Why doesn't the Protestant have well know saints?

[Mannyfit75]

I read my stories about the lives of the saints from the time of early Christianity (Apostolic time to the Present). We see regular lay people committed to Christ and have been be recognized by the Church as saints.

Yet, in Protestants, we don’t see people like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. St. Faustina, St. Cecilia, St. Clement, St. Mother Teresa, St. Dominic, St. John of the Cross, etc. So where are the Protestant saints?

 

[Syele]

I read my stories about the lives of the saints from the time of early Christianity (Apostolic time to the Present). We see regular lay people committed to Christ and have been be recognized by the Church as saints.

Yet, in Protestants, we don’t see people like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. St. Faustina, St. Cecilia, St. Clement, St. Mother Teresa, St. Dominic, St. John of the Cross, etc. So where are the Protestant saints?

They are in Heaven.

We believe all true Christians are Saints and so we do not honor any one over the other as a hero. As you probably noticed Protestants tend to focus on Jesus only, as much as possible.

 

[Syele]

On further thought I have to amend and say that we do have our Heros we just don’t give them a title above all the other saints. … Missionaries and others I’ve read about all my life like Elizabeth Elliot, Jim Elliot, Amy Carmichael, David Livingstone, Lottie Moon, James Hudson Taylor, Corrie Ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, Gladys Aylward, etc.

 

[junk]

I think John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination, might qualify as a Protestant Saint. According to Wikipedia, “he is also commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on March 2 with his brother Charles Wesley and in some calendars of churches of the Anglican Communion.” Heck, even some Catholics have a respect for the man.

 

[Montalban]

I read my stories about the lives of the saints from the time of early Christianity (Apostolic time to the Present). We see regular lay people committed to Christ and have been be recognized by the Church as saints.

Yet, in Protestants, we don’t see people like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. St. Faustina, St. Cecilia, St. Clement, St. Mother Teresa, St. Dominic, St. John of the Cross, etc. So where are the Protestant saints?

Let me put this to you then, was Oskar Schindler a saint?

He was nominally Catholic. He saved over 1,000 people’s lives at great risk. Yet he was also a womaniser, and a heavy-drinker.

 

[Publisher]

For many Protestants, the founders of their traditions take on an almost “saint” meaning.

Someone mentioned John Wesley and Nate Saint/Jim Elliot and Elizabeth.

George Fox, William Penn, Levi Coffin, Elizabeth Fry, Robert Barkclay…all Quaker “Saints”. One of my favorite “devotional books” is “Testament of Devotion” by Thomas R. Kelly…I consider Thomas Kelly a Saint.

Our “devotion” to our “saints” might not take on the “outward devotion” many Catholics practice, but in a real way, Protestants have Saints.

 

[ALLFORHIM]

Dont forget Billy Graham:extrahappy: Charles Stanley, James Dobbs. Although they are all still alive but they are still Saints

Oh and what about me

 

[Mannyfit75]

Dont forget Billy Graham:extrahappy: Charles Stanley, James Dobbs. Although they are all still alive but they are still Saints

Oh and what about me

Billy Braham, a friend of Pope John Paul II, yes I believe he would fit as a saint. He is the only Protestant I respect because he tolerated Catholics and the Pope.

 

[Kitty_Chan]

Before I became a Christian, I thought Billy Graham was another hucksuckler. I was sooo wrong. Its true your eyes are blind.

Im sure if someone wanted to name Billy Graham as a Saint he would decline, probably saying something like hes just a servant.

 

[water]

Im sure if someone wanted to name Billy Graham as a Saint he would decline, probably saying something like hes just a servant.

Yes, that is true. Those very holy ones are also very humble. When I read lives of many Canonized Saints and some people who are still alive, I can see how humble they were/are. They are great examples of Jesus’ servants.

 

[puzzleannie]

I read my stories about the lives of the saints from the time of early Christianity (Apostolic time to the Present). We see regular lay people committed to Christ and have been be recognized by the Church as saints.

Yet, in Protestants, we don’t see people like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. St. Faustina, St. Cecilia, St. Clement, St. Mother Teresa, St. Dominic, St. John of the Cross, etc. So where are the Protestant saints?

there are many compilations by Protestant writers of various backgrounds of people they might call saints, especially of martyrs to the faith, but since they do not claim and indeed do not believe in any earthly authority with power to proclaim who is in heaven, obviously they do not have a canon (list of saints) or a canonization process.

Foxe’s book of Martyrs is one such, be warned it is an exceedingly anti-Catholic work, there are some modern books in the Christian bookstores about modern martyrs, most of them missionaries. And in the Christian bookstore you will find biographies of some of the great Protestant heroes in the faith written for adults and children.

there have been many such Protestant evangelists, missionaries and others who have lived lives of heroic virtue and courage, just because they have not been canonized does not detract from the value of their Christian witness, any more than with a virtuous Catholic whose life is unknown to the rest of the world. Canonization is a process by which the Catholic church investigates the life, works and writings of persons proposed for sainthood. These are by no means the only people in heaven, just a sampling with enough detail about their lives to help us use them as models and mentors.

 

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

Let me put this to you then, was Oskar Schindler a saint?

He was nominally Catholic. He saved over 1,000 people’s lives at great risk. Yet he was also a womaniser, and a heavy-drinker.

No, the Catholic Church hasn’t declared Oskar Schindler a saint. But, the Jewish people have declared him a righteous man and invited him to plant a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations.

 

[Cat]

(Hand up “pick me, pick me!”)

I saw a Protestant saint today on TV!

As many of you know, I’m homebound recovering from ankle surgery.

So I watched TV, and saw a really neat show called Cross Current. It had all kinds of ministers, including a Catholic priest, commenting on the cross of Jesus. Beautiful art and music. I thought it was great.

Then the second half of the show started. It was a biography of D.James Kennedy, a pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and founder of Evangelism Explosion. (This was the organization that had produced Cross Current.)

According to the biography, no one in history has ever done as much for the Lord as Pastor Kennedy!

Wow! So much for Billy Graham and Mother Theresa and even my grandma!

 

[sandmountainsli]

I think John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist denomination, might qualify as a Protestant Saint. According to Wikipedia, “he is also commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on March 2 with his brother Charles Wesley and in some calendars of churches of the Anglican Communion.” Heck, even some Catholics have a respect for the man.

Hats off for Father Wesley!
I have a great respect for him and consider him a Saintly man (of course I am Methodist).
WP

 

[LilyM]

I was gonna mention the Wesleys and Billy Graham - and all the poor martyred missionaries :crying:

And I know George Bernard Shaw wrote about St Joan of Arc really being a Protestant saint since she was burned by the Bishop of Rouen as a heretic - not exactly the most shining moment in Church history

But it was a highly politically motivated trial, of course, I think much more so than a genuine case of the Church believing her to have truly been a heretic. Certainly they were quick enough to rehabilitate her when her Dauphin was firmly settled in power.

 

[mommyof4]

Dont forget Billy Graham:extrahappy: Charles Stanley, James Dobbs. Although they are all still alive but they are still Saints

Oh and what about me

Well, yes, we already know about you, though!

 

[Zooey]

How about all the Methodist “circuit riders”?? Many of these men spent months away from home at a time, riding through the USA & Canada on horseback, preaching, teaching, baptizing, performing marriages, holding Holy Communion, all out of love of our Lord.
Often with only the clothes on their backs, a Bible, & a heart full of the love of God, they set out alone, not knowing where their path might lead them.
Few have names that we might recognize, but they were extraordinary servants of God, laying aside all hope of comfort & safety, to serve Christians across the continent, & carry the Gospel message to those who practiced no faith.
Some were martyred, some died of disease or exposure to the elements. Some left home & family, & were never seen again, nor their fates known. Is this not the picture of a saint? To serve with no other desire than that Christ might be known, loved, & served.

 

[LilyM]

Some were martyred, some died of disease or exposure to the elements. Some left home & family, & were never seen again, nor their fates known. Is this not the picture of a saint? To serve with no other desire than that Christ might be known, loved, & served.

:yup: :crying: :angel1:

 

[guanophore]

I read my stories about the lives of the saints from the time of early Christianity (Apostolic time to the Present). We see regular lay people committed to Christ and have been be recognized by the Church as saints.

Yet, in Protestants, we don’t see people like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. St. Faustina, St. Cecilia, St. Clement, St. Mother Teresa, St. Dominic, St. John of the Cross, etc. So where are the Protestant saints?

I think there are two main reasons for this. One is Sola Scriptura. If all one needs for inspiration to faith is the bible, then the lives or teachings of saints are of little value for study. The other is sola fide. If you are saved by faith alone, then there is really no impetus to demonstrate a holy life. You are saved whether you behave poorly or not.

 

[colliric]

I was gonna mention the Wesleys and Billy Graham - and all the poor martyred missionaries :crying:

And I know George Bernard Shaw wrote about St Joan of Arc really being a Protestant saint since she was burned by the Bishop of Rouen as a heretic - not exactly the most shining moment in Church history

But it was a highly politically motivated trial, of course, I think much more so than a genuine case of the Church believing her to have truly been a heretic. Certainly they were quick enough to rehabilitate her when her Dauphin was firmly settled in power.

Just because she was burned by the Bishop, doesn’t mean she didn’t keep her Catholic faith until the very end. She was a devout Catholic, it was tragic she was thought a heretic by the church’s bishop when she very clearly wasn’'t and was exceptionally devout to Catholocism to the point of dying in her belief she had been visited by St Catherine. She died for her own Catholic Faith and in faith she had been visited and could not lie about it and was killed by a catholic bishop who didn’t believe her.

This is far from protestant, she did not protest against the church, she upheld it’s beliefs to the utmost, honestly believed she had been visited, and could not lie about it even when the church came against her itself and put pressure on her to refuse she had been visited. She literally could not give up faith in the Catholic belief system, even when the human beings running her church tried to get her to go against her own belief and admit she was lying.

There is difference between refusing to give up faith in the Catholic beliefs(and the church), and becoming a protestant against the Catholic beliefs. She did not give up belief in the Church, it gave up belief in her then realized years later it had made a grave error in judgment and had made a martyr of one of it’s most devout followers.