In my previous article, "Is Eliphaz good or bad?", we have quoted Atty. Marwil Llasos his statement asserting that Eliphaz is an unrighteous person. We will now quote the whole paragraph of that statement, not to comment about Eliphaz, but to debunk his argument of praying to saints. Here is the whole paragraph:
Praying to a saint or an angel is not madness. It is piety in accordance with Scripture. A servant of God, Job practiced what we Catholics call the “invocation of saints.” Invocation means to “call.” We call on the angels and saints – and so did the righteous Job. Job’s unrighteous friend Eliphaz taunted him for calling on the saints, saying: “Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?” (Job 5:1). Unlike his friend, Job was a righteous and honest man who shunned evil (Job 1:1) yet, he was humble enough to call on the saints (in some translations, “holy ones”). Who are these “holy ones” that Job called for help? Zechariah 14:5 of the Amplified Bible identifies the holy ones as the “saints and angels” of God; “And God shall come and all the holy ones [saints and angels] with Him” (Zech. 14:5, Amp.). True enough, “born again” Christians are like Eliphaz the Temanite who taunt Catholics, who like Job, call on the angels and saints.
I also noted previously that Atty. Llasos identified Eliphaz as a Born Again Christian for not praying to saints. According to the above argument, Job who is righteous, was criticized by Eliphaz for calling on the saints and angels, which are called holy ones.
Let's begin the wake up call for Atty. Llasos from this daydreaming. First, bear in mind that the religious practice we are refuting, which the Roman Catholics are defending, is praying to people who are considered saints and are not alive on Earth. Roman Catholics sometimes expound the word pray to mean ask or request which people do everyday with other people. The argument then goes like this, "Well, praying to saints is just like talking to a friend. You anti-Catholics also talk to your friends everyday." When this happens, you can say something like, "Well, talking to a friend who is alive is not the same a talking to someone who is dead which is what you're doing."
Second,the term "saint" can also pertain to the righteous people who are still alive on Earth. However, just because we read from the Bible the word saint, it does not necessarily follow it's the same definition as with how Roman Catholics would impose it (a righteous person who is already dead).
Third, while we acknowledge instances in the Bible where people actually talked to angels, it is not the same thing as with Roman Catholics do when they "pray" to dead saints. In the Bible angels appear before people whenever God want to deliver a message. Both the human and the angel talk and listen audibly. But in the Bible, there is no instance wherein a righteous person on Earth attempts to call upon an angel or saint in Heaven and pray to that angel; let alone a dead saint.
Let's now deal with the proof text cited by Atty. Llasos which is in Job 5:1. This is a reverse application wherein an alleged bad guy (Eliphaz) condemns a practice of a good guy (Job). Since we don't side with the bad guy, it follows that whatever the bad guy in the Bible hates, the good guy should love. We have already tackled above how Roman Catholics confuse their opponents with the words pray and saints. Like I said, the term "saints" or "holy ones" could also pertain to the righteous people who are alive on Earth." Therefore, Atty. Llasos' private interpretation of Job 5:1 (there is no official/ex-cathedra interpretation of Job 5:1) is so misleading.
Here's another thing you should consider, read 1st Samuel 28:3 to 19. The prophet Samuel was already dead. The Philistines are about to do battle against the Israelites. King Saul, who was once righteous, prayed to God for help. But God did not answer Saul, neither by dreams nor prophets. So what did Saul do? He consulted a medium who can contact the dead because he wants to talk to Samuel. It's ironic that Saul once cut off every medium and spiritist from the land but now he consulted one.
Read verse 15: “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”
From the text what does this tell us? The Jews don't pray to their dead prophets or holy ones like how the Roman Catholics pray to dead saints. In order for them to communicate with the spirit of the dead, the Jews would have to resort to doing a forbidden practice of medium. The righteous Jews pray only to God. If the Jews would like to seek help from saints or holy ones, such people pertain to those who are alive on Earth.
Some may respond, "Well, Saul became unrighteous that's why God is ignoring him. His unrighteousness led him to become desperate and went to a medium." This is wishful thinking. The mere fact he resorted to mediums only shows that there is no acceptable communication with the dead. If you are praying to a human saint that is no longer alive on Earth, that's makes you a medium.
Roman Catholics are desperate to justify their practice by arguing that the Bible does not say we should pray to God only. But the Bible does not cite any acceptable instances that the people who are alive on Earth are praying to dead saints. Some are also desperate to cite the transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:1-11) wherein Christ talked with Moses and Elijah as proof that praying to dead saints is justifiable. But a smarter person would know that this is far away from praying as one will wonder why Christ would seek the intercession of Moses and Elijah when he outranks both of them.
When the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He told them this:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6-7
Christ did not mention praying to saints and angels, no one ever did.
Praying to a saint or an angel is not madness. It is piety in accordance with Scripture. A servant of God, Job practiced what we Catholics call the “invocation of saints.” Invocation means to “call.” We call on the angels and saints – and so did the righteous Job. Job’s unrighteous friend Eliphaz taunted him for calling on the saints, saying: “Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?” (Job 5:1). Unlike his friend, Job was a righteous and honest man who shunned evil (Job 1:1) yet, he was humble enough to call on the saints (in some translations, “holy ones”). Who are these “holy ones” that Job called for help? Zechariah 14:5 of the Amplified Bible identifies the holy ones as the “saints and angels” of God; “And God shall come and all the holy ones [saints and angels] with Him” (Zech. 14:5, Amp.). True enough, “born again” Christians are like Eliphaz the Temanite who taunt Catholics, who like Job, call on the angels and saints.
I also noted previously that Atty. Llasos identified Eliphaz as a Born Again Christian for not praying to saints. According to the above argument, Job who is righteous, was criticized by Eliphaz for calling on the saints and angels, which are called holy ones.
Let's begin the wake up call for Atty. Llasos from this daydreaming. First, bear in mind that the religious practice we are refuting, which the Roman Catholics are defending, is praying to people who are considered saints and are not alive on Earth. Roman Catholics sometimes expound the word pray to mean ask or request which people do everyday with other people. The argument then goes like this, "Well, praying to saints is just like talking to a friend. You anti-Catholics also talk to your friends everyday." When this happens, you can say something like, "Well, talking to a friend who is alive is not the same a talking to someone who is dead which is what you're doing."
Second,the term "saint" can also pertain to the righteous people who are still alive on Earth. However, just because we read from the Bible the word saint, it does not necessarily follow it's the same definition as with how Roman Catholics would impose it (a righteous person who is already dead).
Third, while we acknowledge instances in the Bible where people actually talked to angels, it is not the same thing as with Roman Catholics do when they "pray" to dead saints. In the Bible angels appear before people whenever God want to deliver a message. Both the human and the angel talk and listen audibly. But in the Bible, there is no instance wherein a righteous person on Earth attempts to call upon an angel or saint in Heaven and pray to that angel; let alone a dead saint.
Let's now deal with the proof text cited by Atty. Llasos which is in Job 5:1. This is a reverse application wherein an alleged bad guy (Eliphaz) condemns a practice of a good guy (Job). Since we don't side with the bad guy, it follows that whatever the bad guy in the Bible hates, the good guy should love. We have already tackled above how Roman Catholics confuse their opponents with the words pray and saints. Like I said, the term "saints" or "holy ones" could also pertain to the righteous people who are alive on Earth." Therefore, Atty. Llasos' private interpretation of Job 5:1 (there is no official/ex-cathedra interpretation of Job 5:1) is so misleading.
Here's another thing you should consider, read 1st Samuel 28:3 to 19. The prophet Samuel was already dead. The Philistines are about to do battle against the Israelites. King Saul, who was once righteous, prayed to God for help. But God did not answer Saul, neither by dreams nor prophets. So what did Saul do? He consulted a medium who can contact the dead because he wants to talk to Samuel. It's ironic that Saul once cut off every medium and spiritist from the land but now he consulted one.
Read verse 15: “I am in great distress,” Saul said. “The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.”
From the text what does this tell us? The Jews don't pray to their dead prophets or holy ones like how the Roman Catholics pray to dead saints. In order for them to communicate with the spirit of the dead, the Jews would have to resort to doing a forbidden practice of medium. The righteous Jews pray only to God. If the Jews would like to seek help from saints or holy ones, such people pertain to those who are alive on Earth.
Some may respond, "Well, Saul became unrighteous that's why God is ignoring him. His unrighteousness led him to become desperate and went to a medium." This is wishful thinking. The mere fact he resorted to mediums only shows that there is no acceptable communication with the dead. If you are praying to a human saint that is no longer alive on Earth, that's makes you a medium.
Roman Catholics are desperate to justify their practice by arguing that the Bible does not say we should pray to God only. But the Bible does not cite any acceptable instances that the people who are alive on Earth are praying to dead saints. Some are also desperate to cite the transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:1-11) wherein Christ talked with Moses and Elijah as proof that praying to dead saints is justifiable. But a smarter person would know that this is far away from praying as one will wonder why Christ would seek the intercession of Moses and Elijah when he outranks both of them.
When the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He told them this:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6-7
Christ did not mention praying to saints and angels, no one ever did.
Good job, bro. But I find this particular statement a bit funny:
ReplyDeleteThe Philippines are about to do battle against the Israelites.
Did you write Philippines instead of Philistines on purpose? Hohoho :D
This what happens when you prepare an article with excitement. :)
ReplyDelete