If the bible says thou shalt not pray to any graven image WHY do catholics PRAY to Peter and other dead saints

Question

Wasn't jesus the one you suppose to pray to and don't tell me that you can't pray to him cause you don't feel worthy peter and other saints were just as human as you

Some catholics say when they pray to the saints that they aren't praying but asking for guidence if so wouldn't Peter and the other saints who prayed to god for guidence tell you to do the same?

Answer 1

Because they ignore what God says about not making statues.

Many people say "We don't pray to the statues they are just symbols that help us focus on God."

The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, etc prayed to statues of Zeus and other gods and they knew that it was not literaly Zeus. Zeus had many temples with many statues. They knew that it was only a symbol. So yes you are praying to the statues or else why would GOD say not to do it. When you make idols you don't elevate your concept of God rather you debase it by confining an omnipotent, ominpresent God into a "graven image".

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of ANY THING that is in HEAVEN above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Exodus 20:4

Answer 2

I agree that we should not pray to Mary & Peter, cuz they are not gods and can't help us anyways. My best friend is Catholic and we talk to each other about all kinds of religious stuff.
Did you know that Catholics changed the ten commandments? They took out #2 (don't make & worship idols) and divided #10 (don't covet) into 2! (don't covet neighbors goods & don't covet neighbors wife) So my friend had always been told them differently from what it says in the Bible! I totally respect Catholics and love how they have so much reverence towards God, but I think that praying to anything other than Him is WRONG. And doesn't the Bible say that God will punish those who change or add/subtract from His Word?
So to answer your question, they probably changed the ten commandments because they pray to saints and other things. Also, like my friend, many of them probably pray to them without knowing that they are doing anything wrong because they haven't been taught one of the most important rules!

Answer 3

only SOME Catholics pray to saints, and we pray to them because they were inspiring godly people that devoted their lives to God. Actually it's more asking for guidence than praying! Who are you to talk? You don't know what we do and do not believe! Do your reseach next time! And we are more Christian than anyone! At least we dont badmouth other religeons! And yes we have had priests do deplorable things, but they werent the only ones! Every barrel has a few bad apples! So we would appreciate if you would not talk about what you obviously know nothing about! Criticizing Catholics is criticizing the worship of God!

Answer 4

+ Graven Images +

Do you have pictures of your loved ones?

Statues and pictures of people we love are not idols.

Statues and paintings of Jesus and the saints are just like pictures of the people we love and respect.

The King James Version of the Bible states in Exodus 20:4: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth"

Why were the Jews commanded not to make graven images? Graven images were the standard method of pagan worship. They were representations of false gods.

This is a very clear command. However God commanded the Jews in Exodus 25:18, "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them" and in 1 Kings chapter 7 Solomon made bulls and other images out of precious metals.

It seems obvious that the Jews did not worship the cherubims and Solomon did not worship the bulls he had made. These images did not violate the command of God. Therefore, an image not made for worship is acceptable.

How can a statue of our Lord Jesus Christ dead on the cross be considered an idol to a false god? A crucifix is the message of the Gospel without words held up for all to see, a visual reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus, no different from a painting, a play, or a movie.

Catholics do not worship statues but the almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

+ Saints +

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Episcopal Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints. You, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.

With love and prayers in Christ.

Answer 5

'graven images' refers to idolatry. worshipping the golden calf or other inanimate objects as was common in paganism at the time. praying to saints had to do with conversion of the pagans in the early church. pagans had many gods they worshipped for different things in their life (the harvest, safety on the sea, etc.). so early catholics assigned the properties of these pagan gods to different martyrs of the early church. that's why you'll often see st. 'so and so', patron saint of 'whatever'. this eased the transition of many pagans to catholicism. praying to saints was really a matter of practicality and has stayed as tradition ever since.
that is a very good and common question about catholocism, though.

Answer 6

I think its because they do not have a personal relationship with Christ and lack of knowledge of the Word of God. That is why I left that organization, I did not have a personal reationship with Jesus, I had heard of him but didnt know him. We prayed to saints but they never replied, I went to church but it was more out of tradition (sometimes I felt forced to go). Now I serve and seek to know God more now that I do have a personal relationship with God.

Answer 7

Because Catholics don't adhere to all of the words of the Bible. They are also told that there are no other God's before me yet they worship the men and women that God himself created.

Answer 8

The Catholic response is that they do not pray to saints, but merely talk to them to ask for intercession. If it's ok to ask a friend to pray for you while they're alive, why does it quit being ok to do the same thing once they die?

Answer 9

Do you ask your friends to pray for you? We Catholics believe that there is no division in the faithful.
Church Militant (Ecclesia Militans), comprising Christians who are living, and the Church Triumphant (Ecclesia Triumphans), comprising those who are in Heaven. Roman Catholic theology adds a third category: the Church Suffering (ecclesia penitens) or Church Expectant (ecclesia expectans), comprising those Christians presently in Purgatory.

Answer 10

human beings such as you're making it very perplexing for those individuals who're Catholic Christians to maintain any civility in any respect in the direction of our Protestant brothers and sisters in Christ. We answer those comparable questions repeatedly back, and no person ever bothers to seek for our responses, no remember what number cases that little "we've chanced on comparable questions" prompt pops up as you're typing the identify. the fast answer on your question: we don't pray *to* Mary. We ask her to desire for us, merely as you ask a chum or kin member to desire for you. She's alive in Heaven, alongside with another believer, and he or she will pray for our desires from the perspective of a loving mom. it is not our fault which you do no longer comprehend the version between a mediator and an intercessor. A mediator settles a dispute between 2 events, merely as Jesus mediated interior the dispute between sinful guy and a holy God. An intercessor places in a solid be conscious for somebody else with an expert determine, that's strictly what happens as quickly as we ask absolutely everyone, everywhere, at any time to desire for us. ok, there that's -- the umpteenth time that i've got typed those very comparable words. little doubt you will supply suitable answer to considered one of your Catholic-hating cronies and their "Ain't them Catholics adverse!" settlement with you. i do no longer anticipate you to hearken to, much less have self assurance what each and all of the Catholics right here would desire to declare on condition that's possible previous your means. And as quickly as back, for the period of the flexibility of the Holy Spirit, maximum individuals Catholics controlled to be civil and extremely well mannered interior the face of rampant Protestant conceitedness and lack of know-how. 2 factors for the Catholic team.