Do Catholics Worship Statues?
The Answer is No!

"Catholics worship statues!" Despite how ridiculous the claim is, people still make this accusation. They say that because Catholics have statues in their churches and pray in front of them, they are violating Exodus 20 :4-5, "You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in water under the earth.”

Let's point out that it's right to warn people against the sin of idolatry. The accusation that Catholics are idolaters because they have images of Christ and the saints is completely incorrect, being based on a misunderstanding or ignorance of what the Bible says about the purpose and use of statues. Not only did God never condemn the use of statues in worship, he actually commanded their use!

Protestants forget about the numerous passages where the Lord commanded the making of images such as, the golden angels on the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 25:18-22), the golden angels and fine linen embroidered with angels in the Temple built by Solomon (2 Chr 3:1-14), and the bronze serpent God told Moses to make in order to heal Hebrews from serpent bites (Num 21:8-9). This scriptural evidence obviously shows that God allows images.

Catholics use statues, paintings, and other artistic devices to recall Christ and His faithful followers. Just as it helps to remember one's mother by looking at her photograph, so it helps to recall the example of the saints by looking at pictures of them. Catholics also use statues as teaching tools. In the early Church they were especially useful for the instruction of the illiterate. Many Protestants themselves use pictures of Jesus and other Bible pictures in their churches for the purposes of inspiring people and teaching children, especially those who haven't learned to read. Catholics also use statues to commemorate certain events, much like Protestant churches that have three-dimensional nativity scenes at Christmas.

If one measured Protestants by the same rule, then by using these "graven" images, they would be practicing the "idolatry" which they accuse Catholics of practicing. The fact is, there's no idolatry going on in these situations. God forbids the worship of images, but he doesn't ban the making of images in general. If he had, movies, videos, photographs, manger scenes, paintings, drawings, and all sorts of things would be banned, since they too are images.