If Jesus is God incarnate, doesn't it violate the first commandment to make graven images of Jesus (God) on the cross or statues of him?
The first Commandment seems pretty straightforward, so how does Christianity rationalize this?
Anonymous
Favorite Answer
Some churches agree wholeheartedly with your statement. I have been to churches that have only a cross present with no supposed image of Christ on it. according to world book encyclopedia, graven does not cover reprints of drawings, but I suspect the concept is the same.
imacatholic2
Do you have pictures of your loved ones?
Statues and pictures of people we love are not idols.
Statues and paintings of Jesus and the saints are just like pictures of the people we love and respect.
The King James Version of the Bible states in Exodus 20:4: "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"
Why were the Jews commanded not to make graven images? Graven images were the standard method of pagan worship. They were representations of false gods.
This is a very clear command.
However God commanded the Jews in Exodus 25:18 and 1 Chronicles 28:18–19, "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them"
And in 1 Kings chapter 7 Solomon made bulls and other images out of precious metals.
It seems obvious that the Jews did not worship the cherubims and Solomon did not worship the bulls he had made. These images did not violate the command of God. Therefore, an image not made for worship is acceptable.
In Numbers 21:8-9, "And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered."
And in John 3:14-15, Jesus says in correlation, "And just as Moses lifted up the [image of a] serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."
How can a statue of our Lord Jesus Christ dead on the cross be considered an idol to a false god? A crucifix is the message of the Gospel without words held up for all to see, a visual reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus, no different from a painting, a play, or a movie.
Catholics do not worship statues but the almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
With love in Christ.
UTGirl34
10
andy c
Jesus simplified them to two: Love God with all your heart. Love your neighbour as yourself.
As for graven images:
`` ...already in the Old Testament God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word. So it was with the bronze snake, the ark of the covenent and the cherubim.``
Breezer_Ne
There are 10 commandments. Images of Jesus on the cross are not graven images. They are religious symbols. They glorify God and Jesus, and remind of of his sacrifice for us.