text: is this a contradiction in the bible? exodus 20 (new king james version)  exodus 20 the ten commandments  1 and god spoke all these words, saying:        2 “i am the lord your god, who brought you out of the land of egypt, out of the house of bondage.         3 “you shall have no other gods before me.         4 “you shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.    john 14:6  jesus said to him, “i am the way, the truth, and the life. no one comes to the father except through me.   looks like you have to put jesus before the father. even if you want to say that they are one ( he still has parts). what about all the crucifixes and the cross as a whole by seeing the creator as a graven image you are still violating making an image of anything in heaven or on earth. so technically it should be forbidden to make any image of jesus because that would be tantamount to making an image of something you worship?   so why is it done??? the bible does not forbid image making absolutely. this becomes clear when exodus 20:4-5 and your quoted verses from leviticus are interpreted in the context of other biblical passages. for example, the same holy spirit who inspired moses to write these also inspired moses to write exodus 25:18-19 where god commands moses to make statues of the cherubim (angels).  in numbers 21:8 god also commanded moses to make a bronze serpent (seraph), which the israelites had to gaze upon in order to be healed. god used this image as his instrument. in john 3:14 we learn that image was a type of christ.  in 2 kings 18:4 (under exechias) god commanded the destruction of the bronze serpent, but only after it had come to be worshipped. up to that point it had been preserved for about 800 years.  the bible provided other examples of the use of images. garlands of fruit, flowers and trees were carved (numbers 8:4; 1 kings 6:18; 7:36). the kings throne rested on carved lions (2 kings 10:19-20). images of lions and bulls supported the basins in the temple (1 kings 7:25,29).   in 1 kings 6:23,27,29,30-31 we discover that within the sanctuary of the temple “he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high ... and he set the cherubims within the inner house. and he carved all the walls of the house round a out with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without... and for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree. the two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims made palm trees and open flowers.” god did not condemn this practice, rather he was pleased (1 kings 9:3).  the bible does forbid making or using images for the purpose of worshipping them: “you shall not bow down to them or serve them” (exodus 20:5). this commandment is absolute. god forbids the worship of any idol, including statues, power, sex, money, and oneself. however, when catholics kneel before a crucifix or a statue, the posture is a sign of reverence to god not the image.  the catholic church forbids the worship of idols or anything created. this is called the sin of idolatry. only god is to be worshipped.  as to the crucifix -  "and just as moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the son of man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." (john 3:14-15). this is the reason we have a crucifix which displays a crucified christ still on the cross. 1 corinthians 1:23 tells us that we preach christ crucified (not christ resurrected, or christ in the manger). jesus could not separate his resurrection from his death [father, if it is your will take this cup from me (luke 22:42)] and neither can we. it was through christ's willing sacrifice upon the cross that heaven was opened for us and it became possible for us to share in his eternal resurrected life.