Statues,
Images and Relics
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God
am a jealous God. . ." Exodus 20:4-5
How many times do our Protestant brother's and sister's remind us Catholics of this
commandment? I must admit I do see quite a few Catholics that come very close to breaking
this commandment on a regular basis which has prompted me to write this short article.
Based on other scriptural passages it does not appear to me that the making of images
is the sin in this commandment as I will demonstrate in a moment. I believe that the key
to understanding this passage is the word "worship". This commandment goes hand
in hand with the first commandment, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before
me." Exodus 20:2-3
Consider this passage for a moment. "You shall make two cherubim of gold; you
shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub
at the one end, and one cherub at the other; of one piece with mercy seat you shall make
the cherubim at its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above,
overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings. They shall face one to the another; the
faces of the cherubim shall be turned toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat
on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I shall give you.
There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim
that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all my commands for the
Israelites." Exodus 25:18-22
After telling the Israelites not to make graven images, in this passage God is
commanding Moses to make golden cherubim, a "heavenly being". If we interpret
the ten commandments as some of our protestant brothers and sisters then this would be a
direct violation of the second commandment, "You shall not make for yourself an idol
[snip] in the form of anything that is in heaven above." God not only orders these
cherubim to be made he also orders their image to be woven into the fabric of the
tabernacle (see Exodus 26:1 and Exodus 26:31.
Let us consider another passage, "And the Lord said to Moses, "make a
poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and
live." So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a
serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live."
Numbers 21:8-9. In this passage God not only ordered the image of a creature from
"the earth beneath" but God also gave the image a special power of protection,
the same type of powers the pagans associated with their gods.
Other scriptural passages to review would be 1 Kings 6:23, 35; 7:25, 29, 36 where king
Solomon adorns God's temple with images of cherubim, palm trees, flowers, lions, and oxen.
Quite often our Protestant brothers and sisters criticize us for wearing sacred medals,
such as a St. Christopher medal, or the scapular. They claim that only God has the power
to protect us or grant us special graces, implying that you must ask Him directly.
Superficially they are quite correct that the power comes from God. However, consider
Numbers 21:8-9 "whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent
of bronze and live." It is quite clear from this passage alone that God bestowed his
power upon an object. He did not require that the Israelites praise Him or ask Him to heal
their snake bite. They only had to look at the "serpent of bronze and live."
Let us also examine the following passage, "So Elisha died and they buried him.
Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. As a man was
being buried a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as
soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet."
2 Kings 13:20-21. Even though nowhere in scripture does God bestow any power over
Elisha's bones they have a power that only should belong to God.
Turn to the New Testament now and review the following passages, "God did
extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had
touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits
came out of them." Acts 19:11-12. And, "so that they even carried out the sick
into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter's shadow might fall
on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns
around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were
all cured." Acts 5:15-16.
From Old and New Testament passages we see that not only do miracles occur through
God's direct intervention but also through the use of images or icons such as the
"serpent of bronze," sacred relics as in the bones of Elisha or Paul's
handkerchief and apron, and even an inatament object such as Peter's shadow. I believe
that unfortunately many Catholics have outwardly forgotten or do not understand that it is
God and ones own faith in Him and not the object that performs the miracle. This is where
the misunderstanding with our Protestant brothers and sisters originates.
As Catholics we use many statues, images, and relics. These are called sacramentals.
They are used to remind us of God or to remind us of the holiness of the Saint or person
represented by the image. Since we are only human our sinful nature keeps us from thinking
about God all the time. Sacramentals are therefore used as a tool to remind us to pray and
to honor God. When we see a statue or image of a Saint it reminds us of what that person
did for God and is therefore used as a guide for us to follow, to teach us.
After reviewing these Scripture passages it becomes quite clear that the making of the
images is not the sin. Even claiming that "miracles" have occurred through the
use of these images are not sinful. Making the objects and then worshiping them as thought
they were a god is the sin. After all in the very commandment itself God said "for I
the Lord your God am a jealous God. |
