Can I worship Jesus portrait ?

[Jesus_is_Saint]

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

 

[BeStill&Know]

NO!

 

[freezerman2000]

Not sure from a legalistic point of veiw.I wouldn't..

 

[freezerman2000]

NO!

Care to share in your own words your emphatic response?
We know that the OT prohibits the worship of false idols..
Is a painting of Christ a false idol?
Is praying in the presence of said painting wrong?

 

[High Fidelity]

I think this is an issue of wording.

A portrait is an object. To worship that object becomes idolatry.

To simply pray under or in the presence of a portrait of Jesus is not inherently wrong. I know when I am in a really bad spot that I will go to the church at around 04:00 and 05:00, let myself in and pray there. For me, I never quite feel the presence of God like I do when I'm praying in church. I am surrounded by objects and depictions, sure, but I am not praying to them or worshipping them.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

what portrait of Jesus?

 

[freezerman2000]

Praying TO is wrong..but to pray in the presence of is not..in my opinion.
I genuflect to the Cross...not worshiping it,but acknowledging what happened on it..is that wrong?

 

[Soyeong]

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

That is what the 2nd Commandment prohibits, so no.

 

[Strathos]

Worshipping an object is idolatry

 

[anna ~ grace]

I do. Many Protestants would likely be wary of this, but most Catholics or Orthodox would likely see no problem.

God became flesh, and men bowed before Christ and cried "my Lord and my God!". So in light of the incarnation, I don't get why drawing near to Christ via artwork is such a big deal for many. Obviously Christ is not the painting. But He is represented by the painting, and if God had such a massive problem with people drawing near to His holiness and Majesty via sacred objects, it becomes a bit difficult, imo, to explain the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Incarnation, and 2,000 years of pre-Reformation Christian artwork.

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

 

[JESUS=G.O.A.T]

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

Ik there are some faiths where items are utilized to uh... activate prayer I guess or rebuke the devil, and where they pray to statues and stuff Orthodox/catholic, could be more but yeah. But your suggesting something dfiferent sorta, more so praying in the same room as something.


You can pray in the room of the object but don't make it to where you feel that object adds anything (which is why personally I wouldn't even hang a picture of JESUS in my room). The bible says the world and the lust thereof passeth away, you can't apply a spiritual attribute to a fleshly material object. In fact Pagans in the bible would utilize material things as worship and even worshiped them itself.



It's ok to pray in the room where maybe you have a picture with a scripture or something or whatever, but never ever make it a habit to only pray where that object is or with that object. Never feel like that object adds anything or you'll develop a dependency and then that leads to other stuff. Make sure you pray through out the day also.

 

[High Fidelity]

I do. Many Protestants would likely be wary of this, but most Catholics or Orthodox would likely see no problem.

God became flesh, and men bowed before Christ and cried "my Lord and my God!". So in light of the incarnation, I don't get why drawing near to Christ via artwork is such a big deal for many. Obviously Christ is not the painting. But He is represented by the painting, and if God had such a massive problem with people drawing near to His holiness and Majesty via sacred objects, it becomes a bit difficult, imo, to explain the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Incarnation, and 2,000 years of pre-Reformation Christian artwork.

This is the same difference. Bowing before God the Man was still worshipping God. God the Man was still God, not an object.

Artwork is artwork at the end of the day. Undeniably beautiful and by all means can evoke certain responses, but I still feel there is a distinction that's being lost in translation here... To worship the object itself is wrong because the object becomes an idol. That's my understanding anyway.

 

[Ken Rank]

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

I would say no because you have no idea what he looked like. So, you put up an image, and the reality is, it might as well be a golden calf because we have no idea what he looked like. Even if we did, by definition an idol is an "object of worship" or an "object from which we have expectation." God is very clear that we are not to mess around with that kind of stuff because it supplants Him as Lord. If we direct our praise or worship to an object rather than directly to Him we have crossed the line of idolatry.

 

[SeventyOne]

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

It's an impossible scenario. There are no portraits of Jesus, only assumptions of His likeness.

 

[freezerman2000]

what portrait of Jesus?

Is there a portrait that is approved?

 

[freezerman2000]

It's an impossible scenario. There are no portraits of Jesus, only assumptions of His likeness.

And assumptions makes every one look bad

 

[Kiterius]

Can I hang the portrait of Jesus in my room and pray in front of him?

Yes, you can.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

You can not worship an image but you can venerate it.

Veneration - OrthodoxWiki

 

[No Time for Drama]

I wouldn't pray to the picture itself but only to Jesus/ God. In a he OT bowing to images or praying to them was not acceptable.

 

[anna ~ grace]

I believe you're right about a distinction of language. But those who draw near to Christ through sacred images don't assume for a moment's that the image *is* Christ, rather that the image gives them a window into grace and beauty unique to Him.

This is the same difference. Bowing before God the Man was still worshipping God. God the Man was still God, not an object.

Artwork is artwork at the end of the day. Undeniably beautiful and by all means can evoke certain responses, but I still feel there is a distinction that's being lost in translation here... To worship the object itself is wrong because the object becomes an idol. That's my understanding anyway.