Are Statues and Religious Images Idolatry?
"Does the Catholic use of statues and images violate the Second Commandment?"
The Short Answer
Critics claim Catholic use of statues violates the commandment against graven images. However, God Himself commanded the making of religious images, including the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. The prohibition is against worshipping images as gods, not against sacred art that aids devotion.
Quick Overview
Catholics don't worship statues - we use them like family photos to remember and honor holy people. Just as you might keep a picture of your grandmother to remember her, Catholics keep images of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. God Himself commanded religious images to be made for the Temple, including golden angels and a bronze serpent. The problem isn't images themselves, but worshipping them as gods. When Catholics kneel before a crucifix, they're praying to Jesus in heaven, not to the wood and metal in front of them.
Biblical Evidence
What the Scriptures say
"Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them."
Why This Matters
The full commandment shows the prohibition is against making images FOR THE PURPOSE of adoring and serving them as gods, not against all religious imagery.
"Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle. Let one cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their wings, and covering the oracle, and let them look one towards the other."
Why This Matters
God directly commanded Moses to craft golden cherubim for the Ark of the Covenant, proving that religious imagery is not inherently sinful when properly used.
"And the Lord said to Moses: Make a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign: whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live."
Why This Matters
God commanded the making of a bronze serpent image that brought healing. This sacred image was only destroyed centuries later when the Israelites began worshipping it as a god (2 Kings 18:4).
"And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten cubits in height... And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings."
Why This Matters
Solomon's Temple, built according to God's design, was filled with religious imagery including large cherubim statues and carved figures throughout.
What the Church Teaches
Official Catholic doctrine
The Catholic Church distinguishes between latria (worship owed to God alone) and dulia (veneration of saints) or prosekunesis (honor shown to sacred images). Images are not worshipped but serve as aids to devotion, reminding us of holy persons and events. The Catechism teaches: 'The honor paid to sacred images is a respectful veneration, not the adoration due to God alone' (CCC 2132). The Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD) definitively taught that sacred images are legitimate and that 'the honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype' - meaning honoring an image of Christ honors Christ Himself.
Common Objections
Questions answered
Early Church Fathers
What the first Christians believed
St. John Damascene
c. 730 AD
"Of old, God the incorporeal and formless was never depicted, but now that God has appeared in the flesh and lived among men, I make an image of the God who can be seen. I do not worship matter, but I worship the Creator of matter, who for my sake became material and deigned to dwell in matter, who through matter effected my salvation."
— On the Divine Images, First Apology
St. Basil the Great
c. 375 AD
"The honor given to the image passes to the prototype."
— On the Holy Spirit, Chapter 18
St. Gregory the Great
c. 600 AD
"What writing is to those who can read, a picture is to those who cannot read. In pictures even the unlearned can see what example they should follow; in pictures they who know no letters can yet read."
— Letter to Serenus, Bishop of Marseilles
Previous
Catholic Predestination
Next
Rosary & Repetition
Earn Points
Ready to claim your points!
Share This Teaching
Help others discover the biblical basis for Catholic beliefs