Dear Alex,

We don't do assignments for people, but I want to give short answers to a couple of your misconceptions. Pray means to ask or ask for something, not to adore. As they used to say,

Who are you and what do you do, pray tell?.

Catholics and Protestants ask people to pray for them. Catholics ask people close to God to pray for them, too. We are not adoring them, we are talking to them. In God, we are all united.

Second, Pope Benedict's book was called The Light of the World and it was about Jesus.

Mary Ann

Hi, Alex —

I don't wish to take away from Mary Ann's answer, but if you want a good source for your homework and some pretty good answers . . . search our knowledge base. We have answered all your questions at least once.

You may have been justified for leaving the Church at age ten. Nevertheless, consider coming home. I apologize on behalf of the Church for anything that was done to you that shouldn't have been done. We occasionally have members who behave badly, but it is important to separate bad behavior from the Teachings of Jesus that can never change.

By definition: God can neither deceive, nor be deceived. If the spirit leads you, make an appointment with a priest, tell him you are interested in coming home and most importantly ask him what ministries you can get involved in at the parish level. It's a great way to meet new friends who have similar interests.

You said:

4. Fourthly, where in the Scriptures:
   • are we encouraged to pray to the dead
   • are we encouraged ask the dead to intervene on our behalf, and
   • does Scripture say that the dead in Heaven can hear us anyway?

We are not encouraged to pray for the dead; that would be necromancy and . . . the dead are not really dead but alive in Christ. Clergy will refer to the Faithful Departed, as the dead, in order to distinguish them from the living Catholic Christians they serve while on their Earthly pilgrimage.

This is a common misunderstanding when a conversation turns to the topic of Purgatory.
The Similar issues . . . below should help clarify any misperceptions on this specific topic.

To be fair, if you hand in your paper as homework, we should be given as the source of your answers : )

Take care,

Mike

Alex,

As Mike suggested, do a search in our Knowledge Base for "prayer to saints", "praying to saints" or intercession.

Your first question may not be in there. I'm not sure I know the exact moment, but what happened is that saint in Greek and Latin — the language of the early Christians — also means holy.
So to describe someone they venerated as a model of faith, they called them holy So-and-so or venerable So-and-so or blessed So-and-so. This informal habit eventually became more formalized as those who were asleep in the Lord were honored more in this way than those living.

Eventually, it became a title, Holy So-and-So much like we have the Honorable John Doe for judges. In our language, Holy was translated Saint.

We Catholics do believe that all believers in the grace of God are saints. See the Catholic Catechism # 823.

This is what the Communion of Saints is all about in the Creed we all say together each week — the mysterious link between all believers.

As for question 5, Alex, let's get real: Pope Benedict is the author. "The Light of the World" is the title. There is no colon between them. Look at the cover.

Actually the title is Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times.

You can tell because Amazon put this at the top of the page, and because if Benedict XVI is part of the title, as you claim, then no author is listed on the front of the book. Since there has to be an author listed, it only makes sense that it is Benedict XVI, and that the main title, which is in a larger font and different color from Benedict XVI, is Light of the World.

May I also point out, my friend, that Matthew 5:14 says that we, the Church, are the light of the world. This figures into the subtitle of the book. The topic of the book, then, is the Church led by Pope Benedict.

• Make sense?

Eric

Alex,

I can do that, but since this is a research assignment, I'll ask you to do some research and search our knowledge base if you haven't already.

We answer this question a whole lot and you'll find tons of information. I'll also ask you to go to Catholic Answers and find the tract that covers this topic. There should be a quick search box in the upper left hand corner of the home page.

As for warning you against going to the Baptist church down the street, that's a bit like your parents warning you not to talk to strangers.

• Will you surely die as soon as you set foot in there? No.

But there is a danger you could be misled, and learn some things that would draw you away from the Word of Life, no matter how sincere the Baptists seem.

• You might argue: they teach from the Bible, how wrong can that be?

But for example, in 2 Peter 3:16 it says of studying Paul's letters,

16 His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

That is why we need to be guided by the Catholic Church which Jesus founded as the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15) and which he promised to guide into all truth:
(John 16:13).

Even 2 Timothy 3:14-15, which speaks so highly of the Scriptures (as it should), emphasizes that it is important not only to know the Scriptures, but to know those from whom you learned it — because Scripture must be rightly divided (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV).

• Who did you learn the Scriptures from?
• How do you know they are rightly dividing it?
• Whose traditions are you following; are they right and how do you know?

Traditions are OK, since, 2 Thessalonians 2:15 says,

15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

But you have to have the correct source, and the correct leaders rightly dividing the Word of Truth and that is the Catholic Church founded by Christ.

Look at Protestantism. I'm not sure how much you've surveyed it, but there are tens of thousands of denominations, all believing different things, many of which are wildly different and contradictory — many of which impact our salvation ("to their own destruction"). Some believe once we "accept Jesus as Lord and Savior" we can never lose our salvation. (Many Baptists believe this.) If you believe this, and aren't careful with your conduct, and it is wrong, you've lost your salvation. Others believe you can lose your salvation, but don't believe various things, such as masturbation or contraception or whatever, cause you to lose your salvation. What if you follow what they teach and do these things, they are wrong on that?

Doctrine is life.

16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16)

Without the right doctrine, your salvation is imperiled.

• Can you trust your salvation to a denomination that was founded in the 19th century, which disagrees with many things that we have historical evidence the early Church believed and how they interpreted Scripture?
  

Back to Protestants as a whole:

• If they are so divided, then how can you trust any one of them has the right interpretation of Scripture?

Clearly, just sitting down with Scripture alone and interpreting it apart from anything else is not sufficient, otherwise all sincere, Spirit-filled Protestants would agree on how to interpret it.
I wandered away from the Catholic Church myself into Evangelicalism, and this was a problem
I never solved. Why can't Protestants agree even on the basics if the Spirit allows each person to correctly interpret Scripture?

When I had a disagreement with someone, that led me automatically to question their sincerity and faith, since I knew *I* was sincere and devout and Spirit-filled, so if we disagreed, *they* were the one not led by the Spirit. This disturbed me; it didn't seem right, but the logic was perfect. (Of course, we could *both* be wrong, but then we'd be even farther from the truth.)

So the point here is this: Doctrine is life, and you must know where you learn the Scriptures from, which traditions you follow (either knowingly or unknowingly — I guarantee you follow tradition, whether you think you do or not), and who rightly divides the word of truth for you. The faith was entrusted once for all (Jude 3) to the Catholic Church, so it is Her role to do these things.

To visit (except perhaps on formal occasions) another church, especially habitually and without being grounded in one's own faith, leaves one vulnerable to believing doctrine which leads to death. So while I wouldn't, in so many words, tell a child that they will go to Hell if they visit a Baptist church, you have to understand that the motivation was to prevent you from endangering your soul.

A good article on praying to the saints is:

• Praying to the Saints

Also, early evidence of Christians asking saints for their intercession is at:

• The Intercession of the Saints

I answered this question at length here:

• Can you explain to a Baptist, thinking about converting, the value of praying to Mary and the Saints?

I think that about covers it.

Eric