letters to surfers

Question : Does the Bible allow prayers to the Saints?

by Robert Brow   (www.brow.on.ca)



For centuries arguments have been given on both sides of that question, but I prefer to begin with God. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). And God loved the world before the world ever knew his name (John 3:16). When a child is born into a loving family, the mother might be addressed as "moo, " the grandmother as "nounou, " and the dog as "woowoo." But what counts is not the correctness of the names the child uses, but the love of the parents who understand the meaning of even a wordless cry.

That suggests there is no problem if some find it helpful to think of the Saints, or those they have loved, being interested in their personal struggles and needs. But it is always wrong to imagine we can use created beings to bypass the loving wisdom of God. It is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who in their total oneness love us totally. As Paul said "to him who is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we can ask or imagine, to him (not some created being) be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generation, forever and for ever. Amen.


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