SUMMARY: I'LL ADVICE US ALL 2 CONCETRATE ON MAKING HEAVEN AND NOT CRITICISING CHURCHES. THE MAIN CHURCH IS IN OUR HEARTS. U MAY END UP OFFENDING GOD IN THE NAME OF CRITICISM. 4RM SOME POSTS HERE MANY DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY AR CRITICISING.TNX

udemzy_udex:
He told moses to make a serpent he didn't tell him to make an image of him. moses didn't tell d pple of Israel to bow down for the serpent,he only told moses to tell the pple of Isreal to look at it..

Mind u catholics don't have the image of God our heavenly Father but of Jesus because he was known by people

chuqudy:

We ask Mary to pray to Jesus for us just like she did for the apostles in the marriage at Cana. We ask Mary to pray for us just like you ask your mortal pastor to pray for you. We believe in the communion with the saints. May be your problem is that you do not believe that you can communicate with Angels and Saints of God. If Mary Can't hear our communication to her, then Jesus would see our prayers as prayers made with humility(since we sometimes see ourselves not worthy to talk to Him directly). Remember, God edits all our prayers. Since a lot of miracles have been recorded and is still happening through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that proves that God answers our prayers.

Christ is the mediator between God and man, not Mary or saints. A mortal person can actually pray for u, but still through Christ. And the so called miracles are not proof that it's acceptable. Jesus showed clearly that miracles or signs are overrated- Matthew 7:21-23 - “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Am curious op,i need some clarification;cause it seems u hv seen God.what was used to represent the ark of the covenant in the Bible?why did God ask moses to mould an image of a snake?why ar u a christian?is it to falter d believe of other christian?

[quote author=Kslib]
WHY DO ALTER BOYS/PRIESTS BOWN DOWN IN FRONT OF THE CRUCIFIX ??
IF U BOW B4 SB OR SOMTIN AND IT BECOMES WORSHIP THEN YEROBAS WILL ALL GO TO HELL COS THEY BOW TO THEIR ELDER. BRO BE REASONABLE.

I believe it is mainly out of ignorance that protestants and non-Catholics say that, Catholics worship idols.
Since the protestants like quoting the bible, let me quote one too...
Remember when God told Moses to place in the Temple in the very presence of God, the Holy of Holies:
"...2 ANGELS of hammered gold …their wings spread upward..The angels are to face each other..-Ex. 25:18-20
So, God Himself wanted a couple of images of “things in Heaven” in the Tabernacle

And then we have the incident where the children of Israel were bitten by fiery serpents and …
Numbers 21:8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”
Obviously, God has not forbidden art because He commanded specific kinds of art to decorate the Temple and to save the Israelites from snakebites.
He just didn’t want us to Worship these things
“You must not bow down to them or worship them”

Why does the Catholic Church have Art in Churches? I can think of 5 reasons.
1. Pictures and statues are like family photos in our houses of worship only we have images of the Family of God.
Doesn’t every house have family pictures?

2. As an aid to prayer and to keep us focused.

3. To remind us of those who set an example of heroic Christian living.

4. As reminders of Stories of Faith; to teach our children when a child asks, “Who is that?”

5. To tell the stories of our Faith to all the generations in the last 2000 years when Bibles were too expensive for individuals to own and most people could not read anyway. Did you know, even today 20% of the world population cannot read? But everyone can understand art.

source: This is from a protestant turned Catholic
http://bfhu./2011/10/19/another-protestant-tradition-catholics-worship-idols/


I don't know the problem this people have with Catholics. I summarize it as ignorance. I have been invited to many Pentecostal Churches and there is none that doesn't have the image of a Daddy and mummy in the Lord; are these images also worshiped? why are the images put in the church anyway? The Very Bible you quote is the a compilation of books that were put together by early Catholics, very many years before the first rebel in the name of Martin Luther broke off (or haven't your Daddy or Mummy in the Lord told you so)?. It is wiser to ask questions about things you do not understand; unfortunately most of you have formed your opinion that is why you fail to reason...in spite of this, the catholic Church grows stronger by the day with currently over on billion Catholics world wide.

mercurie:

Mind u catholics don't have the image of God our heavenly Father but of Jesus because he was known by people

Where did you get his picture? The ones you have, is it images of the same person or different persons.

adaptor4all:
Do yorubas prostrate to images or elders..*just asking*

IS IT RIGHT TO WORSHIP HUMANS. JUST ASKING?

adaptor4all:
Do yorubas prostrate to images or elders..*just asking*

IS IT RIGHT TO WORSHIP HUMANS INSTEAD OF GOD, JUST ASKING?

What makes us eligable candidates of heaven?is it d church we worship wit or our hrt?dnt b surprise,wen dat day comes,we myt not be good enough to be their;then, some of the people we call "sinners" will put dis question to us:"brother, u folow dey here?"

chukwudi44:

It is either you follow the church's teaching or you cease to be catholic.Besides no where in the bible is images outlawed rather what is outlawed is idols and not images

and what is the difference btw an idol and image? an idol is anything u reverence more than God. Wat about prayin wit beads and repeatin prayers? do you know Jesus condemned it in d Bible? Matt 6:7

patholaw: catholics don't pray 2 mary or saints...dey only ask dem 2 intercede. Wen jesus worked his 1st miracle hw did it happen? Wen dey said dey had no wine he told dem his hour haz not yet come...dey had 2 beg mary to intercede 4 dem 2 her son...and jesus did as work d miracle 4 dem...
If u don't understand d chatholic faith ask some 1 to enlighten u den running ur mouth anyhow...

and how can mary n d other saints interceed for you? wat then is d work of d Holy Spirit? do you know d meaning of a saint biblically? a person who is born again! so how can dey intercede for you? it's u who needs to read ur Bible properly. there is only one mediator btw God n man (JESUS). peter, paul n co never asked moses or jacob or abraham to intercede for them so y are u asking mary n peter to intercede for u? Jesus has given us a pattern of prayer in matt 6. it's not complex.

chukwudi44:

Ol man please answer my questions.Did Joshua,moses and the isrealites commit idolatory? Did God give them permission to commit idolatory? Can God give one permission to sin?

Nope....God gave moses, joshua. Specific Directives which he never gave to the catholics..........

And you know that........you guys have desperately and presumpteously made images and mouldings for worship......

That was Something the isrealites did back then when they made the golden calf that made Yahwehs anger descend on them.......

Bowing down to marys image and praying through her is blatant idolatry....

publisher: I guess the only 'graven image' Nigerian protestants are Okay with is that of a PRIVATE JET.

100 retweets!!!

davehall: I bet u .U are not a catholic and u can never be.And i ges u never have a picture.

I can still remember todays reading.

First reading: First Kings
17:10-16

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

I can't recall second reading now, but I will check my bulletin when I get home.

stop arguing wht u dont kw,make enqurings 1st.stop attacking 1s belief. If u dont undastd why images are in church walk up 2 a priest a ask he is ever ready 2 help u out.stop arguing blindly

chuqudy:


It might be unnecessary to you but it is necessary to others. You are reasoning in a different direction. The early Christians who started it has a reason for that. God did not start talking to people today. St. Paul's handkerchief drove demons away. St. Peters shadow cured the sick. God works in mysterious ways. St. Peter's shadow was an image. People ran to it so that his shadow could cast on them. So, shut up. By the way, why do you make pictures of yourself since "God" told you not to make images.

Which early Christians? Christians are to imitate Christ and the examples of the Apostles as written in the Bible. And the miracles Paul or Peter is no reason to go filling a religious place with images. "God works in mysterious ways" is last resort of the ignorant who can't explain the basis of their religious beliefs or practices. A picture of myself has no religious significance and thus won't be in a church.

Lemme guess..another Catholic-bashing thread by "holier-than-thou" business-jet-flying Protestants who think they know more about the Catholic church than Catholics..huh..

cecilia.udoh:
stop arguing wht u dont kw,make enqurings 1st.stop attacking 1s belief. If u dont undastd why images are in church walk up 2 a priest a ask he is ever ready 2 help u out.stop arguing blindly

My sister, please tell them oh. Simple!

To the Protestants who are not sure about a thing or 2 on Catholics, so yourselves are favour-walk down to the nearest parish, ask for the parish priest, and ASK questions for more clarification.

It's funny how people don't understand sth simple.Look at this If people are protesting against lets say for instance Presideent Jonathan,they would try to destroy all his posters and billboards and people would do this even though President Jonathan may not see what they've done but on the contrary adorning ur room with sb picture.what message is it sending out-that you love the person.many people here are using the image of their favourite artiste as the wallpaper on their phone.So puting pictures of Jesus Christ in places what message do you think 4t's sending to the almighty who knows everything.Those of you accusing catholic church members of worshiping images don't seem to understand sth simple

Catholic, Protestant, Adventist... doesn't matter. Do you believe fhe Bible is inspired by God? Should you be trying to follow its words? To knowingly go against the Bible is to challenge the authority of God. Why go to a priest for explanations when the pope himself been having peole kneel before him as if he were given divine blessing? Am sure tbere are explanations for everything.

ijawkid:

Nope....God gave moses, joshua. Specific Directives which he never gave to the catholics..........

And you know that........you guys have desperately and presumpteously made images and mouldings for worship......

That was Something the isrealites did back then when they made the golden calf that made Yahwehs anger descend on them.......

Bowing down to marys image and praying through her is blatant idolatry....

Ol boy answer simple question

Did God give dem permission to commit idolatary?

Can God give one permission to commit idolatary?

chukwudi44:

Ol boy answer simple question

Did God give dem permission to commit idolatary?

Can God give one permission to commit idolatary?

why not ask your priest that question.

Did God give catholics permission to make images of things in heaven and on earth, to bow to it and worship it? Did God give catholics permission to commit idolatry?

Youngzedd:

That same God told Moses to build an image also told Moses and others not to bow and worship images.

Tell me the reasons why people pray in front of the images.
And also concluding prayers using the name of saints e:g Mary, Tansi etc instead of God almighty.

no sir, i dont conclude prayers in d name of st mary or st tansi. Pls dont accuse us of what we know nthing of!

stronger: Com'on guys. This is a no-brainer!
If you have a portrait of your mum at home,does that automatically mean she is an IDOL you are worshipping?
Let's stop mixing things up. Nothing wrong with having images or portraits as long as d only person u worship is God!

mumu, do you bow down to your mum's portrait @ home ?

solomon201: Can someone (a catholic ) pls tell us why they petition Mary to pray for them? Will like to see scriptural backing on this. If I remember clearly Jesus said no one comes to the father except through him. So where does praying to Mary come from?

d same way u ask ur pastor to pray 4 u. Its dat simple.

bursturbrain :
catholics are not being entirely truthful, please refute dis my claims if dey are not true.
1. If you enter your church and dere is a cross in middle of d church dont you bow and do sign of cross, whether you enter frm west or east or south door you always bow and make sign of cross

true, when i enter d church i'm alway facing a painting or sculpture of christ crucified and everytime it reminds me of jn3:16, d love of God that made his son died 4 me, the is nothing i can do but say "thank you lord" and i repeat that name in which i was baptised "in d name of d fada and d son and d holyspirit". It show me at all times d reason im in d church i.e to worship God thru christ wu went on d cross became both priest and victim of the death conquering sacrifice, and that sacrifice he nailed my sins to d tree and granted me salvation. Alleluia today is a sunday he rose frm d dead showin forth d awesome power of God. Ofcourse i tell God "i worship u my God" my neck isnt too long that it cant bow.

2. My cousin one day korokoro wen no one was around stopped front of a jesus picture in d parlor and started talkin to it, like thru it she wil reach Jesus, i den asked wat you doin she lied nothin,
3. Der is dis joke wen small dat dey said horse passed a statue of mary and d horse bow, dont you catholics kneel and pray b4 mary statue in ur church
4 even in western movies normal normal u see dose mexicans kneel and pray to jesus statue dey KNEEL AND PRAY LOOKIN UP TO IT AS THOUGH JESUS WAS THERE AT DAT TIME PLS WAT DIFF IS DIS FROM WAT HAPPENED WHEN SHEDRAACH AND CO REFUSED TO BOW TO STATUE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR, remember dey refused to bow to dat image and God God sent angel to save dem, tel me how u catholics are any diff frm d babylon folks

joshua also did d same b4 d ark.

The Devil is happy even as some people are trying so hard to justify idolatry. God is watching! Our Catholic brothers should break away from the Roman modus operandi like the church of Nigeria Anglican communion did with the church of England tried to allow gay people run things. I seriously pray for a revival in the Nigerian Catholic church and I know that God will do it one day in Jesus name. Amen.

Williamfors:
What is the origin of the myth?

“Images were unknown in the worship of the primitive Christians . . . The admission of images into the church in the 4th and 5th centuries was justified on the theory that the ignorant people could learn the facts of Christianity from them better than from sermons or books.”— Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, by McClintock and Strong, Volume 4, pages 503 and 504.
What does the Bible say?

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them.” (Exodus 20:4, 5, The Holy Bible —New International Version) The apostle John wrote to first-century Christians: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” —1 John 5:21.

Are images, as the churches claim, simply a means of approaching and honoring what they represent? “At first,” states The Encyclopedia of Religion, “images may have served primarily didactic [teaching] and decorative purposes; at least, they were defended on such grounds. But soon they came to fill admittedly devotional functions. This was especially true of the icons that became a prominent feature of Eastern Orthodoxy.” However, the prophet Isaiah rightly asked: “To whom can you compare God? What image can you contrive of him?” —Isaiah 40:18, The New Jerusalem Bible.

Compare these Bible verses: Isaiah 44:13-19; Acts 10:25, 26; 17:29; 2 Corinthians 5:7
FACT:

God does not approve of the use of images and icon

Do Catholics Worship Statues?

"Catholics worship statues!" People still make this ridiculous claim. Because Catholics have statues in their churches, goes the accusation, they are violating God’s commandment: "You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down to them or serve them" (Ex. 20:4–5); "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold" (Ex. 32:31). 

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! 

 

God Said To Make Them

People who oppose religious statuary forget about the many passages where the Lord commands the making of statues. For example: "And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; 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 of 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" (Ex. 25:18–20). 

David gave Solomon the plan "for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also 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 of the hand of the Lord concerning it all, all the work to be done according to the plan" (1 Chr. 28:18–19). David’s plan for the temple, which the biblical author tells us was "by the writing of the hand of the Lord concerning it all," included statues of angels. 

Similarly Ezekiel 41:17–18 describes graven (carved) images in the idealized temple he was shown in a vision, for he writes, "On the walls round about in the inner room and [on] the nave were carved likenesses of cherubim." 

 

The Religious Uses of Images

During a 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; 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" (Num. 21:8–9). 

One had to look at the bronze statue of the serpent to be healed, which shows that statues could be used ritually, not merely as religious decorations. 

Catholics use statues, paintings, and other artistic devices to recall the person or thing depicted. Just as it helps to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it helps to recall the example of the saints by looking at pictures of them. Catholics also use statues as teaching tools. In the early Church they were especially useful for the instruction of the illiterate. Many Protestants have pictures of Jesus and other Bible pictures in Sunday school for teaching children. Catholics also use statues to commemorate certain people and events, much as Protestant churches have three-dimensional nativity scenes at Christmas. 

If one measured Protestants by the same rule, then by using these "graven" images, they would be practicing the "idolatry" of which they accuse Catholics. But there’s no idolatry going on in these situations. God forbids the worship of images as gods, but he doesn’t ban the making of images. If he had, religious movies, videos, photographs, paintings, and all similar things would be banned. But, as the case of the bronze serpent shows, God does not even forbid the ritual use of religious images. 

It is when people begin to adore a statue as a god that the Lord becomes angry. Thus when people did start to worship the bronze serpent as a snake-god (whom they named "Nehushtan", the righteous king Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kgs. 18:4). 

 

What About Bowing?

Sometimes anti-Catholics cite Deuteronomy 5:9, where God said concerning idols, "You shall not bow down to them." Since many Catholics sometimes bow or kneel in front of statues of Jesus and the saints, anti-Catholics confuse the legitimate veneration of a sacred image with the sin of idolatry. 

Though bowing can be used as a posture in worship, not all bowing is worship. In Japan, people show respect by bowing in greeting (the equivalent of the Western handshake). Similarly, a person can kneel before a king without worshipping him as a god. In the same way, 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. 

 

Hiding the Second Commandment?

Another charge sometimes made by Protestants is that the Catholic Church "hides" the second commandment. This is because in Catholic catechisms, the first commandment is often listed as "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3), and the second is listed as "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain." (Ex. 20:7). From this, it is argued that Catholics have deleted the prohibition of idolatry to justify their use of religious statues. But this is false. Catholics simply group the commandments differently from most Protestants. 

In Exodus 20:2–17, which gives the Ten Commandments, there are actually fourteen imperative statements. To arrive at Ten Commandments, some statements have to be grouped together, and there is more than one way of doing this. Since, in the ancient world, polytheism and idolatry were always united—idolatry being the outward expression of polytheism—the historic Jewish numbering of the Ten Commandments has always grouped together the imperatives "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3) and "You shall not make for yourself a graven image" (Ex. 20:4). The historic Catholic numbering follows the Jewish numbering on this point, as does the historic Lutheran numbering. Martin Luther recognized that the imperatives against polytheism and idolatry are two parts of a single command. 

Jews and Christians abbreviate the commandments so that they can be remembered using a summary, ten-point formula. For example, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants typically summarize the Sabbath commandment as, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," though the commandment’s actual text takes four verses (Ex. 20:8–11). 

When the prohibition of polytheism/idolatry is summarized, Jews, Catholics, and Lutherans abbreviate it as "You shall have no other gods before me." This is no attempt to "hide" the idolatry prohibition (Jews and Lutherans don’t even use statues of saints and angels). It is to make learning the Ten Commandments easier. 

The Catholic Church is not dogmatic about how the Ten Commandments are to be numbered, however. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history. The present catechism follows the division of the Commandments established by Augustine, which has become traditional in the Catholic Church. It is also that of the Lutheran confession. The Greek Fathers worked out a slightly different division, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and Reformed communities" (CCC 2066). 

 

The Form of God?

Some anti-Catholics appeal to Deuteronomy 4:15–18 in their attack on religious statues: "[S]ince you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth." 

We’ve already shown that God doesn’t prohibit the making of statues or images of various creatures for religious purposes (cf. 1 Kgs. 6:29–32, 8:6–66; 2 Chr. 3:7–14). But what about statues or images that represent God? Many Protestants would say that’s wrong because Deuteronomy 4 says the Israelites did not see God under any form when he made the covenant with them, therefore we should not make symbolic representations of God either. But does Deuteronomy 4 forbid such representations? 

 

The Answer Is No

Early in its history, Israel was forbidden to make any depictions of God because he had not revealed himself in a visible form. Given the pagan culture surrounding them, the Israelites might have been tempted to worship God in the form of an animal or some natural object (e.g., a bull or the sun). 

But later God did reveal himself under visible forms, such as in Daniel 7:9: "As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was Ancient of Days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its wheels were burning fire." Protestants make depictions of the Father under this form when they do illustrations of Old Testament prophecies. 

The Holy Spirit revealed himself under at least two visible forms—that of a dove, at the baptism of Jesus (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32), and as tongues of fire, on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4). Protestants use these images when drawing or painting these biblical episodes and when they wear Holy Spirit lapel pins or place dove emblems on their cars. 

But, more important, in the Incarnation of Christ his Son, God showed mankind an icon of himself. Paul said, "He is the image (Greek: ikon) of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Christ is the tangible, divine "icon" of the unseen, infinite God. 

We read that when the magi were "going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh" (Matt. 2:11). Though God did not reveal a form for himself on Mount Horeb, he did reveal one in the house in Bethlehem. 

The bottom line is, when God made the New Covenant with us, he did reveal himself under a visible form in Jesus Christ. For that reason, we can make representations of God in Christ. Even Protestants use all sorts of religious images: Pictures of Jesus and other biblical persons appear on a myriad of Bibles, picture books, T-shirts, jewelry, bumper stickers, greeting cards, compact discs, and manger scenes. Christ is even symbolically represented through the Icthus or "fish emblem." 

Common sense tells us that, since God has revealed himself in various images, most especially in the incarnate Jesus Christ, it’s not wrong for us to use images of these forms to deepen our knowledge and love of God. That’s why God revealed himself in these visible forms, and that’s why statues and pictures are made of them. 

 

Idolatry Condemned by the Church

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. 

NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004

IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004

Ubenedictus: d same way u ask ur pastor to pray 4 u. Its dat simple.

Is it really the same? Asking for another living person to pray with you to God through Christ is one thing, i.e You/Another ->Jesus ->God. There's a clear scriptural basis for this - "Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord" - James 5:14.

You, on the other hand, does the actual praying through Mary, which is either You/Another -> Mary -> God OR You/Another ->Mary -> Jesus -> God.

How does that reconcile with the scriptures which shows Jesus to be our only mediator and intercessor to God, like:

"Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him". (Heb 7:25)
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5)

Originalsly: Catholic, Protestant, Adventist... doesn't matter. Do you believe fhe Bible is inspired by God? Should you be trying to follow its words? To knowingly go against the Bible is to challenge the authority of God. Why go to a priest for explanations when the pope himself been having peole kneel before him as if he were given divine blessing? Am sure tbere are explanations for everything.

So the GOs and pastors that call people to the pulpits to pray for them do what? Well, I guess I and my wife worshiped my dad when we knelt for his blessings as he prayed for us the morning after our wedding.

Proudly Catholic...