A
Anonymous
Guest
None but Himself ...
"I would like to know then, how Christians the world over, can come to terms with the worship of saints.....the worship of Mary the mother of Jesus.....and even the worship of Jesus himself. If god instructed men to worship none but himself, why is it acceptable for christians to worship these additional persons ?"
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As a Catholic I would like to clarify that none who know their faith actually "worship" saints (a "saint" being defined as someone we can reasonably be assured has achieved their heavenly reward), nor do they "worship" the Blessed Virgin Mary. Catholics, like Christians everywhere who are orthodox in their expression of the faith, worship only God.
There are three aspects of the Mystery we refer to as God:
"And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other; none is greater, or less than another; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal together; and co-equal." - The Athanasian Creed
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are three manifestations of the one God.
The term "Triad" was first used by Theophilus of Antioch (circa 180) for this concept; the term "Trinity" was introduced by Tertullian in circa 217 in his treatise Adversus Praxean.
"I would like to know then, how Christians the world over, can come to terms with the worship of saints.....the worship of Mary the mother of Jesus.....and even the worship of Jesus himself. If god instructed men to worship none but himself, why is it acceptable for christians to worship these additional persons ?"
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As a Catholic I would like to clarify that none who know their faith actually "worship" saints (a "saint" being defined as someone we can reasonably be assured has achieved their heavenly reward), nor do they "worship" the Blessed Virgin Mary. Catholics, like Christians everywhere who are orthodox in their expression of the faith, worship only God.
There are three aspects of the Mystery we refer to as God:
"And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other; none is greater, or less than another; but the whole three Persons are co-eternal together; and co-equal." - The Athanasian Creed
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are three manifestations of the one God.
The term "Triad" was first used by Theophilus of Antioch (circa 180) for this concept; the term "Trinity" was introduced by Tertullian in circa 217 in his treatise Adversus Praxean.