(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
One of the many objections that Protestants have to Catholics praying to
saints is that it is impossible for those in heaven to hear us. Another
claim is that by saying that Saints in heaven can hear us, we are claiming
omnipotence or omniscience for them. The Catholic premise behind praying
to saints is that saints in heaven have more abilities than we do on earth,
and their spirits can respond to our prayers, even if many people are praying
to them at the same time. The Protestant premise is that they are unaware
of what is happening on earth, therefore it doesn’t do any good to pray
to them. Whose premise is correct? Tradition shows us that prayers to saints
were performed from the very beginning. The Orthodox Church prays to saints.
The Coptic Church prays to saints. The Catholic Church prays to saints.
There were no Protestant type objections in prayers to saints by the early
Fathers. So, since Protestants do not accept the authority of tradition,
I will operate on their criteria of using the Bible to establish the answer
to this question.
In 1517, the Protestant Christians came into being with differences from
the Catholic church. The Catholics liked ornate and elaborate churches and
church services. The Protestants kept it simple. The movement that began
in northern Europe in the early 16th century was a reaction to Roman Catholic
doctrines and practices. Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestants
became the three major forces in Christianity, and there were series of European
religious wars in the 16th and 17th century, and especially in the 19th century.
Protestantism spread throughout the world. Wherever Protestantism gained
a foothold, it influenced the social, economic, political, and cultural life
of the area.
The Encyclopedia Britannica tells us, “Protestants believe that
humans are justified before God by grace and through faith, and it was this
grace through faith that separated the first Protestant reformers from the
Roman Catholicism of their day. And despite the subtle differences that rose
in the various Protestant church bodies, devotion to this teaching has been
central to Protestantism throughout its history… Sacramental doctrine exists
among Protestants, but most limit the number to the two “sacraments of the
Gospel,” baptism and Holy Communion.”
There are many groups included in Protestantism that might not be the true
definition of Protestantism. The Encyclopedia Brittanica explains: “A great
variety of doctrinal views and politics exist among so-called Protestants,
and not all Western non-Roman Catholic Christians accept the label Protestant.
Some Anglicans, for instance, stressing their continuity with the historic
Roman Catholic church and their distance from Protestantism, have asked for
a separate designation. Courtesy suggests that such appeals be taken seriously.
However, habits of speech and sociological usage tend to predominate, and
despite their objections these groups are usually included in the Protestant
cluster.