You Can't Be in Communion With Those You Refuse to Talk to or Acknowledge

Protestants claim to believe in the "Communion of the Saints" while rejecting the saints.

Many Protestant sects claim to hold to the Apostles Creed. But do they?

There’s a line in the Creed that speaks of the communion of the saints, and many Protestants claim to believe in and uphold this Creed. The line is:

Apostles Creed:

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting, Amen.”

For the time being, we’ll ignore the fact that they completely change or ignore the term Holy Catholic Church. Let’s look at their claim to believe in the communion of saints. Most Protestants will say that all Christians with a “real” faith who have truly been “born again” are part of the saints referred to here. Of course, there’s a dozen different definitions of what it means to have a “real” faith and to truly be “born again”.

Now it is true that those Christians who are on earth right now, who are in a state of grace, are considered saints by Scripture and the Church. But what about those saints who are in Heaven? Of course they are ALSO part of the saints we in the Catholic Church are in communion with. Different Protestant sects have different views on this (because there is no one set of Protestant beliefs on anything). Some view those in Heaven as not part of the saints. Others do. Still other sects believe there are no humans in Heaven yet and believe all those saints who lived prior to us are asleep and not conscious of anything. (Guess we actually AREN’T surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” as Scripture says…)

But for both groups, how can you claim to have communion with these holy souls in Heaven, when you refuse to talk to them? How can you claim to have communion with those in Heaven when you refuse to ask them to pray for you? How can you have communion with those you refuse to acknowledge at all?

Communion with another person involves having a relationship with them, and being joined in soul and spirit with them. Catholics properly understand that by being baptized, we join the New Covenant and also join the Body of Christ. We actually become Christ’s Body. And just as Scripture says, the hand cannot say to the foot “I have no need for you”. We must be in accord, in union of belief and doctrine with those who are part of this Body with us.

Protestantism rejects the entire concept of the communion of saints because they only believe in communion with those Christians who are alive today. They reject communion with those holy souls who lived before us. They refuse to talk to them. They refuse to pray to them. They refuse to be part of the Body with them.