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Old 03-10-2005, 11:49 AM   #8
Beestie
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Parts unknown.
Posts: 4,081
Quote:
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth.
Iconoclasm, the heresy of creating images of human form is thought to be a Muslim influence on the Catholic church as persecutions related to it began to appear around the ninth century. Islam forbids the creation of human likenesses. The above passage has been understood to include animal forms as well.

However, there is no such thing as an "image" of the ten commandments, imo. They are but words and I think the author is making a hell of a stretch to imply that carvings of the ten commandments fall under the iconoclasm heresy. Basically, I think he's dead wrong and is fabricating an irony to piggyback some substance on an otherwise empty argument.

An image of a cow refers to a cow. An "image" of the ten commandments refers to the ten commandments - the word of God. So, to "worship" the image of a cow is to worship a cow - heresy. However, to "worship" an image of the ten commandments is to worship that to which they refer: the word of God - not a heresy. In Christianity, God and the word of God are indistinguishable.

Whether they appear in the text of the Bible, spraypainted on the side of a building or etched in granite is, imho, an utterly meaningless distinction.
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Last edited by Beestie; 03-10-2005 at 11:53 AM.
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