Passages that Catholic apologists will use to prove you can pray to saints. Catholicism is so easy to debunk with scripture. If you are going to defend Catholicism, you have to be a very smart guy, and have to squeeze and twist the scriptures. We condemn praying to saints, because we firstly, we condemn praying to man. Secondly, we believe Christ is the ONLY intercessor of our prayers. Because we believe in this, there is no way that man can intercede.
To debunk Christian arguments, Catholic apologists have to find verses to cancel out the above two arguments.
Exodus 10:17 “Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.”
Pharaoh was praying to Moses?! That’s not what it means! But because of that, Catholic apologists use this logic to prove that one can pray to man.
In this verse, it shows a beseeching or pleading of man in a physical world. Everybody does that! For example, “I pray thee have me excused”, everyone does that in a physical world. We condemn when you pray to someone in a spirit world, when beseeching someone in the spirit world. The Catholics are ignoring this part of the argument. When you are making a request or a prayer to someone in the spirit world, that’s something dangerous! You are beseeching and pleading to other kinds of spirits out there. Christians pray only to God in the spirit world.
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
This is a powerful verse that we use to condemn praying to saints, that there’s only one person mediating between God and men, and that’s Jesus Christ. There’s only one person interceding.
1 Timothy 2:1 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”
Catholic apologists use this verse to prove their point. But this verse shows that saints are NOT interceding prayers, they are interceding FOR us, by praying. It is not that we are praying to them, they are praying FOR us.
We do that too as Christians, when we make requests to a pastor or fellow brethren to pray FOR us. One would not be going down on one’s knees in front of another pastor or brethren to intercede in prayer. Only one person intercedes in prayer, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ. A clever twist of words that the Catholic apologist does here.
Revelation 5:9 “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;”
Revelation 8:3-4 “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”
You will notice right here that the saints are holding these prayers and delivering it to God. This is the Catholic logic. Catholics argue that they are not actually praying to saints, but the saints take those prayers, and saint so-and-so takes care of that prayer and delivers it to God.
Revelation 5:8 “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.”
Notice that these saints are holding the prayers of people, but these passages are not referring to Christians praying to saints. It is the opposite. It is the saints praying to God, not people praying to saints. These saints are referring to those on earth, praying to God for vengeance on the world. Those prayers are simply held by the angels and 24 elders to dump on the altar for God’s vengeance to be poured out on the world.
Revelation 6:9-10 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”
These saints were praying to God, and the saints simply held them on the altars.
Revelation 8:4 “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”
This is going on in the tribulation period, this is not happening every day. During this tribulation time period, tribulation saints on earth are praying to the Lord, and the angel and 24 elders would hold these prayers, and dump it on the altar, after which the earth would be judge. This is a one-time event happening in the Great Tribulation, for vengeance on their blood for being persecuted by the Antichrist. When they were praying, they were praying to God, NOT to saint so-and-so to take care of them. All they were doing was accumulating all the prayers crying for vengeance. God would hold these prayers and finally dump it on the altar, for His wrath to be poured out and tribulation events are called “wrath”.
To individuals who do not know the doctrines in Revelation or dispensationalism, one would get caught very easily by this teaching. These are the verses used by trained Catholic apologists.