VIDEO DESCRIPTION
A Pentecostal Christian joins the discussion with an honest question: Does the Bible condemn Catholic and Orthodox icons, statues, and sacred images as idolatry?
His church leader appealed to the commandment against graven images in Exodus 20. But does that passage prohibit every religious image—or does it prohibit making images of creatures and worshipping them as gods?
In this members-only Bible study, we examine:
- The cherubim God commanded Moses to place on the Ark
- Joshua and the elders bowing before the Ark
- The sacred images placed throughout Solomon’s Temple
- The bronze serpent God used as an instrument of healing
- Christ’s use of the bronze serpent as a prophecy of the Cross
- Jesus Christ as the visible image—Greek: eikōn—of the invisible God
- The difference between an image, an idol, veneration, and divine worship
- Why the Church cannot universally fall into idolatry while remaining the pillar and foundation of truth
The biblical prohibition is not against every picture, statue, or visible representation. The prohibition is against creating an image and treating the creature represented by it as a god or goddess.
This full discussion is being shared exclusively with channel members. Thank you for supporting the ministry and helping us continue producing careful biblical and historical teaching.
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
Exodus 20:3–5
Exodus 25:18–22
Numbers 7:89
Numbers 21:4–9
Joshua 7:6
1 Kings 6:18–35
2 Kings 18:4
John 3:14–16
2 Corinthians 4:4
Colossians 1:15
1 Corinthians 11:7
Ephesians 6:17
1 Timothy 3:15
Matthew 16:18
John 14:16–17
John 16:13
