The Catholic & idolatry myth

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I am Catholic, but, at this point in time, I must attend an Apolostic/Pentacostal church. I really can’t go into detail as to why I must, I just must. Last week, when the preacher was preaching out of Peter I, he got to the word idolatry and started talking about how the Roman Catholic Church worshiped idols!! I was frozen. I felt my cheeks getting red and I wanted to get up and run. He said it so matter of factly. I was just so stunned as the congregation started the “Amens”, as if they also knew that we worship idols. I could have seen him saying that people who worship Budda had idols, because that is fact, but Catholics?? Do other religions also think that we worship idols??
 
sistermouse said:
I am Catholic, but, at this point in time, I must attend an Apolostic/Pentacostal church. I really can’t go into detail as to why I must, I just must. Last week, when the preacher was preaching out of Peter I, he got to the word idolatry and started talking about how the Roman Catholic Church worshiped idols!! I was frozen. I felt my cheeks getting red and I wanted to get up and run. He said it so matter of factly. I was just so stunned as the congregation started the “Amens”, as if they also knew that we worship idols. I could have seen him saying that people who worship Budda had idols, because that is fact, but Catholics?? Do other religions also think that we worship idols??
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I feel sorry for that preacher. He will have a lot to answer for some day, if he is preaching what he knows to be false. And if he actually believes that tripe then he is really confused and misled about the Catholic faith.

I have no doubt that there are many others like him out there misleading good christians into seeing only a false parody of the Catholic Church. It’s sad.

Peace,
Robert
 
sistermouse said:
I am Catholic, but, at this point in time, I must attend an Apolostic/Pentacostal church. I really can’t go into detail as to why I must, I just must. Last week, when the preacher was preaching out of Peter I, he got to the word idolatry and started talking about how the Roman Catholic Church worshiped idols!! I was frozen. I felt my cheeks getting red and I wanted to get up and run. He said it so matter of factly. I was just so stunned as the congregation started the “Amens”, as if they also knew that we worship idols. I could have seen him saying that people who worship Budda had idols, because that is fact, but Catholics?? Do other religions also think that we worship idols??
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Buddhism is often intergrated and mixed with other faiths, but it can’t be said that all of these are idolatrous. Buddhism is a very broad term and with so many sects it’s hard to say what gods they worship, how they do so and pretty much anything else…
 
sistermouse said:
I am Catholic, but, at this point in time, I must attend an Apolostic/Pentacostal church. I really can’t go into detail as to why I must, I just must. Last week, when the preacher was preaching out of Peter I, he got to the word idolatry and started talking about how the Roman Catholic Church worshiped idols!! I was frozen. I felt my cheeks getting red and I wanted to get up and run. He said it so matter of factly. I was just so stunned as the congregation started the “Amens”, as if they also knew that we worship idols. I could have seen him saying that people who worship Budda had idols, because that is fact, but Catholics?? Do other religions also think that we worship idols??
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Feel very sorry for this misguided man.

Yes, many pseudo-Christian religions believe we worship idols. Among them, Jesus-only Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witness, and I think Seventh Day Adventists believe it too.

The bigger issue is to address what is forcing you to attend a non-Catholic church. They have absolutely no idea what the Catholic Church actually does teach. If they did, they would be running into Her arms. Many of our separated brethren (ie Trinitarian Christians) even have a lot of false information about the Church teachings. Some actual Christians believe we worship idols. Many of their numbers are made up of former Catholics who have been led to this false belief.

My advice: don’t worry about other people’s misunderstanding quite yet. Get your own understanding rock solid first. When your own faith is solid and grounded you will be able to discern from where they are coming up with their errors. Discovering which non-Catholic community, believes what particular piece of misinformation about the Catholic Church is often a futile quest. It is sort of like trying to nail jello to a wall.

My prayers are with you and this misguided preacher. I hope you are able to fulfill your obligation to Mass and are not being prevented by your circumstances.
 
When I was a Baptist (before I got saved) we said prayers to pieces of cloth.

Isn’t that idolatry?
 
Idolatry I think can be summed up as putting anything that isn’t God in the place of God. So if you prayed to a cloth supposing that the cotton had some power to answer your prayers, than that is idolatry. But lets say you spent all of your time watching TV, and made no time to pray to God, you are making an idol of the TV. Or if you find your worth and identity in your job and not in Christ, that is making your job an idol.

As far as protestants thinking Catholics worship idols, I think this really just comes down to the second commandment. Protestants hold that this forbids any use of images in worship and any image of God. Some protestant denominations will not even have so much as a cross found anywhere around their building. But I guess you heard so many amens because it is easier to point and say, ha they worship idols, than to examine the heart and find out where their idols have been that week.

But here is my question, why do Catholics call it “worship of the eucharist”? Should God be the only object of our worship?
 
But here is my question, why do Catholics call it “worship of the eucharist”? Should God be the only object of our worship?
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Yes, but the Eucharist IS God, so why wouldn’t we worship Him?

To sistermouse, if you can’t get to a Catholic Church (for a legitimate reason), you don’t have to go to Church. IMHO, it is better to not attend church then to regularly attend a protestant community’s service. It used to even be a sin to attend a protestant service, let alone regularly (and I’ve been told now it’s only OK if you’re attending for an academic or cultural reason, or to attend a valid baptism or marriage.)
 
sistermouse said:
I am Catholic, but, at this point in time, I must attend an Apolostic/Pentacostal church. I really can’t go into detail as to why I must, I just must. Last week, when the preacher was preaching out of Peter I, he got to the word idolatry and started talking about how the Roman Catholic Church worshiped idols!! I was frozen. I felt my cheeks getting red and I wanted to get up and run. He said it so matter of factly. I was just so stunned as the congregation started the “Amens”, as if they also knew that we worship idols. I could have seen him saying that people who worship Budda had idols, because that is fact, but Catholics?? Do other religions also think that we worship idols??
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I’d be weary of that preacher; It sounds like his intent is to give religion a bad name.

You should ask him what does he think of the words “This is my body”? If he says those words, but doesn’t believe it, well - isn’t that the height of idolatry?
 
I do not believe that Catholics worship idols. Many Protestant churches have pictures and stained glass windows portraying Jesus, the Apostles, and other Biblical people. We don’t worship those. Why would I believe that Catholics would worship statues? I have heard the idol worshipping teaching before at conservative churches. It’s silly because most Protestants don’t know much about the RCC.
 
Dietz said:
Idolatry I think can be summed up as putting anything that isn’t God in the place of God. So if you prayed to a cloth supposing that the cotton had some power to answer your prayers, than that is idolatry. But lets say you spent all of your time watching TV, and made no time to pray to God, you are making an idol of the TV. Or if you find your worth and identity in your job and not in Christ, that is making your job an idol.

As far as protestants thinking Catholics worship idols, I think this really just comes down to the second commandment. Protestants hold that this forbids any use of images in worship and any image of God. Some protestant denominations will not even have so much as a cross found anywhere around their building. But I guess you heard so many amens because it is easier to point and say, ha they worship idols, than to examine the heart and find out where their idols have been that week.

But here is my question, why do Catholics call it “worship of the eucharist”? Should God be the only object of our worship?
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I agree with this post.
Paul defined idolatry as what you pointed out about TV etc. taking God’s rightful place in our lives.
Even the making of (imagined) images of what is in Heaven is biblically forbidden.
A statue or image of Jesus Christ makes it possible for a person worshipping God to mistakenly worship that image in place of the True God. One can claim that they do not worship that image, but the human mind might still do so when praying etc.
Pagan temples had such images and that makes the use of any image in a church a possible idol. A walk through many churches today would present a similar setting as those pagan temples did with all of the statues and images. That is why some point to such settings as idolatry.
 
One can claim that they do not worship that image, but the human mind might still do so when praying etc.
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A few questions:

So you believe it’s possible to worship something without knowing you’re worshiping it?

You believe prayer is worship?
 
Rawb said:
Yes, but the Eucharist IS God, so why wouldn’t we worship Him?

To sistermouse, if you can’t get to a Catholic Church (for a legitimate reason), you don’t have to go to Church. IMHO, it is better to not attend church then to regularly attend a protestant community’s service. It used to even be a sin to attend a protestant service, let alone regularly (and I’ve been told now it’s only OK if you’re attending for an academic or cultural reason, or to attend a valid baptism or marriage.)
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I’d have to agree with that. especially since those pentecostal churches that go under the name “apostolic” are not Trinitarian which more or less makes them tongues-speaking JWs. :eek:
 
Rawb said:
A few questions:

So you believe it’s possible to worship something without knowing you’re worshiping it?

You believe prayer is worship?
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Prayer is the act of addressing a god or spirit for the purpose of worship or petition.
 
Janet1983 said:
Prayer is the act of addressing a god or spirit for the purpose of worship or petition.
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Praying can also be a request to someone (not God). For example, the phrase “pray tell” doesn’t infer worship.
 
regression said:
Praying can also be a request to someone (not God). For example, the phrase “pray tell” doesn’t infer worship.
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Actually, the expression is ‘pray tell’ and it means essentially ‘please tell me/us.’ It is a piece of rhetoric and uses ‘pray’ in its archaic meaning of ‘implore.’ So the expression is a contraction of ‘I pray (implore) you to tell me/us.’
 
Janet1983 said:
???
Prayer to a piece of cloth? You’re kidding, right?
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No, she’s not kidding. I remember Baptists, and other Evangelicals using “prayer cloths”.

If you do a google search on Prayer Cloths, you will be amazed at the number of hits you get.

Oral Roberts was a big proponent of these.
 
twopekinguys said:
No, she’s not kidding. I remember Baptists, and other Evangelicals using “prayer cloths”.

If you do a google search on Prayer Cloths, you will be amazed at the number of hits you get.

Oral Roberts was a big proponent of these.
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Boy am I glad that not every Baptist church follows that kind of a strange practice… I would turn around and leave if I caught wind of something like that…
By the way, the first link that I found was this one (that looks amazingly Catholic by the way…)
cukierski.net/prayercloth.shtml
 
Janet1983 said:
Boy am I glad that not every Baptist church follows that kind of a strange practice… I would turn around and leave if I caught wind of something like that…
By the way, the first link that I found was this one (that looks amazingly Catholic by the way…)
cukierski.net/prayercloth.shtml
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It took me a second to find your site, the link didn’t work for me, but I found it through google, so it’s all good.

You’re right, they are Catholic. However, I think them showing their Papal blessing is a little misleading.

I had to zoom in on the picture, but it shows **they **received the Apostolic Blessing from the Pope, not their “ministry”.

I’ll have to do some research on some of the things they are offering. I have never heard of prosperity beans for example.

I also question if these relics or sacramentals are as rare as what they say they are. Since some of their suggested donations are only $10.00.

I’m not saying they are right or wrong, I am totally caught off guard by this, and will definitely do some research on it.

Thanks for sharing it.
 
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