Why Our Statues Are Not Idols

by Michael Shackleton · November 21, 2017

Catholics are sometimes accused of worshipping idols because of the statues and icons that are placed openly in our churches. The faithful kneel before these and pray to them as if they have ears and eyes and are able to do miracles. How can I convince others that we honour the holy person depicted, and do not worship the image itself? Lindiwe

Catholic theology begins with our applying our reasoning powers to the mysteries of faith revealed to us by God in the person of Christ his son.

Catholic piety, as expressed in our personal prayer life, is similarly rooted in reasonable common sense. We know that images and statues of Christ and the saints are nothing more than plaster, wood or paint. As such they have no magical powers. They are not like Aladdin’s lamp which, when rubbed, produced a friendly genie who did exactly what was asked.

Yet we pay them honour, and we like to have them with us when we pray.

Worship Ad Ipsum

Long ago, theologians pointed out that pagans worshipped idols, believing that they were superhuman. They could take on the shape of an animal, such as the golden calf that Aaron forged for the Israelites (Exodus 32:1-10). This worship was given ad ipsum, that is, to the thing itself. It is idolatry.

The kind of worship paid to images is given ad aliquid, that is, to something beyond itself, the sacred person represented.

We never doubt that an image is a lifeless material object. But the face and features of the saint portrayed there can move our emotions. We may have a big request or a great favour to ask, and it is normal human behaviour to fervently gaze at or touch the image. You sometimes see people kissing a photograph of someone they love who is absent.

Degrees of emotion evoked when we pray can vary from zero to agitation and ecstasy, depending on the individual and the circumstances. When we gaze at an icon, for instance, our eyesight takes in the outer form, but our inner feelings can be stirred into a sense of communion with the sacred person portrayed.

Senses, Imagination Combined with Prayer

This kind of integral prayer, in which the mind, senses, imagination and whole personality are combined, is an authentic expression of our character, faith in God and in the saints’ prayers on our behalf.

Historically, the Church has maintained against opposition that sacred images lift our minds and senses to awareness of the supernatural life that we share in Christ.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes St Thomas Aquinas: “Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves, considered as mere things, but under their distinctive aspect as images leading on to God incarnate. The movement towards the image does not terminate in it as image, but tends towards that whose image it is” (2132).