Do Images = Idolatry?

I've long given up on social media debates so I simply post my views on this blog so when a topic piques my interest, I can simply link a friend or family member to this page and a more fruitful dialogue can then proceed. I chanced upon this post by a Facebook friend which heavily implies that what Catholics do when have images of the Sto. Niño or other images of Jesus and the saints is tantamount to idolatry and that it's a clear violation of the first commandment.

(I'll preface this post in saying that people who post these things, including my Facebook friend, no doubt have good intentions. And if this issue was truly detrimental to my soul, I would welcome it and in fact thank them for informing me of such a dangerous practice.)

Catholics often answer this by saying that we do not worship the images. I don't know of a Catholic that does. It's akin to having a picture of a loved one on your phone or wallet. When one cannot see the person with which they have love for, it's quite possible that people will show their love for the person by maybe kissing a photo or saying words of love to the picture. In no way do we ever say that people must really be in love with photo paper or the like.

I find this defense reasonable but as this is a Protestant objection, a Protestant approach must be made. In other words, a Catholic should know the Biblical foundations for having icons and images.

The principal passages that Protestants will point to when saying Catholics are in violation of the law of God would be the passage above in Jeremiah and Exodus 20:4-5 or what Protestants call the second commandment:

"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. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord 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;" (King James Version [the one most Protestants use])

What's going on here? The simple explanation is that God was condemning worship of idols not the making of statues. The main problem back in Moses and Jeremiah's time is that people were prone to worshiping statues that their hands made. Remember when Moses went up Mt. Sinai and he returned to see the Israelites worshiping a golden calf? This is all an effect of God calling his people from a polytheistic worldview into the monotheistic worldview.

Are icons or the making of statues prohibited by God in the Bible? Taken all together, it does not seem the case. Just five chapters after the prohibition of "graven images" God commands his people to make the ark of the covenant with very specific instructions on what one can reasonable assume to be statues or icons.

"And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be." (Exodus 25:18-20)

 It's quite clear that when we take all these passages together, one would have to admit that the making of statues has the stamp of approval from the Bible. If the Protestant does not wish to admit this, the only other possible conclusion one could reach is that the Bible has error or at the very least contradicts itself!

Exodus 25:18-20 isn't the only place where the making of images is commanded or approved of but it's the one closest to a perceived prohibition. 1 Chr. 28:18-19 has David givin Solomon a plan for a golden chariot and a cherubim with huge wings. Ezekiel 41:17-18 has him in a vision on an idealized temple which included carved images of cherubim.

Then we move on the issue that my friend correctly points out and that Catholics bow to these images. That does look a lot more like idolatry than simply having statues in our places of worship. The issue here is that simply bowing down before someone or something does not in any way shape or form mean automatic worship. Protestants may bow before their Bibles. The Japanese bow to elders or people in authority. Bowing is a posture of worship but not an act of worship. Just as speaking or singing can be used in worship, it is not an act of worship.

So again, my dear readers, Catholics do not worship other gods simply because we make use of statues in our worship. We respect the images just as one would show respect to an old photo of their long deceased grandparents. The use of such images gets a stamp of approval from the Bible and so we shouldn't be afraid of using them.

There is one issue I haven't addressed in this blog post and only now is it becoming clear to me. There exists a prohibition in Jewish law and in the Old Testament in representing God as anything we can perceive. That seems to be an issue that can be thrown at this post but instead of answering it, I'll pose a question.

What's the main difference between Christianity and Judaism that precludes Jews from representing God as anything we've ever seen?