[Iscool]

Notice too that they “prostrate” themselves before Jesus. The Greek word is προσεκύνησαν (prosekunēsan) which means more literally “to fall down in worship” or “give adoration.” The verb is used 12 times in the New Testament and it is clear each time that religious worship is the purpose of the prostration.

This is no mere homage or a sign of respect to an earthly King, this is religious worship. This is a confession of faith. So our Magi manifest faith! The Beginning of Wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And these Magi are well on their way from being mere Magi to being Wise Men!

You might want to remember this the next time you kneel to pray to a statue of Mary or a Saint...

[Mrs. Don-o]

Does not follow, iscool. I have seen kids hundreds of times kneel around a Christmas Nativity scene at a church (not just Catholic churches, either), and they were not offering divine adoration to the li'l statues of shepherds, kings and camels, nor even the little plaster Baby. They were offering their honor and praise to the real Baby.

It would help if people were more Biblically literate. Even Msgr. Pope would have been a little more exact if he knew he would be challenged this way by iconophobes. Searching Scripture reveals that bowing, kneeling, even prostrating, does not always indicate divine adoration (though it's related.) The Biblical vocabulary of gesture is more varied and flexible than that.

And this is something you actually know, (link), iscool, but intriguingly, have never acknowledged.