If anyone of any denomination has trusted Christ entirely for their salvation, His grace, received by faith, I consider them to be Christians.
Now, I’ll point out the obvious... this thread isn’t a discussion about any of that, nor anything else you posted. It is a discussion about praying to departed saints.
With your extensive education, maybe you can address the thread topic, instead of posting like the Accuser of the Brethren??
Ok - just kidding. I'm not really a theologian.
Oh yeah, I've got a bunch of degrees in theology (including earned Ph.D.), and I was a missionary, and have taught and written extensively on theological subjects. But I have little interest in what I consider "peripheral" theological questions.
My concern regarding the issue of praying to the saints is that we must not attribute divine attributes to a man or woman. That is, we must not "pray to" Mary or a saint as if they were capable of directly answering our prayers. Petitions directed to Mary or the saints are only intended to request that they communicate our requests to God, who alone can answer them. As a Protestant I do not pray to Mary or the saints, based upon the verse: "There is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Thus, Jesus is my Mediator. However, I understand that Catholics consider Mary and the saints to be "mediators" - as in small "m" - not the Mediator, Christ Jesus. In addition, Catholics have a fuller understanding of the "communion of the saints" which allows for such communications (though being careful to avoid any occultic communications).