The word of God says
:
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. (Exodus 20:4)
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea
son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began
to reign.4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut
down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen
serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did
burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in
the Lord God of Israel;
so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his
commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord
was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled
against the king of Assyria, and served him
not.(2 Kings 18: 1, 4-7)
29 Forasmuch then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead
is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven
by art and man's device. 30 And
the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now
commandeth all men every where to repent(Acts 17:29-30)
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God(Exodus
20:5)
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it
came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.(Numbers 21:9)
What Catholic
ministers in the figment of their imaginations say:
Catholics use the holy images,
paintings and other artistic devices to recall persons or things depicted. “Just
as it helps one to remember one’s mother or father by looking at her or his
photograph; images also help Christians to recall saints by looking at their
pictures or statues,” The Archbishop of
Kampala Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga
Houses of worship are
abodes of God. Icons of saints are highly venerated because of their closeness
to God. Religious images, thus, help us to
approach God’s beauty; stir us into a sense of wonder and deep emotions of holy
joy. It is through such works of art that finite humans express their
thirst and search for the infinite. Holy Scriptures too are images of God’s
speech. God forbade the worship of
images, but he did not forbid venerating them for his greater glory and honour.
Instead, he actually commanded their use in religious contexts. During
the plague of serpents sent to punish the Israelites during the Exodus, God
told Moses to make a statue of a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole so that
whoever was bitten and looked at it with faith would be healed. We need them in
today’s climate of secularism. Msgr J.W. Katende
A Former catholic says
:
As a
faithful Catholic, and later as a nun, I practiced Mary worship for many years
without realizing it. The prayers and
practices were so familiar. They were
taught to me by good people, sincere people that I trusted. I prayed rosaries and wore a scapular and
engaged in other “devotions” which I honestly thought were good and pleasing to
God. Because of my lack of knowledge of the Bible and of Church history, I
honestly had no idea that I was actually worshipping Mary. If
modern Catholic teachings and doctrines about Mary are true, then they will not
be contrary to Scripture, the writings of the Early Fathers, or the decrees of
past popes. For a devout Catholic to
question these issues and put them to the test can be painful. It certainly was for me. However, it would be far more painful to have
God correct us when we face Him on Judgment Day. Mary Ann Collins
(A Former Catholic Nun
The watch man says:
These images the Catholics worship are simply figments of
their Imagination and therefore a lie. That is why the statues of Mary can be black
, white , yellow etc. These statues of Mary do not resemble and therefore they
depict different Marys. None of these
people who make these statues knows how Mary or Jesus of the bible looked like. If mages and pictures
help Catholics to reflect on Jesus Christ Himself and his saints just as one
would look at a picture of his or her beloved one or parent and vividly
remember as if that person was still living. How can an imaginary image
help you to recall some body whom you do
not know how he or she looked like. If Icons of
saints are highly venerated because of their closeness to God, how can a human
imagined image have any closeness to God. How can someone’s Imagination of how
my great grand father who lived 600 years ago help me to vividly remember that
person as if he is still living. These catholic priests claim to be logical but
a close scrutiny of their arguments reveals incredible ambiguity and fallacious
reasoning. They are of their father the
devil who was a liar from the beginning and abode not in truth because there is
no truth in him(John 8:44).
For example the statement,’’
Religious images, thus, help us to approach God’s beauty; stir us into a sense
of wonder and deep emotions of holy joy’’ from Fr.Katende is unscriptural , vague,
ambiguous and therefore meaningless.
Kizito Michael George FIRST READ:
MARY WORSHIP? A Study of Catholic Practice and Doctrine
Catholics Worship Mary
Christians Condemn Idolatrous ‘Queenship of Mary’ Observance, Emphasize Need for Evangelism
http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2012/08/christians-condemn-idolatrous-queenship.html
Do faith images increase faith?
Publish Date: Sep 19, 2012
A pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where religious images feature prominently, calls for a sound appreciation of God’s commandment against the making and worshipping of images (Ex. 20:4–5).
Ironically, the Holy sites are, primarily, images of the presence and marvels of God. Mt. Sinai is the Mountain of God; great prophets like Moses and Elijah encountered him there.
It is the site of the 10 Commandments.
Jerusalem is the City of God and home to Jews, Christians and Muslims. A prayer in the Tomb of Jesus marks the climax of the pilgrimage.
Houses of worship are abodes of God. Icons of saints are highly venerated because of their closeness to God.
A story is told about the famous French poet, playwright and diplomat Paul Claudel (1868-1955) who, having entered the Basilica of Notre Dame in Paris on Christmas Day in 1886 on research against Christianity, gained faith after listening to the song of Mary, known as the “Magnificat”.
His heart was touched and his soul elevated.
Religious images, thus, help us to approach God’s beauty; stir us into a sense of wonder and deep emotions of holy joy.
It is through such works of art that finite humans express their thirst and search for the infinite. Holy Scriptures too are images of God’s speech.
A Deceived Catholic Worships the Image of the Pope
They have inspired humanity to form cultures, religious symbols, signs, poems, songs and icons! They were initially written in ancient languages whose alphabets were iconic; endowed with capacity to communicate the beauty, truth and power of God.
God forbade the worship of images, but he did not forbid venerating them for his greater glory and honour. Instead, he actually commanded their use in religious contexts.
During the plague of serpents sent to punish the Israelites during the Exodus, God told Moses to make a statue of a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole so that whoever was bitten and looked at it with faith would be healed.
Early in its history, Israel was forbidden to make any depictions of God because God had not revealed himself in a visible form.
Yet, given the pagan culture surrounding them, the Israelites might have been tempted to worship God in form of some natural object.
But later, God did reveal himself under visible forms. God forbids idolatry because it is a perversion of man’s innate religious sense.
An idolater transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God. Otherwise, works of art that are born of faith do enhance faith.
We need them in today’s climate of secularism.
The writer is the Episcopal Vicar for Kampala in charge of public relations
Catholics do not worship statues—Lwanga
Publish Date:
Apr 16, 2012
The
Archbishop of Kampala Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga has clarified that Catholics do
not worship statues, but instead use them to reflect on their saintly life and
behaviour.
He
said Catholics use the holy images, paintings and other artistic devices to
recall persons or things depicted.
“Just
as it helps one to remember one’s mother or father by looking at her or his
photograph; images also help Christians to recall saints by looking at their pictures
or statues,” Lwanga said on Sunday.
The
church leader was showing hundreds of followers parts of the remains of Sr.
Faustina Krakow of Poland,
the witness of the Devine Mercy which were brought from Poland by Rev Fr. Achiles Mayanja.
Fr.
Mayanja, the administrator of Lubaga Cathedral, had just returned from a
pilgrimage in Poland,
the the home country of the late Sr. Faustina.
Lwanga
declared Rubaga Cathedral Parish the home of the Divine Mercy in Kampala
Archdiocese and urged believers to make an effort there and reflect on and
venerate Jesus Christ.
The
prelate was at Lubaga Cathedral during a holy mass to celebrate the day of
Divine Mercy (Jesus Christ) on which he conveyed God’s great message through
Sr. Faustina Kraków of Poland
to the world.
The
message was a revelation of the pattern of Christian perfection based on trust
in God.
Faustina,
who is now a saint, was born on August 25, 1905 in Gogowiec in Poland
in a religious peasants’ poor family and she died at a tender age on December
5, 1938. She was the third of ten children.
Throughout
her life, she reported a number of visions of Jesus Christ and conversations
with Him, which she wrote about in her diary and was later published as a book
diary titled Divine Mercy in My Soul.
Lwanga
said the use of images of Christ and the saints in the Catholic faith is
misunderstood by many. “It does not only show their lack of knowledge about the
use of these items, but also ignorance of what the Bible says.”
"The
people who accuse Catholics of adoring images should consult those who are
knowledgeable in their respective religions before making such criticisms and
other comments about the Catholic Church and other peoples’ religions,” he said.
He
gave an example of a Ugandan woman singer who sarcastically sang a song titled Nsonyiwa
Father , which according to Lwanga, belittles and despises the Catholic
religion as far as the Sacrament of Penance, is concerned.
“Why
do some people find pleasure and pride in despising other peoples’ religions?”
Lwanga sounded firm.
The
prelate stressed that images and pictures help Catholics to reflect on Jesus
Christ Himself and his saints just as one would look at a picture of his or her
beloved one or parent and vividly remember as if that person was still living
Deceived Catholics Worship the Image of Mary
His
justification was clear: “God has never banned the religious use of statues.”
The
function was attended by hundreds of Christians from 54 parishes that form the
Kampala Archdiocese.
