this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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What about all the numerous catholic saints that are idolized af? They literally have idols of them all over churches and homes.
Yeah, that's one thing I don't get, and am unfamiliar with catholic dogma, so why is it okay for saints to be literally idolized by modern catholics? Or is it one of those "no true Scotsman" things...
I'm not Catholic, or religious at all, but I've had the same question. They don't "idolize" the saints. To them praying to a saint or depicting them is more of a conduit to God. They see it the same as asking your neighbor to pray for you/a loved one. They believe saints are messengers delivering their prayers to God.
They pretend not to, but I grew up Catholic and Iβve known people who feel direct, holy connections to sts. Anthony or Jude. Itβs one of the things that allowed Catholicism to be so effectively spread: people didnβt have to lose their old gods. Saint Brigid is just a revamp of the Celtic deity Brigid, for example.
Raised Catholic, and basically that's it. I interpret it kinda somewhere between asking your crush's friend to tell them you like them, and asking your writer friend to help you write a good love note. Idolatry would be like if you tried to date your writer friend or your crush's friend, instead of your crush.
Because Arabic and Jewish culture value the uniqueness and singularity of God, while the Pagan cultures of Greece and Rome (where Western Christianity developed) valued multiple persons in divinity with responsibilities over different aspects of life.
When Christians were oppressed by Rome, their crime was not worshiping Jesus. But rather their refusal to participate in ritual or pay respects to the other official State gods.
Growing up Baptist, this was one of the reasons they differentiated themselves from Catholics.