The act of bowing down to images and praying through it is itself forbidden. Nowhere do we read: “Thou shalt not bow down to images—unless, of course, you are merely venerating them. Then it is fine!” There is not a single example of bowing down to images for any purpose that is portrayed positively in Scripture or the early church. The distinction between worship and veneration in this context is an innovation, later employed to justify a practice that had already come into being.
