Do Catholics Violate

Exodus 20:3-5 because of

Images Inside Churches?
There are three reasons why we are being assailed
by born again who use Exodus 20:3-5 against us.
1. Our Veneration of Mother Mary which goes against Exodus
20:3, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
According to them, we worship Mary.

2. The Images of Saints defy 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:”(Exodus 20:4, King
James Bible)
 
3. Catholics kneel in front of images. ”Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy
God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5, King James Bible).
1. Did we defy Exodus 20:3 by Venerating the
Mother of Christ?
No!
Veneration is different from worship.
Worship - the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. 

Veneration - A feeling of profound respect or reverence.

In Hebrew, we will see the difference.

Worship is sagad (‫סג ַד‬

ָ ) and
veneration is hokarah (‫)הוֹקָרָ ה‬
Here is the proof…
According to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church,
 “from the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin
has been honored", nothing is written that the
blessed virgin has been worshiped and this has
been clarified, this very special devotion…differs
essentially from the adoration which is given to the
incarnate Word and equally to the Father.
Anti-Catholics make an accusation.
We should not believe this kind of people.
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of
stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant,
abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman,
implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous,
reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid
such people. (2 Timothy 3:3-5, RSV)
2. Do Catholics violate Exodus 20:4 because
of Images Inside Churches?
 Let us see the original text of Exodus 20:4.
In Exodus 20:4, we can read the
Hebrew word "Pesel" (‫)ֶּפ֫ סֶ ל‬
which means "idols".

Anti-Catholics attack us regarding images or

"Tselem" (‫) ֶ֫צלֶם‬. You cannot read
"tselem" in Exodus 20:4.
3. Do we disobey Exodus 20:5 since there are
Catholics who kneel in front of images?
No!
What is written in Exodus 20:5 is Tistachave.
The Hebrew word for " To Bow Down in
worship " is Tishtachave (‫)תׁשְ ַּתחֲ ו ֶה‬.
ִ

The kneeling root is Hishtaxava: Root ‫חוה‬

The pronunciation: Hish-ta-xa-vah (past 3ms)

To Bow Down in worship "Tishtachave"
(‫)תׁשְ ַּתחֲ ו ֶה‬:
ִ
The Hebrew word for kneel shows respect (special
honor or respect) is Vayishtachoo (‫) וַּיִׁשְ ַּתחּו‬.

It is clear that it is not Vayishtachoo which is

written in Exodus 20:5.
IDOL VS IMAGE: what does the
bible forbid in the original text?
These are the verses used by our brothers about
"IDOLS" so we can read the Hebrew Word Pesel.
God does not forbid owning images. It forbids the worship of images.
The Hebrew word “IMAGE” is Tselem.
In 1 Samuel 6:5, we can read the Hebrew
word “Tzalmei” which means “images”.
NEW TESTAMENT
The Greek word of idols is eidolon and
the Greek word of image is eikon.
eidolon is not simply the image being
worshiped. It also means greed.
The Greek word εἰκὼν(eikon) can be read in
Mark 12:16.
οἱ δὲ ἤνεγκαν. καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Τίνος ἡ εἰκὼν αὕτη καὶ ἡ ἐπιγραφή; ο
ἱ δὲ εἶπαναὐτῷ, Καίσαρος.(Mark 12:16, Greek Bible)
Does Kneeling Indicate Worship?
If we will study in Greek, the things written in

Acts 16:29 is (prosepesen) which means to

respect and

what is written in Revelation 22:8-9) is

(proskunesai) which means is to worship.
What Is Really the Purpose of Images and
Statues of Catholics?
Images and statues are used so Catholics can
remember Christ.

One of the images that God ordered created is of the cherub.

“You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of
hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy seat."(Exodus
25:18, New Revised Standard Version)
 And why did God ask that two golden
cherubim be made?

"There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat,
[a] from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the
covenant,[b] I will deliver to you all my commands for the
Israelites."(Exodus 25:22, New Revised Standard Version)
The images and statues of Saints are used to
remind men of the saints so that they can
follow their examples in loving God. They
are not worshipped.
We can often see the statue of the Virgin Mary in
churches. This reminds us to be good mothers to
our children since the prayers of a mother will be
for naught if she neglects her children. (1 Timothy
5:8)
This is very important for Christians. To remind us that
we were saved because of the Cross.

"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still

sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, English
Standard Version).
Judas, Satan or the Lord Jesus Christ?

According to
the Apostle
Paul
(2 Timothy 2:8)
That is not the real face of Jesus
The question is, does crossing the river look like the
stones?
 
“so that this may be a sign among you. When your
children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean
to you?’”(Joshua 4:6, New Revised Standard Version)
For example, your father died
Catholic Processions: Is This Sign of
Worshiping Idols?
If this is the basis, it will show that Joshua
violated the commandments of God.

Joshua 6:6-8
The covenant of the Lord was
adorned with the images of the
cherubim. ((Exodus 25:18-20).
God has a procession and we need to show
this to all people.
“They have seen your processions, O God; the processions of
my GOD, my King, in the sanctuary." (Psalms 68:25, Hebrew-
English Bible).

If we understand the verses carefully, we can read, "the

processions of my GOD, my King."
Image in “Isaiah 40:18” of the New
International Version Bible?
This is what is written in Isaiah 40:18 of
the New International Version.
 
"With whom, then, will you compare God? To
what image will you liken him?"(Isaiah 40:18,
New International Version)
This is the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40:18.

The Hebrew word is ‫ ּדמּות‬or demoot can be seen. This is equivalent to the English word "likeness".
This is what is written in the English bible translated
from the original Hebrew text.

"To whom then will you like God? Or, what likeness
will you compare to him?"(Isaiah 40:18)
Prominent Bible Scholars did not judge
Catholics for Having Images and Statues
 
1. Doctor Eugene Charles Ulrich
 He co-authored the Dead Sea Scrolls Bible.
2. Professor Darrell Bock
Darrell L. Bock is an evangelical Christian New Testament
scholar and research professor.
3. Professor Sigal Zohar
Pro deo et ecclesia!