JamesG said:
Communion of the Saints
…But from what I see so far, the Biblical writers did not allude to this idea in any way that corresponds to how it has been historically understood since the fourth century.
Again, James, when discussing the development of doctrine, one must explore within the paradigm of the Church, and clearly, that paradigm was not restricted to “Scriptures aloneâ€. Thus, one misses the mark by looking at the Bible alone to locate a full exposition for a particular doctrine and proclaiming it a “tradition of men†because it is not fully and explicitly stated. That is being anachronistic.
Before I continue, I would like to remind you that the first Christians were Jews. Men like Paul had a high regard for oral tradition – otherwise, Paul never would have told the Thessalonians, for example, to maintain it. KEEP it. And where did this mindset arise from? Oral tradition, to the Jew, came from Moses, given at Mt. Sinai, and passed down, eventually, to the zugot and onto the people by oral transmission. This transmission was FORBIDDEN to be written down until the third century AD. Thus, during the time of the NT and Jesus, the background was that oral tradition was ENTIRELY PART of the revelation God has given to mankind. Does this sound familiar? Should it surprise you that Catholicism has the same viewpoint towards Apostolic Tradition – that it comes from God and carries a certain authority?
Now, with that diversion and background, we can continue to more evenly explore HOW the Church came to accept the idea of intercessory prayers to “dead†saints. Indeed, the background is drawn from Scriptures, implicitly and through a particular interpretation of the Scriptures and teachings given by the Apostles. If you desire, I could cite specific Scriptures.
JamesG said:
Nevertheless, an argument from silence only leads us to silence.
Again, your paradigm, Scriptures alone, will provide a stumbling block. However, we can see some building blocks that helped to erect this belief in the first Christians (which we know was part of Church belief as early as the first century, judging by non-canonical writings and architectural evidence.
I would like to first begin by laying out some basic principles that lead to the concept, then, I would like to attempt to lay out the doctrinal development preceding the 4th century. If you have disagreements with any of the basic Scriptural principles that lead us to see the concept, let me know.
1. God is really and truly in His works, all of them, but most especially, in His saints. God is to be worshiped wherever we find Him. The only point here is to remember that God is found in the work, not the work abstracted.
2. The saints’ free cooperation with God’s Will merits OUR honor. If we lose sight of the ability of the creature to act and to merit, we fall into pantheism… Nor should we make the Protestant error of denying secondary causes, prevalent among those who think man has no free will.
3. The saints are perfectly united with God – here, and most especially, in heaven. Regeneration is completed in heaven, and thus, our unity with the Blessed Trinity is at its greatest there.
4. This leads us to recalling that the will of God is that all men become transformed according to the image of His Son, since humanity is destined, in germ form, to the deification mentioned by Peter.
5. The honor given to saints naturally rebounds to God, since without God’s graces, no one can do good. Thus, Mary’s personal merit is solely found in her voluntary “yesâ€, by the aid of divine grace, with divine grace. We know that God crowns His own gifts, and in rewarding them, He Himself honors Mary. Thus, if God honors the saints, we should also.
6. The question “why not pray to God directly†begs the question “why pray to God at allâ€, since He knows what we need and desire before we even ask, knowing BETTER what we need and desire… Thus, the same principle that justifies prayers to God justifies prayers to the saints (living or dead) to intercede for us.
7. This saintly intercession is part of God’s plan, His desire. Intercessionary prayers rests on the principle that God uses, in completing or perfecting His works, the ministry of a second, created cause. This is quite clear throughout the Bible via prophets, apostles, and priests through whom God works through for the purpose of sanctification.
8. Continuing on, this leads to the principle that the saints are concerned about us and can hear us. God sends secondary agents, angels, men, etc., because He is good and delights in communicating Himself as far as He is communicable to His creatures, to make them as nearly like Himself as creatures can be like their Creator. As God delights to honor His creatures by employing them in His service, it follows that He must also delight to hear and respond to THEIR intercessions for their brethren. This associates them with Him in His work of grace. And naturally, the more one loves God, the more one loves His brothers.
9. Time and space are only relations, and the saints in glory are not subject to them. They are united with God and, in their union with God, are near unto every one of us by a mystical union.
Taken from a re-visitation of a book called “Saint Worshipâ€, by Orestes Brownson, written in the 19th century (he explains what “worship†he is talking about in the book, so don’t be offended by the title!)
These are biblical principles that all lead to the idea of intercessory prayers from saints. This list is not all inclusive, but certainly, you can see that the Scriptures support the preceding principles individually.
My next post will be on historical development...
Regards
