2.6 The incarnation's effects on Religious Art

• Why are people against religious art?

  • It isn't possible to portray God - An infinite God can't be represented using finite resources
  • Art can mislead people - Because God can't be portrayed accurately, it can create false ideas
  • Praying in front of an image or statue is misleading - People may think the image or statue is the God
  • It is against the Second Commandment - "You shall not make for yourself an idol"
• What are the Catholic attitudes to religious art?

  They believe:

  • It inspires people
  • Gives something to focus on during prayer
  • Helps people learn the aspects of God
• Why are Catholics not against religious art?

  • Jesus was fully human - So it's acceptable to express him through art
  • Jesus was fully God - Means it's fine to depict God as a human, as that's how he made his presence
  • Jesus died to save all of humanity - Jesus can be shown in any ethnicity, as he died for everybody