Roman Catholicism and Image Worship
by Nick Bibile
The living God is the Creator, but an image is made by the creature. God is a Spirit and invisible but an image is visible. God is eternal and making God into an image we bring God from eternal to earthly limitation. Image worship is bringing down the glorious eternal God of heaven to the level of the earth and it's an abomination to God.
The second commandment is not a suggestion but an imperative commandment from God Almighty.
Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
It is undeniable of the mass idolatry in the Roman Catholic church. Yet there are some Roman Catholic priests who defend and twist the scriptures to show that God allowed in the Old Testament to make images. We know that Satan is a mastermind in twisting and taking scriptures out of context. The following scripture passages are quoted by Roman Catholics in order for image worship.
“And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold 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” (1 Chr. 28:18–19). David’s plan for the temple included statues of angels.
Now let's take the above scripture passages, the Lord is speaking to children of Israel and have you been to a Jewish synagogue and you will not find any images. We need to understand when God spoke concerning making the cherubim, it has to do with the earthly tabernacle, earthly sanctuary, this was more like a copy of the heavenly sanctuary.
Hebrews 8:5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
It was only the high priest who could enter the most holy place once a year where above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. This was not for the public like the Roman Catholic churches have so many images. God specifically prescribed these images by his law according to his standards and God never prescribed any images by his law to the Roman Catholic church or any churches in the form of worship. The one God must be worshiped only as prescribed by the Law. It is idolatry if we violate the prescribed law of God. So the Roman Catholic church is guilty of idolatry. Now when it comes to the New Testament, we are not required to make cherubim or anything like that as Christ Jesus was the perfect tabernacle, see the scriptures below.
Hebrews 8:1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being
Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (see John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth ) In Greek Word, Logos Tabernacle among us. Jesus is the true tabernacle.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.
Bottom line is Jesus is the true tabernacle not made by any human hands or any kind of an image, we don't need any high priests anymore as he is the high priest who is interceding for his children. We don't need images as we are to worship God in spirit and in truth not erecting an image in a physical sense in worship. As Jesus said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth “ (John 4:24)
God commanded not to make images and bow down and worship them.
Deuteronomy 27:15 “Cursed is anyone who makes an idol—a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of skilled hands—and sets it up in secret.”
Then all the
people shall say, “Amen!”
Isaiah 44:13The
carpenter measures with a line
and makes
an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and
marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,
human
form in all its glory,
that it may dwell
in a shrine.
14 He cut down cedars,
or
perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of
the forest,
or planted a pine, and the
rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel for
burning;
some of it he takes and warms
himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes
bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he
makes an idol and bows down to it.
16 Half of the wood he
burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his
meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his
fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah!
I am warm; I see the fire.”
17 From the rest he makes a
god, his idol;
he bows down to it and
worships
Habakkuk 2:18 “Of
what value is an idol carved by a craftsman?
Or
an image that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his
own creation;
he makes idols that cannot
speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to
life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake
up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is
covered with gold and silver;
there is no
breath in it.”
Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
Revelation 22:8-9 Do not even worship an Angel of God
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”
How about images of art and photography?
I
heard a Roman Catholic priest defending the position of image worship
and went on to say if making images a sin then Christians are sinning
when taking photographs and selfies. This is extremely shallow
thinking, the priest is absolutely ignorant in the word of God as he
doesn't understand what is forbidden is to make any image in order to
represent God. If we have any paintings, photographs in our homes we
are not violating the second commandment. What is forbidden is making
an image to resemblance of God, making images in order to represent
God and serve God.
Conclusion
Roman Catholic church has deceived many as they are not holding to the true word of God. Deception, deception and deception, they honor their traditions more than the true Word of God. Jesus said, " You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! (Mark 7:8-9)
Below is an image of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. Here you see Ignatius Loyola holding the Jesuit Constitution while trampling underfoot a Christian holding a Bible
If you look at the history of Israel, what was the cause of idolatry and corruption? It was image worship. Roman Catholic churches are filled with graven images: pictures and statues made to represent the Lord, Mary, the apostles and the saints, what really caused the protestant reformation? It was Rome's idolatry was at the heart of the Reformation.
2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will
live with them
and walk among them,
and
I will be their God,
and they will be my
people.”
“Come out
from them
and be separate,
says the
Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I
will receive you.”