Catholics: how do you not idolize Mary...?
i've seen this question asked before but it never gets any proper answers
Catholics call themselves christians,
so why do Catholics have pictures and statues of Mary in their churches?
- Mary is a person who had a miracle happen to her
- the definition of idolatry according to the webster: “the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.”
but this is what the bible says
- Ephesians 5:5 "For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
- 1 Corinthians 10:22 Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
God says he is a jealous God and idolatry angers him
i don't understand how anyone can think its right...? the bible says it angers God
Update:i've already asked about prayers and Mary http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ao230... still never got a proper answer
Update 3:Woooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaa can i just stress that i have in no way attacked Mary I've not said one bad thing about her I've only stated that she is a person a human.. please don't put words in my mouth cause your twisting my q.
Comments
We have nothing with which to assess the position of Mary in the spiritual realm except for Catholic tradition. Scripture says Mary was chosen by God because of her "low estate". Everything about Jesus was focused on humility. Jesus said to Mary: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? I must be about my Fathers business" but now the term: "Mother of God" is being used to describe her, by some. I believe Christians should keep their eyes on Jesus. When Peter looked away from the Lord while standing on the water, he sank. There is an important lesson in that.
1) so why do Catholics have pictures and statues of Mary in their churches?
They honor her (they use the word "venerate"), and they pray for her intercession. Pictures and statues are not necessarily idols - God *commanded* Moses to mount two statues of cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, the centerpiece of Jewish worship from the time of Moses until the end of the First Temple Period. I don't think God would have commanded that if he had a problem with images being present and put to use (but not worshiped!!!) during religious ceremonies.
2) the definition of idolatry according to the webster: “the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.”
Yes - but in the Bible, idolatry is clearly defined as worshiping a false deity. The Biblical definition - naturally - is not the same as the English definition. The quote you have from Ephesians is notably different in most English Bibles:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=eph%20...
3) i don't understand how anyone can think its right...? the bible says it angers God
Understand that Roman Catholics are **specifically taught** that it is a sin to worship Mary or any of the "saints," and that when you pray to any "saint" that you are only permitted to pray for their intercession.
That - clearly - excludes any possibility of worshiping those idols (the Biblical definition of "idolatry"). Now: I'm not saying that all Roman Catholics follow those clear teachings, and my personal opinion is that the statues and pictures lead some Roman Catholics (many in third-world countries) to idolatry despite the clear teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. However, their teachings on the subject *are* clear: if a Roman Catholic follows the teachings of his church, he or she will not commit idolatry with the statues or pictures of the "saints".
Jim
My Grandmother came from Poland and was raised Eastern Orthodox (which split from the Catholic church before the Protestant Reformation). When she started Catholic School here she was constantly reprimanded by the nuns for idolizing the Virgin Mary. They called her a "fake Catholic" (or something along those lines) because of her excessive adoration. I guess either Catholics don't see what they do as Idolization. Maybe Eastern Orthodox is just a little more kind to the Virgin Mary. I don't really know.
There isn't any Idols of Mary in the Orthodox Churches. Not One
Ididolize: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com
Îλληνική (Greek) v. - ειδÏλοÏοιÏ, θεοÏοιÏ, λαÏÏεÏÏ, Î¸Î±Ï Î¼Î¬Î¶Ï ... Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. ...
www.answers.com/topic/idolizeolize is a Greek World.
tr.v., -ized, -iz·ing, -iz·es.
1.To regard with blind admiration or devotion. See synonyms at revere1.
2.To worship as an idol.
idolization i'dol·i·za'tion (-Ä-zÄ'shÉn) n.
idolizer i'dol·iz'er n.
Answers.com
Roman Catholics.. have frescos of Mary..
Greek Orthodox Katholikos I Gr First Unviersal) Apostolic Christian of the World have
Icons.
Icons.. Images..
It states in the Greek FIrst New Testament of the World that
Luke 1:30 >>
New International Version (©1984)
But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
Isaiah 7:14 >>
New International Version (©1984)
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
http://bible.cc/isaiah/7-14.htm
We call Mary.. Theotokos. ( God... Bearer) in Greek
The lady who bore Immaneul
sated in the BIble
Mary was Born of Hannah and Joachim ( and is Not an Immaculate Conception)
Joachim and Anna, grandparents of Christ, with their daughter the Ever-virgin Mary. ... Arve and their adorable child Joachim who was born November 21 2000 ...
www.domo-systems.com/Joachim
Mary Lived and Died
Here is the Dormition of Mary o
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dormition_of_the_Theo...
The True Greek/ Or Eastern ( Orthodox) Right Worship ( Katholikos ( Gr First Unviersal Apostolic Christian Honour Mary ( Theotokos) because she was chosen to Give Birth to Our Savior and is more
than ordinary..
We have Icons ( Images of Mary ) Temple of Solomon.. had images and God Loved Solomon
WE do not Have Graven Images ( Three Dimensional Images ) EVER/ STATUES Etc. as stated in the Bible
THe Roman Catholics Do..because they Dont Follow what is Written in Scripture.
Greek Orthodox Katholikos ( Gr First Universal ) Apostolic Christian of the First Greek Septuagint, First
Greek New Testamemt and Codex Sinaticus
IC XC NIKA
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison.
Roxanne hit the nail on the head, their are few who know about that within Catholic Theology. Cultus Latriæ (Worship/Adorration), Cultus Hyperduliæ (Greater Worship/ Greater Veneration) & Cultus Duliæ (Special Worship / Veneration).
But outside of that, you do understand that Worship is a state of mind. No one can worship without full knowledge and understanding of what they are doing. Otherwise, if you have pictures of some of your family members and frends, it can easily be deduced that you idolize them as well for having them. Is that the case? Do you worship you family/friends or other pictures that you may have saved on your computer? Is it wronge to show respect to others?
This is problematic. Some will say that they pray to her as an intecessor only. That they don't worship her. Even if that were true, she is still being given an improper role.
(1 Timothy 2:5) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus,
Of course they pray To Mary just read the Rosary.
http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm
They even call her the Queen of Heaven as did the Kabbalistic Jews in Jeremiah. Queen of Heaven is Isis, Diana, Astarte, Semiramis, Venus, Lucifer. All names for the same God as what you may not realize is that that is what the Statue of Liberty is too. it was a gift from the French Kabbalists( also known as Masons) to the American Kabbalists and it sits upon an 11 pointed base. 11 is the number of the moon goddess/Antichrist. I would like to tell you much more about this but I'm slipping a little off subject.
1Co 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Eve was deceived by Satan and as you can see from the verse above Yahuah is testing us to see who will be deceived and who will cleave unto the truth to this day. Quite frankly there is a lot of heresy in the professing "Protestant church" also. Quite frankly we are walking through a minefield of heresies. We are in the day when we are very close to seeing the fulfillment of the prophecy of a one world government and one world religion headed by anti-Christ. E-mail me if you like.
Here are some videos I highly recommend you watch.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4746728395...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-392430435...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4746728395...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-820959177...
Might I add that God gets to define worship not the pope or the Catholic Church. you can use all the doublespeak you want to but bowing his worship and all worship belongs to God. Catholics even bow down and worship a piece of bread after they put it in the monstrance. Here is God's definition of worship.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Yahuah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
I will say quite pointedly the Catholic Mary is not the Miriam of the Bible. I hope many of you that consider yourself Protestants will think long and hard about the people that endured torture and went to their deaths in the Spanish Inquisition, rather than make the compromises that so many of you are willing to make now.
Misconception: Catholics worship Mary and are, therefore, committing idolatry
In Catholic theology there are three types of worship – one of which is condemned in the Bible if offered to anyone but God:
1) Latria – this is adoration which is given to God alone – giving this type of worship to anyone else is considered to be a mortal sin and it is the idolatry condemned in the Bible.
2) Hyperdulia – this is a special type of worship given to Mary the Mother of Jesus – it is only given to her and it is not considered to be idolatory as it is not adoration, merely reverence.
3) Dulia – this is the special type of worship given only to the saints and angels – it is also not idolatrous as it, too, is a form of reverence.
The distinction was made by the 2nd Council of Nicaea in 787 AD. The council was called to condemn the people who claimed that it was idolatrous to have statues and images of saints.
http://www.piar.hu/councils/ecum07.htm
Just to clarify: “Latria is a Latin term (from the Greek λαÏÏεια) used in Orthodox and Catholic theology to mean adoration, which is the highest form of worship or reverence and is directed only to the Holy Trinity.” – there are lower forms of worship (as is implied here). A Catholic who may kneel in front of a statue while praying isn’t worshipping the statue or even praying to it, any more than the Protestant who kneels with a Bible in his hands when praying is worshipping the Bible or praying to it. The images of saints (whether it be in statue form or painting) serves as a reminder of the holiness of the person depicted.
Many catholics however are not aware of this and we are accused of being idolaters.
What I find interesting is that you are concerned not with the teachings of your Lord and Saviour, but with trying to find fault in the practices of others. That doesn't seem very Christian.
Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Saviour and that he is in heaven sitting at the right hand of the Father. So while you sit there judging people who qworship the same god you do, they are usually not concerning themselves with your beliefs.
One of the problems with people's faith is trying to find flaws in the faith of others...and in your case it's in direct contravention of the teachings of your god...can you see the hypocrisy?
hundreds of thousands of more intelligent and more educated people argued about things like that and now you think you've found a solution of about 100 words?
still, when it comes to religion, in my opinion nobody is right. if it would be possible to answer questions like that clearly, it wouldn't be religion anymore but science.
additionally i have to say that you are not actually asking a question but rather provoking people of other beliefs