CAN WE PRAY TO THE SAINTS?
CAN WE PRAY TO THE SAINTS? Since the third century, invocation of defunct Christians considered to be ‘saints’ and in God’s presence, has been practiced in Christendom, and eventually been accepted as established doctrine by all traditional branches of Christianity around the world. Even though the Bible expressly forbids to contact the dead, under any circumstance or form (Deuteronomy 18:9-14), and only God has the power to listen to prayers passing the barrier of death and from multiple people at the same time, this practiced filtered into Christianity from the Hellenic mind of the gentile converts, as well as other practices like the veneration of images and the cult of angels (Colossians 2:18-19; Ephesians 4:17). COMMUNION OF SAINTS The biblical doctrine of Communion of Saints (John 17:21; 1Thessalonians 5:11; James 5:16) is invoked to justify this erroneous practiced, arguing that since the Christians dead are in God’s presence, they can pray for us, and that because the