We are commanded by God not to construct statues and bow down before them and pray to them, regardless whether we think we are bowing down to the wooden tree itself or to the person that dead tree represents.
Men are admonished by God not to do either. We are to kneel to and pray to none but the Triune God. Period. Rome stubbornly defies the word of God yet again.
He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" -- Isaiah 44:15-20"Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Apparently not.
Rome makes the pagan error of thinking others can "deliver his soul" when Christ alone is the only one who "delivers" His sheep to God as acquitted of their sins by the covering of His merciful righteousness.
No one else.
But here's a first-up on google of various Roman Catholic prayers to Mary, and in them once again we see Roman Catholics do not know "there is a lie in their right hand."
"Most Holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, my Mother, I - the most miserable of all sinners - have recourse to you today, the Mother of my Lord. I venerate you, O great Queen, and thank you for all the graces you have obtained for me, especially for having delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved..."
Not only is that total heresy, it sounds eerily similar to another FReeper's tag.
Wake up and read your Bible. Flee from idolatry.
AGREED.
Amazing that such a different perspective on their own schizophrenic docs can even be had by rational folks.
Amazing.
Ah yes, sola Eckleburg.
I've already done that. In Exodus 20:3-6 God forbids making graven images for the purpose of idolatry but does not forbid the making of graven images per se. Elsewhere he commands that statues and other graven images be carved for religious purposes. The Catholic Church permits statues because they remind us of unseen things, but it condemns the idolatry of statue worship.
"[The Lord said] make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. . ." (Ex. 25:18-19).
"You shall make the tabernacle with . . . cherubim skillfully worked" (Ex. 26:1).
"The Lord said to Moses, `Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole" (Num. 21:8-9).
"He made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. . . . He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the Temple . . . And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. He carved all the walls of the Temple round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers" (1 Kgs. 6:23, 27-29).
"[The brazen sea] stood upon [statues of] twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east" (1 Kgs. 7:25).
"And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths round about" (1 Kgs. 7:36).
I will also bet that you had a Christmas tree and a host of other decorations and that a cross appears somewhere in your religious institution and its documentation.
Wake up and read your dictionary and concentrate on the words intercession and veneration and then contrast them to the word worship. Flee from ignorance.