Some Protestants claim that the Catholic Church changed the second commandment in order to justify its idolatrous practice of having graven images in its places of worship. But is this true? In this video, Karlo gives reasons why the Church didn’t change the second commandment and why its practice of having statues is not idolatrous.
Transcript:
Some Protestants like to charge the Catholic Church with changing the Ten Commandments in order to keep the idolatrous practice of having statues in its places of worship. They argue that Catholics omitted the second commandment in Exodus 20, which forbids the making of graven images.
But is this true? No, here are some reasons why.
First, it’s important to note as the Catechism of the Catholic Church does in paragraph 2066 that the division and numbering of the Commandments have varied throughout the centuries. The division and numbering that the Catholic Church follows, as well as the Lutheran confession, is that of St. Augustine, which differs slightly from the division worked out by the Greek Fathers, which is found in the Orthodox Churches and Reformed communities.
But concerning the commandment in question, like Augustine we see it as merely an extension of the first: “You shall have no other gods before me.” In light of the context, it seems that Augustine was right, for immediately after God prohibits the making of “graven images,” he says in verse five, “You shall not bow down to them or serve them.” The prohibition is against idolatry, not the making of images in an absolute sense.
If the commandment were a prohibition against making images, then God would have contradicted himself when he commanded Moses in Exodus 25 to make two gold cherubim and put them over the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. But that’s absurd.
Finally, among those communities that have as their second commandment the prohibition to make graven images, they also combine the prohibition of coveting your neighbor’s wife and goods as one commandment. But a man’s wife is not the same as a man’s property. That these are two distinct commandments, which his how the Catholic Church views them, is made clearer in the list found in Deuteronomy chapter five.
So, the Catholic Church didn’t change the second commandment. And more importantly, it’s not guilty of idolatry in having statues in its places of worship.
If you want to learn more about this topic and others like it, visit our website at catholic.com. Also, visit CatholicAnswersSpeakers.com to learn how you can bring me out to speak at your event.
For Catholic Answers, I’m Karlo Broussard. Thanks for watching.
