ARE CATHOLICS GUILTY OF IDOLATRY?
OR
DO CATHOLICS WORSHIP IDOLS?
OBJECTION AGAINST CATHOLICS:
Catholics make statues, pictures, medals and other depictions of Jesus Christ, Mary, and the saints, and they worship them and thus commit sin of idolatry.
Catholics violate the word of God as written in the Old Testament
Ex 20:4-5: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down and serve them.”
THE CATHOLIC ANSWER
This accusation against the Catholics lack both biblical and rational basis
This anti-image attitude of these people is one instance of their general anti-incarnational position, which tends to downplay the bodiliness of Christian worship: hence they are against images, rituals, sacraments, and the sacramentals.
1. THE TEACHING OF THE BIBLE
a) God forbids idolatry and the worship of idols ( Rom 1:21-23;
1 Cor 8:4).
b) But the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) does not forbid the making of images
c) The Lord himself commanded that images be carved and painted, not as gods or idols, but to help worshippers and to put them in an atmosphere of devotion and artistic beauty.
Exodus 25:10-20
The Lord commanded Moses to make an ark of acacia wood. “You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you….You shall make two cherubim of gold ... on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end ... The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings . . .”
Exodus 37:7-9
“He made two great winged creatures of beaten gold, putting them at the two ends of the mercy-seat, one winged creature at one end and the other winged creature at the other end, making the winged creatures of a piece with the mercy-seat at either end. The winged creatures had their wings spread upwards, protecting the ark with their wings and facing each other, their faces being towards the mercy-seat”
1 Kings 6:23-35
“In the Debir he made two great winged creatures of wild-olive wood. It was ten cubits high. One winged creature's wing was five cubits long and the other wing five cubits: ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The other winged creature also measured ten cubits; both had the same measurements and the same shape.”
1 Kings 8:6-7
“The priests brought the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, in the Debir of the Temple, that is, in the Holy of Holies, under the wings of the winged creatures for the winged creatures spread their wings over the place where the ark stood, forming a canopy over the ark and its shafts”
Numbers 21:7-8
“The people came and said to Moses, 'We have sinned by speaking against Yahweh and against you. Intercede for us with Yahweh to save us from these serpents.' Moses interceded for the people, and Yahweh replied, 'Make a fiery serpent and raise it as a standard. Anyone who is bitten and looks at it will survive. Moses then made a serpent out of bronze and raised it as a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a serpent and looked at the bronze serpent survive”
Wis 16:7-8 “for whoever turned to it was saved, not by what he looked at, but by you, the Saviour of all. 8 And by such means you proved to our enemies that you are the one who delivers from every evil”
2 Kgs 18:3-4 “ He did what Yahweh regards as right, just as his ancestor David had done. He abolished the high places, broke the pillars, cut down the sacred poles and smashed the bronze serpent which Moses had made; for up to that time the Israelites had offered sacrifices to it; it was called Nehushtan”.
Jn 3:14-15 “ as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up15 so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him”
2. CATHOLIC TEACHING & PRACTICE: IMAGES ARE VENERATED NOT WORSHIPPED
a) Catholic teaching
The Official Teaching of the Catholic Church (The Decree of 3rd December 1563 of the Council of Trent, Session XXV)
“Images of Christ, of the Virgin Mother of God and of other saints are to be kept and preserved, in places of worship especially; and to them due honor and veneration is to be given, not because it is believed that there is in them anything divine or any power for which they are revered, nor in the sense that something is sought from them or that a blind trust is put in images as once was done by the gentiles who placed their hope in idols (cf.Ps 135:15-18); but because the honour which is shown to them is referred to the original subjects which they represent. Thus, through these images which we kiss and before which we kneel and uncover our heads, we are adoring Christ and venerating the saints whose likeness these images bear.” (Neuner-Dupuis, “Christian Faith,” no.1257, pp.343- 344).
b) Catholic practice
The images are made and kept, in Catholic churches and homes, not as objects of worship but of veneration.
Catholics “venerate” in them, not the paper, cloth, wood or metal in which they are engraved, but the persons which they represent
3. WHY IMAGES AT ALL?
- Religious images serve as aids to the memory and the imagination; they remind us of Christ and his saints. Images are used in religious life as they are used in secular life.
- Religious images enable us to focus our mind and attention when we pray.
- Religious images serve the total human person. Human beings are a composite of the material and the spiritual. Images are used only as symbols to bring us into the presence of God or the saints.
4. RELIGIOUS IMAGES ARE USED EVEN BY THOSE WHO OPPOSE THEM
If we were to take the words, “Do not make yourself any images,” as universally and absolutely binding, then we would reach an absurd conclusion: no painting, no drawing, no photograph, no photocopy, no film, no movie, no television, no video, no art, depicting religious persons!
But the very Christian fundamentalists who reject images and statues of Jesus, Mary, and the saints, do have, in their literature and homes, images of Christ. According to their logic, they should abolish his image from their books and homes.
Obviously, God has not forbidden the arts (sculpture or painting or photography or television), since the images shown in them are not intended to be worshipped or adored. These arts serve to develop the God-given skills of artists who show in their works the beauty and glory of God’s gifts (cf.Ex 31:3-6), and thereby lead people to glorify God.
5. WHAT ABOUT INVISIBLE IDOLS IN ONE’S LIFE?
Col 5:3 : Sins of idolatory
“That is why you must kill everything in you that is earthly: sexual vice, impurity, uncontrolled passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god”