It's not the order that's the issue...It's the content...
Deu 5:8 Thou shalt not make 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 waters beneath the earth:
The Catholics teach each other that this clear Commandment doesn't belong in the bunch...
And as a result, you see graven images of the Catholic religion all over the planet...
And here's the rest of the Commandment:
Deu 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
And so we have Catholics thru out the universe bowing to the statues and apparently serving them even as far as popes bowing and praying to these idols...
But look at the verse...Now we can thank Jesus that we are under Grace, that He has paid the price for our sins but look at what the verse says...
for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
God says that those who make and bow to these statues 'hate' Him...And He gives them no mercy...
I wouldn't build or bow to a statue of Mary if my life depended on it...
And many Protestants did not bow to Mary, or that pope when their lives did depend on it...
See my post #23
Well said.
So does this mean that all Protestants eschew all photographs, paintings, statues, sculptures, etc., and avoid museums like the plague lest they be witness to the sin of the artists who painted or sculpted anyone’s or anything’s likeness? Somehow I doubt it. I likewise doubt that God really meant for no person to ever draw or paint or sculpt anything that resembles anything in creation. Clearly what He meant was not to create a likeness which one would then attribute qualities to and then worship it.
In our Catholic faith, we recognize the nature of human beings, and fill our churches (or sometimes don’t fill much) with images of Christ on the cross, the Holy Family, and the risen Christ. Depending on the church, there may also be some statues or likenesses of those who have led an exemplary Christian or Jewish existence, because when we are sitting in the pews for an hour or more, should our minds and eyes begin to wander, the images we behold serve the purpose of bringing our thoughts back around to God and salvation history, rather than focusisng on the tag sticking out the back of someone’s shirt, or another person’s cowlick. Regardless of what the readings and homily are about, we are reminded weekly (or in some cases even daily) about all that the Lord has done for us throughout the history of mankind, and all that He has promised to do. I really don’t believe that He has any problem with that, else He would have directed for Solomon’s Temple to have been built as an austere, unadorned meeting space. As anyone who has read the descriptions would know, that is far from the truth, therefor there is biblical precedent set for having a worship space that reminds one of exactly where you are when you enter.
Catholics do not worship anything but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,including Christ in the Holy Eucharist, though we are well aware of the falsehoods that are repeated about us among non-Catholics, who seem to always be looking for a way to tear down the true Church which Christ founded Himself (and admittedly, whose stewards may have led astray from time to time. No person becomes perfect and sinless just because they become ordained, and logic and reason would tell you that.). Spreading falsehoods about the oldest Christian Church in existence is a waste of time, try learning the truth about us instead. Remember, Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church.
Remember also that whichever Christian faith you follow (for the most part), the important thing at the base of it is we are believers in Christ and His sacrifice for us, and that makes all of us part of His Body, so it is more productive to make the effort to try to get along. I personally have no problems with Protestants or Jews, they are all my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I only have a problem when someone who is misinformed casts aspersions and accusations at my faith, which is precious and beautiful to me, just like my country, even when someone in charge makes a mistake.
??? The protestants added it in later years. It does not appear in that of the original Jewish or Catholic collections.