Is idol worship allowed in Christianity?
I saw a very good question that was closed to comment on this site. The response given that definitively "ended" the debate was this:
"There are no idols in any Christian church, but I will assume you really know this anyway.
Also I will assume your real purpose of this question was to stir up trouble on the board.
But some churches, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and some others will use statues and/or icons of various saints, and of Jesus to be used in prayer, to be used to remember their lives as an example to us.
There is no idols or idol worship"
Which is bunkus, of course, as many Christians do in fact engage in idol worship. Consider the cross. As Blackula, I can tell you that when somebody wards off a vampire with a cross, they are putting their faith in the symbol, not the Lord. This happens quite often, with people devoting themselves to symbolism, rather than the spiritual concepts that they represent. Throughout the Bible, there are numerous examples of God's people going astray and worshiping idols. The same is true in many churches, so it is certainly unfair for the original responder to characterize the original questioner as a troll when the question posed was indeed quite valid and insightful. Consider, for example, how often it is that Catholics pray TO a saint, rather than asking for intercession.
What are your thoughts?
