the Catholic liturgy.
As the Holy Bible teaches, God the Father has no form. He is Spirit.
When God spoke to Moses at Horeb, it was in the midst of the burning
bush. When the time was right, God revealed Himself to the world in
physical form. “He is the image of the invisible God...” [Col.
1:15] “For in him (Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to
dwell.” [Col. 1:19] “For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of
deity dwells bodily.” [Col. 2:9]
The Holy Spirit also revealed Himself in visible form, as a Dove at
the Baptism of our Lord Jesus [Mt 3:16, Mk. 1:10, Lk 3:22, Jn 1:32]
and as tongues of fire on Pentecost Day [Acts 2:1-4].
Images, icons, statues, they are all reminders of God’s Three Divine
Persons. Catholic do not adore or worship these images, icons and
statues. They adore and worship He who is represented by these man
made objects.
If a mother dies in childbirth, her picture is the only thing that the
child has to communicate to him what his mother looked like. This does
not mean that the child adores his mother. The picture serves as a
reminder.
Equally, Jesus left this earth before all of us were born. A painting
of Jesus serves the purpose of reminding us of what He looked like. It
serves the purpose of reminding us to adore Jesus, to obey Him, to
serve Him, to plea to Him on behalf of others, etc...
Pictures and Statues of saints remind us of their lives, their virtues
and the blessings they received from God. The objects remind us that
we can pray to the Saints in the sense of asking them to intercede
before God on our behalf. For who is in a better position to obtain a
favor from God than the Saints who are face to face with God? This
certainly does not mean that we adore the Saints. Nor does it mean
that we are praying to the Saints in the hope of obtaining the favors
from them; the favors come from God through the intercession of the
Saints.
When a Catholic bows or kneels before the picture or statue of a
saint, this is no different than when a person bows or kneels in the
presence of the king of a nation. It is a way of showing respect
towards the saint who has been elevated before God.
The Catholic Church throughout its history, like other Christian
churches, has always condemned all forms of idolatry. Catholics know
that objects are not gods to be worshipped. This truth is taught to
them from the moment that they can walk.
As for the making of religious objects to remind Catholics of what is
Divine, Sacred, holy and invisible, such is encouraged in the Holy
Bible.
http://www.catholicdoors.com/misc/apologetics/statueworship.htm
Aren't all those statues in the Catholic Church the same as worshipping graven images?
EXUDOS 20:2-6
Ex. 20: 4 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:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
First, one must understand what a graven image is in the context of the Old Testament. To make a graven image is to
create an image out of some medium, such as clay or wood, and worship it as a God. The statues or pictures of Mary are
not worshipped as a God. If a Catholic worships a statue of Mary as a God, they are guilty of idolatry.
The Lord did not forbid the making of images. In fact, God commanded Moses to shape a brazen serpent. This serpent was
able to cure the people of the serpent bite, if they looked upon it Numbers 21:8
Later, when the people turned to idolatry of the serpent, Hezekiah had it destroyed (II Kings 18:4).
Here you see the balance. Images are good, if they are helpful, but not if they encourage idolatry.
Moreover, the Lord commanded that the image of two Cherubim be constructed on the top of the Ark of the Covenant on
either side of the Mercy seat. Was this the sin of idolatry? I think not.
Mary is the mother of God and the saints are the friends of God. If keeping their pictures or statues helps to inspire
us to a more holy life, then it is a good thing. Don't you have pictures of your family in your home? Is this idolatry?
Or when someone dies, should you destroy all images or pictures of them, lest you be guilty of worshipping them?