@Chud<\/a>:
Okay retard, prove that venerating icons is against the commandments. One of the most common objections I hear from protestants criticizing Orthodoxy, or even Catholicism, is when they say that "the saints are dead, they can't hear you".
The saints in heaven are not dead. That is a fundamental rejection of what Christ did during the decent into Hades, He emptied the Graves of the righteous dead and pulled everyone into heaven. Christ Himself said in the gospels, God is not the God of the dead, He is the God of the living. For in Christ, all are alive. (Luke 20:38)
The saints who are alive in Christ in heaven partake of the uncreated energies of God, as He shares some of His attributes with us (2 Peter 1:3-4). Therefore, the Saints in Heaven are actively aware of what is going on with us down here on earth in the church, and act as a cloud of witnesses for us (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Because they are aware of us, they very much are still concerned with what goes on with us here on earth and actively cheer us on until the end of days and pray exceedingly for us on our behalf and want vengence for us (Revalations 6:10), yes, even in heaven. The saints praying for us happens in the Bible (Revalations 5:8, and 8:3-4), and with all of this being put together, the last cherry on top of this is that if all these accounts are true and they are aware of us, they intercede for us on our behalf, and are alive in Christ, then what more shall we doubt? That we can ask the saints in heaven to pray for us, just as the holy apostle James encourages us to pray for one another, and he also says the prayers of a righteous man avails much. (James 5:16) This means that some people's prayers mean more to God than others, which is a fact. So therefore, if that is true, then the saints in heaven, since they have absolutely no sin anymore, have MUCH more valuable prayers than anyone on earth does. Remember what Our Lord said in the gospels, that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest man on earth (Matthew 11:11). So why wouldn't we seek out the prayers of those who are defied in heaven, if they hold this much power in prayer? I believe it would be unwise to not ask them.

And before it's brought up, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, - 1 Timothy 2:5" is not an objection to everything I said. The word mediator here means "bridge", not intercessor. Christ being the only mediator between God and man is due to the fact that Christ is both God, and Man. Since He is both God and Man, He alone bridges the gap of salvation between God, and man because He is the God-Man. Mediation is not intercession. 1 Tim 2:5 is a soteriology verse. It's talking about salvation, not prayers and intercession. They're two completely different things, so this verse is not saying what you might claim it says.

There are examples of these sorts of things even in the OT as well. A couple examples of these instances is Tobit 12:15, when St. Raphael the Archangel claims himself as the angel who brings the prayers of the saints to God, and 2 Macabees 12:45 where even though this isn't necessarily a verse talking about intercession of the saints, it's still kinda in the same ball park where it displays a long standing Jewish tradition of praying on behalf of the souls that have departed this life. Thats because intercession goes both ways! Not only do the saints pray for us, but we also pray for those who've reposed as well. There always has been a relationship and connection between the souls on earth, and the souls of the spiritual realm. The church militant (Christians on earth) and the church triumphant (Christians in heaven), are one united church and we always have been.

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