The Scriptures sternly forbid idolatry, and because of idolatry Israel was punished again and again, and allowed to go under the yoke of the oppressor. We read: " 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 beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them " (Ex. 20:4,54Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (Exodus 20:4‑5)).
At the very time that this Commandment was being given to Moses on Mount Sinai the children of Israel were worshipping the golden calf which Aaron had made. The dire judgment of God followed this idolatry. Moses burnt the golden calf, ground it to powder, strawed it upon the water, and made the people drink it. Three thousand souls perished that day.
We read of the godly king, Hezekiah, and how he acted: "He removed the high places and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan [a piece of brass] " (2 Kings 18:44He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. (2 Kings 18:4)).
There is no trace of image worship being favored in the New Testament, but we have stern warnings against it. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry " (1 Cor. 10:1414Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14)).
The Apostle John closes his first epistle with the solemn words: "Little children keep yourselves from idols " (1 John 5:2121Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. (1 John 5:21)).
Yet the cathedrals and churches of Rome are filled with images, and their adherents are encouraged to pay them homage, pray to them, and give them votive offerings. Idolatry is encouraged and practiced, and Rome will have to answer for this to an offended God.
The rosary consists of a string of beads, a mere mechanical device for saying prayers. It is of heathen origin. In Asiatic Greece the rosary was commonly used, as was seen with the image of the Ephesian Diana.
The Revd. Mr. Hyslop writes: "It supposes that a certain number of prayers must be regularly gone over; it overlooks the grand demand God makes for the heart, and leads those who use them to believe that form and routine are everything " (The Two Babylons, p. 188).
Well did our Lord give warning: "When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking " (Matt. 6:77But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. (Matthew 6:7)).
As to relics, the following list garnered from The Hammersmith Protestant Discussion, p. 599, will carry its own condemnation. The list exhibits superstition, credulity to a boundless extent, a childishness that could only be found in backward races: "The hair of St. Mary Magdalene; Some of the fat from St. Lawrence when he was roasted alive; Stones thrown at St. Stephen; Hay from the manger of Bethlehem; The head of the woman of Samaria; Judas' lantern; The tail of Balaam's ass; Blossoms of Aaron's rod; One of the Virgin's combs; Butter and cheese made of the Virgin's milk; A large bone of St. Peter; A tooth of St. Paul; Parings of St. Edmund's toes."
It is said that there are enough pieces of wood, claimed to be once part of the cross of our Lord, to build a fair-sized vessel, and that there are more heads of St. Peter than one or two.
Would that some might get their eyes open as they read such things, so opposite to the Scriptures, and even to common sense.