Question:
Dear Greg,
Do
you think that it is breaking the commandment, “you shall not make for
yourself a graven image of anything in heaven above, or the earth beneath” to
watch movies like “Bruce Almighty” that depict God as a human?
I think it is no different to watch a movie with someone portraying God,
than it is to hang a painted picture of Jesus.
I
understand that the actors in the movies are not being “worshipped”, but the
commandment is only speaking of the image in the first sentence; later it goes
on to warn us not to worship the image. I
can’t help but see that to watch some of these movies is as bad as stealing or
committing adultery.
Janeen
Answer: Dear Janeen,
The
graven image refers to an object of worship, and while not explicitly repeated
under the new covenant, the idea of owing allegiance to the one true God is.
Therefore, if anything becomes a god before and instead of the one true
God, as Christians we are unfaithful to our commitment to our Lord and Savior.
Movies
and paintings and other depictions of who and what God is may or may not assist
us in knowing God, but rarely on their own will they succeed in causing us to be
unfaithful to God.
In
Christ,