Answering the Five Objections to the Communion of Saints

It's the month of October.  And in the run-up to Halloween I wanted to cover some different aspects of what is called "the Communion of Saints".  Last time I talked about praying for the deceased.

Today I wanted to discuss a practice which is common to Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, but is rejected by certain other Christians.  I'm referring, of course, to asking for the prayerful intercession of our blessed friends in Heaven.

All Christians agree we are supposed to pray for one another and ask for one another's prayers.  This builds up the community in mutual affection and can bring about powerful results.

In Catholic and Orthodox circles, we believe this role of intercessory prayer continues even after a person goes to be with God in Heaven.  We believe these people, whom we call "the Saints", can receive our prayer requests  - and indeed do pray for us in the presence of God.

There are five boilerplate objections to this practice. Let’s go through them:

Praying for the Dead?

A long while ago I was reading an article about the death of Harold Camping - the infamous predictor of the end times.  I left a comment on the article saying: "He was a strange and confused man, but we should pray that he finds rest with the Lord."

The reaction I got from the rest of the Christian audience was  .... unexpected.

Praying for the dead is a completely normal thing within Catholic circles, but is considered by many others to be bizarre and possibly heretical.  So what unfolded in that combox was a long, somewhat exasperating exchange in which I tried to explain the concept.

Why would one pray for the dead?

Christianity and Sexism: The New Testament

In the first part of this series we looked at sexism in the Old Testament. You can find that >here<.
Today we move onto the New Testament.

Short Answer: What About Bad Popes?

Dear Apologist, How do I respond to questions about the bad Popes in our history?

One theme that runs through the whole Bible is that God does great works despite using very poor materials. This served as a sign that it was truly God at work.

Christianity and Sexism: The Old Testament

A good friend of mine is a Cru missionary in Michigan.  He said the biggest objection he gets from the folks is that the Christian faith is bigoted and sexist by its very nature.

Today I wanted to look at the first of those – sexism.  Specifically sexism in the Old Testament.  Does the legacy which Christianity inherits from the Old Testament bind it to sexism in the present day?

Let’s dive in.

Judging the Pharisee and "I'm a Christian, but..."

Today I wanted to reflect on a viral video I saw and my favorite parable.

Papal Infallibility and Paul's Rebuke

Pope Francis’ upcoming visit has me in the mood to write about Pope related stuff.  Today I wanted to talk about Papal Infallibility and the most common argument against it.

Let’s dive in!