A question for Catholics?

Question

What does this verse mean, seeing as how you pray to dead people, but the bible specifically says they dont know...

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

So you LITERALLY think once you die, you can listen to other peoples prayers? You can hear them, and bring them to God? That just makes NO sense. None. No verse in the holy bible even hints towards that. PLease someone, find me one that does!

Answer 1

Try to get it through to them and they report you.

Answer 2

I'm not Catholic, but I think I can help.
When Solomon says the dead know nothing and that there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom after death, he is not contrasting life with afterlife, but life with death. After you die, you can’t change what you have done. Resurrection to a new life after death was a vague concept for Old Testament believers. It was only made clear after Jesus rose from the dead.
Cross References:
Ecclesiastes 9:5—Job 14:21; Psalm 88:12; Ecclesiastes 1:11; 2:16; 8:10; Isaiah 26:14
Ecclesiastes 9:10—Genesis 37:35; Job 21:13; Ecclesiastes 9:5; 11:6; Romans 12:11; Colossians 3:23

Answer 3

Well, the Bible actually makes a distinction between death and eternal life. Those who have not received the gift of eternal life through the Lord ARE dead. That's what that verse means. The living know they shall die, but the dead know nothing and they don't get any reward and the memory of them is forgotten. In other words, they are extinguished like a candle flame.

Answer 4

What Catholics do now in asking the Blessed Mother and the saints of the Church to intercede for us comes from Apostolic Tradition. We can not just rely on the Bible as the sole and infallible guide to Christian doctrine and practice. The Bible does not make that claim either explicitly or implicitly.

As the following passages show, the early Church Fathers not only clearly recognized the biblical teaching that those in heaven can and do intercede for us, (See Psalm 103,20-21; Revelation 5,8; 8,3-4; Matthew 8,10; James 5,16) but they also applied this teaching in their own daily prayer life. Please note that some of these teachings were written before some of the New Testament books.

Hermas

"[The Shepherd said:] ‘But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask him. But you, [Hermas,] having been strengthened by the holy angel [you saw], and having obtained from him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from him?’" (The Shepherd 3:5:4 [A.D. 80]).

Clement of Alexandria

"In this way is he [the true Christian] always pure for prayer. He also prays in the society of angels, as being already of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy keeping; and though he pray alone, he has the choir of the saints standing with him [in prayer]" (Miscellanies 7:12 [A.D. 208]).

Origen

"But not the high priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep" (Prayer 11 [A.D. 233]).

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 5

First of all, Catholics do NOT pray to dead people. We pray to God. What is seen as prayers to dead people is prayer asking for the prayers of those who have gone before us.

Let me ask you this.....do you believe in Heaven? Do you as a Christian believe that when you die, you will stand in the presence of God?

If you do- well, then you should understand that the souls in Heaven are more alive than we are! And let me ask you THIS... if you do not believe that the prayer of a person who looks at the face of God has any value, why on earth would you every ask the person sitting next to you in church to pray for you, when they are a sinner like you and everyone else?

Answer 6

Jesus revealed that the dead do know. He told a story involving Abraham and the rich man having a conversation after death (Luke 16:19-31), and long-dead Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus on the mountain (Matthew 17:3).

Answer 7

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) living on Earth relate to the Body of Christ (saints) living 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 living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

And prayer to the saints is optional not required.

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

Hmm... well I'm not catholic, but had a look at the rest of the chapter for you and I think I'd sum it up with a quote from my Dad (who'd just love being compared to Solomon, I'm sure).

He once was asking my brother to come have a bit of fun with him instead of staying at home and stressing out and said something along the lines of "you better take theses opportunities while you can because you're a long time dead, mate."

Live, love, do much, and try not to cause yourself to regret, basically. I don't see it as being about eternal life, but just about life.

Hmm... dude really was wise, come to think of it.

Answer 9

You are so wrong!

I'll see that verse, and raise you two more:

Mat 22:31 And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken by God, saying to you:
Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.

Joh 8:56 Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it and was glad.
Joh 8:57 The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old. And hast thou seen Abraham?
Joh 8:58 Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM.

Joh 17:1 These things Jesus spoke: and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee.
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

For the record, ETERNAL LIFE is life UNINTERRUPTED and life WITHOUT END.

No sitting dead in a grave for eons, waiting only for a bodily resurrection.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (and alive).

Answer 10

It refers to the spiritually dead, those who are eternally lost, and who know nothing but their own torment. Obviously it cannot refer to the saints in heaven, for Christ Himself said that those who follow Him "will never die". Catholics believe Him. Do you? Since His followers will never die, obviously the saints in heaven are not "dead people". In fact they are more fully alive than they ever were on earth.
.

Answer 11

It could be interpreted that by praying to the saints (the dead people which you mention... or where you refering to Jesus?), we're keeping their memories, and thus themselves alive. By keeping this spiritual version of the saints alive through praying, we are invoking a spiritual reward from their works and deeds in life.