DEFENDING PRAYING TO THE SAINTS - REBUTTALS TO COMMON ARGUMENTS AND OBJECTIONS

DEFENDING PRAYING TO THE SAINTS - REBUTTALS TO COMMON ARGUMENTS AND OBJECTIONS Kevin Gemma 🔸“THE SAINTS ARE DEAD !” The implication of making this claim against Catholics is to say that death exists in heaven, which is untrue and blasphemous against the beauty of Christ defeating death. The saints may be physically dead but they are spiritually alive in heaven with Christ. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”” (‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬-‭26‬) “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”” (Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭32‬) “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”” (John‬ ‭8‬:‭51‬) 🔸“PRAYING TO SAINTS IS NECROMANCY” Protestants would often accuse Catholics of committing the sin of necromancy and would cite passages like Dueteronomy 18 which states: “There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer.“ (Deuteronomy‬ ‭18‬:‭10‬-‭11‬) But this is a categorical fallacy committed by the Protestant here. First where does the Catholic Church teach that we ask physical dead bodies to pray for us? Do we claim that we ask the physical dead bodies to pray for us or do we claim that we ask the spiritually alive in Christ to pray for us? The answer is the latter. Second, Necromancy by definition is: “The practice of communicating with the dead in order to gain special insight about the future”, which is condemned by the Catholic Church (See: CCC #2116). That's not the same thing as asking a living soul in heaven to pray for you. Third we know simply talking to those who are spiritually alive doesn't automatically equate to necromancy because at the transfiguration Jesus himself spoke with both Moses and Elijah even though Moses passed away and was buried for over a thousand years and Elijah was taken up into heaven: “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.” ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭17‬:‭1‬-‭3‬) Some Protestants would say that Christ is allowed to do that because he's God. Which is true. But Christ was also Man (Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-8), and as Man he was still obligated to keep the mosaic laws (Galatians 3:13, Matthew 5:17), including the law not to engage in necromancy. So using Deuteronomy 18 isn't a refutation against praying to saints. 🔸 SAUL & THE MEDIUM Another objection Protestants would throw is 1 Samuel 28:3-20 where Saul used the witch of Endor to summon the soul of the deceased Prophet Samuel in order to obtain advice about his current military and spiritual issues (1 Sam 28:3-20). I'm not sure why some Protestants think this refutes prayers to saints considering true Catholics do not consult witches to try and summon souls or demons The only sin Saul committed here was that he broke faith with God and sought a witch for guidance. It doesn't say he sinned just for talking to Samuel. If that was the case then that would mean Samuel sinned as well for talking to Saul (since Samuel knew that people ought to obey the law against necromancy). Which can't be true because a righteous person in the afterlife cannot sin. “So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.” (‭‭I Chronicles‬ ‭10‬:‭13‬) Some would claim that the Samuel that appeared to Saul was in fact a demon and not the real Samuel. However the text doesn’t say it’s a demon. Second, the plain reading of the text indicates that this actually was Samuel (1 Samuel 28:15). Saul doesn’t just see a vision of Samuel. Instead, the biblical narrator tells us that this is actually Samuel appearing to Saul. Third, Ecclesiasticus gives us the ancient Jewish understanding and tells us that this was in fact the real Samuel (Ecclesiasticus 43:16-23). “And after this he [Samuel] slept, and he made known to the king, and showed him the end of his life, and he lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy to blot out the wickedness of the nation.” (Ecclesiasticus 43:23). 🔸”THE SAINTS CAN’T HEAR YOU!” The problem with this objection is that no where in the Bible does it say the saints can't hear us. Protestants would cite passages like Ecclesiastes 9:5 which says, “For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.” This isn't a good argument because: Catholics agree that the physically dead know nothing 2. The context of the book shows that King Solomon is speaking from a human’s perspective, not God’s perspective (Ecclesiastes 1:12-13) 3. If we go by the Protestants’ own logic then they’d have to say the Bible contradicts itself because there are several other passages showing people in the afterlife having knowledge of earthly events (See Part 1 for proof). For example Rachel weeping for her generational children centuries after she passed away (Jeremiah 31:15-16) 🔸“THERE IS ONLY ONE MEDIATOR !” Another passage Protestants would cite against the doctrine of prayers to the saints is 1 Timothy 2:5 which says, ““For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” This verse is completely taken out of context. Protestants have a habit of citing 1 Timothy 2:5 while leaving out verse 6 which says, “who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” The context tells us that Jesus is the one mediator who died for our sins. St. Paul says, “He is the mediator of a new covenant..” (Hebrews 9:15). There’s no other mediator like that. 1 Timothy 2:5 isn’t saying there are no other mediators at all. We see that angels are also called mediators in scripture: Job 33:23 says, “Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him..” When 1 Timothy 2:5 is taken out of its context to use against prayers to the saints it results to a number of theological consequences. 1) If we go by that standard then that would mean St. Paul contradicted himself when he commanded Christians to make intercessions (1 Timothy 2:1). Mediation and intercession are synonymous. 2) If you believe in this misinterpretation then by your reasoning you can't ask any of your friends or your pastor to pray for you on your behalf since after all, there is one mediator between God and man. 3) Jesus said in John 10:16 that there is one shepherd. But if you take the verse to mean there are no other shepherds at all then you'd be saying the Bible contradicts itself since it teaches there's more than one shepherd (1 Peter 5:2-3). If you bring the Bible to its full context you'd know when Jesus said there's one shepherd what he meant was there is one shepherd who came to save his people from there sins. 4) If you're going to use this verse as an argument against the communion of saints then you're excluding Jesus as being God because it says there's "one God" which is referring to the Father. 5) You'll also be saying that the Holy Spirit violated this verse since Romans 8:26 says the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. 🔸HOW ARE THE SAINTS ABLE TO HEAR US ? The simple answer is the people in heaven have higher knowledge that we on earth cannot fathom nor access. ““Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” ‭‭(1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬) “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭12‬ ) 🔸WHY ASK SAINTS IN HEAVEN TO PRAY FOR YOU WHEN YOU CAN JUST GO TO GOD DIRECTLY ? That is like asking why ask people on earth to pray for you when you can just go to God directly. The believers in heaven are still members of the body of Christ. Romans 12:4-5 says, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭5‬). They are not divided from the body (See also: Hebrews 12:22-24). Other reasons why Catholics ask the saints in heaven to pray for us because: 1) They’re much more closer to God than we on earth are (2 Peter 1:4) 2)Their prayers are much more powerful than ours. James 5:16 says, “..The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” Prayers of Christians on earth can easily be hindered by sin ( Psalm 66:18; Proverbs 28:9; Isaiah 59:2; John 9:31; 1 Peter 3:7; 4:7). However that cannot happen to the saints in heaven since they are completely perfect in Christ (1 Peter 1:16, Jude 1:14).