Well, Ward; I would have to agree with your premise that it's all ( or mostly ) in our attitude ( or conscience ), in other words, not necessarily WHAT we do, but WHY we do it; it IS a matter of personal conscience! Paul said, in I Cor: 10:23, that 'all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify', and then of course the following verse, 'let no one seek his own, but each one the others well-being.' Paul speaks to this also in I Cor 8:6-13 and also in Romans 14:22,23.

However, as to whether Roman Catholics worship their icons or not: it might depend on what your definition of 'worship' is and also what you mean by 'icon'!

I do understand, though; about partaking of the Eucharist, even while a full-preterist; because I, believing what I do, attend a Fundamental Baptist church and partake of the Lord's Supper there about once a month.

Ward Fenley <wardfenley@yahoo.com> wrote:

To be as fair as possible both to Ed and the Catholic church, I was once a cantor for a Catholic church. The priest knew I was not Catholic but hired me anyway. I was honestly just seeking a part time job. But after directing music for the church for one year I concluded that at least these Catholics and the priest do *not* worship icons. In fact, over the course of that year I began to be very fond of the various icons meant not to draw worship but rather to draw our attention to event (e.g. the stations of the cross etc.). Granted, I prefer an empty cross, but at the same time, I was told so many times about how awful a crucifix with the dead Christ on it was an abomination, and yet I was often stricken with a profound awareness of Christ during the mass. I took part in the Mass all while being a full preterist who does not even affirm a post AD 70 Eucharist mandate. However, in my conscience, I simply partook freely of the Eucharist and thought about the beauty and glory of the cross and resurrection. We must be careful to use our conscience to glorify God through whatever we do. There was nothing wrong with me taking the Eucharist, and there would have been nothing wrong with abstaining. In fact, there were times I did abstain simply because I didn't feel like taking it on any given Saturday night or Sunday morning.

 

Our consciences are free to glorify Christ by whatever means He has granted.

 

In Christ,

Ward

Charles Shank <shankhaus2003@yahoo.com> wrote:

⁴You shall not make for yourself an image, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,
I'm not accusing you, Ed; of this, but, from my understanding; there are many in the Roman Catholic ( or Catholic ) Church, that do exactly that.

I think that we must take the command not to make images ( icons ) in the context of the command not to worship ( or revere ) them; Isaiah says not to fear them, because they cannot do any good, but neither can they do any harm!

I think that God's command not to make images ( icons ) for the purposes of worship was more for the purpose of teaching us trust in, or worship; not the things that we could experientially 'see' (physical ), but in what we could not experientially 'see' ( the spiritual, or God alone )

I wrote this paper awhile back ( last year ), and while not necessarily written to answer this question; I think it may pertain to it! Let me know what you think.
ED BURLEY <burleywu@yahoo.com> wrote:You know, there are a lot of things about the OT that I don't think we understand. E.g., YWHW's prohibition of graven images. I personally believe, as the Orthodox and Catholics do that His prohibition was because someday HE would send His OWN ICON. His express ICON. JESUS Himself - God Incarnate. To make images prior to Christ's coming was to make your own image of who god was. But God Himself sent His Image/Icon to show the world what He was like.

in Christ's Great Love,Charles Shank


" You are only quite a little fellow in a wide world, after all."
Gandalf the Grey to Bilbo Baggins
( J.R.R. Tolkien )

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in Christ's Great Love,Charles Shank


" You are only quite a little fellow in a wide world, after all."
Gandalf the Grey to Bilbo Baggins
( J.R.R. Tolkien )

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