CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED
is exceedingly different, to me, than even gazing meditatively at a crucifix.
That Old Testament prohibition is fiercely in my bone marrow.
If you were to agree that crosses are inappropriate as were pictures of Jesus hanging on a wall. In other words, if you were of a mind to do away with ALL religious imagery, I would understand it and appreciate where you're coming from, even if I didn't agree with it.
But upthread you stated that you didn't have an issue with a cross. You said upthread:
And nowhere have I read that you had a problem with the standard images of Jesus hanging on peoples' walls, like this one:Q>>>I can imagine Christ exalting in the empty tomb or a symbol thereof.
Q>>>I can imagine Christ exalting in an empty cross.
I assume that your concern comes from the prohibition that was put in place regarding graven images (Ex 20:4, particularly look at Deut 4:16-4:19). But are not the above examples, an empty cross, a representation of an empty tomb, or the standard image of Jesus that hangs on so many folks' living room walls, graven images? (Keep in mind that the phrase "graven image" comes from a single Hebrew word, pecel) And if we were to really take it to an extreme, shouldn't we consider the words of Deut 5:8, You shall not make to your self a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth..
See, Quix, I know people who hold those beliefs. And they are very sincere in wanting to serve God. And I understand where they're coming from, even though I do disagree with them.
Somehow they lost the context of Deut 5:8, which explains it all.
6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 You shall not have strange gods in my sight. 8 You shall not make to your self a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth. 9 You shall not adore them, and you shall not serve them. For I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that hate me, 10 and showing mercy unto many thousands, to them that love me, and keep my commandments.
If you look at verse 7, it clearly identifies what God is talking about: You shall not have strange gods in my sight. And then in verse 9, You shall not adore them (who? strange gods), and you shall not serve them (who? strange gods).
Back to the crucifix, I don't gather that Jesus is a "strange god." So I don't see any type of OT prohibition on showing images of Him, whether as an infant, a child, a grown man, or in the midst of his passion and death, as being something prohibited in the Torah.
But perhaps you are referring to something else in the Old Testament. If so, could you enlighten me?
Thanks.