statues

Praying to Statues Instead of God

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Statues that represent a god of one’s religion is common throughout many beliefs. Some Catholics have a shrine of figures that represent various saints, along with Jesus and Mary. In India, there are white, black and blue figures that represent some of the gods in the Hindu religion. In China, the Buddhist carved enormous sculptures of figures into the mountain. In Greece, they had enormous statues of their Greek gods carved from stone.

Although these statues or carvings represent different religions, people would interact with them in a similar fashion, such as, bowing down, kneeling and praying with the thought that their god is living in the statue or starring down observing and listening to their prayers.

Considering God’s creation of all that is living and His glorious majesty, if we were to create a representation of Him, it would have to look divine, massive like the universe, a royal shimmering gold, but what or who does God really look like? The bible says that we were created in His image. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27 . We are a representation of God’s and His creation, not that we should worship ourselves or other human beings, but there is a shared connection. Not only did God create us, but He was pleased with us as His creation. In the book of Genesis, it reveals God’s reaction when He gazed as the humans He created. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:30

If God created us in His image and was pleased, what would He want from us humans? The greatest commandment given by Christ is written in by His disciple Mark. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-34

If we want to worship God, this is what the bible says in the book of John, Jesus says, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24. No where in the bible, does God tell humans to make an image of Himself and worship it.

It can be hard for some to speak, worship or pray to something unseen so it’s more familiar to do so with a physical object that looks semi-human. But if we want to hear our prayers or questions answered from God, He will not speak or move the lips of a dead object. If He did that would be scary. When He speaks, it’s from within. God is everywhere so we don’t need to go to a church to pray, although Jesus typically went up to the mountain to pray out in nature.

What Lives in Statues

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I grew up in a religion that believes in praying in repetition and reading scripted prayers. A religion that prays to Saints and Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Statues of baby Jesus and Mother Mary are placed together on a throne where prayer happens. The root of the religion goes way back to the Vatican where a man that wears an ornate robe and funny hat are reverenced on a throne.

Having never read the Bible as a Catholic, I was clueless of the truth. I thought God would be moved if I kissed a statue of baby Jesus & maybe it does something, but if you read the Bible, that’s not what God wants from us. As tangible human beings it’s hard to show emotions towards people or things we cannot see so we create statues that we can see and touch, but that is not God’s will.

I remember one time when I stayed in the Philippines for the summer. My family and I stayed in a villa where all family members can lodge. It was a two story, about 10 bedroom house, historic, used as a hospital for dying soldiers during World War 2. My grandfather’s brother was a doctor and still his office remained in the house, skeleton model and all. Soldiers died in that house and paranormal experiences have occurred.

There’s a shrine of Jesus, Mary and angelic statues in the upstairs living room. One day, a bunch of nuns came to the house, knelt down and prayed to statues. When they left the house, my Uncle told me that demons live in the statues to be worshiped. I didn’t believe him. I thought worshiping statues was the normal Catholic thing to do.

Several years later, I was taking a class at church. One do the pastors of the church from the Philippines taught and he brought up the same thing my Uncle told me about in the Philippines. The pastor had a true story behind it. His relative had a throne of statues, crazy stuff was happening in the home. He told her to get rid of the statues. They threw the statues in a pile and set it on fire & they heard screams coming out of it. Creepy.

Then I have my own story, not nearly as intense, but while in college I used to stay with my parents on weekends. They had several statues sitting on top of a shelf. The house they lived in was converted from a convalescent home. I would be working on the computer in the living room, feeling like someone is staring at the back of my head. It would feel like it’s coming from the same place and that place was where the statues were located. Creepy. I got tired of the eerie feeling and eventually put the statues in a box to go out to the Goodwill. After they were boxed up, I stopped having that feeling.