"You shall have no other gods before Me. "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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:3-6
We’ve been considering the second commandment: No Idols. In the last two posts we have considered the fact that the Roman Catholic (RC) church renumbered the Ten Commandments to do away with the second commandment, and why. We considered the classic reason given by the RC church and pointed out that it does not so much answer why they have done this as much as it is a rationalization for idolatry.
Though speculating about another’s motives can be quite unfair, since we heard their explanation and deemed it to be insufficient, I will now offer the most common reason Protestants believe the RC church has done this to the commandment regarding idolatry.
The RC religion is not only filled with idolatrous practices, it is in many ways, filled with and dependent upon idolatry. This is a problem for the RC church since the second commandment (and the rest of scripture) categorically forbids and condemns idolatry.
The RC solution: Do away with (or at least try to hide) the second commandment and ignore the rest of the Bible on the subject. In other words, if the Bible does not support the religious practice, change (or at least attempt to change) the Bible.
I take no delight in writing these things, chiefly because I have so many deeply loved ones who are practitioners of the RC religion. I do not condemn them. My heart breaks for them. But the facts are the facts. Let us pray earnestly for our RC family and friends. May God be pleased to reveal the truth of the gospel to them.
And why is God’s prohibition of idolatry so important? Because, as Calvin wrote: The human heart is a continual idol factory. Here is why: To know and worship God, who is Spirit and cannot be seen, requires faith. It is far easier to worship what can be seen. So sinful human beings seem too default to idolatry, or as Paul wrote in Romans 1:22-25, worshiping the creation instead of the Creator.
Next Time: The most universal form of idolatry.