On the Communion of the Saints

Defending the invocation of the saints in a conservative Presbyterian church was probably not the best idea.  But there was a young guy in the discussion who was in over his head and seriously outnumbered, so I decided to give him some support.  I threw out a few ideas, suggesting that invoking the saints is biblically defensible and should be an area of Christian liberty.  In the end, one man became very heated and exclaimed, "Jesus is enough; we don't need the saints interceding for us!"

Of course, if that's true, why do we ask anyone for prayer?  Why did the apostle Paul ask the Thessalonians to pray for him (2 Thess. 3:1)?  Didn't he think Jesus was enough?  The question is not whether Jesus is sufficient or whether we strictly need the intercession of the saints; we don't pray for others because we doubt the sufficiency of Christ, but because we are called to support one another as members of His body.  The question is, what do we mean when we confess in the Apostles' Creed, "I believe... in the communion of saints"?

Alan Schreck gives a definition with which, I think, most Christians would agree: "The phrase 'the communion of saints' refers to the bond of unity among all those, living and dead, who are or have been committed followers of Jesus Christ" (Catholic and Christian, p. 151).  Certainly the saints of the past serve as examples for us to follow, but does our connection with them in the body of Christ go further than this?

The early Christians thought so.  Those who lived during the Roman persecutions felt a strong connection with those who had died for their faith.  In their minds, these martyrs had not travelled far away; they had simply passed over into the presence of the Lord with Whom all Christians were in constant communion.  The churches soon started preserving relics and celebrating birthdays of the martyrs.  "From this it was a short step, since they were now with Christ in glory, to seeking their help and prayers, and in the third century evidence for the belief in their intercessory power accumulates.  In arguing for it Origen appealed to the communion of saints, advancing the view that the Church in heaven assists the Church on earth with its prayers" (JND Kelley, Early Christian Doctrines, p. 490).  Why would they suddenly stop praying once they were safe in heaven?  It seemed more likely to assume that, since they were now in the Lord's presence they would pray to Him all the more for the welfare of those they had left behind.

There's really no difference, in principle, between asking other living believers to pray for us and asking for the prayers of a departed saint.  We know that we are connected, in Christ, with all those who are members of His body, and we know that those who've departed this life are still involved with, and concerned about, the struggle that is going on in this world.  Any hesitancy we might feel about this should be resolved by the prayer of the martyrs under the altar: "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?" (Revelation 6:10).

Then there's the question whether invoking the saints is somehow idolatrous.  St. Augustine responds to that question: "we venerate the martyrs with the same love and fellowship that we give to the holy men of God still with us....  But the veneration strictly called 'worship,' or latria, that is, the special homage belonging only to the divinity, is something we give and teach others to give to God alone" (quoted by Schreck, p. 158).  We  show them honor, as we would if they were still here, and we value their prayers, knowing that they see the Lord face to face, but we don't worship them, .

The bottom line is that invoking the saints is not, in itself, superstitious or idolatrous.  It rests on a different, larger view, of the communion of the saints, a view that is biblically defensible.  We're surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1).  Are they passive observers, or are they actively involved in our struggle?  Evangelical Protestants may disagree with the practice, but they should do so respectfully, recognizing that it is possible, within the bounds of believing orthodoxy, to see things differently.