Professor Arthur Noble
It can plainly be seen that Rome entirely omits the Second Commandment and splits the Tenth into two!
They shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. (Isaiah 45:16)
In the mathematics of the Church of Rome, ten minus one equals ten! This is neither a miracle nor a conjuring-trick, but a blatant and purposeful deception as well as a conscious perversion of the Word of God. It is achieved by deleting the second commandment and making the tenth into two.
In order to excuse the gross idolatry on which her system of worship is founded, the Church of Rome must delete the Second Commandment, which forbids the worship of images:
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Ex. 20:4-6)
Of course, when challenged, the self-professing ‘Holy Mother Church’ vehemently denies that she practices image-worship, but consider the following from §1161 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which reinforces the doctrine of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicea (A.D. 787) on images:
“Following the divinely inspired teaching of our holy Fathers and the tradition of the Catholic Church [Note: there is no mention of following the divinely inspired teaching of the Bible] […] we rightly define with full certainty and correctness that, like the figure of the precious and life-giving figure of the cross, venerable and holy images of our Lord and God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, our inviolate Lady, the holy mother of God, and the venerated angels, all the saints and the just, whether painted or made of mosaic or another suitable material, are to be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on sacred vessels and vestments, walls and panels, on houses and on streets.”
To designate an image as ‘venerable’ and ‘holy’ is blasphemy. The word ‘venerable’ is derived from the Latin word venerare meaning ‘to worship’. Moses was commanded by God:
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God.” (Lev. 26:1)
God calls idols “abominations” (Deut. 29:17). No one or no thing but God is to be worshipped. Accordingly, Jesus, when tempted by the Devil to worship him, said:
“Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:10)
To bow down to statues and pray, to light candles, to worship a wafer which is a piece of dough, to venerate the relics of ‘saints’, to kiss crucifixes and adore ‘sacred’ images or icons of a Madonna – all that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible; yet even the Pope bows down to images of Mary.No wonder Rome banned and burned the Bible and those who preached from it, for her whole system of deception is too easily exposed in light of God’s Word.
In fact, she even goes so far as to corrupt her own version of the Bible by deleting the Second Commandment from it, and then proceeds to detract attention from her fallacy by telling her adherents that they are too stupid to understand the Bible without a priest to interpret it for them.
When a comparison is made between the Ten Commandments as set out in the Bible and as formulated by the Church of Rome, the deception becomes clear:
The Bible (KJV) VS. Church of Rome (RSV*)
(Exodus, chapter 20) (Catechism, §2052-2557)
KJV- First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
RSV- First Commandment
You shall not have other gods besides me.
KJV- Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
RSV- Second Commandment (what happened?)
You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
KJV- Third Commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
RSV- Third Commandment
Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.
KJV- Fourth Commandment
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
RSV- Fourth Commandment
Honour your father and your mother.
KJV- Fifth Commandment
Honour thy father and thy mother.
RSV- Fifth Commandment
You shall not kill.
KJV-Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.
RSV-Sixth Commandment
You shall not commit adultery.
KJV- Seventh Commandment
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
RSV- Seventh Commandment
You shall not steal.
KJV- Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.
RSV- Eighth Commandment
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
KJV- Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
RSV- Ninth Commandment
You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife…
KJV- Tenth Commandment
Thou shalt not covet.
RSV- Tenth Commandment
You shall not covet anything that is your neighbour’s.
It can plainly be seen that Rome entirely omits the Second Commandment and splits the Tenth into two! In order to avoid any possible accusation of not having addressed the forbidden practice of worshipping grave images – which is even mentioned in her own Bible – she tucks away a reference to it in a sub-section (Catechism, §2112-2114) of her commentary on the Biblical First Commandment, defining idolatry as the ‘condemnation of polytheism’ (belief in many gods) and ‘false pagan worship’, whilst claiming that ”the Christian [read: ‘Roman Catholic’] veneration of images is not contrary to the first [read: ‘second’] commandment, which proscribes idols”; for “whoever venerates an image venerates the person portrayed in it” (§2132). Good try! The Bible, on the other hand, says:
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)
The extent to which the Church of Rome can even officially corrupt the Ten Commandments is evident from the book Growing in Christian Morality by Julia Ahlers et al., which bears the Nihil obstat seal of the Vatican certifying publications to be free of ‘doctrinal error’. In this book the ninth and tenth commandments according to Rome show a slight variation from the version used in the Catechism, reading “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house” and “You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife” respectively. The authors of this book even know that the Roman version of the Commandments is deceitful, for they admit: “These are the Ten Commandments, from Exodus, chapter 20, in the traditional way they are enumerated by Catholics.” (Emphasis ours.)
*The Church of Rome even corrupts the already corrupted RSV!
The Catechism requires all Catholics to “venerate” statues, or images
of Christ, Mary and others:
“Sacred images in our churches and homes are intended to awaken and nourish our faith in the mystery of Christ. Through the icon of Christ and his works of salvation, it is he whom we adore. Through sacred salvation, it is he whom we adore. Through sacred images of the holy Mother of God, of the angels and of the saints, we venerate the persons represented.” Pg. 307, #1192
Regardless of what statues are intended to do, one thing is certain – they transgress God’s instructions. When God gave the ten commandments, the second one was:
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Exodus 20:4
God also ordered:
“Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy God hateth.” Deuteronomy 16:22
The Bible concludes that those who make or have statues have been corrupted:
“Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves… Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female…” Deuteronomy 4:15-16
God states His position again:
“Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.” Deuteronomy 4:23
God’s Word also expressly forbids people from bowing down to statues, which is customary in the Catholic church. Whenever you see a picture of the pope bowing before a statue of Mary, you should think about this verse of Holy Scripture:
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God…” Exodus 20:5
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul explains why God was so adamant about idols:
“What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?… the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils (demons), and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” 1 Corinthians 10:19-20
Behind every idol is a literal demon, and God does not want anyone fellowshipping with demons. No wonder God forbids the use of idols:
“Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 19:4
God hates idolatry:
“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater… with such an one no not to eat.” 1 Corinthians 5:11
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephesians 5:5
Here, God declares that idolaters will not enter heaven. The next verses warns:
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” Ephesians 5:6
Is the Catholic church deceiving you with vain words? You must decide that for yourself.
Origin of this doctrine
Catholicism does not even pretend that this doctrine came from God: (again, as stated in the previous article)
“Following the divinely inspired teaching of our holy Fathers and the tradition of the Catholic Church (for we know that this tradition comes from the Holy Spirit who dwells in her) we rightly define with full certainty and correctness that, like the figure of the precious and life-giving cross, venerable and holy images of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our inviolate Lady, the holy Mother of God, and the venerated angels, all the saints and the just, whether painted or made of mosaic or another suitable material, are to be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on sacred vessels and vestments, walls and panels, in houses and on streets.” Pg. 300, #1161
This doctrine came from the “holy Fathers” and “tradition of the Catholic Church.” You are expected to believe that these holy Fathers were “divinely inspired” to violate God’s Word. Can you accept this?
The psalmist teaches us even more on the subject:
“The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.” Psalm 135:15-18
In other words, as an idol is deaf and dumb, so everyone who makes idols or trusts in them is devoid of understanding.
This is a powerful warning from a loving and compassionate God.
Conclusion
The Catholic church contends that idols will “awaken and nourish” your faith in “the mystery of Christ.” But God’s Word forbids their use. Who will you obey?
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 26:1
“For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men…” Mark 7:8
From the book, “Understanding Roman Catholicism” by Rick Jones, Reproduced with permission. Chick Publications P.O. Box 662, Chino, CA. 91708-0662
MORE ON IDOLATRY –The Host
Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. Isaiah 44:15
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