Explain this to me where in scripture is this taught , about icons ,the only intercessioner is Jesus, 1tim2:5 there is one God, and one mediator, between God and men ,the man Christ Jesus, Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him,since he always lives to make intercession for them Hebrews 9:24 for Christ did not enter Holy place made with hands,a mere copy of the true one but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us I challenge u orthodox people to refute these scriptures, ,none of the apostles, Paul, said to pray to me after i die and any where else in the scriptures are we told to pray to dead people, only Christ alone
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." The saints are holy *righteous* people and there IS POWER in prayer. When Jesus died, he defeated death and granted everyone who believed in him eternal life. That means, when we die it is not "nothingness," we are still alive in Christ. That itself is heaven. If we are in the same room as each other, we can see and hear the same things. Just like the saints and all righteous people, who reside with God after they die, can see us and hear our petitions as well. If we are to ask those around us to pray for us when we are ill or in need, why be hesitant to pray to someone who we know is residing with God himself? Prayer means "to ask." We know this because it was used in old English often. (Eg. "I pray thee") Jesus IS the only mediator, but not just a fellow parishioner we might ask to pray for us, He is the one we pray to. God Bless, I hope this helps your understanding of our faith.
Also, about the Icons. When we kiss them and pray in front of them, it is called veneration. Veneration means to pay respect, in a sense. We know better than to worship anyone or thing other than God. These Icons are no exception. We have them as a remembrance of the person depicted, just like having a painting of your grandma reminds you of her and the life she lived. Here, we also have saints. When we remember said person, we remember how they lived their lives devoted to Christ in whatever way they did. Devoting your life to Christ is worthy of respect. So when we see them it helps us remember and try to be more like them. You could say "we should be like Christ, not other humans!" Which is true, and why these saints are worthy to be respected. Most of them came from very sinful lives like a lot of us, so the way they turned around and gave themselves to Christ is inspiring, respectable even. We want to do what they did, and develop a sort of "friendship" with them over the fact we've gone through the same things. My patron saint is St John of Damascus, who defended icons during the iconoclasm. I find myself defending icons and my faith itself often, im doing it now. Icons are what brought me closer to God. Seeing Jesus depicted helps me to understand who im talking to. Its hard, and im sure you understand, praying and feeling like no one is listening. Icons help because we can see Who is listening. Now, when we kiss the icons, think about how someone might kiss a painting or picture of a dead relative, we miss them and probably because their life impacted us somehow. Thats what its like with the saints. "But its not in the Bible!!" No its not. Jesus didnt teach this. He didnt teach a lot of things we do. But it can bring us closer to Him, which is what we want. There are many traditions that dont come from the Bible such as; Christmas trees, decorating them, saying "Merry Christmas!" Or "Happy Easter!" None of this is in the Bible, but they're traditions that bring us closer to Him if done with the right heart.
Explain this to me where in scripture is this taught , about icons ,the only intercessioner is Jesus, 1tim2:5 there is one God, and one mediator, between God and men ,the man Christ Jesus, Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him,since he always lives to make intercession for them Hebrews 9:24 for Christ did not enter Holy place made with hands,a mere copy of the true one but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us I challenge u orthodox people to refute these scriptures, ,none of the apostles, Paul, said to pray to me after i die and any where else in the scriptures are we told to pray to dead people, only Christ alone
James 5:16
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
The saints are holy *righteous* people and there IS POWER in prayer. When Jesus died, he defeated death and granted everyone who believed in him eternal life. That means, when we die it is not "nothingness," we are still alive in Christ. That itself is heaven.
If we are in the same room as each other, we can see and hear the same things. Just like the saints and all righteous people, who reside with God after they die, can see us and hear our petitions as well. If we are to ask those around us to pray for us when we are ill or in need, why be hesitant to pray to someone who we know is residing with God himself?
Prayer means "to ask." We know this because it was used in old English often. (Eg. "I pray thee")
Jesus IS the only mediator, but not just a fellow parishioner we might ask to pray for us, He is the one we pray to. God Bless, I hope this helps your understanding of our faith.
Also, about the Icons.
When we kiss them and pray in front of them, it is called veneration. Veneration means to pay respect, in a sense. We know better than to worship anyone or thing other than God. These Icons are no exception.
We have them as a remembrance of the person depicted, just like having a painting of your grandma reminds you of her and the life she lived. Here, we also have saints. When we remember said person, we remember how they lived their lives devoted to Christ in whatever way they did. Devoting your life to Christ is worthy of respect. So when we see them it helps us remember and try to be more like them.
You could say "we should be like Christ, not other humans!" Which is true, and why these saints are worthy to be respected.
Most of them came from very sinful lives like a lot of us, so the way they turned around and gave themselves to Christ is inspiring, respectable even. We want to do what they did, and develop a sort of "friendship" with them over the fact we've gone through the same things.
My patron saint is St John of Damascus, who defended icons during the iconoclasm. I find myself defending icons and my faith itself often, im doing it now.
Icons are what brought me closer to God. Seeing Jesus depicted helps me to understand who im talking to. Its hard, and im sure you understand, praying and feeling like no one is listening. Icons help because we can see Who is listening.
Now, when we kiss the icons, think about how someone might kiss a painting or picture of a dead relative, we miss them and probably because their life impacted us somehow. Thats what its like with the saints.
"But its not in the Bible!!"
No its not. Jesus didnt teach this. He didnt teach a lot of things we do. But it can bring us closer to Him, which is what we want.
There are many traditions that dont come from the Bible such as; Christmas trees, decorating them, saying "Merry Christmas!" Or "Happy Easter!"
None of this is in the Bible, but they're traditions that bring us closer to Him if done with the right heart.