The question of whether Christians should pray to saints is an important one. Some Christian traditions, such as Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, encourage asking deceased saints to intercede on a believer’s behalf. Other traditions, like Protestantism, do not believe prayer to saints is biblical.
Quick Answers
Here are some quick answers to key questions on this topic:
What does “pray to saints” mean?
Praying to saints means asking deceased Christians in heaven to pray to God on your behalf, similar to asking friends on earth to pray for you.
What Bible verses are used to support praying to saints?
Key verses used to support praying to saints include:
- Revelation 5:8 – Saints in heaven offering prayers to God
- Revelation 8:3-4 – An angel offering prayers to God
- Luke 16:19-31 – Lazarus and the rich man communicating between heaven and hell
What Bible verses question praying to saints?
Verses questioning the practice of praying to saints include:
- 1 Timothy 2:5 – Jesus is the sole mediator between God and mankind
- Matthew 6:9 – The Lord’s Prayer is directed to “Our Father” in heaven, not saints
- Acts 10:25-26 – Refusing worship of men
What are the main Catholic arguments for praying to saints?
The main Catholic arguments include:
- Saints are alive in heaven and can hear prayers directed to them
- God allows saints to intercede on behalf of those on earth
- Asking saints to pray for us is biblical and draws on the power of communal prayer
What are the main Protestant arguments against praying to saints?
The main Protestant arguments include:
- Prayer is to be directed to God alone
- There is no clear biblical evidence that saints can hear prayers addressed to them
- Praying to saints distracts from the unique mediatorship of Jesus
Understanding Intercessory Prayer
At the heart of the debate over praying to saints is the doctrine of intercessory prayer – the act of praying on behalf of another person. Intercessory prayer is a prominent concept in the Bible.
In 1 Timothy 2:1, Paul instructs:
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.
This shows believers ought to make intercessory prayers on behalf of others. Romans 8:26-27 describes the Holy Spirit interceding for believers:
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
If the Holy Spirit can intercede for people on earth, then many Christians argue deceased saints in heaven can also intercede through prayers.
However, the heart of the issue is who Christians on earth should direct their prayers to – God or deceased saints? The Bible instructs believers to present their requests to God:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)
With this biblical background on intercessory prayer, we can better evaluate the debate over praying to saints.
Biblical Support for Prayer to Saints
Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions argue the practice of praying to saints has firm biblical foundations. Here are some of the key biblical arguments supporters use:
1. Saints Offer Incense Representing Prayers
Revelation 5:8 describes elders in heaven offering incense before God’s throne, which represents the prayers of the saints:
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
This shows saints in heaven do intercede through prayer. If they can offer prayers to God on behalf of others, the reasoning goes, then believers on earth can ask deceased saints to pray to God on their behalf.
2. An Angel Offers Incense Representing Prayers
In Revelation 8:3-4, an angel standing at the golden altar of incense offers up incense representing the prayers of the saints:
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
This provides another example of someone in heaven interceding through prayer on behalf of those on earth.
3. Deceased Saints Are Alive to God
In Luke 20:38, Jesus declares:
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.
This suggests that saints who have died on earth are still alive in heaven. If deceased saints are alive to God, the reasoning goes, they must be able to communicate with and intercede for those on earth.
4. The Rich Man Communicates from Hell
In Luke 16:19-31, the parable of Lazarus and the rich man depicts someone communicating from hell:
So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
If deceased people can communicate from hell, the argument goes, surely the righteous can communicate from heaven.
These are some of the key biblical passages used to argue in favor of praying to saints. However, those opposed to the practice argue these verses are taken out of context.
Biblical Arguments Against Praying to Saints
While some verses may suggest deceased saints intercede through prayer, Protestant traditions opposed to praying to saints emphasize other passages that appear to prohibit the practice:
1. Jesus Christ is the Sole Mediator
1 Timothy 2:5 explicitly teaches that there is only one mediator between God and mankind – Jesus Christ:
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.
This clearly establishes Christ alone as the mediator. Praying to saints, in Protestant thinking, wrongly assigns mediator roles to others besides Jesus.
2. Prayer is Directed to God the Father
The Lord’s Prayer, given by Jesus in Matthew 6:9, instructs believers to address prayer specifically to “Our Father” in heaven:
This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”
Nowhere does the Lord’s Prayer or other prayers in the Bible show believers directly addressing deceased saints. Prayer is presented as being directed to God alone.
3. No Biblical Examples of Praying to Saints
Despite various saints and apostles being deceased by the time later books of the Bible were written, nowhere do we find examples of believers on earth praying to them in heaven. This lack of explicit biblical examples is a major objection to the practice.
4. Refusing Worship of Humans
When Cornelius fell at the apostle Peter’s feet in worship, Peter responded:
As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.” (Acts 10:25-26)
This episode demonstrates how even righteous believers like Peter rejected undue reverence and worship. Praying to saints in heaven, it is argued, wrongly attributes qualities to departed saints that should be reserved for God alone.
5. No Contact with Dead in Old Testament
Attempting to contact the dead was strictly forbidden in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 18:10-11). Though saints in heaven are not dead in an ultimate sense, opponents argue God still desires the prohibition on contacting the dead to apply in spirit after death.
These arguments emphasize that prayer is meant to be directed only to God the Father through Jesus Christ, not deceased saints.
Main Catholic Arguments for Prayer to Saints
Despite objections, the Catholic tradition maintains asking saints for their intercession is a biblical practice supported by both Scripture and early church history. Here are some of Catholicism’s main arguments in favor of praying to saints:
1. Saints are Alive in Heaven
As shown in verses like Luke 20:38, saints who have died are still alive with God in heaven. Saints are not cut off from interaction with the living church on earth but remain united with believers through Christ.
Hebrews 12:1 even describes deceased saints as a “great cloud of witnesses” encompassing present believers. Saints are alive and able to communicate with God in ways those on earth cannot.
2. God Allows Saints to Intercede
Though Christ alone reconciled mankind to God, Catholicism argues God allows saints to participate in Christ’s mediation by interceding for those who ask for their prayers. Asking saints to pray is no different than asking family or friends on earth for prayer.
Just as God allows intercession between fellow Christians on earth, God allows saints to intercede from heaven, though ultimately all intercession flows through Christ.
3. Honors Communal Nature of the Church
Praying to saints honors the interconnected, communal nature of the body of Christ described in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Saints on earth and in heaven are spiritually united as one family of faith.
Asking saints for support is simply an extension of members of a family asking prayers of each other, recognizing the spiritual strength that comes from mutual intercession within Christian community.
Far from distracting from Christ, honoring the saints inspires greater worship of the God who works through “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23).
Main Protestant Arguments Against Prayer to Saints
Protestant traditions remain unconvinced by Catholic biblical arguments for praying to saints. Here are some of the main Protestant counter-arguments:
1. Prayer Directed to God Alone
While saints are depicted as praying to God or offering incense representing prayer (Revelation 5:8), no verses show people on earth praying directly to deceased saints. Prayer is consistently presented as offered to God alone.
Though saints are alive in heaven, Protestants do not find conclusive evidence they can directly hear numerous prayers from earth. Only God is omniscient and capable of hearing all prayer requests.
2. No Clear Biblical Support
Neither clear commands to pray to saints nor unambiguous examples of the first Christians doing so exist in Scripture. Given the Bible’s warnings against necromancy, Protestants argue clearer biblical support would be expected for such a significant practice.
The burden of proof remains on those who advocate praying to saints to show unambiguous and didactic biblical evidence for the practice.
3. Risk of Idolatry and Confusion
Though asking saints to pray for us does not mean they are worshiped in place of God, Protestant traditions fear praying to saints can easily morph into idolatry in practice. Honoring departed Christians can subtly cross the line into revering them too highly.
The abundance of heavenly intercessors in saintly prayers also complicates the central truth that Christ alone intercedes between God and man. Invoking departed saints too freely risks obscuring the unique Sonship and mediatorship of Jesus.
These concerns lead most Protestant traditions to advocate for prayer to God alone as the safest approach, even if praying to saints is theoretically permissible.
Practical Implications
The question of whether believers should pray to saints has significant practical implications, including:
Types of Prayers Offered
Catholics and Orthodox believers pray a diverse range of prayers to saints, while Protestants only pray to God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Depiction of Saints in Churches
Statues and icons of saints feature prominently in Catholic and Orthodox church buildings as objects of veneration, while Protestant church buildings generally lack such depictions.
Saints’ Feast Days
Catholics and Orthodox celebrate a liturgical calendar full of feast days remembering deceased saints, unlike most Protestant traditions.
Church Decoration
Images, mosaics, paintings, and stained glass of saints adorn many Catholic and Orthodox churches as reminders of heavenly saints, while Protestant church art focuses more exclusively on biblical scenes.
Thus, understanding each tradition’s perspective on praying to saints helps explain many visible differences in their spiritual practices and expressions.
Conclusion
The question of whether believers should pray to saints has long divided Christian traditions. Those advocating praying to saints emphasize biblical hints of heavenly intercession, God’s allowance of interaction between saints, and the communal nature of prayer. Opponents see far more biblical support for directing prayer to God alone and fear idolatry and obscuring Christ’s unique mediator role. Disagreements will likely continue on this theological point.
Yet all faithful Christians ultimately agree that continual prayer is essential, whether offered directly to God or through fellow believers in heaven and on earth. As Christ’s church, all Christians find unity in the call to pray without ceasing, remembering Paul’s instruction to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers” (Ephesians 6:18).
