text: why are there so many idols and statues in the catholic religion? it seems to be a blatant disregard for gods commandment, do not worship false idols.  i know having grown up with catholic relatives that they pray to the idols of mary and other saints.  praying to anything is a form of worship. how do they justify this as not breaking a commandment? if there is any "blatant disregard" here, it's for the truth.  6bits, please familiarize yourself with "sacramentals".  images and statues deut. 4:15 - from this verse, protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the lord, we should not make graven images of him.  deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history israel was forbidden to make images of god because god didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."   deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the israelites depicted god not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.   exodus 3:2-3; dan 7:9; matt. 3:16; mark 1:10; luke 3:22; john 1:32; acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that god did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).   deut. 5:8 - god's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. god does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but he prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.   exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, god commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. this heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the israelites. instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to god.   num. 21:8-9 - god also commands the making of the bronze serpent. the image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.   i kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. god did not condemn these images that were used in worship.   2 kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur god's wrath, and the king destroyed it. the command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.   1 chron. 28:18-19 - david gives solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. these images were used in the jews' most solemn place of worship.   2 chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.   ezek. 41:15 - ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. these are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many catholic churches.   col. 1:15 - the only image of god that catholics worship is jesus christ, who is the "image" (greek "eikon") of the invisible god.   relics mark 15:43; john 19:38 - joseph of arimathea sought christ's dead body instead of leaving it with the romans. joseph gave veneration to our lord's body.  mark 16:1; luke 24:1 - the women came to further anoint christ's body even though it had been sealed in the tomb.   john 19:39 - nicodemus donated over one hundred pounds of spices to wrap in jesus' grave clothes. this is also veneration of our lord's body.   matt. 9:21; mark 5:28 - the woman with the hemorrhage just sought the hem of christ's cloak and was cured. this shows that god uses physical things to effect the supernatural.   acts 19:11-12 - paul's handkerchiefs healed the sick and those with unclean spirits. this is another example of physical things effecting physical and spiritual cures.   acts 5:15 - peter's shadow healed the sick. this proves that relics of the saints have supernatural healing power, and this belief has been a part of catholic tradition for 2,000 years.   rev. 6:9 - the souls of the martyrs are seen beneath the heavenly altar. their bones are often placed beneath altars in catholic churches around the world.   2 kings 13:21 - elisha's bones bring a man back to life. the saints' bones are often kept beneath the altars of catholic churches and have brought about supernatural cures throughout the christian 