I attend a Catholic school, and because of that, I was posted to a Catholic hospital. It’s mandatory to attend mass on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The priest asked me to take their reading on Friday. I tried to avoid it but all efforts proved abortive though I stood on one ground; that I am not <\/b>going to bow down to their crucifix on their altar as others do and the priest agreed, but the members are telling me that I should bow because “When in Rome you behave as the Romans do.”<\/p>\n
I need to know whether I’m wrong to assume and stand on the ground that I’m not bowing, and I need to know where it’s written in the Bible, preferably in the New Testament, that Christians are not to bow to graven images.<\/p>\n\t
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments<\/em>” (Exodus 20:4-6).<\/p>\n
“To whom would you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me, that we would be alike? <\/em>Those who lavish gold from the purse and weigh silver on the scale hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; they bow down, indeed they worship it. They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it; they set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; it cannot deliver him from his distress. Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors<\/em>” (Isaiah 46:5-8).<\/p>\n
“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures<\/em>” (Romans 1:22-23).<\/p>\n
“Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man<\/em>” (Acts 17:29).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You are not a Roman Catholic, though you attend one of their schools. Bowing before one of their images gives the impression that you support their beliefs that physical things, made by the hands of men, somehow represent divinity. Stick with what the Bible says. As Paul stated while discussing various sins in a corrupt world, “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them<\/em>” (Romans 1:32). Christians accomondate local customs, but only so far as those customs don’t violate God’s laws. “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ<\/strong>, so that I might win those who are without law<\/em>” (I Corinthians 9:20-21).<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you so much, sir, for clarifying this for me.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I attend a Catholic school, and because of that, I was posted to a Catholic hospital. It’s mandatory to attend mass on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The priest asked me to take their reading on Friday. I tried to avoid it but all efforts proved abortive though I stood on one ground; that I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1097,1599,84],"class_list":["post-86253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-images","tag-roman-catholic-church","tag-worship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41750,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-bow-to-elders-or-at-the-graves-of-those-who-had-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":86253,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to bow to elders or at the graves of those who had died?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have a few questions, I hope you don't mind. In East Asian countries, it is customary to bow to elders and those older than you. Is this not allowed? Also, it is customary to bow to ancestors who've passed away at their graves. Is this not allowed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54703,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-bow-during-a-prayer-offered-by-someone-who-does-not-live-a-christian-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":86253,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to bow during a prayer offered by someone who does not live a Christian life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My brother often leads prayer at family gatherings. I have a problem with this. He drinks alcohol daily, often is intoxicated, and lives a sexually immoral life. When he says, \"Let's pray,\" everyone bows their heads. My husband is always present and sometimes he does lead the prayer.\u00a0 My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32280,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-you-get-your-facts-what-you-say-about-roman-catholic-beliefs-doesnt-match-what-i-was-taught\/","url_meta":{"origin":86253,"position":2},"title":"Where did you get your facts? What you say about Roman Catholic beliefs doesn’t match what I was taught.","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, As a fresh convert to Catholicism, I have some questions regarding the information on your site. What I learned directly from my parish priest contradicts several things you state in \"What is wrong with Catholicism?\", particularly at the end of your article. I want to say right now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-realize-how-uneducated-your-explanation-of-roman-catholicism-sounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":86253,"position":3},"title":"Do you realize how uneducated your explanation of Roman Catholicism sounds?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The Bible says that the church is the pillar of truth. Since your church has a lot of different ideas than the Catholic Church that Jesus made Peter the head of. Is the Bible referring to the La Vista church? If so when did the La Vista church start?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16509,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-the-resources-on-catholicism\/","url_meta":{"origin":86253,"position":4},"title":"Thank you for the resources on Catholicism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings. I am writing to thank you for all the wonderful lessons on Catholicism that you have on your site.\u00a0 I have been dating someone who came from a Catholic background, and although he went through the Catholic school system, he is learning that he doesn't know anything about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22701,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-confess-some-sins-to-a-roman-catholic-priest-to-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":86253,"position":5},"title":"Do I need to confess some sins to a Roman Catholic priest to be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeffrey! I've been studying Christianity once again and found out that there are two kinds of sins at the Roman Catholic Church -- 'venial' and 'mortal'. I found out that if one commits a mortal sin then it must be confessed in front of a priest in order\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}