Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Crucifix

Lillie rants...
We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.
-1 Corinthians 1:23

I haven't encountered a debate on the crucifix for some months, but recently, I got into one.

What is a crucifix?
A crucifix is a three-dimensional representation of Jesus on the cross. It emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice - His daeth on the cross.

The question that arose was praying in front of the crucifix - is this worshiping a statue? No! Do we talk to the crucifix and look at it while we pray? Yes, we do. Doesn't this mean we think the statue is God? No!

Imagine this, my reader. Perhaps you keep a picture of your mother, or father, perhaps your spouse or child in your wallet. If you haven't seen this person in awhile, perhaps you take this picture out. You look at it and say, "Mother, I love you." Does this mean you think that this picture is actually your mother? Of course not! Would this seem crazy? Of course not! Liken to this is our picture, our representation of Christ on the cross. If we look at it, and say, "I love you, Christ." are we crazy? Are we worshiping this picture/statue? Of course not!

This point was proven, and agreed upon.

However, my friend mentioned, "When you draw Christ on the cross, you are leaving him there, after in scripture it tells us, 'Do not leave me on the cross.'"

Well, first of, I don't know where you're talking about, 'leaving Christ on the cross'. But, for the time being, I'll ignore the fact I don't recognize it.

This is just a representation, of course we don't believe Christ stayed on the crucifix! That would be ridiculous. It's like if I took a picture, or drew a picture of my sister on a rollercoaster, a few days after she had went on it. Does that mean she's still on the rollercoaster? Of course not! That would be absolutely ridiculous.

I never got a response from anyone I had debated this subject on after that.

Anyone else willing to think up another reason why not to have crucifixes? I'd be interested to hear your objections.

-Lillie A.S. Tove