Friday, February 13, 2009

Do You Pray To Statues and Icons of Saints or Demigods?



Do you pray to statues or icons of saints or to demigods? Do you think it is sinful to pray to them? Please explain your answer.

Tags: Prayers, Saints, Statues, Icons, Demigods, Beliefs, Traditions, Culture, Roman Catholic Church, Buddhism, Hinduism, Faith

Posted by: Mel Avila Alarilla
Philippines
Viewpoints/Opinions

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am a Born-Again Christian believing that God is not represented in man-made idols or statues.We do believe in saints but we do not believe to pray to them. We talk and pray directly to God in prayer. I also don't believe in revering Mary except for being the mother of Jesus Christ, but not to be revered as equal to God .We only have One Living God who commands us to worship Him and no one else.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Bingkee,
I respect your honest opinion about this topic. I am so wary of putting up this question as it might offend our brothers of other faith but it is just a question and everybody is entitled to voice out his own opinion. Thanks for your visit and honest comments. God bless you always.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mel,

No, I don't. I must admit, I am not into any serious relationship with any religion. But of course, I believe that there is a GOD whoever He is, and we should only pray to him. No one else.

I believe this issue of praying to statues (including Mary) can be answered with the tradition brought up by our ancestors not only in the Philippines. I am always hearing Catholic priests that their members should not do it, but they cannot afford to remove them on their church.

I guess most people are looking for symbols, and they are seeing it through these statues.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Angel,
I'm so glad to hear from you again my friend. How's' your wife and kid? Have they recovered already from Dengue fever? I hope and pray that they already did. I agree with your answer. The Bible says, "God is Spirit and His true worshippers will worship Him in Spirit and truth." The Roman Catholic church have excluded the original 2nd commandment (Exodus 20:4) from the Ten Commandments and splitted the tenth to make it the ninth and the tenth. Now, this is the original dagdag-bawas (plus-minus) They teach this revised 10 commandments in their cathechism and yet the Catholic Bible still retained the original version with Exodus 20:4. It says "you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments." The priests explain that what the Catholics do is just veneration and not adoration but there is no such thing as veneration in the Bible. Praying, bowing down and kneeling is a form of adoration as the old Chinese do to portraits of their ancestors. But the Catholic church cannot eradicate this practice overnight or they will further lose credibility like when they demoted St. Christopher and St. George from the roster of Catholic saints saying they were just legends or when they eventually lifted the excommunication of Galileo for saying that the sun was the center of the solar system and the earth and all the planets revolve around it contrary to the popular belief during that time that the earth was the center of the solar system. With these and so many other unbiblical teachings, the Roman Catholic Church will give accounting to the Lord in the day of judgment. Thanks for your visit and intelligent comments. God bless you always.

Tey said...

I dont pray for the statue but I pray for God. Statue for me is just something to remind me of my faith
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Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Tey,
Yes, we should not pray to statues for that is sacrilege. Thanks for your visit and inspired comments. God bless you always my friend.

Sameera Ansari said...

Though I respect idols of all religions and their places of worship,I don't believe that God resides in them.If we truly seek Him,He is in our hearts and will always hear prayers uttered from the depth of one's soul.

Anonymous said...

Bingkee sai almost everything I have to. To me, I think the statuses are meant to be reminders. Each time we look at one, we should think about who it represents, what that person believed and thought, and the place his actions has in our lives. Praying to it is not just what I can accept.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Sameera,
That is wonderful. God should be in our hearts and not in any statue. I really admire those words. They transcend one's beliefs or religious affiliation. God bless you always my friend.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Uncle Che,
Yes, I respect all religious beliefs. We should all be tolerant of each other's spiritual beliefs so that there will be no recriminations against each other. Thanks for your visit and wonderful comments. God bless you always.

Mom said...

I do not pray to statues or icons of any sort.

When I pray, I pray to God and Jesus.

I believe that the Bible teaches us that statues and images are not to be worshiped. By praying to the statue or the image, they become the object of worship.

Anonymous said...

No, I pray to God in Jesus name. Statues and icons of saints are idols to me.

Anonymous said...

Hello! :)

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Mom,
Yes, I agree with you. We must never worship statues and icons for they are just man made. Thanks for your visit and comments. God bless you always.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Karen,
Yes, I agree with you. We only pray to God in Jesus name. Thanks for your visit and comments. God bless.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Thankful Paul,
Hello too. God bless.

Anonymous said...

If I did pray, I wouldn't pray to an effigy. I don't believe that something as big as a god cold be contained in something so small. An icon is something made by human hands, not by a god.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Solomon,
Yes, I agree with you 100%. Thanks for your visit and honest viewpoint. God bless.

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