The Church of Our Lord Jesus the Christ

The Church of our Lord Jesus the Christ

This letter is in reference to my study on :

Do Catholics worship Mary

Hail Mary, Full of grace!
The Lord is with thee!
Blessed art thou amongst women!
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

Holy Mary, Mother of God!
Pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death!

No.

The Queen of Heaven and the King of Kings

Many non-Catholics object to our use of the title “queen of heaven” in reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary. They do so because in the Old Testament, a false goddess – apparently Ishtar, the Assyria-Babylonian fertility goddess – was called the “queen of heaven” (see Jeremiah 7:18, 44:17-19, and 44:25). Using the title when speaking of Mary, they reason, means that Catholics worship Mary as a pagan goddess. Obviously, this would be a wrong thing to do.

But take heart! The good news is that Catholics neither (a) consider Mary to be a goddess nor (b) worship her.

Catholics think that it is appropriate to call Mary the “queen of heaven” for two reasons:

• Her son is the King, making her the queen mother. More than just an honorary role, the queen mother was an office in the Davidic kingdom. As one  explains, “The gebhirah, or queen mother, occupied a position of high social and political importance; she took rank almost with the king.”
• The Bible depicts her as “wearing a crown of twelve stars” in heaven (Revelation 12:1), which is appropriate given her role as the queen mother of Christ the King.

But does the title’s pagan usage make it inappropriate to apply in a Christian context? By all means no! Just because the title was applied to a false queen of heaven in the Old Testament does not mean that the title cannot be used for the true queen of heaven.

There is strong Biblical precedent for this in the title “king of kings”. In the Old Testament, two rulers who were no friend of God’s people were called “king of kings”:

• Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon – Daniel 2:37 and Ezekiel 26:7.
• Artaxerxes, king of Persia – Ezra 7:12

In spite of the pagan use of “king of kings”, we appropriately apply the title to Jesus Christ, our ultimate and true King of Kings, in 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14 and Revelation 19:16.

So we see from Scripture that it is certainly appropriate to call the Blessed Virgin Mary “Queen of Heaven.”

I feel that we all who do not practice the Catholic or Orthodox religion that we owe it a reasonable exploration.

Do Catholics Worship Statues and Images?

Some Protestants believe that when Catholics display sacred art, such as statues and images, they are engaging in idolatry. Is this view Biblical?

Prohibitions Against Idolatry

Objections to religious imagery – statues in particular – are primarily based on two passages in the Bible:

Exodus 20:3-5 [God speaking to Moses] – “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them” (see also the similar commandment in Deuteronomy 5:6-9).

Deuteronomy 27:15 – “Cursed be the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.”

There are other places in the Old Testament where similar admonitions against idolatry appear, such as Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:5, 25; 9:12; 12:3; 2 Kings 17:9-18; 23:24; 2 Chronicles 23:17; 28:1-3; 33:18-25; 34:1-7.

In the New Testament, we see similar warnings. For example, St. Paul tells us to “shun the worship of idols” in 1 Corinthians 10:14 (see also Romans 1:18-23). Similarly, St. John instructs us, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

God Commands Religious Imagery

While God condemns worshipping any thing as an idol (statues, money, power, possessions), he does not prohibit all types of religious images – only their improper use. This is evident in several passages from Sacred Scripture where God commands that images be fashioned and where he approves of their use.

For example, in Exodus 25 (a mere five chapters after the commandment against fashioning false idols) God commands Moses to create statues for religious purposes:

The LORD said to Moses… “And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Exodus 25:1, 18-20).

God gives similar instruction in Exodus 26:

“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet stuff; with cherubim skilfully worked shall you make them” (Exodus 26:1).

Elsewhere, God commands that Aaron’s priestly vestments be adorned with images of pomegranates (Exodus 28:33-34).

God also commands Moses to fashion a graven image of a snake that would cure the people from snakebites (Numbers 21:8-9; note the foreshadowing of Christ’s cross in John 3:14 and 8:28). This snake image was properly used in the religious context of healing. However, when the Israelites began to worship the bronze serpent (2 Kings 18:4), the king quickly destroys it. This is a great Biblical example of using a sacred image properly and improperly.

In Solomon’s temple, we see further evidence that God accepts the use of sacred images in worship.

While the temple was being constructed, God told Solomon:

“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my ordinances and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel: So Solomon built the house, and finished it” (1 Kings 6:12-14, emphasis added).

The temple built by Solomon contained many statues and graven images, such as angels, trees, flowers, oxen and lions (1 Kings 6:23-35 and 7:25, 36). Did this displease God? Not at all. In fact, God showed his approval when he told Solomon, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before me; I have consecrated this house, which you have built, and put my name there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time” (1 Kings 9:3).

God would not have “consecrated” the temple filled with statues if these objects displeased him. This is solid evidence from Scripture that images that turn our minds toward heavenly realities are proper in the worship of God.

Concluding Thoughts

The above passages provide evidence that certain religious images are not only permitted, but are commanded by God; they are pleasing to him.

Photographs and paintings of our family and friends remind us of them and their love for us.

In a similar way, statues and paintings of religious realities – including Christ, angels and saints – remind us of Jesus’ great love and sacrifice for us, the reality of heaven, and the reward of eternal life that awaits those who die in his favor.

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