The Invocation of Saints
Objection: “To worship saints, like Mary, is likewise idolatry!”
No practice of the Catholic Church has received more attention and abuse
from her opponents than the ancient custom of honoring the heroic servants
of God. She is charged with idolatry and superstition.
The various Protestant denominations denounce the invocation of saints as
follows:
“The Romish doctrine concerning…(the) invocation of saints is a
fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of
Scripture, but is rather, repugnant to the Word of God.”¹
“It cannot be proved from the Scriptures that we are to invoke the
saints or seek help from them. ‘For there is one mediator between
God and men, Christ Jesus’ (1 Tim. 2:5) who is the only savior, the
only high priest, advocate and intercessor before God.”²
“(It is) the extreme of stupidity, not to say madness, to attempt to
obtain access by means of others, so as to be drawn away from him
without whom access cannot be obtained.”³
The Church has been in existence nearly two thousand years. She has on
her list of known saints many thousands of names of men and women to
whom she pays real religious homage. However, never in her history has
she given adoration to them. The Catholic Church makes a complete and
clear distinction between the supreme worship that is given to God alone
and the relative and inferior homage which is paid to the saints.
1
39 Articles of Religion, Article 22 (Church of England, 1563).
2
The Augsburg Confession, Article 21 (Lutherans, 1530).
3
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 28 (1559).
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