Not a very good article.
In the end, here’s what we have...
1. Straw man argument about being “dead”.
2. “Departed saints” is a better term.
3. The Bible does not encourage praying to departed saints.
4. The Bible does not show an example of praying or talking to a departed saint.
5. The Bible doesn’t command praying to departed saints.
6. There is no record that any Apostle or 1st century Christian prayed to a departed saint.
7. There is no evidence that the departed saints hear what you say to them.
8. Pretending a departed saint hears you doesn’t mean they do. It is an argument from silence.
9. If this was a powerful, wonderful Christian practice, why is it never mentioned in the Scriptures that are able to make a person of God mature/complete?
10. Cults love communicating with the dead.
Is the Bible the pillar of truth for a Christian?
Thank you for your correct, biblical, theologically-sound, historically accurate answer to the question. It is spiritually refreshing to hear the truth succinctly stated. Whether it will be believed and followed as opposed to following the “doctrines and traditions of men” on this subject is another matter all together. But if they reject the truth, that is not your fault because you have presented sound, biblical doctrine concerning the question.
“6. There is no record that any Apostle or 1st century Christian prayed to a departed saint.”
There was no New Testament (i.e. no Christian Bible) when the Apostles and the earliest Christians walked the earth. The Gospels were written sometime between 60 A.D. and 100 A.D. Therefore the earliest Chistians couldn’t have been practicing according to the precise dictates of the Gospels, letters of Paul, etc. Were they practicing incorrectly also?
Catholics believe that souls of the faithfully departed reside in heaven. We don’t worship saints or Mary, but we ask those souls to join us in prayer. The fact that it isn’t mentioned in the Bible is a doesn’t make it invalid.
Very foolish post. From the time of the early Church the intercession of saints have been a common practice. Indeed, the very miraculous cures itself attributable to the saints is a testament in itself. Once again we have low-information “Joel Osteen-type” Christians who flock to these posts to deny two millennia of irrefutable Catholic belief and tradition with sophomoric references to the Bible. The curse of the Reformation lives on.
Dead saints" is the terminology of many Protestants who argue against the Communion of Saints. The author used that so that those making that argument would recognize that he was answering that argument.
4. The Bible does not show an example of praying or talking to a departed saint
Elijah and Moses conversed with Jesus Christ at the Transfiguration. That is in the piece, too, but you have to read past the first couple of lines.