PICTURES OF JESUS

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SophieT

Guest
#21
"If we worship a Christ as artists imagine the body Christ lived in as a man, I think it is possible that it could be a very serious wrong."

i agree with this statement by Blik. Promoting false images of Christ, and indulging in worship of these images, is a very serious wrong!
yeah. pretty clear from the responses we are not doing that. you live in a country that is mainly Catholic, don't you? (pardon me if I am wrong)

seems you are all fired up over that maybe
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
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#22
While I do not believe there is an authentic portrayal of Jesus that I have seen, I do NOT know any Christian or Congregation that WORSHIPS the various depictions of Jesus found in pictures hanging on their walls. They worship God with prayer/praise and Jesus as well, through the love and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
This post is the heart of the entire matter. When we worship God, what do we have in our minds as God? Are we influenced by the statues and pictures of God or does our minds cancel these pictures and put a true God in their place? The Lord addrersses this by saying to just not make fleshly pictures of Me.
 
#23
"It is not idol worship, it is simply commerating with reverence for these folks."
So they keep a false picture of Jesus in front of them and think they are 'revering' God?
Don't joke!

"Paul seems to be at the foundation of most disputes in the forum, this is why, though I read Paul, my serious learning can only be from the teaching of Jesus while He was here and what He has given me by means of the Holy Spirit, also Jesus."
Well, this is absurd. You will pick and choose what you want from the Bible? If you cut out Paul's writings half the NT will go! If you reject Pauline doctrine, the only option seems to be the devil's doctrine (which you have chosen!)

JaumeJ, time for you to grow up! Your faith is based on the WHOLE BIBLE, and esp on the WRITINGS OF PAUL, because Paul explained what the Gospel of Salvation is!
 
#24
Idolatry is worshipping something that is not God. Again, you failed to capture this important distinction. Therefore, you did not convey a message about what the actual commandment against idolatry says. ]

Runningman, don't run away from the truth. Be a man and face the whole truth, nothing but the truth, in the Bible. God does not care for man's hotch-potch opinions! He cares for those who tremble at His Word!

If you support Idolatry, you are an abettor to the crime, and will be judged in the lake of fire, Rev 21.8.
A friendly warning to you, my friend!
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,246
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#25
Wow, I did not know you were the source of truth.

Did I not specify that I read Paul. Did I not specify my Authority Bottom Line is always Jesus-Yeshua. You should not speak in such a manner to any member of the Body without truly hearing them. Thank you for your insults. Now try to love even your enemies without condemning for if you do not delve out mercy you have lost mercy.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,916
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#26
Why do spiritual Christians object to pictures of Christ, especially the popular long-haired effeminate picture of Christ? Because God’s Word forbids such idolatry. “You shall have no image or likeness of God”. And Christ is God!

LOL, there is no such commandment given to Christians.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,246
6,537
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#27
Wow, I did not know you were the source of truth.

Did I not specify that I read Paul. Did I not specify my Authority Bottom Line is always Jesus-Yeshua. You should not speak in such a manner to any member of the Body without truly hearing them. Thank you for your insults. Now try to love even your enemies without condemning for if you do not delve out mercy you have lost mercy.
P.S. I love you.
 
#28
P.S. I love you.
JaumeJ, thanks for taking it sportingly.

The Bible from Genesis to Revelation is authored by God. The Holy Spirit is the Author. The HS is God. The Bible focuses on Christ - from A to Z. Paul's writings (which seem to offend some Christians!) are the Word of God! If you want to understand New Testament Christianity, you have to understand PAUL. So do not separate the Lord Jesus from His beloved Apostle Paul.

Because Paul is so important, we use the term PAULINE DOCTRINE.

Hope one day soon God will enlighten your eyes! :):):):)
 
#29
LOL, there is no such commandment given to Christians.
Ewq, there are Christians and Christians. There are nominal Christians and there are born-again evangelical Christians. It depends on which category you belong to. If you are not born again, you will laugh at the having to obey the holy commandments of God.

I pray that God will open your eyes to the truth. You must serve and worship God ONLY IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.
Hope you got it?

Born-again: read John 3.3, 5, 7. If you are not born-again, your entire life is wasted!
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,916
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#30
Ewq, there are Christians and Christians. There are nominal Christians and there are born-again evangelical Christians. It depends on which category you belong to. If you are not born again, you will laugh at the having to obey the holy commandments of God.

You are ignoring the facts. There is no commandment against images of Jesus given to Christians. It is NOT wrong to have images o0r pictures of Jesus. PERIOD!
 
#31
You are ignoring the facts. There is no commandment against images of Jesus given to Christians. It is NOT wrong to have images o0r pictures of Jesus. PERIOD!
Apostle John, 1 John 5:21: Little children, guard yourself from IDOLS. (Images are idols, no matter how you interpret them!)
Apostle Paul, Romans 1:23: They became fools...and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man...(I won't go into the subsequent verses, because they are too strong for some of you here!)

If you are not worshipping in spirit (Spirit) and truth, your worship is a dead worship! John 4:23, 24.
 

Mii

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2019
2,059
1,320
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#32
JaumeJ, thanks for taking it sportingly.

The Bible from Genesis to Revelation is authored by God. The Holy Spirit is the Author. The HS is God. The Bible focuses on Christ - from A to Z. Paul's writings (which seem to offend some Christians!) are the Word of God! If you want to understand New Testament Christianity, you have to understand PAUL. So do not separate the Lord Jesus from His beloved Apostle Paul.

Because Paul is so important, we use the term PAULINE DOCTRINE.

Hope one day soon God will enlighten your eyes! :):):):)
You do realize that it is made pretty clear that it's all about following Jesus and at the time there were people that didn't like Paul and yet were believers (I follow apollos, I follow paul, I follow cephas) I can provide those few verses if you like but he seemed to be trying to clear up the controversy and you seem to be rooted in it when you don't consider that other people may have a different approach and aren't just "nominal christians". How insulting.

Is it inconceivable that people can hold a different viewpoint from yours and still be a born again spirit filled believer?

Why do you think Romans 14:5 means when it talks about being "fully convinced in your own mind"
Some people consider one day holy and others each day holy alike...that's the verse paraphrased.

Yet you have believers that will call someone a Judaizer if they keep the Sabbath and others sinners because they don't keep the Sabbath and it's right there in Romans 14:5 what to do.

It also tells me that people are going to have different views. It's a pretty diverse body. An eye is going to see differently than a hand or a foot.


Just came across as presumptuous because JamuelJ is a pretty stout believer from my experience. I think that Paul's writings are open to misinterpretation as is evidenced by 2nd Peter 3:16 where presumably Peter said exactly that.


Stuff to consider...maybe it's just because it's late but it struck me the wrong way when I was midway to actually engaging the topic, which I do think is good for believers to consider but in my view it's a "if your eyes are open to it" sort of thing. I detest a lot of representations of Jesus and crucifixes much like I detest people using Jesus name as a swear word in films or in real life. Same with "oh my God" "God" and GD.

Is there an appropriate application? Like is the fish symbol or a simple cross wrong? I think you really would be taking a leap to suggest that unilaterally but...ok... sure it could be used inappropriately (like almost everything).


It's late and I'm getting off...spent 40 minutes longer than I wanted online and scrapped my post that was actually on topic because I see you jumping on people (my perspective) and praying what should be a private prayer to me (That the Lord opens someone's eyes) in public in my experience has the opposite effect as it makes people angry and comes across as though "you have arrived" and that's against scripture as far as I can tell.

You have some directions that I think are little trod and do have merit but great care must be taken not to be pharasaical about stuff like this.
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
4,963
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London
christianchat.com
#33
and why would an Italian have such lovely blue eyes? well *gasp* he didn't. they, and you apparently, are wrong

This very strange idea seems to have originally come from a claim by Alexandre Dumas, but has been picked up and spread by Afrocentrics, with the argument being that originally Jesus was depicted as non-European because he was Jewish (somehow Afrocentrics equate ancient Semitic people with “African” and therefore “black”), so Pope Alexander VI commissioned new paintings of Jesus using his illegitimate son Cesare Borgia as their model. He then allegedly “ordered the destruction of all art depicting a Semitic Jesus”, so we have a white Jesus as our popular image of Jesus today. This claim is often made online (see The Holy Prepuce for one example) and is usually accompanied by these two images as “proof”:


It has also been propagated by Wu-Tang Clan affiliate, Killah Priest in "B.I.B.L.E.”, which includes the lyrics:

“I even learned Caucasians were really the Tribe of Edam

The white image of Christ is really Cesare Borgia

so, yeah, false :rolleyes:
We are not the tribe of Edam?
 

Evmur

Well-known member
Feb 28, 2021
4,963
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London
christianchat.com
#34
perhaps ... it could be ... that during the long centuries that the RCC kept the word of God locked up in latin, the preserve of scholars and clerics that artists were actually inspired to paint the gospel in vivid form to hold before the people's eyes.

No painting can capture Christ and Paul says we no longer see Him as He was in the flesh.

In the gospels the folks who received help from the Lord had to look and see beyond His human nature, they needed a revelation of who He really is.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,916
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#35
Apostle John, 1 John 5:21: Little children, guard yourself from IDOLS. (Images are idols, no matter how you interpret them!)
Not according to the Greek language:

G1497
εἴδωλον
eidōlon
i'-do-lon
From G1491; an image (that is, for worship); by implication a heathen god, or (plural) the worship of such: - idol.
Total KJV occurrences: 11

This verse is warning against worshiping idols of false gods not having a picture of Jesus in your house.
 
#36
You do realize that it is made pretty clear that it's all about following Jesus and at the time there were people that didn't like Paul and yet were believers (I follow apollos, I follow paul, I follow cephas) I can provide those few verses if you like but he seemed to be trying to clear up the controversy and you seem to be rooted in it when you don't consider that other people may have a different approach and aren't just "nominal christians". How insulting.

Is it inconceivable that people can hold a different viewpoint from yours and still be a born again spirit filled believer?

Why do you think Romans 14:5 means when it talks about being "fully convinced in your own mind"
Some people consider one day holy and others each day holy alike...that's the verse paraphrased.

Yet you have believers that will call someone a Judaizer if they keep the Sabbath and others sinners because they don't keep the Sabbath and it's right there in Romans 14:5 what to do.

It also tells me that people are going to have different views. It's a pretty diverse body. An eye is going to see differently than a hand or a foot.


Just came across as presumptuous because JamuelJ is a pretty stout believer from my experience. I think that Paul's writings are open to misinterpretation as is evidenced by 2nd Peter 3:16 where presumably Peter said exactly that.


Stuff to consider...maybe it's just because it's late but it struck me the wrong way when I was midway to actually engaging the topic, which I do think is good for believers to consider but in my view it's a "if your eyes are open to it" sort of thing. I detest a lot of representations of Jesus and crucifixes much like I detest people using Jesus name as a swear word in films or in real life. Same with "oh my God" "God" and GD.

Is there an appropriate application? Like is the fish symbol or a simple cross wrong? I think you really would be taking a leap to suggest that unilaterally but...ok... sure it could be used inappropriately (like almost everything).

It's late and I'm getting off...spent 40 minutes longer than I wanted online and scrapped my post that was actually on topic because I see you jumping on people (my perspective) and praying what should be a private prayer to me (That the Lord opens someone's eyes) in public in my experience has the opposite effect as it makes people angry and comes across as though "you have arrived" and that's against scripture as far as I can tell.

You have some directions that I think are little trod and do have merit but great care must be taken not to be pharasaical about stuff like this.
It's nice of you to take the time to respond at length. I do appreciate JamueJ!

My objection is to PICTURES OF JESUS. I have no where said that the fish symbol or the cross symbol is wrong. That is not the issue! The issue is PICTURES OF JESUS; they are offensive to God.

No, I have not arrived! I am still learning...and I have a long way to go!

I don't know why people get offended so quickly. I think the fault is my turn of language. I shouldn't be sarcastic; for Americans it's demeaning, it's arrogant, etc, etc. I thought I said I was from the other side of the world. English as is spoken in other parts of the world tends to be more blunt and robust. I think JamueJ took it sportingly.
 
#37
[QUOTE="
This verse is warning against worshiping idols of false gods not having a picture of Jesus in your house.[/QUOTE]

Why do you have a picture of Jesus in your house? Won't visitors to your house think that this is the 'god' you worship? Pictures of Jesus are, strictly speaking, not art for art's sake; they are art for religion's sake! Those false religious pictures are an AFFRONT to the Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of heaven and earth, King of kings and Lord of lords, and our Great Redeemer and Loving Shepherd, who is worthy to be worshipped ever and always in SPIRIT and in TRUTH! Amen!
 

de-emerald

Well-known member
May 8, 2021
1,652
574
113
#38
London this is houston calling. If youve just joined this forum you are now officially in the rabit trail of fault finding.
 
#39
[QUOTE="Evmur, post: 4572663, member: 305591"
No painting can capture Christ and Paul says we no longer see Him as He was in the flesh.
In the gospels the folks who received help from the Lord had to look and see beyond His human nature, they needed a revelation of who He really is.[/QUOTE]

You are quite right. I don't know why we should handle the issue of idolatry with 'kid gloves', just because a few Roman Catholics will be offended. I have Roman Catholic friends, and we are friends even though we may have different beliefs.

The point is: Pictures of Jesus are really and truly OFFENSIVE and INSULTING to the Most High and Holy and Awesome God.
 

soberxp

Senior Member
May 3, 2018
2,511
482
83
#40
Understanding God's word does not mean that painting, film, television are idols. The understanding is tantamount to worshipping idols.

It's like someone wearing a cross is not a Christian, but thinking the cross is a decoration.

It's like someone wearing a cross is a Christian who don't truely understand word of God,but Imagine a rule for self and say it's God's rule.worshipping idols.