Reply to Where is your crucifix hung in your home? And other religious pieces?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I do understand your point, but I think that any image that we craft to which we attach religious significance has the potential to take our attention away from Christ and put our trust elsewhere. There are many aspects of worshipping God, and it doesn't just mean to bow to Him. Obeying God and praying to God is also worship; it's a recognition of His holiness and his greatness beyond ourselves. So I do think that a statue of Mary or a saint is problematic, because as far as I understand from every Catholic I've talked with about this, Catholics say they don't "worship" them but they do address them in prayer to intercede for them. But the Bible says there is "one mediator between God and man," and that is Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). So therein is the problem. Paul wrote that if food is offered to an idol, does that make the idol anything? No, he says. But the idol is not God, and the source of idols is demonic. So that food (or time, money, prayers, anything else) offered to idols is offered to demons (1 Corinthians 8). I'm not saying saints are demons. But I am saying that the reason God commanded the Israelites not to make graven images is because He knew that their attention would be drawn to them and away from Himself. God's commandments are not onerous. They are to protect us and help us love Him. God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). We do not need images of God to worship Him, and we definitely don't need images of dead humans to help us ask them to intercede for us. Will you go to Hell if you do so? Not if you trust Christ as your savior and not your own efforts. Every Christian still sins, though he doest want to. But statuary and addressing saints is unnecessary at best and possibly a sin. And at worst, they [i]can[/i] take the place of God and the sufficiency of Christ, and then, yes, you're in peril.[/quote]

Your problem is not with statues or other art but with intercession of saints.  I am not sure what the connection is between that and religious art.  I am not Catholic so I do not have an authoritative understanding of the Catholic concept of saints.  I am Eastern Orthodox and I can't quote the semantics or the "official" theology in the Orthodox church off the top of my head, but my understanding is that asking for intercession from a saint is similar to asking a friend "will you pray for me?"  I really don't think about it any more deeply than that.  I don't think about the Christian iconography in my home very deeply either.  It is similar to me to the pictures of my children in my home, that is, a reminder of the people I love, and beautiful art to boot.  Again, I am not authoritative about Catholic teachings but I don't think Catholics are committing idolatry.[/quote]

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