(ii) ‘Having statues in churches is against the Ten Commandments.(15 marks)

Question 1

 It is not against the Ten Commandments, because Catholics do
not worship the statues, but rather they worship God. The statues
of Jesus and the saints are an aid to prayer.  The making of statues is allowed by God in the Old Testament,
when he commands the Jews to make statues of cherubs to
decorate the Ark of the Covenant
 Statues are used by Catholics to remind, to inspire and to teach –
for example, some statues are inspiring works of art, like
Michelangelo’s Pietà, which help people reflect on the meaning of
suffering
 Because God became a human being in Jesus it is acceptable for
us to make images of Jesus, because he was the image of God.
 The Ten Commandments forbid the making of any “graven image”
and forbid the worshipping of these images.
 Many people do seem to worship the actual statues and treat them
with a reverence that is only proper to God
 Statues distract people from focusing on God in prayer. Many
statues are of saints and other religious figures and not of God or
Jesus.
Possible sources could include:
 Michelangelo’s Pietà
 The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:1-15