Are the Patriarchs of the Hebrew Bible saints?

[James0235]

Does the Catholic Church teach that the Patriarchs are saints, who intercede on our behalf?

The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honoured as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.
CCC 61

James

 

[Eternaly_Secure]

I’ve got news for you, buddy. The New Testament didn’t even exist until a few decades after the Resurrection. Parts of the Old Testament were also oral traditions before they were eventually written down.

Sola scriptura presents an incomplete view.

I’m a woman, just so you know, with the buudy thing.
As for the rest, that’s not true.

 

[Eternaly_Secure]

Revelation is full of images of “men” and “saints” in heaven, asking for vengeance and praising God. When one dies, all will be made known to us. I would have to look up passages to find them, but I guess what I would be interested in learning is: how do we know that saints have no memory of anything?

Precisely. The Bible can only tell us so much, not everything. So how can we be sure that what is not written in the Bible is true. That’s where Catholic teaching and Protestant belief conflict the most. The interpretation of what’s in the Bible is one thing, but how can one discern the Truth outside the Bible? Since the Bible is not God, it cannot and does not have all of the answers to everything. So where else can we go to find the Truth if we can’t find what we’re looking for in the Bible? 1 Tim 3:15 should provide you with where to look for the Truth when you can’t find it elsewhere.

I meant of friends and family.

The church of God is not a system or a building, it is the body of believers. Here is a link explaining the Church.
gotquestions.org/what-is-the-church.html
The Bible is God’s answer to us, it has everything we need to know untill we are at home with the Lord.
The church is the pillar and ground of truth and God has chosen us on earth to proclaim and display his truth. We are entrusted with the defense and support of the truth of God.

 

[algebra]

''Did they not rejoice at the coming of Jesus? ‘’
This is the part I don’t understand.

There are 2 issues

1. Do you agree that there are other intercessors than Jesus? After all you claim to be one of them.

56Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."

57"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Short answer to the Abraham question is - John 8:54-56. Abraham looked forward to seeing Christ’s day, saw it, and was glad. I think the Jews correctly understand Jesus’ claim to be that He actually met Abraham (you’re not yet 50… implication: you’d have to be 2000!). So according to Jesus, Abraham hoped to see Jesus and then did and was very happy about it. This is the thing Abraham did which Jesus wished these Jews would do (John 8:39). I don’t think that you can retrospectively award to Abraham a meeting with Jesus. If Jesus says they met then they met.

 

[JJ59]

Eternaly Secure,

I ask the Saints to pray for me like I would ask a friend to pray for me. The only difference is death, and we know that we never truly die:

“For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living”
-Luke 20:38

And their prayers are effective because:

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
-James 5:16

As others have pointed out, Saints in Heaven have memory, and know about events on Earth:

“Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad.”
-John 8:53

I hope this helps!

Oh, and the OP, I think that others explained it well. But I’m wondering: Why do we never hear people say St. Abraham, or St. Adam?

God Bless!

 

[Snerticus]

The Bible is God’s answer to us, it has everything we need to know untill we are at home with the Lord.

Where is that in the Bible? My bible says it is useful for teaching and reproof, not in knowing everything.

The church is the pillar and ground of truth and God has chosen us on earth to proclaim and display his truth. We are entrusted with the defense and support of the truth of God.

Well, I have to agree with you mostly on this. But 1 Tim is the only place in the Bible that says where Truth is, other than Jesus Himself. Of which the church is His Body, and therefore inseparable. So do I simply trust a Book with Truth in it, or something commissioned to us as the pillar and bullwark of Truth along with that Book that has Truth in it? I would opt for the latter. Just trusting the Bible is really not bad, but trusting both the Bible and Christ’s Church is a whole lot better. Because you can’t ask a book a question, but you can ask a Church.

Oh, and that link for what the Church is was very good, but basic. There’s a lot more to the Church than what it explains. I don’t mean a building, either. I was going to look up the Church in the Catechism, but I found too many pages to really condense into even one whole page. I wanted to give you an idea of what the Catholic Church teaches about the Church. Oh well, you may not be interested anyway.

 

[Snerticus]

Oh, and the OP, I think that others explained it well. But I’m wondering: Why do we never hear people say St. Abraham, or St. Adam?
God Bless!

Good point, although I do speak to Abraham and Moses every once in a while, I never used the word “saint” in front of their names. Perhaps it’s because it is moot???

 

[raumzeitmc2]

Ok, but how do you know that the saints in heaven have any memory of life and family on earth. How do we know anything that is not written in God’s word.

“These are they who were not defiled with women; they are virgins and these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” Rev. 14:4

usccb.org/nab/bible/revelation/revelation14.htm

Hi, ES!

Let me ask you this: In light of the above passage, do you believe the saints in heaven are aware of what Christ is doing at all times?

To everybody:

In a time of famine the Lord fed Saint Elijah through the services of a crow; persecuted by men, he was waited on by birds.

Augustine, Sermon 239, preached during the Easter Octave.
books.google.com/books?id=A2GyOPOqp-4C&pg=PA60&dq=augustine+%22Saint+Elijah%22&lr=

The Works of Saint Augustine, Sermons 230-272B (III/7) (on the Liturgical Seasons) By Aurelius Augustinus, John E. Rotelle, Edmund Hill, Augustinian Heritage Institute, New City Press (May 1, 1994), p. 60.

ISBN-10: 1565480597 ISBN-13: 978-1565480599

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For what more useful gift does the grace of God confer upon us, in this present evil world, than our dying unto sin?

St. Augustine, Letter 215:8

newadvent.org/fathers/1102215.htm

All the heresies, which you people also condemn of course, they all say, Jesus is Lord, And he’s not, of course, going to eliminate from the Kingdom of heaven those whom he finds to be in the Holy Spirit; and yet he did say, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven (Mt 7:21). But: Nobody can say: Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit; nobody at all, evidently; but in the sense in which it was meant, that is in deeds.

Augustine, Sermon 269.

books.google.com/books?q=%22All%20the%20heresies%2C%20which%20you%20people%20also%20condemn%20%22&hl=en&lr=&filter=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wp

Sermons: 230-272B, Works of Saint Augustine, a Translation for the 21st Century: Part 3 ISBN 1565480597, pp. 282-283.

Venerate the martyrs; praise, love, proclaim, honor them. But worship the God of the martyrs.

St. Augustine, sermon 293:9:3

Sermons 273-305 (Works of Saint Augustine), Saint Augustine Of Hippo (Author), John E. Rotelle (Author), Edmund Hill (Translator), 1994, New City Press, ISBN 1565480600, p. 21.