MamaB:
No simpletons are those whose post over the years demonstrate they are simpletons. There are posters here who disagree with me, but they can write well reasoned and well written post, with proper citations and not turn them into Dissertations with tons of cut and paste stuff.
In addition, they discuss the topic at hand, not take a post to another tangentially related topic. Which for the record, was exactly what some of those previous post did. I have no tolerance for that type of posting nor do I care to post and discuss with “individual posters” who post accordingly.
Posters who might disagree with Catholic teaching on point A or B is fine, but stick to the topic at hand and don’t assume that I will approach it from some narrow American Protestant perspective. I will not. Most FR Protestants here never tell you what they believe or even what Church they belong to nor why they believe what they believe or on what basis they believe it.
The Veneration of Relics and Honoring Deceased Saints goes back to the earliest part of the post Apostolic Church, 100 to 140AD, etc, as indicated by Saint Polycarp’s Martyrdom. He was a pupil of Saint John the Apostle. No Church Father or Church Council in period from 140 AD till before the Time of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli ever challenged it.
So lets be clear, you go with those guys interpretation, Catholics go with the earlier tradition of the Church. Both read the same NT, yet came to different views. I as a Catholic go with the Catholic understanding, and I have cited why. You go with a Protestant perspective for whatever reason you do, although I am not sure any Protestant that posts in this thread Knows why other than the fact that the Catholic and Orthodox do it, so it must be wrong. heck of a way to think and reason through life.
....”The Veneration of Relics and Honoring Deceased Saints goes back to the earliest part of the post Apostolic Church”....
So do pagan practices (within the Church)....which is where these were copied and or incorporated into the church to satisfy the heathen members who were brought into the fold....rather than correcting them as Paul clearly did for their foolish practices... the early church leadership included these practices.....and many others since then continue to be added or changed to something else within the catholic faith.