十字架和圣像不也是偶像吗？基督徒为什么反对偶像却使用这些？
Aren't crosses and religious icons also idols? Why do Christians oppose idols yet use these?
简答 Short Answer
关键不在于物品本身，而在于是否将它们当作敬拜对象。十字架作为信仰象征提醒我们基督的救赎，但任何物品一旦成为敬拜和祈求的对象，就沦为偶像。
The key isn't the object itself but whether it becomes an object of worship. A cross as a symbol reminds us of Christ's redemption, but any object becomes an idol once it receives worship or prayer.
详细解答 Detailed Answer
这是一个很好的问题，也是改革宗传统特别重视的问题。
**偶像的本质**是用受造之物取代造物主的地位，向它们祈祷、献祭或寄托信仰。十诫的第二条禁止的是「制造和跪拜偶像」，即用有形之物来代表和敬拜上帝（出埃及记20:4-5）。
**改革宗的立场**是严格持守第二条诫命：
1. **十字架作为象征**：正如国旗是国家的象征而非敬拜对象，十字架可以作为基督教的标志，提醒我们基督的牺牲。但我们不对十字架祈祷、不亲吻十字架、不认为它有神奇力量。
2. **圣像和雕塑**：改革宗教会一般不在敬拜场所使用圣像，因为这容易导致偶像崇拜。历史上，天主教和东正教允许使用圣像作为「教导工具」，但改革宗认为这违反了第二诫。
3. **心灵的偶像**：最根本的偶像不是木头石头，而是心中取代神的任何事物——金钱、名声、关系、甚至宗教仪式本身。加尔文说过，人心是一座「制造偶像的工厂」。
敬拜应当是「用心灵和诚实」（约翰福音4:24），而不依赖任何有形的媒介。
This is an excellent question, and one the Reformed tradition takes especially seriously.
**The essence of idolatry** is replacing the Creator with created things — praying to them, making offerings, or placing faith in them. The second commandment forbids 'making and bowing down to images,' using visible things to represent and worship God (Exodus 20:4-5).
**The Reformed position** strictly upholds the second commandment:
1. **The cross as symbol**: Just as a national flag symbolizes a country without being worshiped, the cross can serve as a Christian symbol reminding us of Christ's sacrifice. But we don't pray to crosses, kiss them, or attribute magical powers to them.
2. **Icons and statues**: Reformed churches generally do not use icons in worship settings, as they easily lead to idolatry. Historically, Catholic and Orthodox churches permitted icons as 'teaching tools,' but the Reformed view considers this a violation of the second commandment.
3. **Idols of the heart**: The most fundamental idols aren't wood and stone but anything in the heart that displaces God — money, fame, relationships, even religious rituals themselves. Calvin said the human heart is 'a perpetual idol factory.'
Worship should be 'in spirit and truth' (John 4:24), not dependent on any visible medium.
📖 经文引用 Bible Verses
📚 推荐阅读 Related Readings
- •Institutes of the Christian Religion I.11 (John Calvin)
- •Counterfeit Gods (Tim Keller)