Have you read about the graven image God commanded Moses to make in the wilderness?
When they say that the object they worship is God- or is due the honor that really only belongs to God. That practice is condemned by the Church.
When it turns into blasphemy is hard to say. We’re talking about an existential type of experience so, I don’t know that there is a hard and fast rule. But, I do believe that the Holy Spirit is faithful to let us know when veneration goes too far.
Show me that specifically in the Word of God please?
There is presidence here and I think the answer is when the leadership breaks the image in half. In the old testiment they were told to look upon the serpant on the staff and they would be healed. When the people started to look upon the serpant and worship. God given authority broke the staff in half.
Your wrong- idols were believed to hold the numinous power of the deity. Even today in Hinduism they believe just looking at the idol empowers a worshiper . It’s called darshan. The deity lived in the idol and it was treated as a deity…Damaging an idol would result in your demise.
To be completely honest, sometimes it bothers me the way some people (mostly Protestants, but certainly not exclusive to them) treat their Bibles as good luck objects. Kissing them, waving them around like a sword, acting as if the book itself was God, and not the revealed Word of God.
For it is not one of them.And don’t get me started on the “band as center of worship” phenomenon one sees in Protestant churches. Watching them, one would think they’re worshipping the guitarists and singers.
It just goes to show that people are creations of both spirit and matter, and sometimes some of us cling too tightly to the matter.
But as you stated, it isn’t the official position of the Church, so it can’t be used against Her.
The cross is a powerful sign. Exorcists use it during exorcisms becasue Satan detests what the cross represents. Same with statues. They are just representations but they are also powerful signs. Our flag is a powerful sign too. People who trample on it, are, in essence, meaning to trample on our Country and/or government. People who salute it, are saluting the Country and what the Country means to them. People who try to destroy or blaspheme a statue of a Saint or a crucifix are doing the same. They are not blaspheming the statue or cross itself but what it represents.
It is idolatry when you give the adoration due to God alone to anything other than the one true God. Catholics should not give that adoration to the icon or to who it represents (unless that is Jesus Christ/God, but you still don’t adore the icon itself).
No, it isn’t. You say the Bible is to be loved. I agree. However, it is to be loved in a general sense; I have seen some people treat their particular KJV version of the Bible as if the very thing were worthy of worship, and not the God who gave us the words contained therein. A Bible, in and of itself, is nothing more than paper and ink, it is not a good luck charm. It is the words, the meaning of the words, and the God that gave us those words that are the point. Not the glue, wood pulp, and ink.
You are right. I remember a priest saying that he had visited a Hindu temple when it opened, and they had explained that they believe in the real presence of the god in the idol.
The highest honor and worshipthat is possible is given to God alone, and that is called in “Latria.” After that is “dulia,” and that is given to all the angels and saints in heaven. After that there are various grades of honor and respect. We are told to honor our parents. We are to honor the King (and rulers in general). We must honor our superiors. The wife must honor her husband.