The person must have lived a life of heroic virtue for the Christian life.
There must be more than 1 confirmed miracle attributed to the potential saint AFTER they have died. (Though I think martyrs only need 1 miracle.)
The idea in the Catholic faith is that the dead watch the living and plead with God on the living’s behalf. Therefore, if a miracle happens after a person has prayed to a potential Saint, that Saint may be attributed with that miracle (for the proposes of sainthood).
I like to think of it like the commission that clothing store clerks get. When you go to make your purchase at the Bloomingdale’s, the cashier would say “Did anyone help you with your purchase today?” And if you say “yes, Mandy recommended I get the red windbreaker instead of the grey overcoat”, then Mandy the store clerk gets the credit for the sale.
The potential saint gets credit for the miracle. There’s usually a long investigation by the church to prove that 1) a miracle actually happened, and 2) that the saint was “involved” somehow. In this case it seems like the investigation was abbreviated.
The idea in the Catholic faith is that the dead watch the living and plead with God on the living’s behalf. Therefore, if a miracle happens after a person has prayed to a potential Saint, that Saint may be attributed with that miracle (for the proposes of sainthood).
Wow that is pagan as hell. I never quite realized it but when you put it that way it’s really interesting how similar Catholicism is to East Asian religions (my point of comparison is Shinto, but if I’m not mistaken these aspects aren’t unique to it). The dead looking over and protecting the living, being able to deify and worship dead people of note and of course rigid priest hierarchies. I wonder if there’s an anthropological or otherwise scientific reason for this.
I think your statements about paganism is what the Protestant branch of Christianity would say as well.
Another slightly unrelated anecdote: I once heard from a former priest that Catholics pray to the saints because they can’t believe that a father (male-like God figure) could be compassionate and would care about their troubles. I don’t know if that’s true, but I think it’s an indictment of men as fathers in general :/
The criteria for sainthood is three-fold:
The idea in the Catholic faith is that the dead watch the living and plead with God on the living’s behalf. Therefore, if a miracle happens after a person has prayed to a potential Saint, that Saint may be attributed with that miracle (for the proposes of sainthood).
I like to think of it like the commission that clothing store clerks get. When you go to make your purchase at the Bloomingdale’s, the cashier would say “Did anyone help you with your purchase today?” And if you say “yes, Mandy recommended I get the red windbreaker instead of the grey overcoat”, then Mandy the store clerk gets the credit for the sale.
The potential saint gets credit for the miracle. There’s usually a long investigation by the church to prove that 1) a miracle actually happened, and 2) that the saint was “involved” somehow. In this case it seems like the investigation was abbreviated.
Wow that is pagan as hell. I never quite realized it but when you put it that way it’s really interesting how similar Catholicism is to East Asian religions (my point of comparison is Shinto, but if I’m not mistaken these aspects aren’t unique to it). The dead looking over and protecting the living, being able to deify and worship dead people of note and of course rigid priest hierarchies. I wonder if there’s an anthropological or otherwise scientific reason for this.
I think your statements about paganism is what the Protestant branch of Christianity would say as well.
Another slightly unrelated anecdote: I once heard from a former priest that Catholics pray to the saints because they can’t believe that a father (male-like God figure) could be compassionate and would care about their troubles. I don’t know if that’s true, but I think it’s an indictment of men as fathers in general :/
Ah right… Straight from the Bible.
In practice, there is no major Christian group whose beliefs actually follow from the Bible.
I’m not sure that’s the lights out argument that you think it is…