The Truth In Print Vol
14 Issue 10, Nov. 2008
A Publication of the
Valley church of Christ
2375 W. 8th Street,
Yuma, AZ 85364 (928-782-5058)
The Bible Does not Teach Praying to Dead Animals
A respondent has stated the following concerning our recent newspaper article (Oct. 25th, the Yuma Sun):
“My name is _________ and I’m looking at your advertisement in today’s Sun, where, uh, I guess someone there feels, uh, that you have a legitimate reason to put down the beliefs of another religion.
All that I can say to you is shame, shame, shame on you! You need to find out what it really means to be a Christian, to love everyone not just people in your faith. I happen to respect St. Francis of Assis’s teachings, and maybe you should really begin to look closely at them before you judge and put down somebody else’s faith. If you have any questions you can call me back at _________. Have a beautiful God filled day!”
Before I place the article in allow me to
explain some background for the article itself. On Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 a
full page appeared in our local newspaper (This is customary this time of the
year.) concerning Yuma churches celebrating St. Francis’ blessing of the
animals. Perhaps your community does likewise during the month of October. The
article stated that St. Francis being the patron saint of animals and ecology
is honored by Christians everywhere. That certainly is not true of the church
that Christ built! Going on it stated that the Feast of St. Francis of
Assisi is celebrated on Oct. 4 by the blessing of animals. Among those
specifically stated as celebrating here in Yuma was St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, and for their ceremony it was announced that “...all present could offer prayers to the animal
friends who have died. Each person may name that pet.” Phew! Find that in the
New Testament concerning Christians’ prayers in the first century will ya’? Then send it to me in a hurry for I must have
missed it in my studies of the prayers of the first century Christians.
That’s all “we” ask of you if you disagree and think that
true Christians were taught to pray to dead animals. Going on — along
with the suggested prayers they said they’d be passing a doggie bowl and
a grain basket for contributions to be donated to the good of animals. Although
emotionally thrilling the New Testament knows nothing of such as a work of the
church.
But
there’s more — the so called Reverend, the rector, said “I
believe that when God wanted to tell us what unconditional love is, he gave us
dogs. When he wanted us to know humility, he gave us cats.” Concerned
reader I have a scripture God gave telling “how” He
“demonstrated” His love . Hear this:
8
But
God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him (Rom. 5:8-9).
In the newspaper as regards the St. Francis of Assisi Church it said that mass will precede the ceremonies to bless the animals, and that the blessing honors St. Francis of Assisi who experienced all of God’s creation as sacred. One of their members was quoted as saying that St. Francis preached to the birds and animals. They invited the public and said that games would be there for the children as well a potluck lunch.
A third church, the Yuma Center for
Spiritual Living, was to have their blessing at a park
where owners could take their pets on mini-parade. Their so called Reverend
said the blessing is a ritual “where we recognize the loving presence and
infinite power within the spirit of the animal.” Their human philosophy
was in part: “We set aside this time to remember that animals are a
spiritually perfect expression of the One, in a unique form.” I have Scripture God gave us that tells me Who is the is the
express image of the Father in Heaven. As the Hebrew writer explained that
God speaks to mankind through His Son, Jesus Christ, he said:
Hebrews 1:1-4 (KJV)
1 God, who at sundry times
and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he
had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high;
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
I don’t really think that “animals” make much of a comparison, do you?
Whether the respondent read the newspaper article I do not know. Now, here is the article which I truly believe is necessary today in view of some of the beliefs stated above.
The Bible Does Not Teach Praying to Animals
Various kinds of religions offer congregants
and those at large opportunities to participate in “a blessing of
animals” ceremony. This often comes in October in celebration of the so
called “saint” of Catholicism – St. Francis of Assisi. Myth
has it that he preached to the birds rather than to man as Christ directed
(Mark 16:15-16; Matt. 28:18-20). The bible doesn’t record
“bird” preaching and “bird” believing and “bird”
baptism for the remission of “bird” sins! Paul’s warning that
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds done in the body, whether good or bad, concerns
“man” not the animals (2 Cor. 5:10).
While emotionally thrilling, if you can be misled into believing that you can pray to dead animals then you need to ask yourself what else you might be gullibly led into. It is only man who was made in the image of God at the beginning (Gen. 1:26-27). Solomon said, “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” (Eccl.3:21). Both man and beast are “mortal” i.e. they die physically. The destiny of man’s spirit is to return to God (Eccl. 12:7, Phil. 1:23). How many are simply not willing to see the difference in the eternal spirit of man, and that along with his accountability and judgment after death? What kind of person would mislead one into thinking that they can pray to dead animals?
Other Scriptural Points
1. Living members of the church at Philippi were called “saints” in the first century church (read Phil. 1:1). The New Testament knows nothing of the elaborate process that Catholicism practices in making one a so called “Saint” and then honoring them!
2. Human myths and traditions when practiced and believed as one’s religion make void the commands of God (read Matt. 15:3-8; Col. 2:8; I Tim. 1:3-4, 6:4).
3 Titles such as Rabbi, Father, Master, Reverend, etc. are man’s credentials given by the human institutions men build that bestow them. They simply have no place in Christ’s church — read Matt. 23:8-10.
By Bob Lovelace