[Yorick]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: Shall we make graven images? Exodus 20:4 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven . . . earth . . . water." Leviticus 26:1 "Ye shall make ye no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone." Deuteronomy 27:15 "Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image." vs. Exodus 25:18 "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them." I Kings 7:15,16,23,25 "For he [Solomon] cast two pillars of brass . . . and two chapiters of molten brass . . . And he made a molten sea . . . it stood upon twelve oxen . . . [and so on]"

http://www.tektonics.org/gravenimages.html

Exodus 20:4 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven . . . earth . . . water." (See also Lev. 26:1, Deut. 27:15) A clear enough command, the skeptics say -- so why these? Exodus 25:18 "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them." I Kings 7:15,16,23,25 "For he [Solomon] cast two pillars of brass . . . and two chapiters of molten brass . . . And he made a molten sea . . . it stood upon twelve oxen . . . [and so on]" It's time for another installment of, "Get The Point." Our contestant, Joe Skeptic, believes that the latter two verses indicate violation of the command given in the first. (Actually, since the last verse is an account of what Solomon did, we could easily point out that he simply violated the command. But we don't need to go there.) Question: WHY were the Israelites commanded not to make graven images? Answer: Graven images were the standard method of pagan worship. They were representations of false gods. Now that being the case, it is fairly obvious that an "image" NOT made for worship is acceptable. In fact, we should not really call things like the cherubims "images" at all -- an "image" in ancient thought is not merely something that has an appearance, like a statue or a picture, but something that serves as a focal point for the presence and power of a deity. Thus for example ancient rulers in Egypt, Babylon, and elsewhere were referred to as the "image" of a certain deity, not because they looked like the deity, but because the deity's power and authority was thought to operate through them. Barker is simply making the same erroneous interpretation that much of Jewish culture made. (Though I credit that to Jewish culture as an instance of erring on the side of caution, rather than a full-fledged error. It has been noted that Jewish excellence in poetry and music may be attributed partially to the above commands. For more on the use of the word "image", see Chapter 1 of my book, The Mormon Defenders.) Solomon's bulls and stuff were (as far as we can tell) not for worship and do not fit the definition of an "image" we have described. The cherubim on the Ark were not for worship and also do not fit the ancient definition. So, the command was not violated in either case.