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The idea that they can intercede for us is not there.

There is no passage in Scripture which specifically says that Christians enjoying eternal life can intercede for Christians who are living in this world.

Of course, there is no passage in Scripture which says they cannot.

What Scripture does say is as follows:

(1) That the faithful can intercede for others - i.e. offer up prayers on their behalf. cf. Stephen's prayers for his persecutors, Abraham's prayer for Abimelech, etc., etc.

(2) Scripture also says that the saints in heaven offer up prayers to God. cf. Revelation 8.

(3) Scripture also says that the Church is one, cf. John 10 and

(4) that believers make up the body of Christ, cf. 1 Corinthians 12 and

(5) that the sign of Christian unity and identity is mutual love, cf. John 13, and

(6) that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, cf. Romans 8.

Given this Scriptural evidence, St. Jerome - a cherisher of the Bible if there ever was one - drew the inference that since (a) both the faithful departed and the living faithful are part of the same Church, (b) that they all had the ability to pray for one another in life, (c) that eternal life with Christ does not weaken or diminish the faculties of the faithful departed at all, but strengthens them and that (d) the saints in heaven pray then it makes eminent good sense that the faithful departed can listen and respond to our brotherly requests for intercession.

So Scripture does authorize intercessory prayer. It does assert that the saints pray. It does assert that the Church is one body.

The one piece of the puzzle that is not explicitly there is that the saints can hear us.

Catholics believe that the mutual love in Christ which Christians share with the glorified saints makes this feasible.

Others perhaps believe, with St. Jerome's interlocutor Vigilantius, that the saints in heaven are somehow less capable in their glory rather than more.

Catholics believe that this does not follow the logic of Scripture, which teaches that the glorified state of eternal life is superior in all respects to earthly life.

#75

Because we Catholics affirm the communion of saints we believe that we can address the saints regardless of whether they are physically dead - because they are actually more alive than we are.

#78

I know you think that. I know it is tradition for you to think that. The bible certainly states that the dead are not dead but the idea that they can hear our requests is not there. The idea that they can intercede for us is not there.

If 'the dead' are with Christ now, then, at the last trump, do they hurry back down to Earth, jump into their old bodies, then rise to meet the Lord in the air???

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13. Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
14. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
18. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Are you encouraged??

NIV John 11:11-15
11. After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
12. His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
13. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
15. and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

Lazarus was a believer: where was his soul for four days??

NIV Acts 7:59-60
59. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
60. Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

DIED

NIV Acts 13:35-36
35. So it is stated elsewhere: "`You will not let your Holy One see decay.'
36. "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.

DIED

NIV 1 Corinthians 11:30
30. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

DIED

NIV 1 Corinthians 15:6
6. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

DIED

NIV 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 51-52
20. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
23. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

It appears to me that the 'dead' are NOT in the presence of the Lord at this time.

51. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--
52. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

NIV Ephesians 5:13-14
13. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
14. for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

NIV Revelation 14:13
13. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."

(Unless you're a 'Saint' in Heaven, then you gotta spend a LOTTA time intercedeing for others!)

NIV Revelation 20:5
5. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.

WHAT!?!? They're not with the Lord???

NIV Revelation 20:12-15
12. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
13. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
14. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
15. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Believers non-believers

The bible certainly states that the dead are not dead but the idea that they can hear our requests is not there. The idea that they can intercede for us is not there.

In other words, when saints are alive, and on earth, they love their brothers and sisters in the Lord, and pray for them. When they die, and go to glory, they are in the presence of God-Who-is-love, who loves every one of his children so much He died for them ... so what do they do? Why, obviously, utterly united to Perfect Love personified, they stop loving their brothers and sisters on earth and stop praying for them.

Makes perfect sense. Not.

If that's where your reading of the Bible leads you, I think Catholic tradition has you beat. It's logical and self-consistent, because it holds that saints in the presence of Perfect Love love their brothers and sisters on earth more than they did on earth.

But the problem isn't in the Bible. It's in your reading of the Bible, because the Bible teaches that the saints in heaven intercede for those of us on earth. Read the first few chapters of Revelation again, because it's in there.