By: Pastor Manny
.
When I first made a response to their accusations [1], I thought that the case was closed. I thought that their objections make it clear to them that we are not doing idolatry based on their own standards since it shows biblical inconsistency. And yet, here I am making the second part of this new series. After answering their objections by citing the examples of the Ark of the Covenant, they made new objections and exceptions, and this is what we are going to look today.
.
Objection 1: Procession of an object is not an idolatry if, and only if, it’s the Ark of the Covenant
.
We know that as Catholics, we have processions of statues such as the statues of Black Nazarene, Blessed Virgin Mary, etc. When we often prove our case, we use the example of the Jews having a procession of the ark of the Covenant as seen in 1 Chronicles 15:28. However, they claimed that the procession is ok, if and only if, it’s the ark of the covenant. Since our statues are not the ark, then they claim that what we are doing is idolatry. But, the problem with their argument is that the Ark of the Covenant is not the only object of the procession in the Bible as seen in 1 Samuel 6.
.
1 Samuel 6:5
5 So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land.
1 Samuel 6:11
11 And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors.
.
Go and look 1 Samuel 6. There is nothing in that passage that indicates that God spoke to a prophet or that this was commanded by Him. Rather, in verse 5, it was suggested to make images of tumors and mice that represent the event where God shows His sovereignty. Ironically, non-Catholics and anti-Catholics have a problem when we make images that represent important events in the salvation history. And then, in verse 11, we can see the ark and the images of mice and tumors being the objects of the procession. There are no exceptions in the Bible.
.
Objection 2: Kneeling in front of an object is not idolatry if, and only if, it’s the Ark of the Covenant
.
Again, this is often brought up. They always claim that kneeling in front of an object makes that person an idolater. For the most part, we often countered this inconsistent standard by citing Joshua 7:6 or even citing that Solomon knelt down in 1 Kings 8. I already cited Joshua 7:6 in the first part of my article, and this time, we will go to 1 Kings 8.
.
1 Kings 8:6
6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
1 Kings 8:54
54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven;
.
It was clear in verse 6 that you have the Ark and you have the statues of cherubim (distinct from the cherubim on the ark of the covenant). And then, in verse 54, we can see an action on how the Jews prayed inside the Temple. Solomon prayed while kneeling in front of the altar, where the statues were. That’s how the Jews were praying inside the Temple, and yet, the common response against our argument is that it’s not idolatry because of the ark of the covenant. For some reason, they love using that as an exception. But, there’s a problem. According to the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 21b), there were 5 objects that were no longer present in the Second Temple.
.
Yoma 21b:
“This represents five, the numerological value of heh, phenomena that constituted the difference between the First Temple and the Second Temple, in that they were not in the Second Temple. And these are: The ARK OF THE COVENANT, and the Ark cover upon it, and the cherubs that were on the Ark cover; fire; and the Divine Presence; and the Divine Spirit; and the Urim VeTummim [2].” [emphasis mine]
.
So, the Ark of the Covenant was missing including the cherubs on the cover, but it does not say that the other statues on the altar were missing. So, the statues of cherubim in 1 Kings 6:23 were still in the Second Temple. And if we can present them a verse where the apostles were praying inside the temple, their objection was already over.
.
Acts 22:17
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance
.
So, this was Paul who was praying and worshipping in the temple. What this meant was he was kneeling and praying in front of the statues that were still present in the second temple. There are no other conclusions other than that.
.
So, for non-Catholics and anti-Catholics, after seeing the inconsistency of your standards, are you willing to drop these common accusations that no logical people consider as valid or are you still going to use them without knowing that by your standards, you make everyone in the Bible an idolater?
Links:
[1] https://www.facebook.com/
[2] https://www.sefaria.org/
