Catholicism and Idolatry

I never thought I would ever be called an idol worshiper, especially by my own family. I grew-up in a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (Baptist to be precise) world. The Churches I went to were rectangular buildings with no artwork, paintings or statues, no stained glass; or if there was stained glass it was just colors, no biblical scenes allowed. Just pews and a pulpit.  

I never set foot in a Catholic Church until I went to sea on the USS Oriskany. Upon entering there was no doubt about who and what this Church celebrated. Everywhere I looked I saw Jesus on the cross. There were several saints scattered around the room; Mary the Mother of Jesus, Joseph, the man who took Jesus as his son, Saint John the Baptist, Saint Peter with his keys and Saint Paul, all of whom serve as reminders of the life of Christ on earth. The walls were covered with artwork - paintings of the life of Christ and the crucifixion. Then there were the Stations of the Cross. The Catholic Church awakens all your senses.

Non-Catholics seem to interpret literally what they have read in a certain passage of the bible that talks about images in Exodus 20. The non Catholics often refer us to the Commandments; which according to the first commandment, God said: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. 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 to them or serve them (Ex. 20:2–5).

God does not prohibit statues or images; he prohibits the adoration of them. If God truly meant that we were not to possess any statues at all, then he would later contradict himself. Just five chapters after this commandment in Exodus 20, God commanded Moses to build the ARK of the Covenant, which would contain the presence of God and was to be venerated as the holiest place in all of Israel. Here is what God commanded Moses concerning the statues on it: “AND YOU SHALL MAKE TWO CHERUBIM OF GOLD; 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 WITH THE MERCY SEAT SHALL YOU MAKE THE CHERUBIM ON ITS TWO ENDS.” (Ex. 25:18–19).

In Numbers 21:8–9, not only did our Lord order Moses to make another statue in the form of a bronze serpent, he commanded the children of Israel to look to it in order to be healed. The context of the passage is one where Israel had rebelled against God, and a plague of deadly snakes was sent as a just punishment. This statue of a snake had no power of itself—we know this from John 3:14 — but God used this image of a snake as an instrument to effect healing in his people.

Further, in 1 Kings 6, Solomon built a temple for the glory of God, described as follows: “In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. . . . He put the IMAGE of the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. . . . He carved all the walls of the house roundabout with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees, and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms. . . . For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive-wood. . . . He covered the two doors of olive-wood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; he overlaid them with gold (1 Kgs. 6:23, 27, 29, 31, 32). King Solomon ordered the construction of multiple images of things both “in heaven above” (angels) and “in the earth beneath” (palm trees and open flowers). And then, after the completion of the temple, GOD DECLARED HE WAS PLEASED WITH ITS CONSTRUCTION (1 KGS. 9:3).

Now for those who criticize the catholic Church; didn’t God know what King Solomon had done? It becomes apparent, given the above evidence, that a strictly literal interpretation of Exodus 20:2–5 is erroneous. Otherwise, we would have to conclude that God prohibits something in Exodus 20 and he commands the same thing elsewhere.

Why would God use these images of serpents, angels, palm trees, and open flowers? Why didn’t he heal the people directly rather than use a “graven image”? Why didn’t he command Moses and Solomon to build an ark and a temple void of any images at all?

Many non-Catholics also claim that, while Catholics may say they do not adore statues, their actions prove otherwise… Catholics kiss statues, bow down before them, and pray in front of them. According to the protestants, that represents the adoration that is due God alone.

The problem was not with the bowing; it was with the adoration. Bowing does not necessarily entail adoration. For example, Jacob bowed to the ground on his knees seven times to his elder brother Esau (Gen. 33:3), Bathsheba bowed to her husband David (1 Kgs. 1:16), and Solomon bowed to his mother Bathsheba (1 Kgs. 2:19). In fact, in Revelation 3:9, John records the words of Jesus: “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you.” This simply indicates that there are different categories of “bow” or “worship” as clearly seen in the examples above. We have the LATRIA which is the adoration due to God alone; this is clearly different from the relational worship or we give to ourselves to indicate respect. This is very clear with the Yoruba culture of Nigeria, where a child prostrates or lies down to greet an elder. This does not mean that he is rendering the elder a Latria worship or guilty of idolatry, however, it is just a relational worship which indicates respect. HENCE, WE MUST KNOW THAT THE IDEA OF “WORSHIP” IS VERY BROAD AND ITS USAGE MUST FLOW WITH THE PROPER SENTIMENT WHICH INDICATES WHAT IT REALLY MEANS.

The Catholic Church does not believe any statue or image has any power in and of itself. The beauty of statues and icons move us to the contemplation of the Word of God as he is himself or as he works in his saints. And, according to the Scripture, as well as the testimony of the centuries, God even uses them at times to impart blessings (e.g., healings) according to his providential plan.

For us, having statues or images is just as natural as—you guessed it—having your pictures or those of your loves ones, especially those that have departed from us. Most times we keep these images or pictures of our relations in our wallets or at homes or even in our electronic devices, which remind us of the ones we love here on earth. I hope the fact is becoming clear now; Catholics interpret Pictures and statues of saints much in the same way that pictures of friends and family are. They are not idols, but visible reminders of what they represent.

For idolatry to exist, a person must worship something or think of it as if it were God. A man who kisses a picture of his wife and children is not practicing idolatry. He is merely expressing love for his family. The same applies to pictures and statues of saints. If we kiss and salute our country's flag, our heart is not directed towards the cloth or fabric that made the flag, but to the country it represents.
 
Idolatry is an interior disposition. It is wrong to judge interior motives by what we think we see. For we cannot read another person's mind and/or feelings, only God can. Catholics strongly deny that what we practice in having images is worshiping, but rather venerating. Worship is not the same as venerate.

The lives of the saints are inspirational to Catholics. Their images remind us of their testimony, which can encourage us in our own walk with God. In the early Church, when 99% of the people couldn’t read and there were no readily available texts, statues, pictures and stained glass windows were the common man’s Bible. In fact, the early christian tombs were engraved with christian symbols and images.

If Exodus 20 were to be taken in the strictest sense, just think what it would mean. Not only could you not have images of saints, but also no pictures of friends or family, no statues of heroes, and no picture Bibles or dolls for children. After all, if the Bible strictly prohibits the making of images, then you can’t do it for any reason, even to make profile picture in Facebook.

What about Exodus 25:18 which God himself commanded Moses to make images? Did God violate His own commandment or protestants are just so poor in interpreting the bible in context?

Catholics interpret the bible in context, not by just picking a single verse, but the whole content of what the author wanted to present.

What I see when I gaze on a statue or picture. When I gaze upon a picture of Mary or reach out to touch a statue of her, I see a young woman, a normal teenager. Well, normal in all respects except one. We Catholics believe she was born without the "original" sin of Adam and Eve. I think it's in the Bible, not sure where, but it is one of our core beliefs. It's why we call her the "Immaculate Conception". God sends his angel Gabriel to Mary to tell her of her impending pregnancy. At first, just like any other teenager, she questions the angel. How can that be? I've never been with a man. The angel explains to her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her. Without hesitation, without question, she replies “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” This is a woman of great faith and steadfast belief in God; much stronger than mine. I asked myself how many times I've met challenges, circumstances or events in my life with "let it be to me according to your (Gods) word? Sadly, none. To me "Let it be done to me..." is one of the most important parts of the Nativity.

I also see Joseph, earthly father of Jesus. Not much is said about Joseph. About the only thing said is that an angel talked to him and he went and took Mary as his wife. I can almost hear him say "let it be done to me..." This is a man with strong faith and steadfast belief in God. Again, much stronger than mine. He is important because like me, he is a husband, someone strong in faith that I should look at and learn from.

When I gaze upon that picture or touch that statue of Mary I also see the "Holy Family". Jesus, Mary and Joseph; I also hear the words "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Why the numbers 2 or 3? Look at the Holy Family, Mary and Joseph make 2, with the child Jesus, it's 3. I also hear the words "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Notice the one similarity? ... In my name...

The last Tuesday of March in 2018, Lolly had gone to Church for a meeting, I sat down with our Blessed Mother in prayer with the Rosary. (we call her Blessed because she carried Jesus in her body for 9 months then cared for him the rest of his (human) life) The Lord brought the vision of Joseph, the Holy Family and "in his name" together in a way I understood. When Lolly got home I asked her to join me every day in prayer together in his name. Those two verses are why I make the sign of the cross and say In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit before I pray. When Lolly and I pray it is with the authority from God. Another one of our core beliefs.

When I gaze upon a picture of Jesus or reach out and touch a statue of him in his robes, I see a teacher, a "fixer" if you will, someone that can make things right, I see a deity that knows the problems of humanity first-hand and I hear his words from the night before he was crucified: Not my will but Thy will be done. He might have learned it from his parents - Let it be done to me... When I see him on the Cross, I see a man who suffered greatly for me and all other believers. I see a man who conquered death.

My wife and I have had the privilege of going to Europe and the Holy Land a few times and see some of the great Churches of the past. When I see the artwork, stained glass, paintings and sculpture, every time I pray the Rosary, I remember the Bible Stories taught to us in Sunday School, I also remember the Bible Stories read to me by MY Mother from those little "Golden Books (remember those?)." Our Rosary is about those stories, the life of Jesus.

I hope you can see that when I stand in front of a picture or statue, there is a lot more going on inside of me than just the earthly senses and motions. I don't keep God hostage in the Bible, He goes everywhere I go, his words come to me in prayer, especially the Rosary.

As far as praying to Mary goes, listen to the words: Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with you... These are the words Gabriel used when he talked to Mary. "Blessed are you among women and Blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb Jesus..." Those are the words of Elizabeth when Mary went to see her. "Holy Mother of God..." We call Mary that because we (Catholics) believe in a Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Since the Son of God is also considered to be God, we call Mary the Mother of God (She is also referred to as the Mother of God in Revelation). "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." We are not praying to Mary, we are asking her to pray for us because she is closer to God than we are. It's no different than me asking my neighbor to pray for me. I also ask the saints and Jesus to pray to God for me.

I hope this dispels all the notions that I'm a heathenish idol worshiper.