The New Oxford Annotated Bible remarks that вЂњimage-less worship of the Lord made IsraelвЂ™s faith unique in the ancient world where natural powers were personified and statues of them (animal or human) were worshipped.вЂќ Archaeology shows thatВ idolatry andВ nature-worshipВ were commonplace in neighboring Canaan and Egypt, and biblical history records that this perennial temptation didnвЂ™t disappear till the 6th Century Exile in Babylon. Jews understood the commandment to forbid (1) worship of false gods without images, (2) worship of false gods through images, (3) worship of the images in and of themselves, and (3) worship of the one true God through images. Jewish scholars say the ban applies to art only inВ worship contexts due to the вЂњbow downвЂќ and вЂњserveвЂќ phrasing along with the immediately preceding statement that вЂњyou shall have no other gods before me.вЂќ As Nahum Sarna wrote, it is inevitable that вЂњan image becomes identified with what it representsвЂќ and is itself the object of worship.

вЂњGraven imageвЂќ means a stature or carving, while вЂњany likenessвЂќ covers any and all visual representations. The discussion begins with this from the BibleвЂ™s venerable Ten Commandments: вЂњYou shall not make for yourself a 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 you shall not bow down to them or serve themвЂќ (Exodus 20:4-5, repeated in Deuteronomy 5:8 and summarized elsewhere, e.g. Further, some forbid flags in church to prevent idolatry toward the nation. Some may depict Jesus Christ or saints, typically in stained glass, rarely in statues, and never as the objects of veneration. Others allow abstractions and symbols but not human or animal forms. Some Protestants prohibit all art in sanctuaries. ProtestantsвЂ™ policies vary (as on most things!) but they broadly unite with Judaism in limiting visual images in worship settings to avoid any association with idolatry.

That is, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches encourage religious art in church, seen as aids to devotion. Why donвЂ™t Catholics have a problem with the graven images that surround them in church?Д«rad is obviously Protestant in his cultural outlook.

Define graven image