The Holy Cross

Exodus 20:4 - (NASB) You shall not make yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in Heaven above, or on the Earth beneath or in the water beneath the Earth.

Leviticus 26:1 - You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.

Jeremiah 10:2-10 >>

Thus says the LORD,

Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens
Although the nations are terrified by them;
For the customs of the peoples are delusion;
Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
They decorate it with silver and with gold;
They fasten it with nails and with hammers
So that it will not totter.
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good."
There is none like You, O LORD;
You are great, and great is Your name in might.
Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
Indeed it is Your due!
For among all the wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
But they are altogether stupid and foolish
In their discipline of delusion--their idol is wood!
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Violet and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skilled men.
But the LORD is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King
At His wrath the earth quakes,
And the nations cannot endure His indignation.



* This Bible Verses above are what Anti-Catholics use to attack us. For them, our Holy Cross is a form of idolatry.

IDOLATRY - the worship of idols or false gods.

Also, it is written on Jeremiah 10:5, that this idols are shaped like SCARECROWS.

* question: what is the shape of a SCARECROW?   - cross
  question 2: what is the shape of our HOLY CROSS? - cross
  question 3: so, do we Catholics commit idolatry? - ....


To answer question #3:

Let's see what the Bible testifies..

1 Corinthians 1:18 - For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

>> here it says that the WORD OF THE CROSS has two meanings:
1) for those who are suffering/perishing, it is FOOLISHNESS.
2) for those who are being saved, it is THE POWER OF GOD.


WHICH DO WE BELONG?

* Duhh.. Are we being saved? YES. so for us Catholics, the WORD OF THE CROSS is the power of God.


1 Corinthians 2:5 - so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

>> the Cross is the POWER OF GOD according to 1 Corinthians 1:18.. And on this verse (1 Cor. 2:5), our faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the Power of God.

* question: What is the Power of God?
* question 2: where should our faith rest?


Galatians 6:14 - But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.