B
Bluegoat
Guest
Well, I’m an Anglican, but I can say that many of your issues are probably not things to worry over.
Also, the teaching is always that Mary remained sinless through the Grace of Christ, just as any of us may have the opportunity to do so now. This brings up an important point - while Many Protestants talk about having a “sin nature” that isn’t really something the apostolic churches talk about. They do not say our nature was actually changed to a bad sin nature - it remains good as God made it. What Catholics do say is that it bears a “stain” of Original Sin. This stain makes it very difficult for us to do the right thing, or sometimes to figure out what the right thing is. But with Grace it can be healed and united to Christ. The CC teaches that this happened perfectly with Mary, and even from the time of her birth.
Remember to that we do not know how God uses our prayers to help others. God is not bound by time. It is entirely possible that God may take our prayers for the dead, and apply them to a time when the person was still alive.
A statue or image is a representation of something real, usually something physical. In the iconoclastic heresies, the argument has been that it is not approprite to depict the dead or Christ. The councils of the Church rejected this though, saying that to reject images of Christ is to reject the Incarnation. The reason we can make a picture of Christ is because he really did become a man and is not just a spirit. The saints are alive in Christ and themselves will be one day re-embodied.
So having images is an affirmation of the Incarnation and in the Ressurection of the Body. Interestingly you will see fewer depictions of the Father, and in the Eastern Church it is not allowed to depict the Father. There are also theological reasons for that.
There are good practical reasons for images too. Historically many could not read; it is helpful to those who learn visually; and perhaps most importantly, correct images help prevent us from imagining images of our own when we pray or read Scripture - something which can be difficult to prevent. The images that our imagination comes up with are often theologically incorrect or factual incorrect, and sometimes we don’t even realize we are focusing on them. We now the icon or statue is just an image, but we can mistake the thing in our mind for the “real thing” more easily.So using a correct image can prevent that kind of problem.
Remember to that an image is a symbol of something, like a word is a symbol. The important thing is that religious images, like Scripture, is a symbol of something real. But neither is actually the real thing it symbolizes.
Take care and God Bless.
Remember that the perpetual virginity and sinlessness of Mary has been the constant teaching of the Church - it is as old as the Bible itself. Scripturally, we look to the words of the angel who said that she was “full of Grace”. Ask yourself what it would really mean to be actually full of Grace, and to ask God to dwell within us as completely as Mary did.
Also, the teaching is always that Mary remained sinless through the Grace of Christ, just as any of us may have the opportunity to do so now. This brings up an important point - while Many Protestants talk about having a “sin nature” that isn’t really something the apostolic churches talk about. They do not say our nature was actually changed to a bad sin nature - it remains good as God made it. What Catholics do say is that it bears a “stain” of Original Sin. This stain makes it very difficult for us to do the right thing, or sometimes to figure out what the right thing is. But with Grace it can be healed and united to Christ. The CC teaches that this happened perfectly with Mary, and even from the time of her birth.
That is an interesting question, but if it is true, does it mean that people in Heaven no longer remember the suffering they saw or experienced on Earth? What about the suffering of Christ? I think it would be better to say that for these people, they no longer perceive suffering in the same way. They see how it is all part of God’s plan and contributes to his Glory one way or the other.
The Catholic Church is very specific about purgatory, and I don’t personally accept their entire understanding of it. But as far as praying for the dead - it has again been the continual teaching of the Church that it is proper to pray for the dead. Remember that we are all, including the dead, still part of God’s Church - as we see in Revelation with the saints praying around the Heavenly Throne. We can all, in some way, affect each other with our prayers.
Remember to that we do not know how God uses our prayers to help others. God is not bound by time. It is entirely possible that God may take our prayers for the dead, and apply them to a time when the person was still alive.
Praying using images, without praying in spirit and truth, would be a bad thing. As would praying to statues and mistaking the representation for the thing itself. But those are not what is taught.
A statue or image is a representation of something real, usually something physical. In the iconoclastic heresies, the argument has been that it is not approprite to depict the dead or Christ. The councils of the Church rejected this though, saying that to reject images of Christ is to reject the Incarnation. The reason we can make a picture of Christ is because he really did become a man and is not just a spirit. The saints are alive in Christ and themselves will be one day re-embodied.
So having images is an affirmation of the Incarnation and in the Ressurection of the Body. Interestingly you will see fewer depictions of the Father, and in the Eastern Church it is not allowed to depict the Father. There are also theological reasons for that.
There are good practical reasons for images too. Historically many could not read; it is helpful to those who learn visually; and perhaps most importantly, correct images help prevent us from imagining images of our own when we pray or read Scripture - something which can be difficult to prevent. The images that our imagination comes up with are often theologically incorrect or factual incorrect, and sometimes we don’t even realize we are focusing on them. We now the icon or statue is just an image, but we can mistake the thing in our mind for the “real thing” more easily.So using a correct image can prevent that kind of problem.
Remember to that an image is a symbol of something, like a word is a symbol. The important thing is that religious images, like Scripture, is a symbol of something real. But neither is actually the real thing it symbolizes.
Well, I don’t think so in the way Catholics do, obviously, but I am sure others can comment on this issue.
Take care and God Bless.
