There is no biblical teaching at all that states we are to pray to those who once were alive on earth and are now in heaven. Revelation, the same book used by them to justify their position says the following:
"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," (Rev. 19:10).
John wants to bow the knee and worship the angel. But the angel tells him not to do that because he is a fellow creature. If the angel says that he is a fellow creature like John, and that John is not to bow to him, then neither should anyone else bow to an angel, or any creature so as to offer worship. Worship includes prayer. Therefore, no one should pray to any created thing.
Biblically, prayer is always offered to God, and is a form of worship. All religions view prayer as an act of worship to their gods since they contain petitions, confession of sin, requests of intercession, etc., things which are received and answered by God, not by created things. Also, prayer is not the same thing as talking to someone face-to-face. Prayer is a humble petition to the Lord in and not to a friend who's in the same room with you or on the other end of the phone -- or in heaven. Prayer is offered to God, never to any created thing. To do so is to offer worship that should only be directed to God, which is idolatry. Prayer should be offered only to God and the Roman Catholic Church needs to repent of its false and idolatrous practice of praying to the saints.
2006-09-10 17:14:28 · 34 answers · asked by chained6002 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
yep
Catholics are well documented practicing an array of traditions that do not originate in the Bible.
2006-09-10 17:15:58 · answer #1 · answered by Tim 47 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
No biblical teaching?
(1)we are members of Christ body (1 Cor. 12:13 - "We were all baptized into one body")
(2) not even death can separate us from that body (Rom. 8:35-39)
(3) the spirits of those in heaven are alive ( Mt. 22:32 , Mk. 12:26-27 - "He (God) is not the God of the dead, but of the living.")
(4) they can present our prayers to God (Rev. 5:8 - When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones)
In order to present the prayers to God they have to hear them first. Now answer me this question. :
If I can ask you to pray for me, why can´t I ask the same thing to someone who is closer to God than you and who is also a member of Christ Church? (the saints are in heaven already)
2006-09-10 17:32:28 · answer #2 · answered by jemayen 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Before Jesus Christ died for our sins and opened the gates of heaven there were no saints in heaven. Therefore there are no Old Testament writings that would mention them.
Very few of the new Christians died before most of the New Testament was written. Therefore there is little in the Bible about asking saints to pray for us.
However the last book of the Bible does talk about the saints in heaven praying.
Revelation 5:8: Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.
Revelation 8:3-4: He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
The Holy Spirit guided the early Church in many things not explained in the Bible including how does the Body of Christ (believers) on Earth relate to the Body of Christ (saints) in heaven. We are still one Body.
Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist 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.
Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.
With love in Christ.
2006-09-11 17:35:34 · answer #3 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We don't need any sermon from someone so ignorant. You obviously haven't read the CCC--if you don't know what this means then again, that's simply because you are ignorant.
Idolatry is giving to something other than God the honor and worship that is due ONLY to Him. When a catholic prays to a saint he is not worshipping him. He is ASKING for intercession. You ask a friend or anyone to pray for you. You pray for them, too.
Why can't we ask the saints to pray for us? Fundamentalists often say "I'll pray for you". If people who are still in this life, who still sin, can pray for another then why can't the saints pray for us?
2006-09-10 18:16:19 · answer #4 · answered by Romeo 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hello,
Catholics do not pray to anyone but God, through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We ask the Saints to pray for us, example, second stanza of the Hail Mary, "Holy Mary, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
We ask the Saints to pray for us, it's no different than asking your friend, family or other parishioners to pray for you.
Period - it really is that simple. We don't pray to anyone except to God, through His Son - as it was stated in the bible.
Hope that clarifies things! God bless!
Oh - Jazzy - welcome :) If you have any questions, feel free to email me if you want. I'm a convert and absolutely love the Catholic faith - nowhere is there such pure freedom to love. Jazzy - Catholicism is the origins of the Christian faith, passed down directly from Jesus to Peter. It is not the foundations of all religions. In 'Western' mono-theist religions, that would be Jewish - Christians and Muslims both come from Jewish heritage. Other religions were started by other beliefs. :)
God bless!
2006-09-10 17:26:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
We are only asking the saints that have gone on to Glory to intercede in prayer for us, just as we would ask a brother or sister on this earth to intercede in prayer.
We never worship them. I think it is a semantic problem you are running into with the word prayer. no way do we worship the saints or our Lady. We honor and call our lady blessed just like it says to in scripture.
2006-09-10 17:35:38 · answer #6 · answered by dom316 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You need to understand rather than judge. Catholics ask saints for prayer the same way one would ask his neighbor or pastor or anyone else for that matter. Why is it that you can ask all these people for prayer for your cause but neglect to ask those who are alive in Christ?
[Mat 22:31] And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God,
[Mat 22:32] 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
2006-09-10 17:21:07 · answer #7 · answered by Robert L 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Catholics pray to saints to ask them to help pray to God on their behalf. This does not mean they do not also pray to God because the do, for instance, the Lord's Prayer. It is the same thing as asking a friend or a church congregation to pray for you. The more prayer, the better.
2006-09-10 17:18:26 · answer #8 · answered by jmm5570 2 · 6⤊ 1⤋
I am so tired of answering this. We do NOT WORSHIP SAINTS, we just ask them to ask the Lord. This is the way you asked your mom to ask your dad for your new bike or whatever.
In your first quote it says "...to worship him. And he said to me, "Do not do that" meaning do not worship.
Look at this:
"Moses, ask God to take away the serpents. and Moses did" Numbers 21,7
"Eli made marvels after death" Sir 48, 13-14
"Father Abraham send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and refresh our tongues" Luke 16,24
"when you were praying, I offered my prayer to God" Tobias 12,12
"THe 24 old men worshipped the Lamb filled with the perfumes which are the prayers of the saints" Apo 5,8
Ahh, you can take a mule to water, but you cannot make it drink! Let those who have eyes, see; those who have ears to hear.
2006-09-10 17:30:16 · answer #9 · answered by tfjea 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I have NO CLUE.... I have never done it, nor will I ever do it. My praying is to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are the only one who can trully help me when it is all said and done.
For everyone who said the Catholic Church is the original church???? I am confused because the last time that I checked, Jesus Christ was not Catholic. He was Jewish. So I guess that would make the Jewish religion the original huh?????
2006-09-10 17:23:01 · answer #10 · answered by ktjokt 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Anyone who is already in heaven and who has already been perfected in Christ is someone who can help me in my own struggle to be a better Christian.
Since we're all on the same team, and belong to the the same family of God, we can all work together for good.
The fact that they are in heaven and I am on earth makes absolutely no difference whatsoever.
In fact, every Catholic Mass, celebrated every hour of every day, all around the world, brings us all together as one body, in Christ.
We all do what we can in order to help God save souls ... hopefully mine ... and yours, too.
Of this there is no prohibition.
2006-09-10 22:04:01 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋