So what gives with the omission of the graven images?

I just looked up the 10 commandments and there is s difference from the ones the catholics follow and the ones other christians follow. The 2nd commandment is eliminated and I think the 10th is split into 2.

Seems praying to Mary is big business to them so they cannot have a commandment that says not to do it
catholic 10

Regular 10

So what gives with the omission of the graven images?

Oh, what a great OP !

Yes, you're correct in what you suggest.

Don't blame the R.Catholics though .. they're indoctrinated in their version and not encouraged to question. They worship or 'pray to' those V.Mary statues in good faith (no pun intended).

Cannot count the number of hours I've spent debating this issue with R.Catholic clergy. Their responses have been in earnest. They've genuinely not grasped that all the graven images within their churches have even the remotest connection with those which drove Moses almost to madness and despair.

I think you'll discover the R.Catholic faith neglects to include God's admonishment that there shall be no mediator between man and God but Jesus Christ. Think you'll find that's been air-brushed away as well.

All this and more was explained to me many years ago by a lay-Baptist minister. Unfortunately, he was (by his own initially reluctant admission) also a rapist who preyed on young girls who'd been placed in psychiatric hospitals.

Ah well, fortunately God understands everything, everyone. And is limitlessly forgiving. This is the real God we're talking about now, of course. So regardless of how humans come to him, and via whatever paths, be they unintentionally so twisting and crooked .. He welcomes all.

Always a good thing to remember. Hope for all. Always.

As a Christian growing up in a Catholic school, i always found those things odd. Little sayings like "Jesus may open the door into heaven but Mary can open a window". I found those of particular interest when the Bible clearly states it is Jesus and only Jesus that can get us into heaven.

When it came to statues, with a child's mind i always wondered how they could get away with it.

Sure it may be against the Commandments that my denomination follows, but i have since reached a state where that does not mean that they should be condemned for it. Little discrepancies in other denominations help invoke these debates and hence helps me to be able to grow in mine.

One thing i will add... catholic churches do tend to be some of the most gorgeous buildings to look at within them.

reply to post by SilentShadow


Myself I can also look over little discrepancies but that seems to be(to me) a VERY big issue. God obviously didnt want any sort of idle worship or he wouldn't have handed down that law. So, the church removes that because praying to Mary is a big part of who the church is about...So now we are down to 9 commandments but the masses know there are 10 so we split one and make it 2...So we are good now because we have 10 again. No one will ever know right? Right?

My ex-wife was a catholic and it was a big issue when she decided to find her faith again. It caused a lot of problems between us because of differences in things like this.

One thing i will add... catholic churches do tend to be some of the most gorgeous buildings to look at within them.

And often the most deadly and venomous creatures in the world are some of the most beautiful

You can find a great explanation here.

An excerpt:

The early Christian church, received this catechetical tradition from the Church Fathers, especially Augustine. He relied heavily on the Decalogue [what is referred to above as the catholic ten commandments -JJ] as presented by Moses in Deuteronomy 5. Thus, until the late Middle Ages, children memorized the commandments in the order as we still know it from the Catechism. Even after the Reformation, Lutherans and Catholics agreed on this enumeration and arrangement.

Calvin and other Reformers, relying more on Exodus 20 and its presentation of the Decalogue, and wanting to make a strike against the statuary and icons in the Catholic Church, enumerated the commandments in a different way.

It's a fascinating article that will give you perspective on where Catholics are coming from and addresses some of those issues many non-Catholic Christians see as idol worship and graven images.

so, the article is really saying that they don't really know which one is correct due to different translations. Am I reading that right?

YES!
There were Major changes in the manuscripts during Constantines' day.
It's been speculated that Constantine HIMSELF had these things done to keep a power monopoly and continue idolatry.
Why I use the King James Version

Originally posted by Clearskies
Why I use the King James Version

For these reasons i too use the KJV. I am a massive fan of that english (Acting is a passion of mine, hence 'Shakespeare language') and don't find it that difficult to read.

I do acknowledge that even itself is not the original translation and the original contexts. This is where i am lucky to have two grandfathers who know how to read the greek and hebrew in context, as well as a few friends who study theology. So when i want to really look into something, they help with original translations.

In saying that, even the originals have passages that can have two meanings.

*sigh*

The joy of continually researching and denying ignorance.

I can't get over how funny it is that Protestants always think "their" bible is the true one, and the fact that it's an edited form of what hte Catholics use never seems to cross their minds.

Want the "true bible"? Look at whatever hte Syriacs use. THat church dates from the year 34, and all...