Under the New Covenant, are Christians forbidden to have any sacred representations whatever?
God’s chosen people, of the Old Covenant and of the New, is mindful that, while not all representations are condemned, great care must be taken to avoid the sin of idolatry. Accordingly, the Church has set careful boundaries that affirm the fullness of God’s counsel: (1) that idols and idolatry are sins to be carefully avoided (1Jo 5:21; see Q531); (2) that not all representations are idols, many are acceptable in daily life and in reverent worship (cf. Sir 38:27); and (3) that the incarnation of the eternal and invisible Word of God, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15; see Q043, Q114), has profound implications for the Christian understanding of images and of the veneration of honor due to them.
