**Disclaimer: I'm not making an argument for Icons/Icon "veneration", or anything of that nature**
I had to say that up front because I don't want anybody getting the wrong idea that I'm endorsing Icons.
With that said, when bringing up the subject of icons with people that "venerate" them, like the Orthodox, and one is to use the argument that icons are a 2nd commandment violation the Orthodox point to various texts to make their own case. Among these texts are Exodus 26 (just six chapters after the 2nd commandment), 1 Kings 6-7, and Ezekiel 41 to show that even though there was the 2 commandment, the Jews in the OT still had images of "the form of anything that is in heaven above" (Cherubims) in the tabernacle and temple.
What would be the response to the assertion of OT tabernacle/temple images not violating the 2nd commandment, and therefore, neither are the icons in churches breaking the 2nd commandment?
Is there a difference between the images in the OT and the images, or icons, found in some churches? (OT images were of cherubim and animals, such as bulls, while the icons found in churches are of Jesus, Mary, the Saints and Angels).
I had to say that up front because I don't want anybody getting the wrong idea that I'm endorsing Icons.
With that said, when bringing up the subject of icons with people that "venerate" them, like the Orthodox, and one is to use the argument that icons are a 2nd commandment violation the Orthodox point to various texts to make their own case. Among these texts are Exodus 26 (just six chapters after the 2nd commandment), 1 Kings 6-7, and Ezekiel 41 to show that even though there was the 2 commandment, the Jews in the OT still had images of "the form of anything that is in heaven above" (Cherubims) in the tabernacle and temple.
What would be the response to the assertion of OT tabernacle/temple images not violating the 2nd commandment, and therefore, neither are the icons in churches breaking the 2nd commandment?
Is there a difference between the images in the OT and the images, or icons, found in some churches? (OT images were of cherubim and animals, such as bulls, while the icons found in churches are of Jesus, Mary, the Saints and Angels).