Christians often realise that through the justification of their faith, they themselves are, as Christians, saints, but without fully understanding, they take it to the extreme and attack the veneration of canonical saints. They claim that venerating saints downplays or denies the sainthood of all believers, and promotes venerated saints to a sort of ‘super-Christian’ status unachievable by most. This is, however, not the case. I view men like St. Augustine not as a downplaying of my own faith, but a success story of how my faith can build me! St. Polycarp does not make me feel inferior, or that I will never achieve a faith to match his own, but rather encourages me that I can have faith like that!
Many also criticise “praying to saints.” They say that to do so puts them in the place of God. But what do we know of the believers who have passed on? Do they not still pray to God? Or are they above all that because they are now in Heaven? We seek intercession from fellow believers still on the earth, and we honour them when they display excellence in faith. Do we forget that believers in Heaven are still very much alive and so much closer to God in their prayer? Are their deeds suddenly less honourable (or “venerable”) now that they are passed on? It is true that worship of anyone other than God is idolatry, but simply asking for prayer on one’s behalf or that of someone/something else, or showing respect to whom it may be due is not idolatrous, but instead a celebration of the eternal life and success we have in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment