God's view on images of Him?

[whatevergirl]

I copied and pasted part of today’s readings…just the bold part, I’m confused over. Can someone tell me what that implies, exactly? If we have crucifixes in our homes, for example–is that wrong to have? I would think not, since the RCC supports ‘images’ of Jesus…but how does that fit with the bolded verse below? Thx in advance for your insight.

Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’
as even some of your poets have said,
‘For we too are his offspring.’
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,

 

[whatevergirl]

Reading that line over, it strikes me that Paul is speaking that we should never put God on a secular/human level. Am I right?

 

[Cari]

Who was his audience? Former idol worshippers? I’m not familiar with the culture of ancient Areopagus, but I’m betting he’s referring to pagan practices of idol worship. The one true God is not the work of human hands, you cannot coax the god into the stone statue and turn it into a talisman.
The passage isn’t a prohibition of representations of Jesus.

 

[LilyM]

Reading that line over, it strikes me that Paul is speaking that we should never put God on a secular/human level. Am I right?

I think Paul is more simply referring to the fact that in the ancient pagan world that a statue or image or whatever of a pagan god sometimes actually was believed to really be the god itself, not just a representation of them.

 

[whatevergirl]

okay–thank you both. I somewhat thought that, but just wanted to double check.

I have often heard comments from non Catholics stating that we are idol worshippers, because of our ornate churches, and hanging crucifixes in our homes. I know that we do not worship these ‘things,’ that they merely represent an image, that during prayer, can sometimes better engage us…remind us of the pain and suffering Christ went through for us.

I try to explain that to some, but it falls on deaf ears.

 

[Cari]

I have often heard comments from non Catholics stating that we are idol worshippers, because of our ornate churches, and hanging crucifixes in our homes. I know that we do not worship these ‘things,’ that they merely represent an image, that during prayer, can sometimes better engage us…remind us of the pain and suffering Christ went through for us.

I try to explain that to some, but it falls on deaf ears.

Yeah. I get that too. I imagine it’s similar to what happens to me when someone tries to explain any mathematical concept more complex than division to me. It just doesn’t stick, no matter how many times, or how many ways they explain it.