2006-11-27 12:30:36 · 28 answers · asked by kissmybum 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes it is, and jesus stated that when you pray, pray unto my father in my name and he will give thee the petition that is required of him. No where in the bible is told for us to pray to mary and this indeed idolatry. God says have no other Gods before me and anthing you love more than me is an idol.
2006-11-27 12:35:25 · answer #1 · answered by JoJoBa 6 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Is praying for others in our community considered idolatry? No.
Remember Jesus conquered death, death is no more. Mary and all the Saints are a part of our Christian community.
Coming from an Evangelical perspective, consider these biblical passages:
Eph 1:21 -32, Col 1:18 -24, 1 Cor 12:12-27, Rom 12:5, Eph 4:4,
Col 3:15, Rom 8:35-39, Rom 12:10, 1 Thes 5:11, Gal 6:2, Gal 6:10
Rom 15:30, Col 4:3, 1 Thes 5:25, Eph 6:18-19, Tob 12;12, Rev 5:8.
Mk 9:4, Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah.
Rev 6:9-11 martyrs under the altar want vindication
Lk 16:19-30 departed rich man intercedes for brothers
1 Tim 2:1-7 offer petitions prayers for all men
Jos 5:14 Joshua fell prostrate to worship before angels
Dan 8:17 Daniel fell prostrate in terror before Gabriel
Tob 12:16 Tobiah and Tobit fall to ground before Raphael
Mt 18:10
Lk 1:28 angel Gabriel, full of grace found favor with God.
To list a small portion of this Graceful exchange between Christians.
2006-11-27 20:45:51 · answer #2 · answered by Lives7 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Fish is correct. However, if someone prays to a statue of Mary or a saint, then it is idolatry.
2006-11-27 20:32:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
it is asking for intercession, the saints and Mary are never worshiped or placed higher than god. it is intercession, not very different than asking your friends to pray to god for a loved one or yourself. people who don't understand the role of Mary and the saints within the church and get confused, but it is not idolatry and you can even see in the bible that not all statues were considered idolatrous.
2006-11-27 20:45:16 · answer #4 · answered by fenian1916 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋
God forbids communication with the dead.
Deut 18:10-11 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Any one who does these things is detestable to the Lord.
2006-11-27 21:55:28 · answer #5 · answered by Freedom 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
imagine this situation; U want to ask ur boss for a raise. u could do that perfectly well, but what if u really, really want that raise, and ur not sure if he'll agree u deserve it. so u decide to go to ur Co worker who is a favorite of the boss, you say, "hey, can u put in a good word for me since he likes u so much? thanx!"
that's how catholics feel about praying to saints and Mary. we feel like we are asking them to intercede to God for us. we are not worshiping them. we have statues and pictures to remind us of them and become closure to them, like how u might look at a photo of ur mother after she passed away, when u want to talk to her in heaven.
i believe peoples intentions are more important than the action when judging someone. i just hope people understand how catholics feel about this, even if they disagree.
2006-11-27 20:39:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
In Catholicism, it is considered acceptable for a person to pray to Mary and the saints to intercede with God on their behalf. Basically, you're going through channels....
No more idolatry, I'm sure, than allowing a preacher to interpret God's intentions for you....
2006-11-27 20:33:38 · answer #7 · answered by Ms. Switch 5 · 4⤊ 5⤋
The common misconception ... usually spread by Protestant ministers who don't want their congregations to avoid all things Catholic ... is that Catholics pray "to" Mary and saints. This is not true. We pray asking Mary or a Saint to intercede with Jesus on our behalf. We pray to Jesus just like all Protestants do, however, with Catholics we are fortunate to believe that Mary is there to help guide us and we honor Mary and other Saints by believing that Jesus blessed them in a very special way
So, pray to Jesus, and when you think of Mary, or St. Christopher, or St. Anthony, for example, let a wonderful feeling wash over you with the blessed love of Jesus with which he annointed these people
Mary is everyone's mother, yours, mine, Jesus' ...
God bless you.
Jean Bennett a proud and loving Catholic
2006-11-27 20:38:07 · answer #8 · answered by smileymduke 4 · 4⤊ 4⤋
Absolutely.
2006-11-27 20:35:18 · answer #9 · answered by Tommy 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes it is.Even the christians bible only talk about ONE INTERCESSOR, Jesus!
So praying to all other saints is pointless.they are dead, awaiting their judgement!
2006-11-28 03:47:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋