Mediator and Intercesor

[Nelka]

A protestant keeps saying why do we pray to Mary and the Saints, when I mention intercession she says that there is only one mediator between us and God.

1 Timothy 2:

5 For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus.

This is the passage that she keeps talking about.

Please can you help me with this?

Thanks.

 

[sousley]

A protestant keeps saying why do we pray to Mary and the Saints, when I mention intercession she says that there is only one mediator between us and God.

1 Timothy 2:

5 For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus.

This is the passage that she keeps talking about.

Please can you help me with this?

Thanks.

Almost seems like 2 different arguments being combined.

Speaking apologetically, you can certainly answer the objections: Why pray to saints? God is the God of the living, not the dead–the cloud of witnesses–and of course Rev. 5:8 and 8:3 with the incense carrying the prayers.

The other argument about mediator: Yes, Jesus is the way, truth, and life; we believe that.
Moses was the mediator of Mosaic Covenant but Aaron was the High Priest–David was the mediator of David Covenant while Nathan was the priest–Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant (in a completed way, of course) but that doesn’t discount the apostles and their successors.

But none of that is the real objection. Your friend is lobbying for the “Just me and Jesus” religion–No mediators, no confessors, no saints,—“I can just take it to Jesus myself.” It is a very ego-centric perspective that is very widely embraced today. I would stick to stories (even OT) that speak vividly of community or Body of Christ to try to maintain the idea that we are called to be a community of believers and not just a “body of one.” That concept is not found in the bible.

 

[Elizium23]

Two things to ask your interlocutor: does she ask his friends to pray for her, and does she believe in eternal life. If we can ask our living friends to pray for us, and if our dead friends live on in Heaven, then who better to ask for help than those who are closest to Our Lord?

 

[dmar198]

A protestant keeps saying why do we pray to Mary and the Saints, when I mention intercession she says that there is only one mediator between us and God.

1 Timothy 2:

5 For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus.

This is the passage that she keeps talking about.

Please can you help me with this?

Thanks.

First, I would explain the correct interpretation of 1 Tim. 2:5, and the way to do that is to put it in context: “5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was borne at the proper time.” – Notice what it says in verse 6: He is the “ransom” for all. With this context, you can argue that the passage is saying Jesus is the only mediator of the redemption, not the only mediator in all things. Catholics believe that.

In addition, I would give a reason for why it cannot mean that Jesus is the only one in heaven who can intercede for us. It cannot mean that because it also says He is the only mediator among “men,” and we know that there are other men on earth who intercede for us because Scripture says so. (e.g. 1 Tim. 2:1)

Since it cannot mean that Jesus is the only person who offers intercession (due to the context saying other people offer intercession) and it is speaking about the redemption (due to the context talking about how He is the “ransom” for us all), it seems to follow that it is saying that Jesus is the only mediator of the redemption, which is something Catholics believe. And that doesn’t exclude other people in heaven being able to pray for us.

Then you could go on to prove that people in heaven offer intercessions for us. Someone else pointed out Revelation 5:8. I think that’s a good verse to go to. You could also use Jeremiah 31:15-17 to show that the Saints in heaven cry out for men on earth, because it says Rachel, who died in the Book of Genesis, was seen in heaven weeping for the people of Israel, and God says to her “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord.” Thus He answered her prayer.

You could also point out some Scriptures where people in heaven are directly addressed to show that people in heaven can be prayed to. Some of the verses that come to mind here are Psalms 103:20-21, Psalms 148:1-2, 2 Samuel 1:25-26, and Revelation 18:20. In all those passages, people in heaven are spoken to in ways that are not much different from a request for prayer: in the Psalms we say “Praise the Lord, all His angels, all His hosts,” which is not much different from saying “Pray for me, all His angels, all His hosts,” and in Revelation 18:20 it says “Rejoice, O saints and apostles and prophets,” which is not much different from saying “Pray for us, O saints and apostles and prophets.”

Once you show from Scripture that the saints in heaven can pray for us (Rev. 5:8, Jer. 31:15-17) and that they can be spoken to (Psalms 103:20-21, Psalms 148:1-2, 2 Samuel 1:25-26, Revelation 18:20), it follows immediately that we may speak to them to ask them for prayer.

Anyway I hope that helps. God bless!

 

[Elizium23]

Jesus is the mediator because it is through His will we are saved. But that doesn’t mean He is the only person we can turn to for help. Remember the story of the man whose house was flooding, and three times people came to help, and he turned them down, saying “I trust in God to help me out of this.” Then he meets God, who says “why didn’t you accept My help when I sent it?”

By the same token, Christ works through the communion of saints, both in the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant (not to mention the Church Suffering). He said “whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto Me.” When we see Christ in others and perform works of mercy and charity for them, we are doing it for Christ, and we are doing it in His name. Jesus lives in each one of us, all the baptized are the Body of Christ. Those in Heaven share a special relationship with Jesus and the Holy Trinity, the Beatific Vision. They are especially well-placed to intercede for us on Christ’s behalf.

If a child grows up and insists on speaking to nobody but her father, then that child will miss out on a richness of human experiences. Where would we be growing up without our teachers, priests, firemen and policemen, friends and neighbors, for conversation? All these people help us along the way in our Earthly journey. So too must we have conversations with those in the Church Triumphant who are especially equipped to guide us in a life of faith. The lives of the saints, and Mary especially, are set before us as shining examples of those who have succeeded in personal holiness and giving glory to God. It would be poverty not to be in touch with them, not to reach out with a longing to be closer, not to cry out for help when we need. God knows all and hears all, he will not be ignorant of our conversations with the saints, but without addressing them directly, we exclude them from our lives and send a message that they are unworthy of our veneration and trust.

 

[marywarfield]

A protestant keeps saying why do we pray to Mary and the Saints, when I mention intercession she says that there is only one mediator between us and God.

1 Timothy 2:

5 For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus.

This is the passage that she keeps talking about.

Please can you help me with this?

Thanks.

There IS only one mediator between man and God
and that is Jesus Christ. However, depending on our
level of humility or presumption we have need of
a mediator with Christ who is also God and
that mediator is His Holy Mother. Just as at Cana
the Virgin did not approach the Father with the
fact of a lack of wine- she approached her Son. She
was the mediator between the wedding party and
Christ who changed through His own mediation
with God the water into wine.
if this was not so the wedding party could have
gone straight to Jesus and not His Mother
or Mary could have gone outside and asked
the Father directly. But no-neither thing happened. And
nothing is in the Bible without good reason.
Mary intercedes for us with Jesus and He intercedes
for us with the Father and voila- water is turned into wine.

 

[JamesTheJust]

That passage only says that Christ is our Mediator. There are problems with that in Catholicism, because that doesn’t mean that others can’t mediate below Christ. Scripture also says that God is our Creator. Does that mean that humans are incapable of creating anything? I would hope not, because there is a whole class of people called “artists” who would disagree. Of course, our creation would be meaningless, pointless, and impossible without God’s Creation, just like the mediation of Mary and the Saints would be meaningless, pointless, and impossible without the Mediation of Christ.