Should Our Prayers Be Offered to Jesus or to the Saints?
By Author Eli Kittim
The Communion of Saints
Intercession of the saints plays a crucial role in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches. This practice is derived from the Catholic creed of the Communion of saints. The said doctrine holds that dead saints pass instantly into the divine presence and therefore have a sort of fiduciary power in helping others to procure favors and blessings. This is not unlike Shinto, a Japanese religion that incorporates the worship of ancestors. In fact, the Christian patron saints that act as intermediaries between God and humans, interceding for trade, agriculture, health, and so on, are reminiscent of the Greek pantheon of demigods (The Twelve Olympians) in which each deity was responsible for a particular aspect of life. In this sense, the church adopted a form of pagan polytheism. The specific dedications and remembrances of saints in the Catholic, and especially in the Orthodox, churches have been highly developed to such an extent that the entire liturgical year is devoted to and structured around the so-called calendar of saints, in which each day pays homage to a particular saint(s) (i.e. feast day). Not to mention the ancient preoccupation with saints' relics and the lucrative pilgrimages that have been designed for such worship.
Do the Saints in Heaven Pray for the People on Earth?
Much to our dismay, saints in heaven donât pray on behalf of earthlings. Rather, these martyrs pray for God to avenge their blood (Rev. 6.9-10 NRSV):
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of those who had been
slaughtered for the word of God and for the
testimony they had given; they cried out
with a loud voice, âSovereign
Lord, holy and true, how long will it be
before you judge and avenge our blood on
the inhabitants of the earth?â
Similarly, âthe prayers of the saintsâ in Rev. 5.8-10 are solely directed to Jesus, praising him for his extraordinary feats. Theyâre not about helping John Doe, back on earth, with his financial woes, or Jane Doe with her marital breakdown. Rev. 5.8-10 reads:
When he had taken the scroll, the four living
creatures and the twenty-four elders fell
before the Lamb, each holding a harp and
golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints. They sing a new song:
âYou are worthy to take the scroll and to
open its seals, for you were slaughtered and
by your blood you ransomed for God saints
from every tribe and language and people
and nation; you have made them to be a
kingdom and priests serving our God, and
they will reign on earth.â
Incidentally, the so-called âsaintsâ in Rev. 5.8 are not an elite, hierarchical class of people worthy of worship. Thatâs a misnomer. On the contrary, all who are *born-again* in Christ are called âsaintsâ (cf. Rom. 1.7). Remember, not even angels are allowed to be worshipped in Godâs kingdom (see Rev. 19.10), let alone departed spirits.
Is Praying to Saints Biblical?
Over against the intercessory prayer of saints is Deut. 18.11 which explicitly forbids those who consult the dead (cf. Isa. 8.19). Thatâs precisely why, in the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19â31), the rich manâs intercessory-prayer request is denied!
Sometimes Catholic and Orthodox writers will point to Old Testament accounts in which patriarchs or prophets enlisted the help of an angel (e.g. Gen. 48.16; Zech. 1.8-11). But they fail to mention that the said angel is typically associated with the angel of the Lord, which is traditionally viewed by Christian commentators as the Pre-Incarnate Son (cf. Gen. 16.7; Exod. 33.14; Jer. 1.4). Furthermore, conversing with an angel is not the same as praying to an angel. Yet in defense of intercessory prayer of heavenly beings, Catholic writers often point to the Annunciation as a case in point. But again, Maryâs conversation with Gabriel does not involve an intercessory prayer request, nor an act of prostration or worship.
The Catholic commentariat has also presented several examples from the New Testament to make their point. For instance, they cite Rev. 8.3, namely, the prayers of the saints that rise up before God. However, the context of this eschatological verse is Godâs wrath that is poured out upon the earth, not an answer to our prayers (Rev. 8.3-5):
Another angel with a golden censer came
and stood at the altar; he was given a great
quantity of incense to offer with the prayers
of all the saints on the golden altar that is
before the throne. And the smoke of the
incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose
before God from the hand of the angel.
Then the angel took the censer and filled it
with fire from the altar and threw it on the
earth; and there were peals of thunder,
rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an
earthquake.
Human Intercession versus Intercession of saints
The fact that there is a body of Christ (âa cloud of witnessesâ Heb. 12.1) is not an invitation or a request to worship them. Catholic scholars have confused the issue even further. They cite various instances in the New Testament in which Paul commands Christians to pray for him (e.g. 2 Cor. 1.11). Or theyâll cite the example of Timothy who commands Christians to pray for one another (1 Tim. 2.1). However, praying âFORâ someone and praying âTOâ someone are two completely different things. To pray âforâ (or on behalf of) a living person is one thing. To pray âtoâ a dead person is quite another. In the first case, youâre simply praying *for* the living (human intercession) and asking God to help them in their time of need. However, praying *to* a deceased saint for help is a different matter altogether. Now, you are praying not to God but *to* a dead saint (Intercession of Saints) to help a living human being. As a result, the saints have gained so much power that they have become intercessors between heaven and earth. Itâs true that Paul and Timothy instructed Christians to pray for the betterment of others. But thatâs not the same as praying to dead saints for help, grace, and blessings.
Although Protestant denominations accept human intercessory prayer for the living (cf. Rom. 15.30), they deny the intercession of the dead on behalf of the living. Similarly, Reformed theologians acknowledge that the âcommunion of saints" comprise all who are in Christ, including the departed. Nevertheless, in their view, invocations of the departed spirits of saints constitute a transgression of the First Commandment (see Deut. 5.7): âYou shall have no other gods before me.â
On the Importance of Developing a Personal Relationship with Christ
The Catholic and Orthodox mindset is that God is not in competition with his creation (Robert Barron), and that although Christ is humanityâs mediator via the cross (1 Tim. 2.5), heâs not necessarily accessible as our 24-7 prayer advocate on a minute-by-minute basis. He has partners and associates that work under him, much like a high-end law firm in New York. But the so-called âmanaging partnerâ (i.e. Law firm CEO) at the top is usually inaccessible. Hence the need for the intercessory prayers. They argue that turning to the saints for help is not in competition with Jesus Christ since God has many partners and friends and is the ultimate source of all living things.
But this represents a distortion of Biblical revelation. The multiple attestations of the New Testament are all about Jesus. They feature Jesus as the leading figure, who is the hero of the story, and without whom we cannot be saved. It is the story of the creator who enters creation. He is the one âthrough whom he [God] also created the worldsâ (Heb. 1.2). Johnâs gospel attests of his divinity: âIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was Godâ (1.1). Paul declares: âFor in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodilyâ (Col. 2.9). And without the shedding of his blood there can be no New Testament, much less a church (cf. Heb. 9.17, 22). Phil. 2.10-11 concludes:
so that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bend, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
In Mt. 28.18, the Matthean Jesus exclaims:
All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me.
In Rev 1.8, Jesus is equated with God Almighty:
âI am the Alpha and the Omega,â
says the Lord God, who is and
who was and who is to come,
the Almighty.
In Isaiah chapter 42 verse 8, God says:
I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I
give to no other, nor my praise to idols.
With Jesusâ extraordinary credentials and qualifications, why should we consult the spirits of dead men? The point is that Jesus is everything to regenerated Christians. Heâs constantly on their mind. Born-again Christians are madly in love because of what Jesus has done for them, namely, he has made them *fully alive,* while their cup is running over with love, peace of mind, and perpetual bliss! Hence, thereâs a fire of love for Jesus that burns inside every born-again-Christianâs heart. So, your focus should not be diluted on secondary figures and causes. Rather, your attention must be concentrated on Christ alone, if you are to âbe transformed by the renewing of your mindsâ (Rom. 12.2). Thatâs because there is only *one* mediator (not two or three) between God and humanityâââthe man Christ Jesusâ (1 Tim. 2.5). Therefore, when religion tries to seduce you into chasing after idols, you must run the other way.
Is the Intercession of the Saints Blasphemy?
Dr. Edward Sriââtheologian, author, and prominent Catholic speaker who appears regularly on EWTNââwrote a paper entitled, âWhat Does the Bible Say about Praying to Saints?â The article concludes as follows:
How to Grow in Fellowship with the SaintsÂ
1. Pick a few saints that you want to get to know.Â
2. Read their writings and learn about their lives. Fill your mind with their stories and their example.Â
3. Talk to those saints, every day. Share your weaknesses with them and ask them to walk with you in your difficult times. Donât just ask them to pray for youâŚinvite them to be with you in every part of your life.
This borders on blasphemy. The point of Sriâs exhortation is that instead of developing a personal relationship with Jesus, we are encouraged to develop an intimate relationship with a beloved saint of our choosing. In other words, the aforesaid article is strongly urging people to devote themselves to someone other than Christ (in fact, a departed spirit) and to focus all their energies on the said saint. It is a clever, if not demonic, deception to remove our focus away from Christ under cloak of religion (2 Cor. 11.14):
And no wonder! Even Satan disguises
himself as an angel of light.
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