I am not being triumphal here or snarky. However, the Holy Spirit has prompted upwards of 80% of Christendom over 2000 years that the saints of the Church Triumphant intercede with Christ for the Church Militant.
That is true. But on this issue, the interpretation is the same. In those areas where there is legitimate disagreement, it is based on Scripture and Tradition, not private judgments of individual believers.
i believe that. Just not sure the do so for individuals is allWe also have teachings that are the same as Catholicism as well. Just not on this one
There simply is no biblical basis for saying it is acceptable to give service to created beings but only worship to God, for both concepts are part and parcel of the single meaning of “worship” in Scripture. “You shall worship and serve God alone” cannot be changed into “you shall worship God alone; but as long as you call your religious devotion ‘service’ you can ‘serve’ Mary and angels and saints, too.” The Bible not only does not recognize such a distinction, it denies it, both lexicographically (both latria and dulia trace back to biblical usages and both terms refer to divine worship) as well as by direct assertion. Paul refers to the idolatry that marked the pagan past of the Galatians as “service” in Galatians 4:8 (“However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves “served,” root term being douleuo, leading to dulia in Latin] to those which by nature are no gods”). So if one begins with the Word as your ultimate authority, no amount of quibbling from later sources will change the reality of the definition of worship.
Catholics do begin with the Word as our ultimate authority. But the Word is a Person.
“Those who cannot hear the music think the dancer is daft.”
what’s the difference if pagans paid service to pagan gods? Catholics don’t recognize pagan gods, and saints are not considered or treated equal to God.
That is precisely the point, however. God makes it clear that rendering religious devotion to anyone other than Him IS treating them as equal to God.
Are you going to claim that what Paul meant here by be servants to one another that we erect statues of them that are deceased and mutter prayers of devotion to them with candles?
God made it clear that geligious devotion to anyone other than Him is treating them as equal to God? Umm…no. God never said that.
Absurd. One is called to be devoted ‘religiously’ to one’s spouse, children and parents. There is no separate facet of ‘personal life’ and ‘religious life’ for those in Christ, our lives are infused with our lived faith.
You stated earlier that any form of doulios is pagan and idolatrous, however, Paul states that one must be doulios to one another. This contradicts your earlier claim. Statutes are an aid to prayer - the ‘bond-service’ rendered by the person who is remembered and the ‘bond-service’ we render are all the essence of what it means to be in the Body of Christ, the borders of the Church don’t cut off at death.
People unintentionally worship money, power, food, celebrities, etc.
Is it possible for someone to unintentionally worship Christ?
So you’re saying someone could be worshipping a statue but not know it?
Again with exaggerations. I can’t wrap my mind around how I point out a passage that seems to put others on equal footing with Mary; Catholics take that and think I’m saying Jesus ‘scolded’ her.
Not the statue, but what the statue represents; certainly.
How does one worship “what the statue represents” without knowing it?
Sure.
Placing too much faith in money and living for money is worshiping money. The same veneration is given to musicians, actors, comedians, etc. Placing faith in these people and holding them in too high of regard is often worship; but not always.
Yes, it is. That is a sin of omission - those that we know about are sins of comission.