ANSWER TO MY FRIEND LESTER ABOUT IMAGES On THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

 

                                                                       

The verses he cited on this inquiry are the common verses that ANTI-CATHOLICS are using to accuse the CATHOLICS of “IDOL WORSHIPPER”. Let us examine his claims:

Habakkuk 2:19

¹⁹ Alas for you who say to the wood, “Wake up!”
    to silent stone, “Rouse yourself!”
    Can it teach?
See, it is gold and silver plated,
    and there is no breath in it at all.

        Habakkuk 2:19 (Hebrew-English Bible)

"Woe to him wo says to the wood, Awake! To the dumb stone, Arise! Can it teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it."

Tignan mo Lester ang pagkakaiba ng talatang ginamit mo sa original na salin ng Habakkuk 2:19?

Ang Tanong, sino ba ang nagsasabi nyan sa kahoy? Baka kayo lang na mga dating katolikong hindi nag-aral bago lumipat ng born again?

Mga gago lang at ulol ang gumagawa nyan sabi ng JEREMIAS 10:8.

Acts 17:29

²⁹ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.


Ang tanong Lester, May "image" nga bang nakasulat sa greek sa Acts 17:29?

Ang image sa greek ay "eikón" at walang "eikon" na mababasa sa orihinal na salin, sa halip ito ang nakasulat sa greek, "chrusO E arguro e Litho Charagmati technEs"

Na ang ibig sabihin ay "like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art".

Sa Greek ang nakasulat ay, "gos oun huprchontes tou theou out opheilomen nomizein chrusO E arguro e Litho Charagmati technEs kai enthuMeseOs anthropou to theion einai"
humoion

Ito ang isinalin mula sa greek,"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."(Greek-English)

KITA MO DINAGDAGAN MO ANG TOTOONG NAKASULAT AT GUMAMIT KA NG  TRANSLATION NA MALI!

Romans 1:25

²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Isaiah 42:8

⁸ I am the Lord, that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to idols.

Mali na naman ang pagkagamit mo ng mga talatang ito, DEFINITELY ganun SIGURO ang ginagawa mo sa mga images noonng Katoliko ka pa, kaya akala mo lahat na ng mga katoliko ay kagaya mo.

Ngayon ano ba ang tinutukoy na images sa mga verses na BINANGIT mo? BASAHIN natin ang BIBILIYA at HAYAAN nating sya MISMO ang mag define nd SALITANG IYAN.

MABABASA natin sa 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (NIV)

⁴ So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

Iyon naman pala. . . ang idol pala ay IN-EXISTING, and PROBLEMA lang sa PAGKAUNAWA MO LESTER AY INIISIP MO NA ANG MGA LARAWAN SA SIMBAHAN AY DIYOS MISMO AS IF WE DON'T RECOGNIZE GOD THE FATHER SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WHOM the IMAGES are actually REPRESENTING. This is very far from your UNDERSTANDING that we WORSHIP the IMAGES ITSELF and NOT GOD.

NOW I ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION TO YOU LESTER AND GOES LIKE THIS:


DOON BA SA Acts 17:29, sa original na nakasulat sa greek ay meron bang nakasulat na greek word na "eikón" kagaya ng ginamit at pinaniniwalaan mong salin?


[Acts 17:29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals.]

KUNG WALA AKONG MABASA NAKASULAT NA "IMAGE" OR "EIKÓN" TATANGGAPIN MONG MANLOLOKO AT SINUNGALING ANG LAHAT NG MGA BORN AGAIN?

Now are you STRONG ENOUGH to FACE the CHALLENGE? In your case, I doubt it. 

I am so amazed when he forgot to mention the most favorite and common verse that the anti-Catholics are using, the Exodus 20:4-5, but since he did not mention it, I already did the honor to include it. Again, this issue that he is throwing to the Catholic Fold has already been answered long long time ago. It’s just that my friend is not aware of that fact. But for the benefits of his research let us tackle it. As I said this has already been answered and I will just copy paste the answer here of my idol and fellow Apologist Professor Ramon Gitamondok . Original Article

Exodus 20:4-5

⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I theLord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,

“One of the common objections we encounter from our non-Catholic friends is on the use of images in worship. They will say that Catholics in using images in their religious worship is guilty of violating the first commandment of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:4-6).In this article, it is my intention to enlighten our protestant brothers on this Catholic belief and practice in the hope that by clarifying certain misconceptions we will be able to draw closer to each other into the unity of faith in which our Lord Jesus himself so earnestly desire (John 17:11).

The biblical verses commonly cited against the Catholic use of images such as Isaiah 42:8; 40:18-20, Deuteronomy 4:15-18, and Exodus 20:4-6 condemns idolatry which is the worship of images as gods or in place of God. This practice which was common among the pagans and in certain occasions was also committed by the Israelites is what God prohibits. Together with our Protestant brothers the Catholic Church also condemns idolatry as a grievous sin against the first commandment. In response to the protestant reformation which denies the use of images in worship the Catholic Church sets down clearly her teaching on this matter in the Council of Trent:

“The images of Christ and of his Virgin Mother and of the other Saints are to be had and retained especially in churches, and a due and honor and veneration is to be given them NOT BECAUSE any virtue or divinity is believed to be in them that for which they are to honored as what the heathens do who placed their hopes in idols BUT BECAUSE the honor which is given them is referred to the originals which they represent..”

Therefore, the Catholic Church does not teach and Catholics do not believe that images have any power, virtue or an ounce of divinity and it is not the image, per se, which is the object of our veneration but the originals which they represent.

Although the Bible condemns idolatry (worship of images as gods) it however permits and even commands the proper use of images in worship. For example in Exodus 25:18-22 God commands Moses: “Make two cherubim of beaten gold for the two ends of the propitiatory, fastening them so that one cherub springs direct from each end. The cherubim shall have their wings spread out above, covering the propitiatory with them; they shall be turned toward each other, but with their faces looking toward the propitiatory. This propitiatory you shall then place on top of the ark. In the ark itself you are to put the commandments which I will give you. There I will meet you and there, from above the propitiatory, between the two cherubim on the ark of the commandments, I will tell you all the commands that I wish you to give the Israelites.”

The temple which King Solomon built and dedicated to God was adorned with sacred images as we can read in Ezequiel 41:17-19. “As high as the lintel of the door, even into the interior part of the temple as well as outside, on every wall on every side in both the inner and outer rooms were carved the figures of cherubim and palm trees: a palm tree between every two cherubim. Each cherub had two faces: a man’s face looking at a palm tree on one side, and a lion’s face looking at a palm tree on the other; thus they were figured on every side throughout the whole temple.”

After the Temple was built God was pleased and sanctified the place of worship for his people as we can read in 2 Chronicles 7:12-16: “The LORD appeared to Solomon during the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and I have chosen this place for my house of sacrifice. If I close heaven so that there is no rain, if I command the locust to devour the land, if I send pestilence among my people, and if my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land. Now my eyes shall be open and my ears attentive to the prayer of this place. And now I have chosen and consecrated this house that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart also shall be there always.”

Gathering these facts from Scriptures, we can safely conclude that God does not absolutely forbid the use of images in religious worship otherwise God would contradict himself by prohibiting in one part of the Bible what he explicitly commands in another part. Catholics DO NOT worship sacred images for we DO NOT believe that they possess any power in themselves. If despite this some people will still continue to ascribe to us beliefs and practices which we also condemn and abhor then they should also remember another commandment of the Decalogue: “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”

For more readings and Religious Discussion about the images and the like. Please Click Here

http://www.splendorofthechurch.com.ph/