The Christian Pantheon (virgin, followers, Jehovah, church, pagan)

[Seyorni]

Catholics aknowledge a single Deity, yet I've seen them genuflect to idols and they actually pray to human saints. Still, they're considered monotheists.

Hindus aknowledge a single Godhead yet worship through personified images of His/Her various aspects, yet we're considered polytheists.

I don't see a great deal of difference here.

[Druidus]

Exactly Seyorni, I don't see the difference either.

It's even more akin to Hellenism. All Gods are below Zeus, yet, nonetheless, the are Gods. It's semantics really. Whether you call them "angels", "saints" or "lesser Gods", they are still the same thing, especially if you pray to them (which doesn't necessarily mean worship).

[Prima]

iv just come off a 16 year visitation to our catholic church,many of my atonements was to pray to the virgin mary,kinda sounds like worship to me,best if you visit the catholic forums methinks

Perhaps you weren't given a very good explanation of what exactly you were doing.

In Catholicism, one does not pray to a saint in the same way as one prays to God. They have a special position and power by being close to God.

Seyorni, what's the difference between genuflecting and bowing? Not much - they're just signs of respect. And yet, we don't accuse the Japanese of worshipping idols.

I think Hinduism is truly monotheistic, and should be considered as such by the Western world, but that would take a lot of unlearning on our part. (using the term 'our' loosely )But I also believe that Christianity is monotheistic. They're really very similar..

[Prima]

By the way, questions about Catholics worshipping Mary, etc should probably be directed towards SOGFPP in the Catholic forum...he's much better at explaining it than I am!

[njcl]

thats not correct at all,the virgin mary is in my opinion at least equal in importance as christ is to the catholic church hence the many statues adorning our church of her,also to bow the knee to her sounds like worship which ever way you look at it

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by njcl

iv just come off a 16 year visitation to our catholic church,many of my atonements was to pray to the virgin mary,kinda sounds like worship to me,best if you visit the catholic forums methinks

Maybe by chance you weren't being taught correctly or completely or you just missed the point of what you were being taught, but I can assure you that the veneration of Mary is not worship of Mary. When seeking the Mary's aid, Catholics are seeking her intercession. The key part here is that Mary is not regarded as a power in the universe only an intermediary between God and humanity. If you want to say that Paul writes that Christ is the only intermediary between God and humanity, then I might buy that. but I think that's a different discussion. Anyway, the point here is that though Mary receieves special veneration within Catholicism, all power and authority rest in God.

[njcl]

ok ill drop it if catholosism is not your faith

[Prima]

But regardless...Catholicism isn't all of Christianity. What are the other arguements for this besides the Virgin Mary? What about Iconoclastic Christians?

[Lloyd]

Originally Posted by njcl

thats not correct at all,the virgin mary is in my opinion at least equal in importance as christ is to the catholic church hence the many statues adorning our church of her,also to bow the knee to her sounds like worship which ever way you look at it

Like the moon in relation to the sun Mary's importance is only a reflection of that of Jesus. Her significance comes from bringing the Christ child into the world. That's it. She's not imbued with any significane or authority except that which comes from God and Jesus, her child.

[Finnyhaha]

The only one of your arguements that comes close is Satan and his realm (hell) but even that, God controls, and God is more powerful than Satan. For example, God is the one who decides who Satan is allowed to have in his 'realm'

Would an all-powerful, non-evil God really create a Satan, much less give him supernatural powers tantamount to his own? *rhetorical question*