i've never been to a Catholic church or service by the way...
2007-04-11 08:01:49 · 27 answers · asked by tee 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
And the Bible says idol worshiping is wrong. You pray to Jesus/God as far as i know, and noone come to the father but except through Jesus.
2007-04-11 08:16:35 · update #1
And the Bible says idol worshiping is wrong. You pray to Jesus/God as far as i know, and noone comes to the father but except through Jesus.
2007-04-11 08:16:49 · update #2
And the Bible says idol worshiping is wrong. You pray to Jesus/God as far as i know...any Bible verse to support your answer please...
2007-04-11 08:18:07 · update #3
No.
+ Saints +
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 is communication, not worship.
+ The Blessed Virgin Mary +
In Luke 1:48, Mary prophesied: "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
A question for Christians who take the Bible literally: Do you call Mary "blessed"? If no, why?
The Hail Mary prayer simply recites Bible passages (the Word of God) and asks Mary to pray for us:
Hail Mary Full of grace, the Lord is with you. (These are the words the angel Gabriel said to Mary, a Bible quote.)
Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (This is Mary's cousin Elizabeth's greeting, another bible quote.)
Holy Mary, (The angel Gabriel said she was full of grace and Elizabeth said she was blessed.)
Mother of God, (the Bible says Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, God the Son)
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. (A simple request to pray for us.)
Amen.
+ With love in Christ.
2007-04-12 18:56:02 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 2⤊ 6⤋
Protestants actually say the same words as the first part of the 'Hail Mary' when they read the Bible. It is in there, and is entirely scriptual. It is comprised of the angelic salutation at the announciation, and the words of Elizabeth to Mary.
Are protestants worshipping Mary when they read these words in the BIble? - - - - "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus"
This accusation of worshipping Mary is an old chestnut invented by those hostile to the Catholic Church in a relentless effort to discredit the first and original Christian Church (founded by Jesus Himself and built upon the 'rock' of St. Peter). They find it necessary to continue to do this in order to justify their own existence as separate churches, sects or cults, because if there was nothing they could disagree with, they would have no excuse not to become part of the Catholic Church.
Sadly, they use such petty and ridiculous distortions of the truth in order to continue to resist the unity of Christians that Jesus Himself desired and prayed for.
2007-04-11 09:00:09 · answer #2 · answered by A.M.D.G 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, they don't worship Mary. They give her her props for being the Mother of Jesus. Catholics pray to any of a number of saints, asking to pray for them and basically "put a buzz in God's ear". They aren't worshiped. Only God is worshiped.
2007-04-11 08:23:27 · answer #3 · answered by Hot Coco Puff 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i hv seen mary's idol in the Catholic church....but i dont think they take her as a God/Godess...isn't idol worshipping not allowed in christainty as well?...(And the Bible says idol worshiping is wrong. You pray to Jesus/God as far as i know, and noone comes to the father but except through Jesus)..and no one comes to the father but through jesus??....what good is a God that u need to approach him through another person..?one should have a direct link with your God..and if idol worshipping is wrong n the bible says soo then why do catholics do it ,are they not aware of it?
2007-04-11 08:06:29 · answer #4 · answered by reasonz 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Catholics venerate and honor Mary as the mother of Jesus but don't worship her as a god. That's the mistake a lot of people make with saints, thinking that they're being worshipped. It's no different than asking your friend, neighbor or pastor to pray for you or your child. It's quite common for services to come to a close with a prayer list of people in need. There's no difference between asking your neighbor to pray for you than asking a saint.
2007-04-11 08:08:06 · answer #5 · answered by rann_georgia 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
It's interesting that answers show no Catholics, so far, understand how prayer is a prime form of worship. If I was chained up in solitary confinement, the only form of worship I could carry out would be prayer and (if I wasn't gagged) hymn singing. God is prayed to by believers. That is why to pray to Christ is to worship Christ, and that's precisely why non-Trinitarians refuse to pray to Christ! They correctly recognise prayer as a form of worship. So, to pray to Mary and/or the Saints, and to sing the Ave Maria, is to worship.
Mary is also blasphemously called co-redemptirx, with Christ, so such elevation is anathema to those who take the Bible seriously when it says, "...with his own blood he entered the Most Holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption... He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant" (Hebrews 9:12-28). "For there is one God and ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
2007-04-11 08:47:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
The issue of Catholics praying to saints is one that is full of confusion. It is the official position of the Roman Catholic Church that Catholics do not pray TO saints or Mary, but rather that Catholics can ask saints or Mary to pray FOR them. The official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that asking saints for their prayers is no different than asking someone here on earth to pray for you. However, the practice of many Catholics diverges from official Roman Catholic teaching. Many Catholics do in fact pray directly to saints and/or Mary, asking them for help – instead of asking the saints and/or Mary to intercede with God for help. Whatever the case, whether a saint or Mary is being prayed to, or asked to pray, neither practice has any Biblical basis.
2007-04-11 20:03:37 · answer #7 · answered by Freedom 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Catholics do not in a word, worship Mary, but ask for her help [Intercession] Like you would ask your love one for there help, And as Mary is the Mother of Jesus, you cant get any closer to Christ .
2007-04-11 11:54:22 · answer #8 · answered by denis9705 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Discern the difference between respect and worship.
As for 'praying to Mary; see teh interaction between Adonijah, Bathsheba (mother of the king, and Solomon (King) and compare Bathsheba to Mary, and Solomon to King Jesus.
2007-04-11 08:19:50 · answer #9 · answered by jefferyspringer57@sbcglobal.net 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Catholics do not worship Mary or any other saint or statue. This would be directly against the 2nd Commandment of God to not have any other gods besides Him. This would be idolatry, and is completely against Catholic teaching.
More information: http://catholic.com/library/Saint_Worship.asp
God bless.
2007-04-12 04:58:15 · answer #10 · answered by Danny H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm Catholic, but I've never believed in praying to Mary. I go straight to the source which is God.
2007-04-11 08:07:40 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋