Quote:
Originally posted by BentNotTwisted
Lebell,
one of the big no nos in Moses' day was the worship of false gods or idol worship. The first of the ten Commandments deals specifically with this. When I hear of Christians praying to Jesus or Catholics praying to the Virgin Mary, it seems to me they are praying to false gods. Ok, Jesus was supposed to be the son and the embodiment of God, but that doesn't explain the Virgin Mary. Aren't these people going against the Ten Commandments when they to this?
Thanks,
Bent
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Dear BentNotTwisted,
This is a big topic of discussion among those who disagree with the Roman Catholic church in general.
From the RC perspective, they are not praying TO the Virgin Mary, any more than they pray TO St. Jude, St. Walburga or any other saint, but rather they are praying for that person to intercede with God for them, on the assumption that God will "listen" to the saint and would be more likely to help the petitioner.
From the Protestant perspective, no intercession is necessary, so such intercessory prayer is superfluous. More fundamentalist Christian denominations go so far as to call this type of prayer "idolatry" which is condemned in the 10 commandments.
My personal view as a former RC is that no one is substituting an 'idol' for God, but if God is who I think She is, then it is probably unnecessary.