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Question
I have lots of catholic friends and they always seem to be praying to one saint or the other. They also pray to virgin Mary. Now as far as I know Mary was a virgin at the time of Jesus' birth but after that she had sons. Why is she still called a virgin and more importantly why do people pray to her? Why can't they talk to God directly? And why do they pray to dead saints?
You are correct. Unfortunately Catholics believe many things which are not in the Bible like Mary was sinless, we should pray to dead people, purgatory, etc. It is clear from the Bible she was a virgin when she had Jesus so that is correct. You are correct that we should speak to God directly, after all, that is what Jesus (God) told us to do. Not only that, it is FORBIDDEN to speak to the dead in Scripture so it puzzles me that Catholics would think they should pray to dead people! It really is repulsive to God and a serious sin (e.g. read Deuteronomy 18:10-13 "let no one be found...who consults the dead"), as well as completely contradictory to the purpose of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks for the great question!
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Expertise
My degrees and studies are mostly in Christian doctrine but I will answer questions having to do with almost any aspect of Christianity and The Bible.
Experience
My experience consists of over 20 years as a Pastor, Youth Pastor, missionary, counselor, teacher, writer, Bible quizzer, and various other leadership positions. I've studied the Bible for over 20 years at 5 different schools/seminaries but I can explain things in simple terms anyone can understand and currently teach Sunday School to 1st-5th graders. I specialize in Christian apologetics (evidences for Christianity) and Polemics (debate denouncing false teachings), as well as understanding difficult verses, and topics such as heaven & hell, denominations/sects, false teachings/heresies/cults, the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy Spirit, spiritual warfare, apostolic reformation, emergent/emerging church, prosperity teaching, contradictions/discrepancies, charismatic studies, creation/evolution, Greek/Hebrew studies, end times, deliverance, the apocrypha/pseudepigrapha, etc. I daily answer questions on Global Media Outreach, AllExperts, YouTube, through email, and various personal websites where I have posted many Christian videos.
Education/Credentials
Graduated from a private Christian High School, went to Nazarene Bible college and then Eastern Nazarene College (Boston) for Youth Ministry and Pastoral Studies/Christian Theology, transferred to Asbury College where I completed my degree in Christian Education and Missions, and most recently attending the Calvary Chapel Bible Institute.
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