FOX news recently reported that the Roman Catholic Church is currently in the process of promoting the Cause for the Canonization of Archbishop Fulton John Sheen. That is to say, there is a movement afoot for the Church to proclaim him a saint. For those who are not familiar with the late Archbishop Sheen, he was one of the first "Television Evangelists" to preach Christian values. His TV series, Life is Worth Living, aired from 1951-1957 and attracted a weekly audience of more than thirty million people. Faith, hope, and the love of God were three constant themes Archbishop Sheen offered a world terrorized by the new threat of nuclear war.

As I listened to the news report my heart ached as I heard a Roman Catholic representative explain how the Roman Catholic Church determines a saint. At least two qualifications must be met, he explained. First, a candidate for sainthood had to have performed a bonafide miracle. Second, there must be evidence of prayers being answered through one's intercession.

I can appreciate the concept of wanting to honor a good man, but at the same time I am appalled at how unscriptural the attempt is. If the Bible is to be the final authority for a Christian’s faith and practice then surely the Roman Catholic Church has totally lost its way in this matter. Consider the evidence.

First, men do not make or proclaim saints, God does and God establishes sainthood through the free gift of salvation by grace through faith alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains the process, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Second, all those whom God saves are saints, according to the Bible.

• Romans 15:25, "But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints."

• Ephesians 1:1, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus."

It would take page after page to cite all of the biblical references to conclusively establish the fact that in Scripture there is no special or distinctive class of saints in the Bible apart from those who have embraced Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Third, the saints of God have but one Mediator and that One is Jesus Christ.

• 1 Timothy 2:5-6, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

The only person who can and will answer prayer is Jesus Christ the Lord. There is no evidence that those in heaven who precede us here on earth have any power or authority to prevail with God any more than we who are here on earth. Just imagine, would you want to be bothered with the problems and distractions on earth or would you be too busy seeing God as He is, face to face, and too busy worshipping at the throne of the Lord God Almighty? 

Not only is it morally wrong for mortals to pray to those who have died in the Lord, it is an abomination prohibited by God. Yet, the Roman Catholic Church finds authority to pray to the dead by accepting some very questionable religious books called The Apocrypha.

• II Maccabees 12:43-46, "And making a gathering, he [Judas] sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,) And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins."

The Apocrypha was not accepted as canonical until the Roman Catholic Church officially and authoritatively declared it part of the Bible by the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century. The books were included by Rome as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation and in order to justify what is clearly prohibited by Moses and thus by God. (For a fuller discussion of the Apocrypha see an early blog here.)

• Deuteronomy 18:10-11, "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."

Since God does not contradict Himself it is obvious that the later teaching of the Apocrypha should be dismissed as spurious. Let God be true and every man a liar. The Roman Catholic Church does not and cannot make anyone a saint.

Dear people, come back to Christ. Speak to Him alone as the living Lord. Renounce all misguided practices contrary to Scripture and speak only to Him who ever liveth to make intercession for the saints (Rom 8:27), even Jesus Christ the Righteous One.