Ee-13. Is the Crucifix a GRAVEN IMAGE!

Is the CRUCIFIX BIBLICAL?

EVERY CATHOLIC NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CRUCIFIX!

Every Catholic needs to know about the CRUCIFIX! Is the CRUCIFIX BIBLICAL? Every Catholic needs to know the TRUTH! What I mean by this is the cross with the image of Jesus hanging on the cross BIBLICAL? Yes, we all know that the crucifixion is Biblical, but what about the image of the Crucifix?

Now most Christians from nearly every denomination have some object of a CROSS as a symbol that represents the crucifixion of Jesus to them. But it seems to be only among Catholics and some strict Eastern Orthodox Christians that the cross is NOT empty or bare like most Protestant Christian crosses. But rather, the Catholic cross, that is called a “CRUCIFIX”, has the image of Jesus still hanging on that cross of suffering the shame of death being hung upon a tree or cross. So the question has been asked, “Is the CRUCIFIX Biblical?” seeing that it has an IMAGE of Jesus on the cross? In other words, this study in God's word is not about the question of a symbol of an empty or bare cross having NO IMAGE upon it being Biblical. Rather the question at hand is whether or not it is Biblical to venerate, honor, adore a cross with the IMAGE of Jesus still hanging on that cross, which is called a “CRUCIFIX”.

Well, we know from God's word that we, as Christians, are NOT to make ANY graven image that is revered, honored, venerated, or given devotion to, kissed, or bowed down to. But what about having a simple crucifix that is used just as a remembrance of Jesus dying on the cross for us? In other words, is it wrong to just have a crucifix hanging in your home as a remembrance of the death of Jesus? And is it wrong to wear a necklace with a crucifix hanging on a chain just as a symbol to show that you are a Christian? Is it wrong to have a crucifix in the church? Why do some Protestants have crosses in their churches, but believe that it is wrong to have any form of a crucifix? These are the types of questions that we will cover in this study of God's word.

Now for me, personally, and keep in mind this is just my own personal opinion, but I prefer to remember the victorious resurrection of Jesus rather than Jesus still hanging on the cross. I mean I hate going to funerals and have to go up to the casket and look at the dead body. I would rather remember that person when they were alive and know that they are now in heaven with our Lord who is no longer hanging on the cross of suffering and shame.

Besides, Jesus already gave us communion as a remembrance of his suffering and death, according to 1 Corinthians 11:23-34. Anyway, that is just my own personal opinion and that is not what this study in God's word is about. We all have our own OPINIONS, but what does the word of TRUTH teach us? Since there is absolutely no mention of any crucifix in the New Testament, other than that actual cross that Jesus died upon, then we must search the HISTORY of the church to see where and when exactly the practice of having crucifixes actually began to be used in the church.

So then, let us begin this study in God's word by taking a look at the ORIGIN of the CRUCIFIX as becoming an IMAGE in the Christian church, but first let us read some passages of Scripture from God's word about NOT having any graven IMAGE, so that you can clearly understand that the practice of using crucifixes did NOT come from the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible.

Please read Deuteronomy 7:1-7, and while you are reading this passage of Scripture I want you to notice that there are only TWO types of people in the world. There are God's people, who are called OUT from among the people of the world. And then there are the Gentiles, who worshiped many gods. God's people were called Israel or the Jews and they were FEW in number. And the rest of mankind was called HEATHEN, PAGANS, the nations, or the Gentiles, and they were MANY in number.

Deuteronomy 7:1-7.

“When the LORD your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you;

2. And when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you; you shall smite them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:

3. Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give unto his son, nor his daughter shall you take unto your son. (But WHY? Why does God call his people to be SEPARATE from the rest of the world?)

4. For (Or because) they will TURN AWAY your son from following ME, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy you suddenly. (In other words, when a Christian marries a person of another RELIGION, then that other person can become the “leaven” that may lead the Christian into COMPROMISING their faith. And many Protestant Christians believe that this is what happened when the pagan were declared to be Christians by Constantine. And the Roman church MERGED many pagan practices with Christianity to keep the peace)

5. But thus shall you deal with them; you shall destroy their ALTARS, and break down their IMAGES, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven IMAGES with fire. (WHY? Why does God not want us as Christians to have any IMAGES or any type of worship that is connected in any way with pagans or the gentile nations?)

6. For (Or because) you are an holy people unto the LORD your God: the LORD your God has chosen you to be a SPECIAL people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

7. The LORD did NOT set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were MORE in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people:”

So then, judging whether or not it is right or wrong to have IMAGES in the church is NOT about the MAJORITY rules or well that church over there has IMAGES or the church throughout all of history had at least some kind of IMAGE. But rather judging right from wrong as to having IMAGES in the church is to be based upon God's word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible and NOT by the TRADITION of SOME of the churches throughout history. To understand how Almighty God Himself views IMAGES all one needs to do is to READ for THEMSELVES the word of God. Please read Exodus 20:1-6, where Almighty God Himself COMMANDS his people NOT to make ANY IMAGES that are served or bowed down to in any way.

Exodus 20:1-6.

“And God spoke all these words, saying,

2. I am the LORD your God, which has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3. You shall have no other gods before me.

4. You shall not make unto you 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:

5. You shall NOT BOW DOWN yourself to them, nor SERVE them: (WHY? Why is it wrong to bow down before ANY IMAGE?) FOR (Or because) I the LORD your 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; (Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, who are in the Catholic Church that the word of God says that in the eyes of God that God himself views the disobedience of his people as HATRED toward him, who do Not KEEP his commandment NOT to make any IMAGES. Now I know that in Catholics, in their own hearts and minds do not HATE God by serving and bowing down to the many IMAGES that they have of Mary, the saints and even of Jesus such as the CRUCIFIX, but in God's eyes he views it as HATRED toward him)

6. And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and KEEP my commandments.”

Now some Catholics will argue and try to reason away having IMAGES in church and in their homes by saying that they are NOT WORSHIPING any statue and that these IMAGES are just merely made to remind them of what these great people of God have done in serving God. The statues are more like HERO worship, where they view these saints as heroes of the faith.

But the word of TRUTH clearly teaches us in Deuteronomy 4:1-16 that we, as Christians, are NOT to make ANY IMAGES neither male nor female that is honored, revered, venerated, serves, worshiped, bowed down to, or given devotion to in any way, shape or form that is connected to the worship of the ONE TRUE and ONLY Almighty God.

Deuteronomy 4:1-16.

“Now therefore HEARKEN, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that you may LIVE, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives you. (These things that happened in the Old Testament were types and shadows of things yet to COME. Entering into the promised land is a type or figure of the coming kingdom of Almighty God when His Son Jesus comes again to rule with an iron rod over the REBELLIOUS nations of this present world and any Christian that is DISOBEDIENT to the words of Jesus, His Son, shall be NUMBERED among the heathen pagans of this world and shall NOT receive their reward of ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come)

2. You shall NOT ADD unto the word which I command you, NEITHER shall you diminish ought from it, that you may KEEP the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. (In others words, God is saying NOT to make EXCUSES and try to EXPLAIN AWAY what he has clearly and plainly COMMANDED in his word to NOT make ANY IMAGES)

3. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for ALL the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you. (In other words, ALL of mankind whether they be heathen pagans or whether they be God's very OWN people, IF SO BE that they FOLLOW the WAYS of Baalpeor, then they shall be destroyed on the Day of Judgment.)

4. But you that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. (In other words, there is coming a Day of Judgment and ONLY those of God's people who CLEAVE upon the Lord to OBEY his words shall LIVE, as in, shall be reward with ETERNAL LIFE in the world to come)

5. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it.

6. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

7. For what nation is there so great, who has God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

8. And what nation is there that is so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?

9. Only take heed to YOURSELF, and keep your soul diligently, (It does not matter what the MAJORITY of the world does. It does not matter what other churches do. God warns us in His word to take HEED to OURSELVES to make sure that we are OBEYING HIS words and not the TRADITIONS of man) lest you forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life: but TEACH them your sons, and your sons' sons; (So then, after you have taken HEED to REMEMBER God's word to OBEY his word, then God will TEACH others to do the same)

10. Specially the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear MY WORDS, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

11. And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

12. And the LORD spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but SAW NO SIMILITUDE; only you heard a voice. (You do not need to SEE a SIMILITUDE that connects you to God in order to worship him. In fact God hates this heathen pagan practice of having IMAGES and God does NOT want Christians to LEARN these pagan practices of worship to be associated in any way with the worship of the one true and only Almighty God. You will see this very clearly as you continue this study of God's word)

13. And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

14. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.

15. Take you therefore GOOD HEED unto yourselves; for you SAW NO MANNER of SIMILITUDE on the day that the LORD spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:(WHY? Why was Almighty God so careful NOT to be SEEN by the people?)

16. LEST (or for FEAR THAT) you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven IMAGE, the SIMILITUDE of ANY FIGURE, the LIKENESS of male or female,”

So then, just ask yourself the question, Does the CRUCIFIX have the LIKENESS of a MALE upon it? Does the CRUCIFIX have a SIMILITUDE of Jesus upon it? Does the CRUCIFIX have an IMAGE of Jesus upon it that represents the SIMILITUDE of his crucifixion? Do you use the CRUCIFIX when you pray to God?

Now the answer to all these questions is an ABSOLUTE YES. So then, WHY are YOU as an INDIVIDUAL Catholic NOT taking HEED to God's word to OBEY, his word to NOT have ANY IMAGES in connection with your worship of Almighty God or His Son Jesus?

I IMPLORE you to stop with the EXCUSES. I cannot emphasize enough how vitally important it is for you to quite trying to REASON AWAY the use of all the IMAGES in the Roman Catholic Church. I know and you know that you are NOT worshiping the IMAGE in and of itself, but you are using the IMAGE in CONNECTION of your WORSHIP TO Almighty God in heaven. And the Roman Catholic Church says that there is NOTHING WRONG with having an IMAGE if you are just using the IMAGE to focus your prayers and worship to God.

But the word of TRUTH says just the OPPOSITE and that God is displeased with ANY IMAGE that is used in connection to worshiping Almighty God or His Son Jesus.

Please read Exodus 32:1-10 which is when Moses went up on mount Horeb and was gone for forty days and forty nights receiving the commandments of God, so it was not even a commandment as yet, at this point in time that the people made an IMAGE to worship God.

Exodus 32:1-10.

“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him.(Remember they just came out of Egypt where they LEARNED the pagan practice of making IMAGES to SEE what represented the gods that the pagans worshiped)

2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3. And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

4. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (Now Aaron and the people of Israel knew right well that that IMAGE which they had just got finished making was NOT the God that just brought them out of the land of Egypt, but rather they knew that it was just an IMAGE or a SIMILITUDE that they could SEE as they WORSHIPED the unseen invisible God that MIRACULOUSLY had just delivered them out of slavery)

5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast TO the LORD. (Can you not see that God's people were worshiping Almighty God in heaven on one of HIS feast days, but yet they SINNED because they LEARNED from the heathen pagan Egyptians, the use of IMAGES that they could SEE as they WORSHIPED God. They were not actually worshiping the IMAGE in their OWN eyes. But in the EYES of Almighty God they were indeed worshiping the IMAGE, because they felt that they needed to SEE the one true invisible God before they could worship Him. And because of the IMAGE being used in worship to HIM, God was ready to destroy his very own people and start over with a new people)

6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get you down; for your people, which you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

9. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people:

10. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may CONSUME them: and I will make you a great nation.”

So then, ANY IMAGE used in connection with praying to or WORSHIPING the one true God or His Son Jesus is SIN. There is NO WHERE in God's word, either in neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament, where Christians are taught to make IMAGES to worship God, but rather just the OPPOSITE is taught in the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible.

Therefore, seeing that the crucifix is NOT taught in the very word of Almighty God Himself, then from where did the crucifix come?

The word “CRUCIFIX” comes from two Latin words “cruci and fixus” meaning one fixed to a cross. In other words, a crucifix is a cross with the IMAGE of the body of Jesus nailed or affixed to the cross. So the question is when did this IMAGE of CRUCIFIX that represents the crucifixion of Jesus first become an object of veneration used in connection with praying to or worshiping Almighty God or His Son Jesus in the Catholic Church?

Now, while the symbols of crosses are NOT found in the New Testament, the symbols of crosses are indeed found to be drawn and or painted on documents of early medieval times. These drawings of crosses were sometimes placed at the head of a deed. Some were plain while others were very ornamental or ornate crosses. Also at times drawings of crosses were placed before signatures. So then as early as the 10th century there can be found drawings of crosses on documents such as contracts. A rough cross, back then, was viewed as a signature or assurance or promise of honor. Even in modern times a person leaving a mark of a cross is viewed as the attestation of an illiterate person.

A cross was also a characteristic of the signature of Apostolic notaries, but this cross was intricately designed so it could not easily be copied. It was kind of a seal of authenticity of the document that was not easily counterfeited. In the early Middle Ages crosses began to be decorated with even greater ornate designs.

It was at this time during the middle ages that in the center of these ornate crosses there began to appear medallions representing the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, or even some of the saints that were affixed to the cross. Such an example of this is Velletri cross, the cross that Justin II gave to St. Peter, and the silver cross of Agnello at Ravenna. All these center medallions were either drawn, painted or attached to the center of these ornate crosses to more or less represent the body of Jesus being hanged on the cross. Sometimes it was just a plain wooden cross that had one of the medallions, with an IMAGE affixed to the center of the cross.

But most of these preserved crosses of this fashion were of a more ornate style of cross with the center having a medallion with an IMAGE on it that came to represent the body of Jesus on the cross, and it was this style of cross that was the actual beginning of what is known today as the “CRUCIFIX”. Remember that the English word “crucifix” comes from two Latin words “cruci”and “fixus” meaning to be FIXED or ATTACHED to a cross. So the earliest “CRUCIFIX” was a plain wooden cross to which was fixed or attached a medallion to its center. Then this first crucifix, that began to come into the church around the 10th century, gradually develop to what it is today in the Catholic Church and some orthodox Protestant churches.

It seems that there is no evidence of any crosses prior to the 12th century that actually had the full IMAGE of the body of Jesus as he would have been pictured hanging on the cross, and these crucifixes were first used on the processional crosses, which were then placed in a stand beside the altar after the procession. These processions began as a symbolic ceremony representing that Catholics are to be FOLLOWERS of Jesus Christ. Later on the crucifix became a permanent fixture upon the Catholic altar. And eventually it became a dogma that a Catholic mass can NOT be offered by a priest UNLESS there is a CRUCIFIX either on the altar or near the altar.

After the Protestant reformation, the Protestants in England stopped venerating the cross and all crosses were removed from the churches and the formal ornate altars were removed and replaced with what is called today as communion tables. But history records that the queen herself kept her own personal crucifix in her private chapel, which just goes to show that pagan influences are hard to get rid of, seeing that Satan is the god of this world who blinds the eyes of people. So, in England during this time, shortly after the Protestant reformation, under the virtue of the “Ornaments Rubrics” it was illegal to have even a PLAIN cross in the church or in a person’s home. But obviously, the influence of Satan in the lives of Christians over time brought the use of both crosses and crucifixes, which can be found in some Anglican churches today. And of course most definitely the CRUCIFIX is found in Catholic Churches not only in England but all over the world; because it has never stopped being used in Catholic Churches other than in England where it was made illegal by the state.

So then, the CRUCIFIX developed GRADUALLY in the church as is with most every Catholic teachings or Catholic practices of ceremonies. It is found that they came to be in existence over a slow and gradual development, over many centuries.

Now the Catholic Church uses 1 Corinthians 1:23 “... we preach Christ CRUCIFIED” to argue justification for the IMAGE of the crucifix.

But just because a verse of Scripture is used to try and support a teaching does NOT make that teaching to be a SOUND BIBLICAL teaching, because any verse, when taken out of context and viewed alone and apart from the rest of God's word, may SEEM to be saying something that the verse is NOT truly saying when it is left in it's context and then compared with the rest of God's word to see if the INTERPRETATION of the verse AGREES with the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

So then, the subject of the CONTEXT of this passage of Scripture is dealing with the DIVISION in the church where some were saying that they were of Apollos and some of Paul and others of Christ. Then Paul settled this division by saying that we are ALL of Christ in whom we PREACH. Paul says that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to those who do NOT believe, but the very POWER of God to those who DO BELIEVE. So, it is the GOSPEL of the crucifixion of Jesus, that we preach, is what makes us all brethren in the Lord.

Please read 1 Corinthians 1:17-25.

“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to PREACH the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

18. For the PREACHING of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the POWER of God.

19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of PREACHING to save them that believe.

22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

23. But we PREACH Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the POWER of God, and the wisdom of God.”

So then, part of the gospel is the CROSS upon which Jesus was CRUCIFIED, but the gospel does not end there. Jesus died on that cross, and then was taken off the cross and laid in the tomb and after three days and three nights Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he was give eternal life by his God and Father the one true and only Almighty God.

Then Jesus came back to the earth where he was witnessed for forty days being alive from the grave never more to die. And then Jesus ascend back into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of Almighty God the Father awaiting his return to rule and reign upon the earth in his Father’s kingdom for a 1000 years, after which Jesus will commit the kingdom back into the hands of his God and Father and Almighty God himself will descend down from heaven to dwell with mankind after all the wicked are destroyed in the lake of fire at the end of the 1000 year reign of Jesus.

But the very heart or core of the gospel is that Jesus died for YOUR sins and all who BELIEVE this gospel and endure unto the end shall be saved and given eternal life in the world of come.

In other words, this one verse in 1 Corinthians 1:23 should not be taken OUT of CONTEXT and then incorrectly interpreted as the apostles of Jesus teaching Christians to make an IMAGE of Jesus being CRUCIFIED on the cross and then to venerate this “CRUCIFIX” having the IMAGE of Jesus fix to a cross.

But rather, this verse when left in its context is teaching us to PREACH the TRUTH that Jesus SUFFERED and DIED a very horrible and shameful death for YOUR sins. And not that Jesus just DIED for your sin only, but ALSO that Jesus was RAISED from the dead giving us the promise of our own resurrection at the coming of Jesus if we endure unto the end.

Please read Acts 17:2,3 where we see that Paul ALSO preached the resurrection of Jesus, which the PLAIN empty cross symbolizes to most Protestants, who keep the ordinance of communion as their way to REMEMBER our Lord's suffering and death. And I am not saying that it is right for Protestants to kneel down before a PLAIN wooden cross and worship God. I myself do not see any wrong with a PLAIN cross hanging in a church or on the wall of a person's home, but in God's eyes if we worship Him while bowing before or kneeling before any type of cross, then I personally believe that God is NOT pleased.

Acts 17:2,3.

“And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,

3. Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and RISEN AGAIN from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I PREACH unto you, is Christ.”

Now again I am not saying that all images are used as objects of WORSHIP or veneration, but I am saying, that in the Roman Catholic Church, the sacrifice of the mass is forbidden to be said, offered or celebrated IF there is NO CRUCIFIXION on or near the altar. In other words, if there is NO IMAGE of Jesus hanging on a cross, then there can be NO Catholic mass. This is the dogma of the Catholic church given by the Accepimus of Benedict IX in 1746 as a man made doctrine or dogma of man, and was in no way instituted by Almighty God who COMMANDS us NOT to make ANY IMAGES in connection to worship of any kind whether it is worship to Him, His Son Jesus, or to false gods, which we all know is wrong.

So then, rather than focusing on what man made TRADITIONS teach, let us focus on what the word of TRUTH teaches us!

When Jesus gave his disciples the observance of communion to be taken in remembrance of his death, Jesus did NOT tell his disciples to make a GRAVEN IMAGE of him being nailed to the cross and then to always have this CRUCIFIX present when they partook of communion. Are you, as a Catholic, not taught to FOLLOW Jesus? Then get into reading and studying the New Testament to see what Jesus HIMSELF taught us, as Christians, to do in order to be saved and receive eternal life in the world to come.

So then, since Jesus himself did NOT teach us to make an IMAGE of him on the cross and have it present when we take communion, then this tells me that there is some DEEPER meaning behind the IMAGE of Jesus being on the cross during the sacrifice of the mass that perhaps is found in paganism where an IMAGE or an idol must be present in their ceremonial practices of worship when the pagans bowed down to their gods while viewing the IMAGES that REPRESENTED their pagan gods.

During the celebration of the mass the priest BOWS DOWN to the CRUCIFIX kissing the altar upon which Jesus is supposedly being sacrificed to God during the SACRIFICE of the mass. And the Roman Catholic Church teaches in their writings that a CRUCIFIX must be in VIEW of the people during the sacrifice of the mass. Remember that Satan is the god of this world who BEGUILES people to do things that do NOT please God.

To me it is very clear that Satan, over many centuries, GRADUALLY introduced these PAGAN practices into the church throughout the history of the church from its very beginning, until these pagan rituals were ACCEPTED as being a true form of worship to God. But the TRUTH of the matter is that this MIXING of pagan practices was fought and opposed all throughout the entire history of the church. And there were MANY Christians that never ever accepted any of these pagan rituals. But rather they contended for the truth that was handed down to them by the apostles of Jesus. However, other Christians accepted whatever the leaders of the church told them to believe, And eventually, it was these Christians that MIXED the pagan beliefs with Christianity that became the Roman Catholic Church.

On Good Friday, Catholics come one by one to the front of the church where they, one by one bow down before the CRUCIFIX of Jesus and kiss the feet of this IMAGE of Jesus hanging on the cross.

But where is this taught in the Scriptures? NO WHERE! This pagan practice that was MIXED with Christianity began as a slow process over time and then gradually evolved within the Catholic Church to become what it is today. You see, the truth of the matter is that other bodies of believers fought against these teachings from the very beginning of the church and even some believers within the Catholic Church itself left the Catholic Church because God revealed to them that some of the teachings in the Catholic Church were NOT BIBLICAL.

And the TRUTH is that some Catholics, even today, do NOT feel comfortable bowing down to the crucifix and kissing the IMAGE of the feet of Jesus hanging on the cross. But they feel pressured with FEAR by the Catholic Church itself to OBEY the TEACHING of the Roman Catholic Church. Here is the stand of the Catholic Church:

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT HERESIES IS TAKEN FROM CATHOLIC RECORDS AND WE PRAY YOU JUDGE FOR YOURSELF:

101 Heresies of Anti-Pope John Paul II by Patrick John Pollock

"If anyone holds to one single one of these (heresies) he is not a Catholic."

said Pope Leo XIII (from Encyclical Satis Cognitum:28)

http://www.pax-et-veritas.org/Habemus/101hercy.htm (inactive)

What is Heresy?

"Heresy consists in a stubborn denial of truths which have been defined and proposed BY the Church as divinely revealed doctrines." (Canon 1324-1325 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law).

So in other words, Catholics are taught NOT to QUESTION what they are taught by the Catholic Church, and therefore many Catholics do not ever read the Bible for themselves to see if what they are being taught is the truth. Because this could be viewed as a STUBBORN DENIAL of what the Catholic Church teaches and therefore could cause the person who disobeys these Catholic teachings to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church, which in the minds of Catholics is a ticket straight to hell, so to speak. I know, because I was raised Catholic. I know the FEAR that the Catholic Church uses to control the common laity, because I experienced it firsthand.

I do not write these dogmas of the Catholic Church to feed that FEAR that is in you, because this is not a study to guide you to what the Catholic Church teaches, but rather this is a study in God's word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible, to guide you to see what Almighty God Himself is teaching us. So then, WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH?

Please read John 8:31,32, where Jesus Himself teaches us to continue in HIS WORD and not in the teachings of men that CONTRADICT what the Father teaches.

John 8:31,32.

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, IF you CONTINUE in MY WORD, then are you my disciples indeed;

32. And you shall know the TRUTH, and the truth shall make you free.”

In other words, Jesus said to those who believe in him, that IF we continue in HIS WORD, which is the very word of Almighty God his Father and NOT the words of the Pope or the Catholic Church. And particularly so, not to follow their teachings when their words CONTRADICTS and do NOT agree with the words of Jesus. Then and only then, by obeying only the words of Jesus, we are the disciples of Jesus indeed. And then if we CONTINUE in the words of Jesus we shall know the TRUTH, and the truth shall make us FREE from FALSE teaching that serves only to bind us and bring us into bondage.

So then, HOW are you going to KNOW if what you are being taught by the Catholic Church or any other church for that matter is the truth, if you never read the Bible for YOURSELF to see if what you are being taught is the TRUTH? Please read the study Ee-1. EVERY Catholic NEEDS to KNOW the TRUTH! for a deeper understanding that you as a Christian should be taught to read and study the Bible for yourself to search the Scriptures diligently to see if what you are being taught is the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. I mean if the Catholic Church is teaching the truth, then they should not mind one bit for you to read and study the Bible on your OWN with the guidance of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, who the word of God promises, will lead and guide you into all TRUTH. The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit is our teacher who will lead and guide us into all truth.

Please read John 16:13-15.

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into ALL TRUTH: for He shall NOT speak of Himself; (but you see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, who are in the Catholic Church, the SPIRIT that appeared as Mary always spoke of HERSELF. Please read the study Ee-6. Is PRAYING TO MARY BIBLICAL? In that study you will find that in nearly every apparition of Mary, she requested that a shine, temple or a church be built in MEMORY of HER. She also gave instructions for an IMAGE to be made of HER. She also had the people pray MANY prayers to HER. This spirit that appeared in the form of Mary always spoke of HERSELF, which clearly tells me that no apparition of Mary was actually Mary, but rather an EVIL spirit from Satan, merely appearing in the form of Mary to DECEIVE whosoever would believe. Again, in this study, it is made clear that none of the prayers to Mary were found in the church until the 3rd and 4th centuries) but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.

14. He shall glorify ME: (In other words, any spirit that does NOT glorify Jesus, the Son of Almighty God, is NOT of God) for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

15. All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.”

But this is not what I, being raised as a Catholic, was taught when I was in the Catholic Church! But rather as a Catholic I was taught the following:

“By the divine and Catholic Faith, ALL those things MUST be believed which are contained in the written Word of God AND IN TRADITION, AND those which are proposed BY the Church, either in a solemn pronouncement or in her ordinary and universal MAGISTERIUM, to be believed as divinely revealed." (Vatican Council I, Denzinger 1792)”

As I said before, IF these teaching of the Magisterium were DIVINELY revealed, then they would NOT CONTRADICT the very written word of Almighty God, the Father Himself.

Open your eyes to the TRUTH of the whole word of Almighty God my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, who are in the Catholic Church, and read the Bible for YOURSELF.

The Catholic Church teaches that if you, being a Catholic, do not blindly accept ALL that the Catholic Church teaches then you are a HERETIC. These are their words not mine. I am just telling you what the Catholic Church itself teaches:

“Any baptized person who obstinately denies or doubts ANY of the truths proposed for belief by divine and Catholic faith, is a heretic.”

But I tell you that no one is a heretic who believes what the word of TRUTH clearly teaches, but rather a true heretic is one who believes and follows the TRADITIONS of men over the clear teaching of God's word of TRUTH. The word of God teaches us that there are FALSE teachers, in the church, that teach heresies and one of the identifying marks of some of these FALSE teachings is that they do NOT truly believe that Jesus paid for their sin. So they FALSELY teach that you must do penance and many other ceremonial works in order to be forgiven of your sins.

Please read 2 Peter 2:1-2.

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be FALSE teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even DENYING the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (Now I know that Catholics do NOT REALIZE that they DENY that Jesus died for their sins, but they do indeed deny that Jesus paid the whole price for their sins and bought them or redeemed them back to God. Otherwise, they would NOT believe in the false teachings of Purgatory. They would not believe in praying to the saints. They would not believe in praying to Mary for her to pray to Jesus FOR them, rather than going straight to their heavenly Father for themselves.

Catholics unknowingly DENY that Jesus died for their sins every time they go to a confessional and confess their sins to a priest who then gives them PENANCE to do in order to make restitution for their sins. There is nothing in God's word that teaches such things. The TRUTH of the matter is that the Bible teaches us that God is FAITHFUL and JUST to FORGIVE us of ALL our sins and then CLEANSE us from ALL unrighteousness whenever we CONFESS our sin to HIM)

2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of TRUTH shall be evil spoken of. (In other words, it is an insult to the TRUTH when doctrines of men ADD to the word of God, and many today, in the Catholic Church, blindly follow these pernicious ways that falsely teach that the sacrifice of Jesus was NOT good enough. Now of course the Catholic Church does not come straight out and say that the sacrifice of Jesus was not good enough, but they do indeed deny the sacrifice of Jesus being enough when they continually offer the sacrifice of the mass, which will be offered over and over until Jesus comes again and this is the ONLY way to receive eternal life. It is considered a MORTAL sin if a Catholic misses even one OBLIGATORY Sunday mass. The New Testament speaks of nothing that resembles the celebration of the mass)

3. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not.”

You have to wonder just how much money is taken in by the Vatican from the sale of crucifixes, rosaries, statues and the many other IMAGES that are found primarily only in the Roman Catholic Church. Think for yourself as to just how many things in the Catholic Church cost MONEY.

Now I am not talking about your free will offerings that you give freely, but I am talking about things like, let's say you truly enjoy the mass in such and such parish so you give freely to that parish, but you do not particularly enjoy the mass at you own parish in which you live, but you are still forced by FEAR, to pay money to that parish, because that is the district in which you live. It does not matter that you can prove that you are giving to another parish already, because they Catholic Church rules say that you must support the parish in which district that you live. I mean what ever happened to the UNIVERSAL church where we are ALL part of the SAME body of Jesus Christ? We may disagree on some points of doctrine, but we all believe that Jesus died for our sins.

Anyway, this actually happened to my mom when I was still in the Catholic Church. I saw the many tears that she shed knowing that she could not afford to continue to give freely to the parish she loved, but was made to support the parish in which she lived closest because we moved to the other side of the city to the suburbs. There was no way that she could give to both parishes. I still shed a tear when I think of the greed of these individual parishes being required by the Vatican to meet a certain QUOTA based upon the number of Catholics in their particular parish and no exceptions are allowed. I am only guessing, but in the world this is how people get PROMOTED to a higher position by meeting the corporations expected QUOTA, so I wonder if priests get promoted this way? Anyway, enough on the money and greed issue, because this can be seen in many other denominations as well and in this particular study we want to focus primarily on the question Ee-13. Is the Crucifix a GRAVEN IMAGE!

In other words, is the making of an IMAGE alright in the eyes of God so long as that IMAGE is an IMAGE of Jesus, or Mary, or some saint who was used greatly by God, so long as Catholics do not WORSHIP the IMAGE, but rather worship God?

Well let us go to the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible, to find a SOUND BIBLICAL answer to this question of having an IMAGE of JESUS hanging on the cross to see if it is alright in the eyes of Almighty God himself in whom we have to answer on the Day of Judgment.

Please read Deuteronomy 4:15-19. Here a Catholic translation of it:

“15. Keep therefore your souls carefully. You saw NOT ANY SIMILITUDE in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire:

16. Lest (or for FEAR that) perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude, or IMAGE of male or female,

17. The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of birds, that fly under heaven,18. Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of fishes, that abide in the waters under the earth:

19. Lest (or FEAR that) perhaps lifting up your eyes to heaven, you see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error you ADORE and SERVE them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all the nations, that are under heaven.”

That was the Douay-Rheims translation of the Bible which is an authorized Catholic version.

In other words, God is saying that one of the reasons He did not want to be seen was that He felt the people might think that they should make any idol. An IMAGE, an icon or any thing that would be a similitude of HIM. Please notice that Almighty God also said that NO IMAGE of any male nor female shall be made as a similitude of any person that is ADORED or SERVED. Now we can have great respect for a person who we may even adore and do service to, but we are COMMANDED by Almighty God NOT to make any IMAGE of such people especially when these IMAGES are adored, honored, venerated, served, and given devotion to as a similitude of the real people.

Please read Isaiah 44:9, which teaches us that these THINGS like the CRUCIFIX do not PROFIT God's people in any way. God says that they are USELESS.

Isaiah 44:9.

“They that make a graven IMAGE are ALL of them VANITY; (In other words, ALL IMAGES are made in VAIN) and their delectable things shall NOT PROFIT (In other words, NO IMAGE not matter WHO it is of will NOT get your prayers answered no matter how much DEVOTION you give to Mary or the CRUCIFIX); and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.”

This COMMANDMENT from Almighty God Himself against idols, IMAGES, ICONS, and any likeness or similitude was not limited to just idols of foreign or FALSE gods, but it included ALL IMAGES including IMAGES of Mary and the saints and yes even the IMAGE of Jesus himself, like the CRUCIFIX and other statues made is his similitude or likeness.

Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, who are in the Catholic Church that Almighty God is also quite displeased with IMAGES, ICONS, and CRUCIFIXES that are supposed to direct worship to Him as this passage from the word of TRUTH found in Exodus 32:1-12 clearly shows us?

Exodus 32:1-12.

2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3. And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast TO the LORD. (They knew right well that they were worshiping the one true god up in heaven when they bowed down before this IMAGE that they had just made, because they wanted to SEE some kind of SIMILITUDE of what they were worshiping. They said tomorrow is a feast TO the LORD who brought us out of the land of bondage of Egypt, let us worship him who is worthy for setting us free. Tomorrow is a FEAST day to our invisible God in heaven whom we serve)

6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get you down; for your people, which you brought out of the land of Egypt, (God is so displeased and angry at his people that he calls them Moses’ people and gave the credit to Moses for bring them out of the land of Egypt. It is almost like this is such an abominable thing to God; it is like God saying I cannot have my people bowing down before an IMAGE thinking that they are worshiping ME. So God says to Moses, these are YOUR people, I do not even know them, because they) have CORRUPTED themselves:

8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I COMMANDED them: they have made them a molten calf, (Or a graven IMAGE or similitude of ME which they THINK that I should look like) and have worshiped it, (this word worship here means to bow down before. The heart of worship was being given to the one true God who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They knew that this IMAGE, that they just made, was not actually the one true god, but an IMAGE of him. So they worshiped or bowed down to the image as a representation of bowing down to the one true invisible God. But this is NOT what Almighty God commanded them to do so God became very angry with them as you see) and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (Now these people of God were indeed WORSHIPING the one true God, as they were bowing before this IMAGE, which was made so that they could SEE this invisible true God that they saw with their own eyes that brought then out of the land of Egypt. The people of God knew right well that this graven IMAGE, that they just made, did NOT bring them out of the land of Egypt. I mean they just got finished making this IMAGE and they had ALREADY been brought out of Egypt. They KNEW in the heart that they were worshiping the one true God up in heaven, but their pagan influence in Egypt compelled them to disobey God's commandment and go ahead and make an IMAGE of him because they felt that they needed to SEE some kind of SIMILITUDE of what they were worshiping)

9. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people (I implore you my dear brothers and sisters, who are God's PEOPLE, to NOT remain a STIFF NECKED stubborn people, to continue to IGNORE the clear teaching of God's word. Stop obeying the man made teaching of the Catholic Church that has been DECEIVED into making IMAGES to be adored, honored, venerated, served, bowed down to, and given devotion to, which Almighty God Himself COMMANDS us NOT to do)

10. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may CONSUME them: and I will make you a great nation.

11. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

12. Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to CONSUME them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people.”

Now the Catholic Church says the same thing about the IMAGES that they make, in that they are not actually worshiping the IMAGE itself. But rather, the worship is directed to Almighty God in heaven. The STATUE, the CRUCIFIX, the ICONS, the IMAGES are only representations or SIMILITUDES of the TRUE that we bow before and reverence as a representation of Jesus, Mary or one of the saints. Catholic Church TRADITION shows us that these things were done throughout the history of the church so it must be alright to do.

To this argument I must say, SO WHAT! The children of Israel did this sort of making IMAGES all through their HISTORY as well, and God REJECTED them for DISOBEYING his COMMAND NOT to make ANY IMAGES before him.

Please read Leviticus 26:1.

“YOU (Speaking to all of God's people) shall make you NO idols, nor graven IMAGE, neither rear you up a standing IMAGE, (Like the standing IMAGE in St Peter's square in Rome) neither shall you set up ANY IMAGE of STONE in your land, to BOW DOWN unto it (because bowing down, even on one knee is in God's eyes WORSHIPING that IMAGE whether you realize it or not): for I am the LORD your God.”

The stone IMAGE in St Peters square in Rome was transported at a HUGE expense from Egypt where these kinds of IMAGES, of pagan gods, are found all over. ALL IMAGES that are used as representations of heavenly things that are revered, honored, venerated, bowed down to, served or given devotion to in any way is SIN in the eyes of Almighty God the Father, because you are DISOBEYING his COMMANDMENT not to make any graven images.

Now the Catholic Church tries to get around these clear passages of Scripture in God's word by saying that the church must also hold TRADITION in EQUAL weight with the very word of Almighty God. Here is the official stand of the Roman Catholic Church at how she forms her doctrines.

The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church comes from or is formed by the Living Magisterium. Officially according to Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church bases its teachings on what has been called:

“Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum #9, Vatican Council II. As quoted in Birch D.A. Trial, Tribulation & Triumph. Queenship Publishing Co, 1996; p.5).”

Part of the reason for this is based on the findings of the Council of Trent that was held in the mid 16th Century. The Catholic Encyclopedia reports:

“The Council, as is evident, held that there are Divine traditions not contained in Holy Scripture, revelations made to the Apostles either orally by Jesus Christ or by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and transmitted by the Apostles to the Church. Holy Scripture is therefore not the only theological source of the Revelation made by God to His Church. Side by side with Scripture there is tradition, side by side with the written revelation there is the oral revelation. This granted, it is impossible to be satisfied with the Bible alone for the solution of all dogmatic questions (Bainvel J. Transcribed by Tomas Hancil. Tradition and Living Magisterium. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XV, Copyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton Company. Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. Knight Nihil. Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York).”

Now you have already seen what Almighty God thinks of TRADITION when his people Israel followed the TRADITIONS of the pagans to make IMAGES. Also, who is to say WHO is right and WHO is wrong in the HISTORY of the church, because there were all kinds of DIFFERENT and OPPOSING teaching throughout the history of the church. There is no doubt the REVELATION knowledge is progressive as this can be seen in the New Testament. However, any and all revelation knowledge can in now way CONTRADICT the word of God. So yes, there are things being taught in some of these early Christian writings, but only that which AGREES with the rest of God's word can be trusted as being the TRUTH. This is why none of these writings were ACCEPTED as canon to be put in the New Testament. In other words, these TRADITIONS are NOT inspired by the Holy Spirit, but rather they are doctrines of devils as the word of God puts it, because they contradict the rest of God's word.

Well, I will tell you WHO is to say who is right and who is wrong and that is Almighty God HIMSELF through his written WORD of TRUTH, the Holy Bible. This whole idea of Catholic Church tradition being equal to God's word is just a lie to DECEIVE Catholics into remaining Catholics when they start to see that the teachings of the Catholic Church do NOT AGREE with what the BIBLE teaches.

But some Catholics try to defend their faith by saying something like, “You do not understand that we as Catholics are NOT worshiping Mary or the saints when we stand or kneel before their IMAGE. These are JUST IMAGES of them to remind us to pray or so that we can stay more focused in our praying. And the CRUCIFIX is the same thing. The CRUCIFIX is just an IMAGE to remind us that Jesus died for us. We are now worshiping the CRUCIFIX when we bow down and kiss the feet of Jesus.”

Well, according to the writings of the Catholic Church, every Catholic is indeed worshiping Mary and these many saints as well. Here is the definition of the word “WORSHIP” as defined by the Catholic Church itself as she plainly states in the Catholic encyclopedia:

“The word worship (Saxon weorthscipe, "honour"; from worth, meaning "value", "dignity", "price", and the termination, ship; Latin cultus) in its most general sense is homage paid to a person or a thing. In this sense we may speak of hero-worship, worship of the emperor, of demons, of the angels, even of relics, and especially of the Cross. This article will deal with Christian worship according to the following definition: homage paid to God, to Jesus, to His saints, to the beings or even to the objects which have a special relation to God.

There are several degrees of this worship:

if it is addressed directly to God, it is superior, absolute, supreme worship, or worship of adoration, or, according to the consecrated theological term, a worship of latria. This sovereign worship is due to God alone; addressed to a creature it would become idolatry.
When worship is addressed only indirectly to God, that is, when its object is the veneration of Martyrs, of angels, or of saints, it is a subordinate worship dependent on the first, and relative, in so far as it honors the creatures of God for their peculiar relations with Him; it is designated BY THEOLOGIANS as the worship of dulia, a term denoting servitude, and implying, when used to signify our worship of distinguished servants of God, that their service to Him is their title to our veneration (cf. Chollet, loc. cit., col. 2407, and Bouquillon, Tractatus de virtute religionis, I, Bruges, 1880, 22 sq.).
As the Blessed Virgin has a separate and absolutely supereminent rank among the saints, the worship paid to her is called hyperdulia (for the meaning and history of these terms see Suicer, Thesaurus ecclesiasticus, 1728).

In accordance with these principles it will readily be understood that a certain worship may be offered even to inanimate objects, such as the relics of a martyr, the Cross of Christ, the Crown of Thorns, or even the statue or picture of a saint. There is here no confusion or danger of idolatry, for this worship is subordinate or dependent. The relic of the saint is venerated because of the link which unites it with the person who is adored or venerated; while the statue or picture is regarded as having a conventional relation to a person who has a right to our homage — as being a symbol which reminds us of that person (see Vacant, Diet de théol. cath., s.v. Adoration, and authors cited in bibliography; also Adoration; Idolatry; images; Devotion to the blessed virgin Mary).”

Any THEOLOGIAN can REDEFINE what they THINK the Bible means to say anything they want, so that it will CONFORM to their man made doctrines.

But the word of TRUTH clearly teaches us in the New Testament and the early church writings that we, as Christian, are not to keep any of the traditions of the church that OPPOSE the teachings of the New Testament. And the these TRADITIONS of the Catholic Church of having images DIRECTLY OPPOSE and CONTRADICT the clear, plain, and simple teachings of the Bible.

In other words, The Roman Catholic Church is saying, do not WORRY my dead Catholic children, for you see, the making of an IMAGES is alright in the eyes of God so long as that IMAGE is an IMAGE of Jesus, or Mary, or some saint who was used greatly by God, so long as Catholics do not WORSHIP the IMAGE in the same way that they WORSHIP God?

Be NOT DECEIVED my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, who are in the Catholic Church, there is only ONE kind of WORSHIP and that worship or veneration, or honor, or devotion or prayer is to be given ONLY to Almighty God the Father and His Son Jesus, in SPIRIT and in TRUTH with ABSOLUTELY NO IMAGES involved in any way shape of form.

Let us go to the word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible, again to find a SOUND BIBLICAL definition of WORSHIP and to answer the question of having an IMAGE of JESUS hanging on the cross to see if it is alright in the eyes of Almighty God Himself, in whom we have to answer on the Day of Judgment.

Please read Deuteronomy 4:15-19. Here is a Catholic translation of it:

“15. Keep therefore your souls carefully. You saw NOT ANY SIMILITUDE in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire:

16. Lest (or for FEAR that) perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude, or IMAGE of male or female,

17. The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of birds, that fly under heaven,

18. Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of fishes, that abide in the waters under the earth:

This is from the Douay-Rheims translation of the Bible which is an authorized Catholic version.

In other words, God is saying that one of the reasons He did not want to be seen was that He felt the people might think that they should make any idol, IMAGE, icon or any thing that would be a similitude of HIM when they WORSHIPED him. Please notice very carefully again that Almighty God also said that NO IMAGE of any male nor female shall be made as a similitude of any person that is ADORED or SERVED.

Now we can have great respect for a person who we may even adore and do service to, but we are COMMANDED by Almighty God NOT to make any IMAGE of such people especially when these IMAGES are adored, honored, venerated, served, and given devotion to as a similitude of the real people when WORSHIP is being given to Almighty God or His son Jesus. I cannot say that making a statue of, let us say, a president or some famous person is a sin, but IF that statue of that famous revered person is CONNECTED to the WORSHIP of Almighty God or His Son Jesus in any way shape or form then the Bible CONDEMNS it. I myself do not see any wrong in having pictures of birds or other animals or even figurines as works of art in your home, but IF they are connected to WORSHIPING God, then they are sin. IMAGES of any kind including the CRUCIFIX should have NO PART in Christian WORSHIP.

Please read Isaiah 44:9, which teaches us that these THINGS like the CRUCIFIX do not PROFIT God's people in any way. God says that they are USELESS.

Isaiah 44:9.

“They that make a graven IMAGE are ALL of them VANITY (in other words, ALL IMAGES are made in VAIN); and their delectable things shall NOT PROFIT; (In other words, NO IMAGE not matter WHO it is of, will NOT get your prayers answered, no matter how much DEVOTION you give to Mary or the CRUCIFIX) and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.”

This COMMANDMENT from Almighty God Himself against idols, IMAGES, ICONS, and any likeness or similitude was not limited to just idols of foreign or FALSE gods, but it included ALL IMAGES including IMAGES of Mary and the saints and yes, even the IMAGE of Jesus himself, like the CRUCIFIX and other statues made is his similitude or likeness.

Can you not see my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, who are in the Catholic Church that Almighty God is also quite displeased with IMAGES, ICONS, and CRUCIFIXES that are supposed to direct worship to Him, as this passage from the word of TRUTH found in Exodus 32:1-12 clearly shows us.

Exodus 32:1-12.

2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3. And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast TO the LORD. (They knew right well that they were worshiping the one true God up in heaven when they bowed down before this IMAGE that they had just made, because they wanted to SEE some kind of SIMILITUDE of what they were worshiping. They said tomorrow is a feast TO the LORD who brought us out of the land of bondage, of Egypt, let us worship him who is worthy for setting us free. Tomorrow is a FEAST day to our invisible God in heaven whom we serve)

6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get you down; for your people, which you brought out of the land of Egypt (God is so displeased and angry at his people that he calls them Moses’ people and gave the credit to Moses for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. It is almost like this is such an abominable thing to God, it is like God saying I cannot have my people bowing down before an IMAGE thinking that they are worshiping ME, so God says to Moses these are YOUR people I do not even know them, because they), have CORRUPTED themselves:

8. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I COMMANDED them: they have made them a molten calf, (Or a graven IMAGE or similitude of ME which they THINK that I should look like) and have worshiped it, (This word worship here means to bow down before. The heart of worship was being given to the one true God who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They knew that this IMAGE, that they just made, was not actually the one true god, but an IMAGE of him. So they worshiped or bow down to the image as a representation of bowing down to the one true invisible God. But this is NOT what Almighty God commanded them to do, so God became very angry with them as you see) and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (Now these people of God were indeed WORSHIPING the one true God as they were bowing before this IMAGE that was made so that they could SEE this invisible true God that they saw with their own eyes that brought then out of the land of Egypt. The people of God knew right well that this graven IMAGE, that they just made, did NOT bring them out of the land of Egypt. I mean they just got finished making this IMAGE and they had ALREADY been brought out of Egypt. They KNEW in the heart that they were worshiping the one true God up in heaven, but their pagan influence in Egypt compelled them to disobey God's commandment and go ahead and make an IMAGE of him because they felt that they needed to SEE some kind of SIMILITUDE of what they were worshiping)

9. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people: (I implore you my dear brothers and sisters who are God's PEOPLE to NOT remain a STIFF NECKED stubborn people. Stop continuing to IGNORE the clear teaching of God's word to not obey the man made teaching of the Catholic Church that has been DECEIVED into making IMAGES to be adored, honored, venerated, served, bowed down to, and given devotion to, which Almighty God Himself COMMANDS us NOT to do)

10. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may CONSUME them: and I will make you a great nation.

11. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said , LORD, why does your wrath wax hot against your people, which you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

But the Catholic Church tries to EXCUSE the use of statues, crucifixes, relics of dead martyrs, icons and even the rosary by REDEFINING the word “WORSHIP” into three different categories saying that the IMAGES that they make are just symbols of revered people that served God in a great way, so they have the RIGHT to be honored. Catholics say that they are not actually worshiping the IMAGE itself, but rather the worship is directed to Almighty God in heaven, but the Catholic Church plainly states that Catholics are indeed WORSHIPING the saints, which the statues represent, when they are worshiping God. Catholics say that the STATUE, the CRUCIFIX, the ICONS, the IMAGES are only representations or a SIMILITUDE of the TRUE, that they bow before and reverence as a representation of Jesus, Mary or one of the saints. But the Catholic Church TRADITION itself shows us that these things were done throughout the history of the church and that it is alright to do, because their THEOLOGIANS have REDEFINED the word WORSHIP to CONFORM with the pagan practice of the Catholic Church to make IMAGES to use when they WORSHIP Almighty God and His Son Jesus. Catholics argue that it is ALRIGHT to have IMAGES because they have been used for hundreds of years in the church.

Please read Leviticus 26:1.

“YOU (Speaking to all of God's people) shall make you NO idols, nor graven IMAGE, neither rear you up a standing IMAGE (Like the standing IMAGE in St Peter's square in Rome), neither shall you set up ANY IMAGE of STONE in your land, to BOW DOWN unto it: (because bowing down, even on one knee is in God's eyes WORSHIPING that IMAGE whether you realize it or not) for I am the LORD your God.”

Again, the stone IMAGE in St Peters square in Rome was transported at a HUGE expense from Egypt where these kinds of IMAGES of pagan gods are found all over.

ALL IMAGES that are used as representations of heavenly things that are revered, honored, venerated, bowed down to, served of given devotion to, in any way, is SIN in the eyes of Almighty God the Father, because you are DISOBEYING his COMMANDMENT not to make any graven images even if you SAY that you are NOT worshiping the image itself but you are worshiping God. It does not matter in the eyes of God. The children of Israel were worshiping GOD in heaven when they bowed down before the IMAGE that they had made and God was ready to CONSUME them with fire until Moses interceded and persuaded God not to destroy his people.

The TRUTH of the matter is that the early church had many divisions within it even at its very beginning. False teachers were on every side it seemed. First Judaism was falsely taught or MIXED with Christianity. Then Gnosticism MIXED with Christianity. Then paganism MIXED with Christianity. And this was all in the 1st century church.

Now some Catholic writers try to argue that the Catholic Church did not mix any pagan practices within the Catholic Church, but other Catholic writers blatantly come straight out and say they do NOT DENY that many pagan practices were indeed mixed with Christianity within the history of the Catholic Church. Here is the official stand of the Roman Catholic Church ITSELF that plainly in the Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism the following:

“The missionary history of the [Catholic] Church clearly shows her ADAPTABILITY to all races, all continents, all nations. In her liturgy and her art, in her tradition and the forming of her doctrine, naturally enough she includes Jewish elements, but also elements that are of pagan origin. In certain respects, she has copied her organization from that of the Roman Empire, has preserved and made fruitful the philosophical intuitions of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, borrowed from both Barbarians and the Byzantine Roman Empire—but always remains herself, thoroughly digesting all elements drawn from external sources...In her laws, her ceremonies, her festivals and her devotions, she makes use of local customs after purifying them and "baptizing" them.”

What was that again?

“The history of the Catholic Church clearly shows her ADAPTABILITY to all races, all continents, all nations. In her liturgy and her art, in her tradition and the forming of her doctrine, naturally enough she INCLUDES Jewish elements, but ALSO elements that are of PAGAN ORIGIN.”

So then, CLEARLY seeing that the Catholic Church itself openly admits that she has MIXED elements of pagan ORIGIN and the OLD Testament Jewish ceremonial priesthood elements into the forming of her doctrines, then it should be very easy for you to see these origins of pagan practices within the Catholic Church when you compare things like the order of the priesthood with the JEWISH priesthood of the OLD Testament that was done away with by the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When you compare things like saying the many repeated repetitious prayer on rosary beards to the pagan practice of praying many repetitious using prayer beads; when you compare praying to Mary as the queen of heaven to the pagan practices of the pagan religious praying to the queen of heaven; when you compare praying to the saints and observing specific days to these particular saints that correlate to the pagan gods; or when you compare kissing the feet of the statue of St Peter or the feet of Jesus on the CRUCIFIX to the pagan practice of kissing the feet of revered men of power.

It seems that this MIXTURE of pagan worship with Israel, the people of God all started when the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. and they came with their own religious practices and gods and MIXED their beliefs with Israel who have priests of their own, so therefore these pagans had no need of the priests of the Babylonian religious system. Although the Persians were sympathetic towards the Babylonian god Marduk and did accommodate the priests of this god for a while, it appears from history that they eventually fired the priests and used their own. The Babylonian priests left Babylon, probably because they were out of work and most of them went to Pergamum and some to Egypt where they taught their religious practices to the Egyptians. The Egyptians readily picked up these Babylonian religious concepts and further extended and developed some of the ideas that we find in astrology today.

The teaching of the Babylonian religious practices by the Babylonian priests and their direct descendants went on in the city of Pergamum for centuries afterwards. They taught astrology and made the amulets with the numbers 1 to 36 on them in the special arrangements they commonly used. This continued until about the year 133 B.C. when the last king of the Attalid Empire, Eumenes’ son, Attalus III, who had his capital at Pergamum, died without an heir and bequeathed his kingdom to ROME.

Rome accepted the kingdom and set up the province of Asia, which included Ionia and the territory of Pergamum by 129 B.C. When Alexander the Great came through the region, much of the knowledge of astronomy and astrology that the Babylonian priests possessed was also passed on to the Greeks.

Sometime soon after this, the priests who were still teaching the Babylonian religious practices saw their opportunity and went to Rome. The Romans often adopted the religious practices of other cultures, which also helped the empire survive as long as it did. This same kind of Roman thought of ADAPTABILITY was transferred to the Roman Catholic Church that if you remember became very ADAPTABLE in their teachings to incorporate the many beliefs of the pagan religion.

The Babylonian priests rightly calculated that the Romans would be very willing to learn and follow their teachings. Soon all of Rome filled with the pagan Babylonian religious teachings and practices. It eventually became so pervasive that people themselves called Rome the “New Babylon”. Early Christians in the New Testament also used the term Babylon as a veiled code word for a particular city to avoid persecution from that pagan power. That city as you have no doubt concluded was also the city of ROME. Please read 1 Peter 5:13 where there is mention of a church in Babylon, but there is no historical record of any such church in Babylon at that time in history.

1 Peter 5:13.

“The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you; and so does Marcus my son.”

When the Christian Church came along, the practices and beliefs of the Babylonian religion followed right into the Church. Historians have said that it seemed almost the entire city of Rome converted virtually overnight to Christianity, but what actually happened is that the Babylonian religion was simply brought into the Church and the three supreme gods of the Babylonian religion were SIMPLY RENAMED as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Lesser gods simply were replaced by saints who had been martyred or had done great service for God.

Their pagan Babylonian religious practices came into the Christian Church right along with these many pagans that were merely baptized in to the Christian faith without any true conversion to Christianity. This made it easy for the followers of the Babylonian religion to “CONVERT” so to speak to Christianity, but again it certainly was not a genuine conversion. God condemns these pagan practices, but they brought them into the Church anyway for fear of persecution. At least SOME Christians remained TRUE to their faith and OPPOSED these MIXTURES of these pagan beliefs with Christianity and many were heavily persecuted for their stand against these heresies of what is now called the ROMAN Catholic Church.

History also fully supports this. The pagan Babylonian priests had a chief priest who held the title Pontifex Maximus, which translated to Latin, meant that he was the head pagan priest or literally the Greatest Pontiff. Most Christians have heard the word “Pontiff” applied to the Pope and history explains where that term comes from.

Originally, the king of the Attalid Empire held the title of Pontiff, and he passed it onto the Babylonian Priests before he died and they went to ROME. This title of “PONTIFEX MAXIMUS” was given to Julius Caesar in 63 B.C. thereby making him the supreme priest of the Babylonian Religion and its gods in the eyes of the pagans at least.

This meant that the Babylonian religion literally moved into Rome and took it over, becoming head of the Roman government. This title of Pontifex Maximus sometimes short to just Pontifex was passed from emperor to emperor, all of whom served as chief priest of the Babylonian Religion from then on until 367 A.D., where the Roman Emperor Gratian became the first since Julius Caesar to refuse the title Pontifex Maximus.

Before Gratian refused the title Pontifex Maximus, the young Emperor bestowed it upon Pope Damasus I, who became the first Pope in history to hold the title of Pontifex Maximus. This consequently made him head of the Babylonian religion when he took the title of Pontifex Maximus in the eyes of the pagans.

Damasus I was the head of the Christian Church in Rome, and took the title as head of the pagan Babylonian Religion and its collection of pagan gods. Did the Babylonian Religion move into the Christian church to become what is called today as the Roman Catholic Church? History says most definitely YES!

Now some within the Catholic Church dispute that church leaders in the Catholic brought Babylonian pagan religious practices into the Catholic Church but even Catholic historians admit it. Cardinal Newman in his Development of Christian Doctrine, pages 372, 373 says that the Church incorporated many pagan religious practices into the Church. He claims that the Church sanctified them and that made it SAFE to bring these practices into the Church.

Every year Catholic Pilgrims kiss the feet of the Roman god Jupiter THINKING that they are just merely kissing the IMAGE of Peter. But WHERE in God's word of TRUTH, the Holy Bible, are we as Christians taught to bow before and KISS the feet of any IMAGE whether it is a Catholic IMAGE of Peter in ROME where the pagan god Jupiter was worshiped or whether it be the feet of Jesus on a CRUCIFIX? The answer is NO WHERE in the Bible do we find any such teaching, but rather the Bible forbids such practices of the making of IMAGES of ANY male or female!

God condemns idolatry, which is the making of ANY images for use in worship, and even more so when bowing down before images as part of an act of worship to the one true and only Almighty God the Father or His Son Jesus. Yet many IMAGES are found in Catholic Churches and they teach people to bow down before them or bow on one knee called genuflect.

Even though they may sincerely be praying Mary or a saint, to pray to Almighty God or His Son Jesus for them in their own eyes of understanding of doing no wrong, but the mere act of standing before an IMAGE or bowing down before the IMAGE is IDOLATRY and worshiping God in connection with ANY IMAGE is SIN in the eyes of Almighty God. But yet the Roman Catholic Church blatantly ignores this COMMANDMENT of Almighty God. Here is what a Catholic writer says being quoted by Vance:

“Though the early church leaders showed themselves strongly opposed to Gnosticism, many scholars point out that it was later embraced by the Church. Montfaucon [a Catholic scholar quoted by Vance] tells us that demon worship was carried on in the early church by those claiming to be bishops of Jesus Christ, and the Gnostics, as we have already seen, combined the worship of the serpent with the worship of Christ, they combined elements from the Babylonian, Persian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hebrew, and Christian religion into the universal or catholic system which embraced all others. It is but natural that they should take over, also, the summary number which includes in its mystic embrace the whole circuit of the heavens and all its gods, the number 666, the secret and most sacred number, we believe, in all paganism.” (Vance, page 113)”

The Bible teaches us that we are NOT to lean on our own understanding, but we are to trust in God. So for ME, I must obey what the Holy Spirit has shown me to be the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<<

And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.

Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.

To learn more TRUTH, then please return to

AMatterOfTruth.com

VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!

To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me.

My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com.

Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.

Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,

Brother Mark.

RETURN to HOMEPAGE at

AMatterOfTruth.com

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Ee-13. Is the Crucifix a GRAVEN IMAGE!