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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cPlease Hit \u2018Subscribe\u2019\u201d!<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>If you have received benefit from this or any of my other 4,600+ articles, please follow this blog by signing up (with your email address) on the sidebar to the right (you may have to scroll down a bit), above where there is an icon bar, \u201cSign Me Up!\u201d: to receive notice when I post a new blog article. This is the equivalent of subscribing to a\u00a0YouTube<\/em>\u00a0channel. Please also consider\u00a0following me on Twitter \/ X<\/a>\u00a0and purchasing\u00a0one or more of my 55 books<\/a>. All of this helps me get more exposure, and (however little!) more income for my full-time apologetics work. Thanks so much and happy reading!<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I am responding to the book, Plain Reasons Against Joining the Church of Rome<\/em> <\/a>(London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1880), by Richard Frederick Littledale<\/a> (1833-1890), an Anglo-Irish clergyman and prolific author. He received LL.B. and LL.D. degrees from Trinity College Dublin, in 1862, and a D.C.L. from Oxford. He was renowned as a father confessor, and next to Edward Pusey<\/a> is said to have heard more confessions than any other priest of the church of England. His Plain Reasons Against Joining the Church of Rome,<\/i> a volume of which thirty-six thousand copies were issued in 1880 and following years, evoked replies from the Rev. W. Horsfall, the Rev. A. Mills, Oxoniensis, and H. I. D. Ryder<\/a>. I\u2019ll be addressing various irrational arguments against intercession of saints, found in this book on pages 28-60. His words will be in blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n the whole practice of the Invocation of Saints is founded on pure guesswork<\/em>. Not one syllable can be discovered in the Old or New Testament which gives the least ground or suggestion of it; God has never been pleased to reveal it, . . .<\/span> (p. 31)<\/p>\n The best disproof of this claim is in the story of the rich man and Lazarus:<\/p>\n Luke 16:24<\/strong>\u00a0(RSV) And he called out, \u2018Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz\u2019arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the Abraham of the Bible: long dead by that time, being asked to do something by a \u201crich man\u201d (16:19, 22). His answer was, in effect, \u201cno\u201d (16:25-26). Thus failing in that request, he prays to him again for something else:<\/p>\n Luke 16:27-28<\/strong>\u00a0And he said, \u2018Then I beg you, father [KJV: \u201cI pray thee therefore, father\u201d], to send him to my father\u2019s house, [28] for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n His request is again declined (16:29). So, like any good self-respecting Jew (Moses even \u201cnegotiated\u201d with God), he argues with Abraham (16:30). But Abraham states again that his request is futile (16:31). Abraham is asked to \u201csend\u201d a dead man to appear to the rich man\u2019s brothers, in order for them to avoid damnation (yet another [potential] instance of dead men \u2014 like the prophet Samuel to Saul \u2014 communicating to those on the earth). Abraham doesn\u2019t deny that he is able to potentially send Lazarus<\/em>\u00a0to do such a thing; he only denies that it would\u00a0work<\/em>, or that it is\u00a0necessary<\/em>\u00a0(by the logic of \u201cif they don\u2019t respond to greater<\/em> factor x<\/em>, nor will they to lesser<\/em> factor y<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n And this is all told, remember, by our Lord Jesus. It is disputed whether it is a parable or not (several textual factors suggest that it is\u00a0not<\/em>; e.g., parables do not use proper names), but even if it is<\/em>, it nevertheless cannot contain things that are untrue, lest Jesus be guilty of leading people into heresy by means of false illustrations or analogies within His common teaching tool: the parable. Another common retort is that this is a person after death talking to another dead man. But the usual Protestant view is that no one can possibly ever ask any dead person to intercede. That would include other dead men. They\u2019re still doing what we are told is an utterly impermissible act. Jesus would thus be teaching false theology, according to this viewpoint.<\/p>\n Are there any other biblical indications of contact with a dead person? Yes:<\/p>\n Acts 9:40 <\/strong>But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, \u201cTabitha, rise.\u201d And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This shows two things (both absolutely anathema to almost all Protestants):<\/p>\n 1) St. Peter prayed for the dead (9:40).<\/p>\n 2) St. Peter communicated to a dead person (9:40: \u201cTabitha, rise.\u201d): expressly against what Protestants claim Scripture never allows.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And of course, in this, Peter was only following the lead and example and command of His Lord Jesus, Who said that His disciples would raise the dead, just as He did. And when Jesus raised Lazarus, He, too, talked to a dead man: \u201cLazarus, come out\u201d (Jn 11:43). And He did so again in the case of the son of the widow of Nain, whom He raised from the dead (Lk 7:11-15): \u201cAnd he said, \u2018Young man, I say to you, arise.\u2019\u201d Therefore, Jesus is again exposed as a false teacher \u2014 having given three bad examples of false theology and practice \u2014 , therefore, not God, etc., etc. That\u2019s the logical reduction or reductio ad absuurdum<\/em>, if we are to believe Protestants in this respect. It\u2019s always best to go with Jesus and the Bible.<\/p>\n It is at best a mere conjecture that the Saints do know what passes on earth, and can hear and join in the prayers of the faithful. It may<\/em> be so, but God has not chosen to make it known to us, . . .<\/span> (pp. 31-32)<\/p>\n The word for \u201cwitnesses\u201d is the Greek word martus<\/i>, from which is derived the English word \u201cmartyr.\u201d<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament\u00a0<\/i>(Joseph H. Thayer, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 4th ed., 1977; orig. 1901, 392) defines it \u2014 as used in this verse \u2014 as follows: \u201cOne who is a spectator of anything, e.g. of a contest, Heb 12:1.\u201d<\/p>\n [Strong\u2019s word #3144; similar usages cited by Thayer: Lk 24:48; Acts 1:8; 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39; 13:31; 26:16; 1 Pet 5:1 \u2013 the sense is indisputable in these other verses]<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0Word Studies in the New Testament<\/i>\u00a0(Marvin R. Vincent, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1980; orig. 1887; vol. 4, 536), another standard Protestant language source, comments on this verse as follows:<\/p>\n \u2018Witnesses\u2019 does not mean\u00a0spectators,\u00a0<\/i>but those who have borne witness to the truth, as those enumerated in chapter 11. Yet the idea of spectators is implied, and is really the principal idea. The writer\u2019s picture is that of an arena in which the Christians whom he addresses are contending in a race, while the vast host of the heroes of faith who, after having borne witness to the truth, have entered into their heavenly rest, watches the contest from the encircling tiers of the arena, compassing and overhanging it like a cloud, filled with lively interest and sympathy, and lending heavenly aid.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n [Note that the notion of \u201cspectators\u201d is the primary metaphor \u2014 the arena \u2014 so that\u00a0both<\/i>\u00a0meanings: that of spectators and witnesses in the sense of\u00a0example<\/i>\u00a0are present. Neither can be ruled out]<\/p>\n 4)\u00a0Theological Dictionary of the New Testament<\/i>, (ed. Gerhard Kittel & Gerhard Friedrich; tr. and abridged by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1985; 567), an impeccable and widely-used linguistic (non-Catholic) source, states: \u201cIn Heb. 12:1 the witnesses watching the race seem to be confessing witnesses (cf. 11:2), but this does not exclude the element of factual witness.\u201d<\/p>\n So our four non-Catholic language references all confirm that the element of \u201cspectatorship,\u201d which lends itself to the Catholic notion of communion of saints, where saints in heaven are aware of, and observe events on earth; strongly indicated by Hebrews 12:1, and not able to be ruled out by any means, on the basis of a doctrinal bias.<\/p>\n Moreover, if dead saints and angels cannot ever hear our prayers, what are both of them doing<\/em> with their prayers in heaven?:<\/p>\n Revelation 5:8<\/strong> And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;<\/p>\n Revelation 8:3-4<\/strong> And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; [4] and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n God certainly did<\/em> make these things \u201cknown to us.\u201d<\/span> But the problem is that some folks just don\u2019t want to hear<\/em> what God says (if they are already inclined to disagree with it). That\u2019s why Jesus said, \u201cHe who has ears to hear, let him hear\u201d (Mt 11:15). Protestants read passages like these, just as we do, but they don\u2019t \u201cregister\u201d because they don\u2019t like<\/em> the \u201cCatholic\u201d implications of them. They\u2019re \u201cCatholic verses\u201d.<\/a>\u00a0 And Protestants who reject these passages are being insufficiently biblical or respectful of God\u2019s inspired revelation. It\u2019s \u201cpick-and-choose theology.\u201d<\/p>\n we find the first germs of the practice at the close of the fourth century (p. 34)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Not so, since Jesus and Peter taught and practiced it in the Bible some 350 years earlier, as I have already proven.<\/p>\n there is a very suspicious fact which meets us at the outset of the inquiry as to the actual Roman practice, as distinguished from any fine spun theories in books, namely, that many Roman Catechisms omit the Second Commandment, while no Roman catechism teaches that there is either danger or sin in any making or using of images for religious honour, short of actual paganism<\/span> (p. 37)<\/p>\n See: Ten Commandments: Changed by Catholics to Uphold Idolatry?<\/a> [9-4-04].<\/p>\n Now, when a special picture or image is no longer regarded as a mere historical memorial, on an exact level of value for that purpose with every other one representing the same person or event, but as endued with supernatural powers, and to be reverenced accordingly, that is idolatry in the strictest sense<\/span> (p. 39)<\/p>\n I guess that takes out the bronze serpent: expressly sanctioned and commanded to be made and used by God Himself:<\/p>\n Numbers 21:7-9<\/strong> And the people came to Moses, and said, \u201cWe have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.\u201d So Moses prayed for the people. [8] And the LORD said to Moses, \u201cMake a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.\u201d [9] So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sounds like \u201csupernatural powers\u201d<\/span> to me: if you are bitten by a poisonous snake, you look at the bronze serpent and get healed . . .<\/p>\n the Decalogue, which not merely says of images, \u201cThou shalt not bow down<\/em> to them,\u201d but adds, \u201cnor serve<\/em> them,\u201d<\/span> (p. 42)<\/p>\n The ancient Hebrews did both to two different images of God Himself:<\/p>\n Exodus 33:10<\/strong>\u00a0 And when all the people\u00a0saw<\/em>\u00a0the pillar of cloud standing at the door of the tent,\u00a0all the people would rise up and worship<\/em>, every man at his tent door.<\/p>\n 2 Chronicles 7:1-4<\/strong>\u00a0When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices,\u00a0and the glory of the LORD<\/em>\u00a0filled the temple. [2] And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD\u2019s house. [3] When all the children of Israel\u00a0saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD\u00a0<\/em>upon the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the earth on the pavement, and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, \u201cFor he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever.\u201d [4] Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Moses had already worshiped God in the burning bush on Mt. Sinai (Ex 3:2-6). It was not only fire, but also called an \u201cangel of the Lord\u201d (Ex 3:2), yet also \u201cGod\u201d (3:4, 6, 11, 13-16, 18; 4:5, 7-8) and \u201cthe LORD\u201d (3:7, 16, 18; 4:2, 4-6, 10-11, 14) interchangeably. The wandering Hebrews worshiped Him in the pillars of fire and cloud: all images of God, by God\u2019s own design. Therefore, not all images of God are idolatrous.<\/p>\n the falsely-styled Seventh General Council was held at Nicaea in 787, which gave the first formal authorization to the worship of images,<\/span> (p. 47)<\/p>\n Dr. Littledale is about 2050 years off, since worship of God through images occurred in Moses\u2019 time, and he lived, by my best estimate, from c. 1340 or 1330 to c. 1220 or 1210 B.C. It was continuing in Solomon\u2019s time, about 250 years later.<\/p>\n Image-worship, then, stands condemned by Holy Scripture<\/span> (p. 48)<\/p>\n If Dr. Littledale said that to Moses and Joshua and Solomon if and when he got to heaven, I would love to hear that<\/em> exchange . . .<\/p>\n But notwithstanding this, it is impossible to find any serious warning against this danger and sin [making images idols], much less any frank prohibition and condemnation of it, in any popular Roman catechism or manual of doctrine. Excuses and quasi-arguments sometimes do occur, indeed, against Protestant charges, but they seem half-hearted and insincere in their deprecation.<\/span> (pp. 48-49)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dr. Littledale is writing in 1880. In 1885, the famous Baltimore Catechism<\/em> #3<\/a> was published. It contained the following warnings:<\/p>\n 222. Do we honor Christ and the saints when we pray before the crucifix, relics, and sacred images?<\/p>\n We honor Christ and the saints when we pray before the crucifix, relics, and sacred images because we honor the persons they represent; we adore Christ and venerate the saints.<\/p>\n 223. Do we pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints?<\/p>\n We do not pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints, but to the persons they represent. (a) In venerating relics, statues, and pictures of Our Lord and the saints we must not believe that any divine power resides in them, nor should we put our trust in them as though they had the power of to bestow favors. We place our trust in God and the intercessory power of the saints. . . .<\/p>\n Naturally we cherish and venerate the images of the saints and their relics, just as the citizens of a nation respect and honor the images of the country\u2019s heroes and the articles they used in life. Catholics know full well that pictures and relics are only material things, incapable of helping us in our needs; but we find in them a means of inspiring us with pious affections, of reminding us of the saints, and of helping us to pray more devoutly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n . . . that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (1 Corinthians 12:9)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n . . . we shall live with him by the power of God. (1 Corinthians 13:4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n . . . by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n . . . my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 5:4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, (Ephesians 3:20)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Ephesians 6:10; cf. Ps 68:35)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n who by God\u2019s power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:5)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations. (Revelation 2:26)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n *<\/p>\n\n
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