Catholic Symbols - Is it Idolatry?
Questions always arise as to whether the use of Catholic Symbols is a form of idolatry. Usually it is because the questioner is not altogether familiar with what these symbols really are. We do not worship the crucifix. We use it as a reminder of Jesus’ suffering and death for our sins. We do not worship the fish. We display it as a proud emblem of our Christianity. We do not worship the statues of the saints. We use them to remind us of their wonderful lives so that they may be role-models for us to emulate.
As far back as when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses, idolatry in the Old Testament was defined as the worship of idols or images. It is the worship of anything but God that is wrong and sinful. The mere images, symbols or icons are not the problem.
A great example of this in the time of Moses is the Brass Serpent. God commanded Moses to make this Brass Serpent and lift it high to cure any Israelite who looked at it of snakebites. I repeat it was God who commanded Moses to make this image. Later in history, King Hezekiah destroyed the Serpent because the Hebrew people had been burning incense to it in worship. The symbol had eventually become an object of idolatry. See the difference?
When God gave commandments regarding idolatry he meant it to be understood in its most literal form. According to the Bible, most idolaters really believed that their idols were gods. That is not so today with Catholic Symbols .
Thou shall not have any graven image (idols) for yourself?
why was this above commandment not part of Catholics 10 commandments? please let me know
John,
First off, the “Catholic 10 commandments” are the exact same as the 10 commandments handed down by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai in the Old Testament.. You are referring to the 2nd commandment which speaks of “thou shalt not have strange gods before Me”.
Again I can only repeat what is in the post. Follow me, please. The crucifix is not a “false god”, the image of Mary the mother of Jesus is not a “false god”, The saint’s statues are not “false gods”. These are mere images to serve as reminders of what they are. We do not worship these images, we only worship God. This is the greatest misunderstandings of the Catholic faith by non-Catholics.
I would ask you. Who told you that Catholics worship images? Whoever that was does not understand what these symbols/images are. Perhaps they are even “haters” of the Catholic faith. What else have they told you? If they are wrong on this issue, perhaps they are wrong on other teachings they have made.
[...] the crucifix depicts a false teaching of Christ dying over and over again in the Catholic mass. Nothing could be further from the truth. The crucifix is simply a symbol, albeit a powerful one. It is a reminder of Christ’s [...]