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Heidelberg Catechism on the Second Commandment
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 35 Question 96. What does God require in the second commandment? Answer: That we in no wise represent God by images, (a) nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his word. (b) (a) Deut.4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner…
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>Because Painted Images Can’t Do Anything
>Isaiah 41:24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. To God be the Glory!
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>Cranmer on the Second Commandment
>Here are some thoughts from Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489 – 1556) on the second commandment: God did also foresee, that, in the latter days, men should come, who would maintain worshipping of images, not only with painted colours, but also with painted words, saying, We kneel not to the image, but before the image. We…
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Second Incarnational Defense of Idols Rebutted
Subsequent to my last post, Frank Turk (aka Centuri0n) has submitted a new argument into the comment box of his his own post (link to post). Frank Turk argues: One of the pillars of Tom’s argumentation is that any image of Jesus is necessarily, by definition, a “false image” of Jesus. And the reason for…
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Smoke and Fire Icons?
During the recent discussion on images of God, I have heard a couple of folks suggest that God portrayed himself as being a pillar of cloud and fire. A more careful reading of the text shows that while the pillar of cloud/fire was a sign of the presence of God, it was not supposed to…
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Response to Argument for Idols from the Incarnation
In the course of the comments on a previous post (link to post), I had asked: What about the prohibition on picturing God? — Why does that prohibition not apply to pictures of Jesus? The response I got from one of my Eastern Orthodox readers was this: “Because on Sinai we saw no image. In…
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Response to Steve Hays on the Second Commandment
This is not a full rebuttal to what Steve Hays wrote on the second commandment (link to Steve’s post). Instead, it is a heavily short-handed rebuttal, written with his high level of understanding of Scripture and theology in mind. The goal is to persuade him, not to respond to the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox…
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Asking the Wrong Marian Questions …
It seems as though whenever we bring up the subject of Roman Catholics worshiping Mary, someone who is a Roman Catholic will say: “Go to your local parish, and as people are leaving Mass, ask them if they worship Mary!” Their expectation, of course, is that the folks at the local parish will say that…
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Gideon Would be Pleased …
… by this report of God’s destruction of an idol. (UPDATE: It seem Mark Brumley anticipated my response.) (FURTHER UPDATE: Check out R. Scott Clark’s thoughts on the subject here.) To God be the Glory!