The Worship of Angels
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
So goes a prayer posted online by a Catholic priest. How this isn't angel worship is beyond me. Not only this type of worship unfound in the Bible, we're also never instructed to pray to angels. Where do people get this stuff from? I'm amazed at how these false doctrines are so easily passed off as truth by the hundreds and hundreds of Church 'authorities'. Col 2:18 makes it abundantly clear: "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." The NIV is even more direct: "Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."
The response from the priest?
"A quick lesson in one very important aspect of Catholic theology.
Latria--the supreme worship, which may be offered to God alone.
Dulia--the veneration given to the saints as servants of God.
Hyperdulia--the veneration offered to Mary as the most exalted of creatures.
Catholics in general may not know the terms, but we do know the difference between worship, veneration, reverence, honor and respect, as experienced in our lives."
On closer inspection however, using Catholic resources, the only real difference between latria and dulia is the object of worship. From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
There are several degrees of...worship:
• If it is addressed directly to God, it is superior, absolute, supreme worship, or worship of adoration, or, according to the consecrated theological term, a worship of latria. This sovereign worship is due to God alone; addressed to a creature it would become idolatry.
• When worship is addressed only indirectly to God, that is, when its object is the veneration of martyrs, of angels, or of saints, it is a subordinate worship dependent on the first, and relative, in so far as it honours the creatures of God for their peculiar relations with Him; it is designated by theologians as the worship of dulia, a term denoting servitude, and implying, when used to signify our worship of distinguished servants of God, that their service to Him is their title to our veneration.
As is plainly seen from the above, the term "worship" is used for angels. This is downplayed by excusing it as simply "subordinate worship" but this little bit of trickery doesn't get around the problem: worshipping angels is inappropriate and wrong. I wonder, when praying to an angel, how the worship is made subordinate. Is it a feeling? Does it depend on the choice of words?
At any rate, this additional quote from the Catholic Encyclopedia doesn't help the Catholic cause: "Etymologically, however, there is no reason why latria should be preferred to designate supreme honour; and indeed the two words were often used indiscriminately."
The discussion was quickly put to bed with a blunt, but sadly amusing comment: "Sorry. Comments left by apostates, heretics, heathens, pagans, and unrepentant sinners must now be monitored."
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
So goes a prayer posted online by a Catholic priest. How this isn't angel worship is beyond me. Not only this type of worship unfound in the Bible, we're also never instructed to pray to angels. Where do people get this stuff from? I'm amazed at how these false doctrines are so easily passed off as truth by the hundreds and hundreds of Church 'authorities'. Col 2:18 makes it abundantly clear: "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." The NIV is even more direct: "Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."
The response from the priest?
"A quick lesson in one very important aspect of Catholic theology.
Latria--the supreme worship, which may be offered to God alone.
Dulia--the veneration given to the saints as servants of God.
Hyperdulia--the veneration offered to Mary as the most exalted of creatures.
Catholics in general may not know the terms, but we do know the difference between worship, veneration, reverence, honor and respect, as experienced in our lives."
On closer inspection however, using Catholic resources, the only real difference between latria and dulia is the object of worship. From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
There are several degrees of...worship:
• If it is addressed directly to God, it is superior, absolute, supreme worship, or worship of adoration, or, according to the consecrated theological term, a worship of latria. This sovereign worship is due to God alone; addressed to a creature it would become idolatry.
• When worship is addressed only indirectly to God, that is, when its object is the veneration of martyrs, of angels, or of saints, it is a subordinate worship dependent on the first, and relative, in so far as it honours the creatures of God for their peculiar relations with Him; it is designated by theologians as the worship of dulia, a term denoting servitude, and implying, when used to signify our worship of distinguished servants of God, that their service to Him is their title to our veneration.
As is plainly seen from the above, the term "worship" is used for angels. This is downplayed by excusing it as simply "subordinate worship" but this little bit of trickery doesn't get around the problem: worshipping angels is inappropriate and wrong. I wonder, when praying to an angel, how the worship is made subordinate. Is it a feeling? Does it depend on the choice of words?
At any rate, this additional quote from the Catholic Encyclopedia doesn't help the Catholic cause: "Etymologically, however, there is no reason why latria should be preferred to designate supreme honour; and indeed the two words were often used indiscriminately."
The discussion was quickly put to bed with a blunt, but sadly amusing comment: "Sorry. Comments left by apostates, heretics, heathens, pagans, and unrepentant sinners must now be monitored."
posted by Jason at
10/02/2006 02:33:00 PM
4 Comments:
This just proves your ignorance on the matter.. I guess you primarily worship the bible... and not God right?
I worship God by following the Bible. As do you. The only difference is I'm not ashamed or worried about using Scripture to defend my beliefs. You revert to personal attacks. It's the easy way out.
no, the real problem is, that you only choose to use the scriptures that you can twist and mis-interpret to make your point, you totally disregard the real meaning of the scriptures. I guess this is what happens when someone interprets the bible for themselves, as the bible told us not too!
I have yet to see a logical, Biblical argument from you proving I'm twisting and misinterpreting things. The priest I was talking to wouldn't or couldn't quote a single verse to defend himself. I wonder why?
You have the floor. Show me how I've been "ignorant on the matter" when it comes to the worship of angels. I look forward to studying your Scriptural references.
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