Images and Relics
The anti-Catholic charge that Catholics are idolaters is a false accusation. Catholics see images and relics as worship aids – not as idols. It is similar to looking at a photo of a loved one that reminds you of that person. God’s prohibition on the Hebrews against idols was not the creation of statues or images in and of themselves. It was against the worship of these idols as gods.
Ex. 20:2-6
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
Do not have any other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The Israelites had just come out of Egypt where they had been in bondage for over 400 years and had picked up some of the bad ways of the Egyptians. Even while Moses was on the mountain receiving the commandments, the people below made a golden calf, which greatly angered God.
Non-Catholics must remember that God commanded Moses to make 2 golden Cherubim to place atop the Ark (Exod. 25:18-20) and they prostrated themselves before it (Joshua 7:6). He also commanded him to fashion a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole so that those who gazed upon it would be healed (Num. 21:4-9). They didn’t worship these images, they did as God commanded.
The Protestant position against images would render all statues and paintings created by Catholic and Protestant artists over the centuries idolatrous. It is simply not a cohesive argument, given the context of Scripture.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Relics.asp
http://www.catholic.com//library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp