[Cat Herder]

According to the Bible:
[ ] 1. Can the saints hear us?
[ ] 2. Should we be praying for the intercession of saints?
[ ] 3. Is it right to honor saints?

► 1. Can the saints hear us?

Originally Posted by Born_Warrior

If they can hear the prayers of people it is because God grants that to them. Can those in heaven hear the prayers uttered without speech? Can they read minds? It is only God who knows all things and only God can grant anyone to hear or know what the prayers are of those who pray in silence. The saints don’t have omniscience.

I agree 100%. The saints are not God. They only have the knowledge that is granted them by God. Let's see if God has granted them the ability to see what's going on on Earth:

Answer: Yup.

► 2. Should we be praying for the intercession of saints?

Just because those in heaven can hear the prayers of those on Earth does not mean that is okay to pray to saints.
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Lets look at one of the major verses that is use to support praying to anyone else but God, Rev. 5:8-14.
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Unlike some other Christians, I have no problem with belieiving those in heaven hear what is said on earth. Does this justify praying to those who are in heaven? No.

Well, for your information, Catholics (and Orthodox and high-church Anglicans) do not pray to saints. We pray through saints. We ask saints to pray for us. Where do we get this idea from?

Those are standing orders. Christians are to pray for one another. Now... show me a book and verse that says that this obligation to pray for one another stops at death.

There isn't one. That the duty to pray for one another ends at death is a tradition of men.

So what you might do is say, "well, the saints are dead, so asking them to pray is necromancy," and you cite this verse:

Now, you seem to be an intelligent person. I think you understand what the problem is with calling the saints "dead."

Jesus Christ has destroyed death, and as you admit, there are human beings in Heaven who are depicted in the Book of Revelation as being very much alive and very much engaged in the practice of offering prayers.

The saints are not dead. Necromancy referred to conjuring up spirits from Sheol/hell/the underworld. Calling on someone who is in heaven to pray for you is not necromancy, first of all because there is no "necro," no death, involved.

So if we're going to go by the Bible alone, the honest thing to do is to admit:
A. Christians have a duty to pray for one another
B. This duty does not end at death
C. There are human beings who are in heaven offering prayers.

► 3. Is it right to honor saints?

Revelation says:
"And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," (Rev. 19:10).

John wants to bow the knee and worship the angel. But the angel tells him not to do that because he is a fellow creature. If the angel says that he is a fellow creature like John, and that John is not to bow to him, then neither should anyone else bow to an angel, or any creature so as to offer worship. Worship includes prayer. Therefore, no one should pray to any created thing.

Have you checked the rest of the Bible?

Egad! People bowing to angels! The horror!

Why was it okay for Josue/Joshua or Daniel to bow to an angel, and not John? Look what John did besides bowing:

And I fell at his feet to worship him.

John actually worshiped the angel. Joshua and Daniel merely honored the angel as a holy servant of God; their worship was directed to God. The former is worship of adoration; the latter is veneration. This distinction is biblical, and not just something that some guy in Rome came up with.

Oh, and what happens to human beings when they reach heaven?

So, here's our checklist again.

According to the Bible:
[X] 1. Can the saints hear us? YES.
[X] 2. Should we be praying for the intercession of saints? YES.
[X] 3. Is it right to honor saints? YES.

As has been said, a big part of growing up is accepting that the more you learn, the less you realize that you actually know.