Let me begin by stating that I have made every effort in the following post to express things in as simple a manner as possible, as per your request.
If this is inadequate, I am at the end of my tether, so to speak, so there is nothing more I can do, but perhaps another member might be able to “translate” my writing. I would note once more that no one else in the entire time I have been on CF.com has expressed difficulty in understanding me, so I remain a bit bewildered by all of this.
This is the way I'm working it on my end. The Pope, Mariology and praying to souls of the dead and to angles is nowhere in scripture and nowhere in early church (first to third/fourth century) writings by the church fathers of that time period. The traditions and practices of zillions of Christians form umpteen denominations, doesn't change that fact. Also it seems likely to me that there's something wrong with a system, when simply stating facts and asking probing questions is called an attack.
If I am incorrect in my conclusions then you and others including those you called out, should be able to easily prove me wrong with compelling and or inarguable evidence and facts.
Well there are a few objections I have with this. Firstly, and most problematically, you have not defined what you mean by “the Pope” and “Mariology.” Mariology merely refers to the theology that concerns the Theotokos, and every Christian denomination has mariology, it is just that some of them do not venerate her. Failing to venerate the Theotokos was unknown in the early church, outside of a relatively small sect called the Antidicomarians, who we only know about them because the fourth century bishop St. Epiphanius of Salamis documented them in his encyclopedia of sects called The Panarion (which literally means “The Medicine Chest” which in turn refers to what we would call a “FIrst-Aid Kit,” for Epiphanius likened each sect to a venomous or otherwise unpleasant critter, which is hilarious, by the way. I would be happy to furnish you with a copy of the Panarion.
Now I suspect, and forgive me if I am wrong on this point, that by Mariology, you meant to write “Mariolatry” which refers to the worship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is actually canonically forbidden in all major Christian churches including the Roman Catholic Church, although some Catholics violate this, but most do not. Going back to St. Epiphanius of Salamis, he documented two sects both of which were doing the wrong thing in terms of the Blessed Virgin Mary: there were the Collyridians, and there were the Antidicomarians, who I mentioned above. While the antidicomarians refused to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary and also denied her perpetual virginity, a doctrine upheld by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer and John Wesley, among others, the Collyridians went to the other extreme and engaged in Mariolatry, which is to say, they worshipped the Virgin Mary. This is forbidden as it constitutes idolatry to worship anyone other than God. Thus we can worship Jesus Christ because He is God incarnate; we cannot worship the Virgin Mary because she is only the mother of God and not herself a goddess, but her status as the mother of God makes her particularly worthy of veneration, because she had an uniquely close and important relationship in the life of our incarnate Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now, moving on from that, it might surprise you to know that even your statement regarding “the Pope” is confused and also incorrect, technically. Now you should I hope be pleased to note that like you, I disagree with the doctrines of Papal Infallibility and Papal Supremacy. These have always been rejected by the Orthodox. You might be surprised to know however that there was a bishop addressed as Pope starting in the third century, but it was not the bishop of Rome, but rather his colleague the bishop of Alexandria. However, the Church of Alexandria, which subsequently was divided by the Chacledonian schism into the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria and All Africa, and the Coptic Orthodox Church (which means “Egyptian Orthodox Church”), but the two churches have since developed a close ecumenical relationship starting in the 1960s, has had Popes since the third century, but never have either the Alexandrian Greek Orthodox or the Coptic Orthodox or their unified predecessors practiced anything like Papal supremacy. Actually one Coptic Orthodox Pope had his mitre stomped by a local diocesan bishop after the Pope began the celebration of the Eucharist without the local bishop being present, when the local bishop was delayed, which is, under the canons of the early church, which date from the second, third and fourth centuries, hugely forbidden. The Coptic pope in question accepted the rebuke.
It was not until the sixth century that the Roman bishops began to be referred to also as Pope. Papal supremacy as a doctrine did not emerge until the years immediately before the Great Schism in 1054 between the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics, and indeed it was to a very large extent the refusal of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople to accept the doctrine of the supremacy of the Roman Pope that led to the Roman Catholics basically aggressively excommunicating the Eastern Orthodox. Rejection of Papal Supremacy and of subsequent theological developments in the Roman Catholic Church underlies the difference between the Orthodox and Catholics.
Finally, regarding intercessory prayer to the saints, who are not dead but alive in Christ, and to the angels, can in fact be found in second, third and fourth century Patristic material, specifically, the liturgical texts used by the Church during those centuries to worship. Additionally, there are references to it in many Patristic writings, homilies and commentaries.
