What does idol worship look like, what does Mary worship look like

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balshan

Well-known member
If I compared idol worship to Marian worship or saint worship would I see a difference?

1. I mean idol worship people knee and bow before the idol. Marian worship people stand and bow before statue.
2. Candles are burnt before idol. Candles are burnt before statue of Mary.
3. Offerings are made before idol. Flowers are before the statue of Mary.
4. People make requests of idols. People make requests of Mary.
5. People pray to their idols morning and night. People pray to Mary morning and night especially if they are in one of her legions or groups.
6. There are feasts days for idols. There are feast days for Mary.

I am sure there are more similarities. Is there a difference?
 
RayneBeau

RayneBeau

Well-known member
balshan said:
If I compared idol worship to Marian worship or saint worship would I see a difference?

1. I mean idol worship people knee and bow before the idol. Marian worship people stand and bow before statue.
2. Candles are burnt before idol. Candles are burnt before statue of Mary.
3. Offerings are made before idol. Flowers are before the statue of Mary.
4. People make requests of idols. People make requests of Mary.
5. People pray to their idols morning and night. People pray to Mary morning and night especially if they are in one of her legions or groups.
6. There are feasts days for idols. There are feast days for Mary.

I am sure there are more similarities. Is there a difference?
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Just reading about all the Mary idolatry is provoking. It reminds those true followers of Jesus Christ of the perversity of the unbelievers who suppress God's clear truths, and worship the creature rather than the Creator.
 
B

balshan

Well-known member
mica said:
# 1 in your post - they also kneel before Mary. There was a kneeler in front of the candles that were in front of her statue in the CC I went to.
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True.

I just saw an interesting comparison here:

carm.org

Roman Catholicism on Mary, and idolatry | carm.org

Roman Catholicism teaches Mary can be worshiped and prayed to. How does Roman Catholic practice compares to biblical idolatry?
carm.org carm.org

One point I noticed that could be added to the list is kissing statues or images.
 
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RayneBeau

RayneBeau

Well-known member
mica said:
# 1 in your post - they also kneel before Mary. There was a kneeler in front of the candles that were in front of her statue in the CC I went to.
Click to expand...
mica said:
# 1 in your post - they also kneel before Mary. There was a kneeler in front of the candles that were in front of her statue in the CC I went to.
Click to expand...
Same thing was found in the RCC parish that I was mostly raised in. But not only were there kneelers, candles and fresh flowers in front of the life-size statue of Mary, but also in front of the statue of the life-size statue of Joseph and then again in a side wing there was a huge picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help with a kneeler, flowers and votive candles in front of it, but it also had a padlocked donation box next to the flowers also. Such flamboyant idolatry in the RCC.
 
RayneBeau

RayneBeau

Well-known member
balshan said:
True.

I just saw an interesting comparison here:

carm.org

Roman Catholicism on Mary, and idolatry | carm.org

Roman Catholicism teaches Mary can be worshiped and prayed to. How does Roman Catholic practice compares to biblical idolatry?
carm.org carm.org

One point I noticed that could be added to the list is kissing statues or images.
Click to expand...
Yes, good point and also, remember that in some RCC's where they worship the Infant of Prague statue - they dress and re-dress that statue for veneration. Each of the dresses made for the idol doll are usually elaborate and painstakingly made by women in the parish, each trying to outdo the other to show off their seamstress/ dressmaking skills.
 
jonathan_hili

jonathan_hili

Well-known member
balshan said:
If I compared idol worship to Marian worship or saint worship would I see a difference?

1. I mean idol worship people knee and bow before the idol. Marian worship people stand and bow before statue.
2. Candles are burnt before idol. Candles are burnt before statue of Mary.
3. Offerings are made before idol. Flowers are before the statue of Mary.
4. People make requests of idols. People make requests of Mary.
5. People pray to their idols morning and night. People pray to Mary morning and night especially if they are in one of her legions or groups.
6. There are feasts days for idols. There are feast days for Mary.

I am sure there are more similarities. Is there a difference?
Click to expand...
The difference is in what is believed. If someone thinks Mary or some statue is God, then that's idolatry.

I could take the examples you gave and apply them to something else pretty easily, e.g. visiting a cemetery.

1. People often kneel or stand before a tombstone.
2. Sometimes people will burn candles at a cemetery for someone deceased.
3. Flowers are put on graves of someone deceased.
4. People in various cultures often ask the dead for intercession.
5. People might visit cemeteries day and night, or think about someone deceased there day and night.
6. There are anniversaries and other days when we remember the dead.

Gosh, all those people buried at the local cemetery must be God!
 
B

balshan

Well-known member
jonathan_hili said:
The difference is in what is believed. If someone thinks Mary or some statue is God, then that's idolatry.

I could take the examples you gave and apply them to something else pretty easily, e.g. visiting a cemetery.

1. People often kneel or stand before a tombstone.
2. Sometimes people will burn candles at a cemetery for someone deceased.
3. Flowers are put on graves of someone deceased.
4. People in various cultures often ask the dead for intercession.
5. People might visit cemeteries day and night, or think about someone deceased there day and night.
6. There are anniversaries and other days when we remember the dead.

Gosh, all those people buried at the local cemetery must be God!
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Nowhere the same unless you are into ancestry worship, sacrificing food before the tombstone. If it looks like idol worship, that can lead people astray. Oh what does the RCs least popular writer of scripture Paul says on that topic.

1 Cor 8:13

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
 
jonathan_hili

jonathan_hili

Well-known member
balshan said:
Nowhere the same unless you are into ancestry worship, sacrificing food before the tombstone. If it looks like idol worship, that can lead people astray. Oh what does the RCs least popular writer of scripture Paul says on that topic.

1 Cor 8:13

Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Click to expand...
I'm saying it's the same because you are basing idolatry on actions, not on beliefs.
 
Septextura

Septextura

Well-known member
Something happened in the 11th century that caused Rome to go completely off the rails. Transubstantiation and Mariolatry took off. Two things I can think of, the schism (1054) and the crusades (1095). I haven't figured out the connections yet.

EucharisticRenaissance.jpg
 
RayneBeau

RayneBeau

Well-known member
balshan said:
If I compared idol worship to Marian worship or saint worship would I see a difference?

1. I mean idol worship people knee and bow before the idol. Marian worship people stand and bow before statue.
2. Candles are burnt before idol. Candles are burnt before statue of Mary.
3. Offerings are made before idol. Flowers are before the statue of Mary.
4. People make requests of idols. People make requests of Mary.
5. People pray to their idols morning and night. People pray to Mary morning and night especially if they are in one of her legions or groups.
6. There are feasts days for idols. There are feast days for Mary.

I am sure there are more similarities. Is there a difference?
Click to expand...
I sure don't see any difference between idol worship and the way Roman Catholicism worships Mary in their art, in their music, in their literature and their various other idolatress religious traditions and devotions to her.
 
H

Hibernian

Well-known member
4 Their Idols are silver and gold, the work of man's hands.5 They have mouths but they speak not : eyes have they, but they see not: 6 they have ears but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They have hands but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not : neither speak they through their throat. 8 they that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusts in them

Psalm 115: 4-8

There you have it in a nutshell.

Pay attention particularly to verse 8, which is the result of idolatry


They that make them are like unto them. So is every one that trusts in them
 
RayneBeau

RayneBeau

Well-known member
Hibernian said:
4 Their Idols are silver and gold, the work of man's hands.5 They have mouths but they speak not : eyes have they, but they see not: 6 they have ears but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They have hands but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not : neither speak they through their throat. 8 they that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusts in them

Psalm 115: 4-8

There you have it in a nutshell.

Pay attention particularly to verse 8, which is the result of idolatry


They that make them are like unto them. So is every one that trusts in them
Click to expand...
Great point! Down through the ages, the Roman Catholic Church has made every effort to glamorize 'trust' in their "Mary," and making her a large part of their 'traditions' and devotions by cunningly making her the focal point of all their faith, hope and trust, all apart from Christ.
 
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