Veneration vs. Worship: Are they the same thing?
Someone was sent the following, explaining how veneration and worship are supposedly the same things, and that venerating the Saints is the equivalent of giving them the worship due to God alone.
"The simplest definition of worship is to “ascribe worth.” Worship can be more completely defined as “showing respect, love, reverence, or adoration.” Based on the dictionary, no clear difference between veneration and worship exists. In fact, veneration and worship are often used as synonyms for each other.
The Catholic Church has different degrees of worship: dulia, hyperdulia, and latria. Dulia is the honor given to the saints. Hyperdulia is the honor given to Mary alone, as the greatest of the saints. Latria is the honor given to God alone. In contrast, the Bible always ascribes honor, in the context of worship, to God alone [1 Chronicles 29:11; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16; Revelation 4:11]. Even if there were biblical support for different levels of worship, there still would be no biblical support for offering lower/lesser levels of worship to anyone other than God.
Only God is worthy of worship, adoration, praise [Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 4:11, 15:4], and veneration, no matter how it is defined. Mary’s worth comes from the fact that God chose her for a glorious role and saved her from her sins through the death of Jesus Christ [Luke 1:47]. The saints’ worth comes from the fact that God saved them, transformed them, and then used them in mighty and amazing ways. May we all, with Mary and the saints, fall on our knees and worship the only One who is worthy."
So, are showing reverence, venerating, loving, respecting and adoring all the same thing, and all equal to the worship reserved for God alone? No, they are not. If they were, we'd all have to wonder why God commanded us to "worship" our parents in His own commandments to us. I would venture a guess that the person who wrote the above statement honors his/her parents. I would also guess he/she is not married and has no children, because spouses honor and respect each other (by remaining faithful and leading each other to Christ, for example), and honor and respect their children by raising them, feeding them, caring about them, and "ascribing worth" to them. It's true that worship used to be used synonymously with veneration and honor prior to the twentieth century, and in Europe, this is more common. For example, calling a judge "Your Honor" or a King "Your Worship". But those who use(d) worship in this manner understand the difference between showing respect [for our elders] and worshipping God. Further, most Christian doctrines and understandings of Christian uses of words isn't based on Webster's Dictionary.
To say a Catholic "has different degrees of worship" begs the question, and begs an explanation before presuming the Christian and historical understanding of "worship". If we are going to assume that the word "worship" means that which is reserved for God alone, then the statement is untrue. The statement would be, "the Catholic has different degrees of showing honor", and then the list would be certainly correct, and would look as follows.
Dulia is that honor given to our parents as commanded by God, to each other as members of the Body of Christ, to those in authority over us as commanded by God, and to those fellow humans having the dignity that all persons have. Hyperdulia is that honor which is an elevated form of dulia, given to Mary, the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, because God bestowed such honor upon her in choosing her to be His Mother. Since God blessed Mary among all women (Lk 1:42), and His Word prophesies that all generation shall call her blessed (Lk 1:48), we Christians ought to respect that. We do so by honoring the Mother of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in a way that is greater than other people, while still understanding that she is not to be given the worship that is due to God alone. Latria is the adoration and worship which is due to God alone. This is the worship which God commands we give to Him. And Catholics (and other Christians) give latria to God, and to God alone.
Yes, the Scriptures from the OT and NT show us that honor and glory are to be given to God for all eternity. And this, in no way, is diminished by obeying God's command to honor our parents (Ex 20:12, Dt 5:16). In fact, Jesus, Himself, reemphasizes the importance of showing this honor in three of the Gospels, as does Paul when He points out that this is the first command that comes with a promise (Eph 6:2). It's also not diminished by loving one another as Christ has loved us, or by respecting each other as we choose not to murder or steal or covet our neighbors' goods or their spouses. It is in no way diminished by ascribing worth to a person, as we listen to them ask forgiveness, and as we choose to forgive them.
I've already shown Biblical examples of showing these "lower levels of worship [a.k.a. honor and respect] to anyone other than God". But here are a couple more:
2 Kngs 4:37 has the Shunammite woman bowing down, and in some translations it says "worshipped", to honor Elisha for raising her son from the dead.
Jos 5:14 shows Joshua falling to the ground in reverence, and again some translations use "worship", as he gives reverence to the angel of God's army, and Joshua honors him with the title "lord".
Dan 8:17 shows Daniel falling prostrate in awe of the angel Gabriel.
Tob 12:16 tells of Tobiah and Tobit falling prostrate to the angel Raphael.
In all these examples of honoring our parents or bowing before prophets or angels, are we seeing people give the worship which is due to God alone? No. They are examples of that "dulia" which we give because God told us to, and because we want to recognize God's work through His chosen instruments.
Why does the person who wrote the above statement think these things might look like worship? I am going to guess that it's because he/she has adopted a form of Christianity that has all but abandoned (or worse) the Sacramental nature of worship. All that is left of worship, for this person, are the things can be incorporated into worship, but are not worship itself, as Jesus showed us.
We venerate angels because they always behold the face of God (Mt 18:10) and they, with the Saints, are in union with God and can help lead us closer to Him. The Saints are an example for us to follow (1 Thess 1:5-8, cf. Hb 13:7), and so we honor their example and ask their help so we can be faithful Christians like they are.
AMEN! Only God is worthy of our worship! (Veneration isn't mentioned in those passages, by the way.) God Himself has commanded us to give proper honor to others, and Scripture has plenty of examples of that.
AMEN! Mary's place of honor is from God, and the work of God alone. And God honored her more than any human could possibly ever honor her. That doesn't mean we get to ignore what God did through her and ignore what His Word prophesied about all generations in her regard. We honor her because God honored her first.
AMEN! Let us all join Mary and the Angels and the Saints in worshipping God and falling to our knees before Him! Let us also not forget the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and given the example (Heb 11-12:1) and whose prayers avail much (Jam 5:16).
"The simplest definition of worship is to “ascribe worth.” Worship can be more completely defined as “showing respect, love, reverence, or adoration.” Based on the dictionary, no clear difference between veneration and worship exists. In fact, veneration and worship are often used as synonyms for each other.
The Catholic Church has different degrees of worship: dulia, hyperdulia, and latria. Dulia is the honor given to the saints. Hyperdulia is the honor given to Mary alone, as the greatest of the saints. Latria is the honor given to God alone. In contrast, the Bible always ascribes honor, in the context of worship, to God alone [1 Chronicles 29:11; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16; Revelation 4:11]. Even if there were biblical support for different levels of worship, there still would be no biblical support for offering lower/lesser levels of worship to anyone other than God.
Only God is worthy of worship, adoration, praise [Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 4:11, 15:4], and veneration, no matter how it is defined. Mary’s worth comes from the fact that God chose her for a glorious role and saved her from her sins through the death of Jesus Christ [Luke 1:47]. The saints’ worth comes from the fact that God saved them, transformed them, and then used them in mighty and amazing ways. May we all, with Mary and the saints, fall on our knees and worship the only One who is worthy."
So, are showing reverence, venerating, loving, respecting and adoring all the same thing, and all equal to the worship reserved for God alone? No, they are not. If they were, we'd all have to wonder why God commanded us to "worship" our parents in His own commandments to us. I would venture a guess that the person who wrote the above statement honors his/her parents. I would also guess he/she is not married and has no children, because spouses honor and respect each other (by remaining faithful and leading each other to Christ, for example), and honor and respect their children by raising them, feeding them, caring about them, and "ascribing worth" to them. It's true that worship used to be used synonymously with veneration and honor prior to the twentieth century, and in Europe, this is more common. For example, calling a judge "Your Honor" or a King "Your Worship". But those who use(d) worship in this manner understand the difference between showing respect [for our elders] and worshipping God. Further, most Christian doctrines and understandings of Christian uses of words isn't based on Webster's Dictionary.
To say a Catholic "has different degrees of worship" begs the question, and begs an explanation before presuming the Christian and historical understanding of "worship". If we are going to assume that the word "worship" means that which is reserved for God alone, then the statement is untrue. The statement would be, "the Catholic has different degrees of showing honor", and then the list would be certainly correct, and would look as follows.
Dulia is that honor given to our parents as commanded by God, to each other as members of the Body of Christ, to those in authority over us as commanded by God, and to those fellow humans having the dignity that all persons have. Hyperdulia is that honor which is an elevated form of dulia, given to Mary, the Mother of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, because God bestowed such honor upon her in choosing her to be His Mother. Since God blessed Mary among all women (Lk 1:42), and His Word prophesies that all generation shall call her blessed (Lk 1:48), we Christians ought to respect that. We do so by honoring the Mother of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in a way that is greater than other people, while still understanding that she is not to be given the worship that is due to God alone. Latria is the adoration and worship which is due to God alone. This is the worship which God commands we give to Him. And Catholics (and other Christians) give latria to God, and to God alone.
Yes, the Scriptures from the OT and NT show us that honor and glory are to be given to God for all eternity. And this, in no way, is diminished by obeying God's command to honor our parents (Ex 20:12, Dt 5:16). In fact, Jesus, Himself, reemphasizes the importance of showing this honor in three of the Gospels, as does Paul when He points out that this is the first command that comes with a promise (Eph 6:2). It's also not diminished by loving one another as Christ has loved us, or by respecting each other as we choose not to murder or steal or covet our neighbors' goods or their spouses. It is in no way diminished by ascribing worth to a person, as we listen to them ask forgiveness, and as we choose to forgive them.
I've already shown Biblical examples of showing these "lower levels of worship [a.k.a. honor and respect] to anyone other than God". But here are a couple more:
2 Kngs 4:37 has the Shunammite woman bowing down, and in some translations it says "worshipped", to honor Elisha for raising her son from the dead.
Jos 5:14 shows Joshua falling to the ground in reverence, and again some translations use "worship", as he gives reverence to the angel of God's army, and Joshua honors him with the title "lord".
Dan 8:17 shows Daniel falling prostrate in awe of the angel Gabriel.
Tob 12:16 tells of Tobiah and Tobit falling prostrate to the angel Raphael.
In all these examples of honoring our parents or bowing before prophets or angels, are we seeing people give the worship which is due to God alone? No. They are examples of that "dulia" which we give because God told us to, and because we want to recognize God's work through His chosen instruments.
Why does the person who wrote the above statement think these things might look like worship? I am going to guess that it's because he/she has adopted a form of Christianity that has all but abandoned (or worse) the Sacramental nature of worship. All that is left of worship, for this person, are the things can be incorporated into worship, but are not worship itself, as Jesus showed us.
We venerate angels because they always behold the face of God (Mt 18:10) and they, with the Saints, are in union with God and can help lead us closer to Him. The Saints are an example for us to follow (1 Thess 1:5-8, cf. Hb 13:7), and so we honor their example and ask their help so we can be faithful Christians like they are.
AMEN! Only God is worthy of our worship! (Veneration isn't mentioned in those passages, by the way.) God Himself has commanded us to give proper honor to others, and Scripture has plenty of examples of that.
AMEN! Mary's place of honor is from God, and the work of God alone. And God honored her more than any human could possibly ever honor her. That doesn't mean we get to ignore what God did through her and ignore what His Word prophesied about all generations in her regard. We honor her because God honored her first.
AMEN! Let us all join Mary and the Angels and the Saints in worshipping God and falling to our knees before Him! Let us also not forget the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and given the example (Heb 11-12:1) and whose prayers avail much (Jam 5:16).
Comments
Post a Comment