What are the advantages of using images (e.g. statues, paintings, stained glass windows) in our worship?

What is the advantage of the funnymentalist heresy of iconoclasm?

Gnosticism?

Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.

Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."

Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.

Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).

Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.

Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.

Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.

I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.

2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.

1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.

2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.

Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.

Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/sacramentals.html

It is right to warn people against the sin of idolatry when they are committing it. But calling Catholics idolaters because they have images of Christ and the saints is based on misunderstanding or ignorance of what the Bible says about the purpose and uses (both good and bad) of statues.

Anti-Catholic writer Loraine Boettner, in his book Roman Catholicism, makes the blanket statement, "God has forbidden the use of images in worship" (281). Yet if people were to "search the scriptures" (cf. John 5:39), they would find the opposite is true. God forbade the worship of statues, but he did not forbid the religious use of statues. Instead, he actually commanded their use in religious contexts!

Since the days of the apostles, the Catholic Church has consistently condemned the sin of idolatry. The early Church Fathers warn against this sin, and Church councils also dealt with the issue.

The Second Council of Nicaea (787), which dealt largely with the question of the religious use of images and icons, said, "[T]he one who redeemed us from the darkness of idolatrous insanity, Christ our God, when he took for his bride his holy Catholic Church . . . promised he would guard her and assured his holy disciples saying, ‘I am with you every day until the consummation of this age.’ . . . To this gracious offer some people paid no attention; being hoodwinked by the treacherous foe they abandoned the true line of reasoning . . . and they failed to distinguish the holy from the profane, asserting that the icons of our Lord and of his saints were no different from the wooden images of satanic idols."

The Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) taught that idolatry is committed "by worshipping idols and images as God, or believing that they possess any divinity or virtue entitling them to our worship, by praying to, or reposing confidence in them" (374).

"Idolatry is a perversion of man’s innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who ‘transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God’" (CCC 2114).

The Church absolutely recognizes and condemns the sin of idolatry. What anti-Catholics fail to recognize is the distinction between thinking a piece of stone or plaster is a god and desiring to visually remember Christ and the saints in heaven by making statues in their honor. The making and use of religious statues is a thoroughly biblical practice. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know his Bible.

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It's easier to continue with the idolatry, and call it something else, than to stop, especially if they inherited their religion from their parents, and it's more of a family tradition than an actual faith. It's the same thing as pagan celebrations, painted up to look christian, but scratch the surface, just a little, and the paganism shines thru. They will not stop celebrating these holidays, or using their idols until they have their eyes opened by the truth in the word of God. Since that requires work and dedication, the vast majority will never do it. As proof, we have the FACT that even the Son of God could preach to the people of his day, and very few listened. If it was hard for HIM to get thru to people, and he performed miracles-I sometimes wonder how anyone ever pushes thru the darkness Satan has clouded their minds with, to get to the truth. Thank God some do.

By saying our you must mean you are catholic,I don't know of any other religion who have statues in their place of worship.

Assuming you are, you should know the reason or advantages it's done it's for ambiance.

The stained glass diminishes the light coming inside the church, it looks pretty and invites to meditation and prayer, also it makes the church feel serene and peaceful.

The statues are for remembrance of the saints the same ones we ask graces from.

There are statues representing Jesus his mother Mary and his father Joseph they help

keep your attention focused on the reason you went to the church to start with.

It keep your mind from wondering and paying attention on what your fellow worshipers are wearing to church and so on.

Everybody going to the church knows that is nothing more than an representation of the entities we love and respect and worship a representation nothing else.

I will not get into the argument that we worship statues that's ridiculous and ignorant.

I hope I shed some light.

The same advantages Windows on the computers give us as compared to the old DOS system.

I see no difference in having a painting or a sculpture of your Deity than I do with you having the same for a member or even a pet in your family.

None. It is forbidden by God. We are to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Read Exodus 20:4-5 and 1 John 5:21.

It's like putting pictures from movies that have been adapted from books into the original book itself. It might not contribute to the theology in question, but it sure is pretty.

I dont think there is an advantage, consider how people argue about what jesus looked like and whether he was white or black or middle eastern. They are more concerned with his image than his message.

None.

Statues are prohibited by the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20.

Because it helps lend legitimacy and evoke aesthetic emotions that can then be falsely attributed to the almighty Deity. It's a perfect way to bamboozle people, wouldn't you agree?

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people tend to worship the statue they can see instead of god who they can not see.

that is why god said not to make any graven images and worship them