Efiko: God has not charge; He is still the same jealous God of Exodus 20:
The 2nd commandment states clerly:

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above (including Mary in heaven) or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

Praying/Bowing down to Mary or Saints (Dead or Alive) is 1st degree idolaty.

The word "worship" has undergone a change in meaning in English. It comes from the Old English weorthscipe, which means the condition of being worthy of honor, respect, or dignity. To worship in the older, larger sense is to ascribe honor, worth, or excellence to someone, whether a sage, a magistrate, or God.

For many centuries, the term worship simply meant showing respect or honor, and an example of this usage survives in contemporary English. British subjects refer to their magistrates as "Your Worship," although Americans would say "Your Honor." This doesn’t mean that British subjects worship their magistrates as gods (in fact, they may even despise a particular magistrate they are addressing). It means they are giving them the honor appropriate to their office, not the honor appropriate to God.

Outside of this example, however, the English term "worship" has been narrowed in scope to indicate only that supreme form of honor, reverence, and respect that is due to God. This change in usage is quite recent. In fact, one can still find books that use "worship" in the older, broader sense. This can lead to a significant degree of confusion, when people who are familiar only with the use of words in their own day and their own circles encounter material written in other times and other places.

In Scripture, the term "worship" was similarly broad in meaning, but in the early Christian centuries, theologians began to differentiate between different types of honor in order to make more clear which is due to God and which is not.

As the terminology of Christian theology developed, the Greek term latria came to be used to refer to the honor that is due to God alone, and the term dulia came to refer to the honor that is due to human beings, especially those who lived and died in God’s friendship—in other words, the saints. Scripture indicates that honor is due to these individuals (Matt. 10:41b). A special term was coined to refer to the special honor given to the Virgin Mary, who bore Jesus—God in the flesh—in her womb. This term, hyperdulia (huper [more than]+ dulia = "beyond dulia", indicates that the honor due to her as Christ’s own Mother is more than the dulia given to other saints. It is greater in degree, but still of the same kind. However, since Mary is a finite creature, the honor she is due is fundamentally different in kind from the latria owed to the infinite Creator.

All of these terms—latria, dulia, hyperdulia—used to be lumped under the one English word "worship." Sometimes when one reads old books discussing the subject of how particular persons are to be honored, they will qualify the word "worship" by referring to "the worship of latria" or "the worship of dulia." To contemporaries and to those not familiar with the history of these terms, however, this is too confusing.

Another attempt to make clear the difference between the honor due to God and that due to humans has been to use the words adore and adoration to describe the total, consuming reverence due to God and the terms venerate, veneration, and honor to refer to the respect due humans. Thus, Catholics sometimes say, "We adore God but we honor his saints."

Unfortunately, many non-Catholics have been so schooled in hostility toward the Church that they appear unable or unwilling to recognize these distinctions. They confidently (often arrogantly) assert that Catholics "worship" Mary and the saints, and, in so doing, commit idolatry. This is patently false, of course, but the education in anti-Catholic prejudice is so strong that one must patiently explain that Catholics do not worship anyone but God—at least given the contemporary use of the term. The Church is very strict about the fact that latria, adoration—what contemporary English speakers call "worship"—is to be given only to God.

Though one should know it from one’s own background, it often may be best to simply point out that Catholics do not worship anyone but God and omit discussing the history of the term. Many non-Catholics might be more perplexed than enlightened by hearing the history of the word. Familiar only with their group’s use of the term "worship," they may misperceive a history lesson as rationalization and end up even more adamant in their declarations that the term is applicable only to God. They may even go further. Wanting to attack the veneration of the saints, they may declare that only God should be honored.

Both of these declarations are in direct contradiction to the language and precepts of the Bible. The term "worship" was used in the same way in the Bible that it used to be used in English. It could cover both the adoration given to God alone and the honor that is to be shown to certain human beings. In Hebrew, the term for worship is shakhah. It is appropriately used for humans in a large number of passages.

For example, in Genesis 37:7–9 Joseph relates two dreams that God gave him concerning how his family would honor him in coming years. Translated literally the passage states: "‘[B]ehold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and worshiped [shakhah] my sheaf.’ . . . Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, ‘Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were worshiping [shakhah] me.’"

In Genesis 49:2-27, Jacob pronounced a prophetic blessing on his sons, and concerning Judah he stated: "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall worship [shakhah] you (49:." And in Exodus 18:7, Moses honored his father-in-law, Jethro: "Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and worshiped [shakhah] him and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare, and went into the tent."

Yet none of these passages were discussing the worship of adoration, the kind of worship given to God.



Honoring Saints

Consider how honor is given. We regularly give it to public officials. In the United States it is customary to address a judge as "Your Honor." In the marriage ceremony it used to be said that the wife would "love, honor, and obey" her husband. Letters to legislators are addressed to "The Honorable So-and-So." And just about anyone, living or dead, who bears an exalted rank is said to be worthy of honor, and this is particularly true of historical figures, as when children are (or at least used to be) instructed to honor the Founding Fathers of America.

These practices are entirely Biblical. We are explicitly commanded at numerous points in the Bible to honor certain people. One of the most important commands on this subject is the command to honor one’s parents: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you" (Ex. 20:12). God considered this command so important that he repeated it multiple times in the Bible (for example, Lev. 19:3, Deut. 5:16, Matt. 15:4, Luke 18:20, and Eph. 6:2–3). It was also important to give honor to one’s elders in general: "You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord" (Lev. 19:32). It was also important to specially honor religious leaders: "Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron [the high priest], to give him dignity and honor" (Ex. 28:2).

The New Testament stresses the importance of honoring others no less than the Old Testament. The apostle Paul commanded: "Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due" (Rom. 13:7). He also stated this as a principle regarding one’s employers: "Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ" (Eph. 6:5). "Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed" (1 Tim. 6:1). Perhaps the broadest command to honor others is found in 1 Peter: "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Pet. 2:17).

The New Testament also stresses the importance of honoring religious figures. Paul spoke of the need to give them special honor in 1 Timothy: "Let the presbyters [priests] who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching" (1 Tim. 5:17). Christ himself promised special blessings to those who honor religious figures: "He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man [saint] because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward" (Matt. 10:41).

So, if there can be nothing wrong with honoring the living, who still have an opportunity to ruin their lives through sin, there certainly can be no argument against giving honor to saints whose lives are done and who ended them in sanctity. If people should be honored in general, God’s special friends certainly should be honored.



Statue Worship?

People who do not know better sometimes say that Catholics worship statues. Not only is this untrue, it is even untrue that Catholics honor statues. After all, a statue is nothing but a carved block of marble or a chunk of plaster, and no one gives honor to marble yet unquarried or to plaster still in the mixing bowl.

The fact that someone kneels before a statue to pray does not mean that he is praying to the statue, just as the fact that someone kneels with a Bible in his hands to pray does not mean that he is worshiping the Bible. Statues or paintings or other artistic devices are used to recall to the mind the person or thing depicted. Just as it is easier to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it is easier to recall the lives of the saints by looking at representations of them.

The use of statues and icons for liturgical purposes (as opposed to idols) also had a place in the Old Testament. In Exodus 25:18–20, God commanded: "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. 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."

In Numbers 21:8–9, he told Moses: "‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." This shows the actual ceremonial use of a statue (looking to it) in order to receive a blessing from God (healing from snakebite). In John 3:14, Jesus tells us that he himself is what the bronze serpent represented, so it was a symbolic representation of Jesus. There was no problem with this statue—God had commanded it to be made—so long as people did not worship it. When they did, the righteous king Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kgs. 18:4). This clearly shows the difference between the proper religious use of statues and idolatry.

When the time came to build the Temple in Jerusalem, God inspired David’s plans for it, which included "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 from the hand of the Lord concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18–19).

In obedience to this divinely inspired plan, Solomon built two gigantic, golden statues of cherubim: "In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold. The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave. And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it" (2 Chr. 3:10–14).

Its very obvious,u are ignorant of things happenin in the cath church. For the records those graven images r jst lyk memories, they way u store ur pictures for the memories. Bowing to them is against the first commandment. We bow to the body of christ which is alwys present at the altar(communion). Most of my non-catholic frnds dat sound lyk u;do not again. Its unfortunate dat most catholics refuse to understand their doctrine. Whether u like it or not we honour mary and I think she deserves dat. It was thru her we got our salvation.

Efiko: God has not charge; He is still the same jealous God of Exodus 20:
The 2nd commandment states clerly:

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above (including Mary in heaven) or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.

Praying/Bowing down to Mary or Saints (Dead or Alive) is 1st degree idolaty.

Here comes the religious on-slaught

Richieboyn:

Mumu. itz assumption not ascension

Dog!! They are virtually the same, both involves being levitated into heaven, difference being one is done by one's own power and the other by God.

In this context, nothing of the sort happened, either assumption or ascension.

valicious1:
When God changed Abram's name to Abraham did he still retain his former name? When God changed Jacob to Isreal did he retain his former name? When God changed Saul to Paul did he still continue being called saul? Catholics enough of all these blasphemy. Yes mary was a virgin when she had Jesus but the moment she started having other children she immediately stopped being tagged a virgin. Mary was not a virgin till death. Enough of this ignorance

Dat post shoewed i knew she never remained till death... You're very right but u dnt have to misinteprete me to prove ur point..

Red_Card: Virgin Mary the holy one. My fellow nairalanders, I'm in IMSU Owerri now for my Post UTME that's coming up by 12 noon. Please you guys should wish me the best of luck. Thanks y'all.

best of luck bro

pretty stacy: Its very obvious,u are ignorant of things happenin in the cath church. For the records those graven images r jst lyk memories, they way u store ur pictures for the memories. Bowing to them is against the first commandment. We bow to the body of christ which is alwys present at the altar(communion). Most of my non-catholic frnds dat sound lyk u;do not again. Its unfortunate dat most catholics refuse to understand their doctrine. Whether u like it or not we honour mary and I think she deserves dat. It was thru her we got our salvation.

Ehn! may be your own catholic church is a charismatic one. charismatic catholics are almost like pentecoastals. The real catholics I know have mini shrines of Mary in their houses which they kneel to pray to everyday. I see Catholics kneeling and bowing to the big statutes of mary outside their churches

Catholic are not Christian they are just worshiping idol in Christian terminology .

Happy day my Catholic brethren. Let's commemorate the holy virgin Mary , mother of God in peace , which means please ignore these people called protestants ,Pentecostals or whatever rubbish name they call themselves.


I will end. With

Holy Virgin Mary, mother of God ,pray for us ,sinner ......

Free2rhyme your mum is a useless prostitute, in fact she's just a mere appendage. How does it sound?

Bunch of fcktards

alaoeri:
How did u know that the picture u pasted was the same marry that gave birth to Jesus more than 2000 years ago?

Ask urself if dis question of urs is out of ignorance(wc confirm d spirit of God in U) or d usual bias nd antagonistic question wc didnt only place U as one of d persecutor of d church as preached by Christ Himself but one of those who seldom delight in d truth(d word of God

Sweetlemon:

Ehn! may be your own catholic church is a charismatic one. charismatic catholics are almost like pentecoastals. The real catholics I know have mini shrines of Mary in their houses which they kneel to pray to everyday. I see Catholics kneeling and bowing to the big statutes of mary outside their churches

how does it affect? Mind ur business. Your pastors are buying jets , flaunting their wealth, yet most of you are living in abject poverty . You should worry about what they do and not what catholic do because , catholics don't care about you, they ain't advertising and definitively not looking for followers.

Statue Worship?

People who do not know better sometimes say that Catholics worship statues. Not only is this untrue, it is even untrue that Catholics honor statues. After all, a statue is nothing but a carved block of marble or a chunk of plaster, and no one gives honor to marble yet unquarried or to plaster still in the mixing bowl.

The fact that someone kneels before a statue to pray does not mean that he is praying to the statue, just as the fact that someone kneels with a Bible in his hands to pray does not mean that he is worshiping the Bible. Statues or paintings or other artistic devices are used to recall to the mind the person or thing depicted. Just as it is easier to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it is easier to recall the lives of the saints by looking at representations of them.

The use of statues and icons for liturgical purposes (as opposed to idols) also had a place in the Old Testament. In Exodus 25:18–20, God commanded: "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. 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."

In Numbers 21:8–9, he told Moses: "‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." This shows the actual ceremonial use of a statue (looking to it) in order to receive a blessing from God (healing from snakebite). In John 3:14, Jesus tells us that he himself is what the bronze serpent represented, so it was a symbolic representation of Jesus. There was no problem with this statue—God had commanded it to be made—so long as people did not worship it. When they did, the righteous king Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kgs. 18:4). This clearly shows the difference between the proper religious use of statues and idolatry.

When the time came to build the Temple in Jerusalem, God inspired David’s plans for it, which included "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 from the hand of the Lord concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18–19).

In obedience to this divinely inspired plan, Solomon built two gigantic, golden statues of cherubim: "In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold. The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave. And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it" (2 Chr. 3:10–14).
(

Sweetlemon:

Ehn! may be your own catholic church is a charismatic one. charismatic catholics are almost like pentecoastals. The real catholics I know have mini shrines of Mary in their houses which they kneel to pray to everyday. I see Catholics kneeling and bowing to the big statutes of mary outside their churches

CAMEROONPRIDE: Happy day my Catholic brethren. Let's commemorate the holy virgin Mary , mother of God in peace , which means please ignore these people called protestants ,Pentecostals or whatever rubbish name they call themselves.


I will end. With

Holy Virgin Mary, mother of God ,pray for us ,sinner ......

Free2rhyme your mum is a useless prostitute, in fact she's just a mere appendage. How does it sound?

Bunch of fcktards

do not hurl insulting words at the ignorant.

the lord will guide them to the universal church one day.

no matter how many haters, the catholic church still stands to be the longest living church till date. other churches come and go but the catholic church still remains as one!

Mother mary...pray for us!

pretty stacy: Its very obvious,u are ignorant of things happenin in the cath church. For the records those graven images r jst lyk memories, they way u store ur pictures for the memories. Bowing to them is against the first commandment. We bow to the body of christ which is alwys present at the altar(communion). Most of my non-catholic frnds dat sound lyk u;do not again. Its unfortunate dat most catholics refuse to understand their doctrine. Whether u like it or not we honour mary and I think she deserves dat. It was thru her we got our salvation.

u v said it all it was thru her u got your salvation not thru Christ . That means she replace replace Jesus Christ .

Feast of assumption is like my feast day just as my name is maria assumpta.virgin mary pls intercede for me.will go for mass leta

Yahweh never said that we should worship Mary. You don't even know when Mary died. He asked us in the Ten Commandments, do not worship idols, and that is what you are doing.

free2ryhme: paganism making frontpage these days

Can U read d gospel according to Mathew 7:1-4 nd see if U ron d Lord side.

Mary should be honored and not worshiped... There is a very thin line so we Catholics truly need to understand the difference.
If fellow Catholics truly want to know the difference, prayerfully follow the Holy Mass. Mary was duly honored along with other saints. And we own her that honor whether Catholics or separated brethrens.

Whether Mary had more children after Christ Jesus? Believe me it is immaterial to salvation. She was a Virgin Mother of our Savior that is what matters. God would not have allowed a prostitute have that honor.

Bottom line Mary should be honored and not worshiped.

Afam4eva: Here we go again with the whole virgin Mary thingy.

its a free world Afam.

Lordave: Stop assuming, she died!

What do u know?

God bless you, thanks for elucidating. If only the antics wil be patient enough to read through this piece.

spongebuny:

The word "worship" has undergone a change in meaning in English. It comes from the Old English weorthscipe, which means the condition of being worthy of honor, respect, or dignity. To worship in the older, larger sense is to ascribe honor, worth, or excellence to someone, whether a sage, a magistrate, or God.

For many centuries, the term worship simply meant showing respect or honor, and an example of this usage survives in contemporary English. British subjects refer to their magistrates as "Your Worship," although Americans would say "Your Honor." This doesn’t mean that British subjects worship their magistrates as gods (in fact, they may even despise a particular magistrate they are addressing). It means they are giving them the honor appropriate to their office, not the honor appropriate to God.

Outside of this example, however, the English term "worship" has been narrowed in scope to indicate only that supreme form of honor, reverence, and respect that is due to God. This change in usage is quite recent. In fact, one can still find books that use "worship" in the older, broader sense. This can lead to a significant degree of confusion, when people who are familiar only with the use of words in their own day and their own circles encounter material written in other times and other places.

In Scripture, the term "worship" was similarly broad in meaning, but in the early Christian centuries, theologians began to differentiate between different types of honor in order to make more clear which is due to God and which is not.

As the terminology of Christian theology developed, the Greek term latria came to be used to refer to the honor that is due to God alone, and the term dulia came to refer to the honor that is due to human beings, especially those who lived and died in God’s friendship—in other words, the saints. Scripture indicates that honor is due to these individuals (Matt. 10:41b). A special term was coined to refer to the special honor given to the Virgin Mary, who bore Jesus—God in the flesh—in her womb. This term, hyperdulia (huper [more than]+ dulia = "beyond dulia", indicates that the honor due to her as Christ’s own Mother is more than the dulia given to other saints. It is greater in degree, but still of the same kind. However, since Mary is a finite creature, the honor she is due is fundamentally different in kind from the latria owed to the infinite Creator.

All of these terms—latria, dulia, hyperdulia—used to be lumped under the one English word "worship." Sometimes when one reads old books discussing the subject of how particular persons are to be honored, they will qualify the word "worship" by referring to "the worship of latria" or "the worship of dulia." To contemporaries and to those not familiar with the history of these terms, however, this is too confusing.

Another attempt to make clear the difference between the honor due to God and that due to humans has been to use the words adore and adoration to describe the total, consuming reverence due to God and the terms venerate, veneration, and honor to refer to the respect due humans. Thus, Catholics sometimes say, "We adore God but we honor his saints."

Unfortunately, many non-Catholics have been so schooled in hostility toward the Church that they appear unable or unwilling to recognize these distinctions. They confidently (often arrogantly) assert that Catholics "worship" Mary and the saints, and, in so doing, commit idolatry. This is patently false, of course, but the education in anti-Catholic prejudice is so strong that one must patiently explain that Catholics do not worship anyone but God—at least given the contemporary use of the term. The Church is very strict about the fact that latria, adoration—what contemporary English speakers call "worship"—is to be given only to God.

Though one should know it from one’s own background, it often may be best to simply point out that Catholics do not worship anyone but God and omit discussing the history of the term. Many non-Catholics might be more perplexed than enlightened by hearing the history of the word. Familiar only with their group’s use of the term "worship," they may misperceive a history lesson as rationalization and end up even more adamant in their declarations that the term is applicable only to God. They may even go further. Wanting to attack the veneration of the saints, they may declare that only God should be honored.

Both of these declarations are in direct contradiction to the language and precepts of the Bible. The term "worship" was used in the same way in the Bible that it used to be used in English. It could cover both the adoration given to God alone and the honor that is to be shown to certain human beings. In Hebrew, the term for worship is shakhah. It is appropriately used for humans in a large number of passages.

For example, in Genesis 37:7–9 Joseph relates two dreams that God gave him concerning how his family would honor him in coming years. Translated literally the passage states: "‘[B]ehold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and worshiped [shakhah] my sheaf.’ . . . Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, ‘Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were worshiping [shakhah] me.’"

In Genesis 49:2-27, Jacob pronounced a prophetic blessing on his sons, and concerning Judah he stated: "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall worship [shakhah] you (49:." And in Exodus 18:7, Moses honored his father-in-law, Jethro: "Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and worshiped [shakhah] him and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare, and went into the tent."

Yet none of these passages were discussing the worship of adoration, the kind of worship given to God.



Honoring Saints

Consider how honor is given. We regularly give it to public officials. In the United States it is customary to address a judge as "Your Honor." In the marriage ceremony it used to be said that the wife would "love, honor, and obey" her husband. Letters to legislators are addressed to "The Honorable So-and-So." And just about anyone, living or dead, who bears an exalted rank is said to be worthy of honor, and this is particularly true of historical figures, as when children are (or at least used to be) instructed to honor the Founding Fathers of America.

These practices are entirely Biblical. We are explicitly commanded at numerous points in the Bible to honor certain people. One of the most important commands on this subject is the command to honor one’s parents: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you" (Ex. 20:12). God considered this command so important that he repeated it multiple times in the Bible (for example, Lev. 19:3, Deut. 5:16, Matt. 15:4, Luke 18:20, and Eph. 6:2–3). It was also important to give honor to one’s elders in general: "You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord" (Lev. 19:32). It was also important to specially honor religious leaders: "Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron [the high priest], to give him dignity and honor" (Ex. 28:2).

The New Testament stresses the importance of honoring others no less than the Old Testament. The apostle Paul commanded: "Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due" (Rom. 13:7). He also stated this as a principle regarding one’s employers: "Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ" (Eph. 6:5). "Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed" (1 Tim. 6:1). Perhaps the broadest command to honor others is found in 1 Peter: "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Pet. 2:17).

The New Testament also stresses the importance of honoring religious figures. Paul spoke of the need to give them special honor in 1 Timothy: "Let the presbyters [priests] who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching" (1 Tim. 5:17). Christ himself promised special blessings to those who honor religious figures: "He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man [saint] because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward" (Matt. 10:41).

So, if there can be nothing wrong with honoring the living, who still have an opportunity to ruin their lives through sin, there certainly can be no argument against giving honor to saints whose lives are done and who ended them in sanctity. If people should be honored in general, God’s special friends certainly should be honored.



Statue Worship?

People who do not know better sometimes say that Catholics worship statues. Not only is this untrue, it is even untrue that Catholics honor statues. After all, a statue is nothing but a carved block of marble or a chunk of plaster, and no one gives honor to marble yet unquarried or to plaster still in the mixing bowl.

The fact that someone kneels before a statue to pray does not mean that he is praying to the statue, just as the fact that someone kneels with a Bible in his hands to pray does not mean that he is worshiping the Bible. Statues or paintings or other artistic devices are used to recall to the mind the person or thing depicted. Just as it is easier to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it is easier to recall the lives of the saints by looking at representations of them.

The use of statues and icons for liturgical purposes (as opposed to idols) also had a place in the Old Testament. In Exodus 25:18–20, God commanded: "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. 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."

In Numbers 21:8–9, he told Moses: "‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." This shows the actual ceremonial use of a statue (looking to it) in order to receive a blessing from God (healing from snakebite). In John 3:14, Jesus tells us that he himself is what the bronze serpent represented, so it was a symbolic representation of Jesus. There was no problem with this statue—God had commanded it to be made—so long as people did not worship it. When they did, the righteous king Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kgs. 18:4). This clearly shows the difference between the proper religious use of statues and idolatry.

When the time came to build the Temple in Jerusalem, God inspired David’s plans for it, which included "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 from the hand of the Lord concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18–19).

In obedience to this divinely inspired plan, Solomon built two gigantic, golden statues of cherubim: "In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood and overlaid them with gold. The wings of the cherubim together extended twenty cubits: one wing of the one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub; and of this cherub, one wing, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and the other wing, also of five cubits, was joined to the wing of the first cherub. The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits; the cherubim stood on their feet, facing the nave. And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and worked cherubim on it" (2 Chr. 3:10–14).

chuqudy:

What of the statue of cherubim and seraphim which God commanded solomon to make for the ark of covenant? What of you guys who prays to your pastors by asking for their prayers? What of yorubas that bow down to their seniors as a mark of respect? what of your pictures which are in your phone and in your house. ARE THEY NOT IMAGES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING OR DEAD? And yet "God" told you not to make images of people dead or alive. You apostates like to quote the bible in a way to suit your imaginations. How can I abandon a Church that has existed from the time of Christ till today and join a man made church that was founded just yesterday on the foundation of bible misinterpretations.

At one point, God warns the Israelites against making "graven images". This is Exodus 20:4:


On the other hand, when God is telling them how to construct the Ark of the Covenant, he specifies the following decorations, at Exodus 25:18:


There's certainly a tension between these verses. These golden cherubim are definitely a likeness of something that is in heaven above. However, it's worth noting that, in the earlier verse, God prohibits making a graven image for yourself. One might say that the golden cherubim were made for God, and that this is the important distinction.

Chigozie1984: Yahweh never said that we should worship Mary. You don't even know when Mary died. He asked us in the Ten Commandments, do not worship idols, and that is what you are doing.

so the mother of God is an idol. Your mum is an useless idol. I'm wondering how you people will react if your wives disrespect your mums . So according to u ,u are on the right path, fair enough, can't u leave Catholic alone? Or u guys think Jesus , God is happy with how you rubbish his mum and drag her in the mud

alaoeri:
How did u know that the picture u pasted was the same marry that gave birth to Jesus more than 2000 years ago?

Those are the imaginations and the creations of the renaissance artist to sell the grandeur,beauty and the splendor of oyinbos divinity.There seems to be a new campaign to resuscitate africans doubting minds in christinity with all these ilusive scams.

Bonny Dominic: Can U read d gospel according to Mathew 7:1-4 nd see if U ron d Lord side.

guy no one is judging anybody here

i am only stating the obvious base on what is written in the scriptures

CAMEROONPRIDE: so the mother of God is an idol. Your mum is an useless idol. I'm wondering how you people will react if your wives disrespect your mums . So according to u ,u are on the right path, fair enough, can't u leave Catholic alone? Or u guys think Jesus , God is happy with how you rubbish his mum and drag her in the mud

you don come back from leave


you pple dey say marry na virgin after e don born Jesus shey na true??

Dem be dey assume say joseph wey marry mary no touch am at all


shey na true

pretty stacy: God bless you, thanks for elucidating. If only the antics wil be patient enough to read through this piece.

thank you stacy. there is really no need to fight them back with insulting words. just give them what they need...PROOF!

I need to ask the Pentecostals one simple question!!!1

WHY IS IT THAT WHEN THE CATHOLICS GATHER TO PRAY OR EXPRESS THEIR FAITH, YOUR BODIES WILL BE PINCHING YOU AND BITING YOU??

ask yourselves!!!

moscobabs: are you worshiping GOD or you are worshiping the VIRGIN MARY(Idol)?

God bless u brother for this insightful comment

Virgin most prudent,,,,,,,,,,,pray for us[color=#770077][/color]

free2ryhme:

guy no one is judging anybody here

i am only stating the obvious base on what is written in the scriptures

it is also written that divorce is forbidden, yet you people are divorcing anyhow esp your pastors, everyone can become a pastor oops my bad I meant a scammer, yet that stinking hole you call mouth is only good to talk bad about Catholic. He who lives in glass house shouldn't throw stones.