Saints, Scripture, and Veneration: Why the Orthodox Honor the Holy

Why does the Orthodox Church venerate saints and holy objects? Here I begin a multiple-part series that will take on topics like veneration and eventually the intercession of the Saints. But before any of that can even begin to make sense, we need to return to the basics and ask questions like, “What is a saint? What is veneration? How does Scripture use the term, and how did the Church understand these concepts from its inception?” This article sets the stage for the rest of the series by answering the questions above.

Introduction

To understand why Orthodox Christians venerate saints, it is important to begin at the foundations. Protestants at large deny the practice of veneration of the saints often saying that it was an accretion of church history and a cult practice that was developed over time, and as a result not an apostolic practice. Consequently, the term saint often feels foreign to Protestantism when applied to anyone in modern times, even domineering. When the term saint is used to describe a modern man, Protestants often flinch and denote that calling someone a Saint means holding them in too high of esteem, resulting in the glory of man overtaking the glory of God. And there is some good warrant for this. There have been abuses both in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church when it comes to saints. But did the Protestant Reformation throw the baby out with the bathwater? I would say yes. Here I defend the use of the term saint in the Orthodox Church and the veneration of them. First I will define the term saint, secondly I will give Old and New Testament examples of veneration given to saints and sacred objects, and lastly I will end with a brief exploration of the early churches reception of this theology.

Old Testament Meaning of Saint

To get a proper understanding of what a Saint is, it is important to start with a biblical definition. When looking at defining terms from other languages, there is rarely an exact one-to-one translation of a word. All words have what is called a semantic range. Semantic range is the spectrum of meanings a word can carry, with context determining which meaning is being used. For example, the English word “fresh” can be an adjective that describes fruit, how someone is full of energy, or even how someone dresses. But what gives definition to which meaning is being used? It is the context of where the word is being used and the audience to which it is written. Likewise, in the Old Testament what is often translated as saint has a semantic range, and depending on who it is being written to, it carries slightly different but similar meanings.

The term saint is given through the Hebrew term (קְדֹשִׁים / qadosh/qedoshim). The root of this term carries the meaning of something that is “consecrated, sacred, holy, set apart, or a holy one (i.e., Saint). This term is not only applied to men and translated as saints in the Psalms, but it is applied to angels as holy ones, Israel as a nation that is set apart for God’s own purposes, sacred objects in the Temple to be used and regarded as holy, and even God Himself as the pinnacle of that which is holy. This can be seen in Psalm 30:4, where the root of the term is translated as saints to describe those who are to give thanks to God’s holiness. In Psalm 89:5–7 it is used to describe the angels who compose God’s divine assembly. In Exodus 28:36 it is used to describe utensils in the Temple that are set apart for holy use. Lastly, God calls the people of Israel to be “holy” or “set apart” as He is “holy” and “set apart.” All of these verses use the same Hebrew root.

Consequently, an Old Testament saint is someone who is first set apart as God is for participation in divine life. He is one who sets himself apart by true worship and faithful obedience. This is why men like David, Jacob, Joseph, and others can be properly called saints. They are men set apart for God’s divine purpose.

New Testament Meaning of Saint

The Greek used for the term Saint is ἅγιος, meaning something or someone that is holy, consecrated, dedicated to God, or set apart. Similar to the OT, what is translated as saint has the same core meaning, and is also applied explicitly to men and by association of them, angels. For example, Paul addresses the believers in Rome, Ephesus, and Corinth as ἁγίοις, or saints in the plural. These are Christians that are consecrated for a holy use. Likewise, in Revelation 8:3, angels are set apart for worshiping the Triune God through the use of holy objects:

“Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.”

Therefore, the NT identifies saints, angels, and sacred objects as something that is ἅγιος, or holy. Saint in the biblical sense was not used to identify special characters or the spiritual elite; rather, they were ordinary men that were baptized and transformed through the redemptive work of Christ, and returned to their proper glory which is accomplished through communion with God.

Saints demonstrate the reality that Paul describes as a new creation, and those who were once slaves of sin becoming slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:18) The Orthodox affirm wholeheartedly that men can defeat their passions through Christ and live the truth Paul describes. By cultivating holiness and endurance through trials, denying their fleshly desires, engaging in prayer, and practicing self-examination, one attains sanctification (Ephesians 5:3). Consequently, the term Saint always emphasizes identity in Christ and never focuses on the work of the person himself apart from Christ. A saint is a follower of Christ. He is not an extraordinary man, but rather one who has returned to the glory he was originally intended for. He is a man who has returned to communion with God, and ultimately the glory of God. Even though there have been abuses of the term, this does not mean we discard the term to describe the reality that there are saints today as biblically understood. Participation in the glory of God continues to bring man to his glorified state. As St. Irenaeus puts it, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” This is a saint, and we are all called to this glory.

As a result, the realities attached to the term saint are not realities that are out of reach or should bring intimidation to the Christian. Rather, it should spark a hopeful longing that we too are able to reach the glories of sainthood through the transformative work that is offered through Christ and His Church.

A Defense of Veneration

Now that there is a biblical understanding of what a saint is through the OT and NT terms that give us the word, we now examine how Saints and holy objects were treated in Scripture just from a few examples. (There are plenty more) From this I hope to show that veneration was given to saints and holy objects such as relics. But first I must establish two things. In Scripture, practices that are repeatedly affirmed across covenants, affirmed rather than condemned, and received by the apostolic Church may be regarded as normative unless explicitly abrogated. Practices such as fasting, the use of designated worship spaces, and bodily postures like standing or bowing in prayer originate in the Old Testament and continue in the Church without explicit New Testament command or abrogation. Secondly I must make an Orthodox distinction between veneration and worship. In Orthodox theology, there is a clear distinction grounded in the decisions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council between the two. The council states “We are even more induced to render them veneration of honor… not the true worship which, according to our faith, is proper only to the one divine nature…”

Veneration is simply giving honor where honor is due. Worship, on the other hand, is given to God alone as the supreme one.

When Orthodox Christians venerate saints or sacred objects, they are not giving honor to the person or object itself. Rather, they are giving honor to God through the person or object that has received the grace that is present in the person or object itself. A clear example of this is given to us by Moses in respect to Joseph in Exodus 13:19, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear, saying, ‘God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.’”

Furthermore, Joseph was embalmed as seen in Genesis 50:26, “So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.”

In this account we see the people of Israel give honor to where honor is due. They embalm Joseph to preserve his figure, and take his bones and carry them for miles in the wilderness to remind the people of God’s promises shown through Joseph.

In Jewish tradition and among scholars it is thought that Joseph’s bones were carried for forty years in the wilderness near the ark of the covenant. Both the ark and the relics of Joseph told the reality that God’s presence was with the people of Israel, primarily through the ark and also through God’s presence in the life and relics of Joseph. Here is a clear act of veneration given to a man who was set apart for God’s holy use, a saint you can say.

A case for grace working through Old Testament saints can be seen in 2 Kings 13:20–21:

“So Elisha died and was buried. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring. As a man was being buried, suddenly some raiders came; and while they were throwing the man into the tomb of Elisha, the man touched the bones of Elisha and revived and stood on his feet.”

Here we see that God’s presence remains with Elisha even when he has passed on from this earth. God uses that which is set apart for holy use, in this case the resurrection of a dead man. Now certainly these are exceptional instances in the scriptures, but a reality does present itself, and it is this. God throughout the Old Testament found pleasure when the his covenant people showed due honor to his saints. Even more so he worked through their lives by working through the grace of these men after they had passed. This reveals that God does not tie grace to the physical existence of the person alone, but that he indeed does use sacred objects and people for sacred purposes even after death, and this pattern of veneration does not stop in the Old Testament as we will see below.

Another example of this is found in the New Testament with St. Paul and St. Peter, Acts 19:11–12, “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.” Again the pattern is the same, God sets aside that which was ordinary for holy use. Paul earlier in the event above, describes how all of our works are like filthy rags before God, yet when we are grafted into Christ scripture reveals to us that even Paul’s rag was used for a holy use. Not because it had power in itself, but because God has always used sacred objects and men to transform the lives of his people.

Furthermore, Peter’s shadow brought miracles to those who touched it, “That as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. And as many as touched it were healed.” (Acts 5:15) Again we see the pattern of God working through sacred objects, even the shadow of an apostle.

These are explicit references of sacred objects bringing healing to those who revered the reality of God’s presence found in sacred objects. Now this is not to say these are ordinary events. Indeed this was a time of unique revelation. Yet, it is important to note that throughout the Old and New Testaments sacred objects were always set apart and used for holy things, and were revered as such. Whether it was temple furnishings, the ark of the covenant, the bronze serpent which brought healing to those who honored it (although they later fell into idolatry), or the relics of holy men. This all points to the consistent truth that God sets aside that which he pleases, and uses that which he sets aside for holy use.

Now all of this is fine and dandy, but how did the apostles hand down this theology? Did sacred objects cease their purpose after the apostolic age? If only we could interact with someone who knew the apostles, and see how their faithful life was venerated by their same generation. Then we might be able to come to a conclusion. Well… in fact, we do have such a person.

Polycarp and Early Church Veneration

Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna, born in 69 AD. and martyred in 155 AD. Scholarly consensus agrees that he knew the apostle John, as testified by Irenaeus (130–202 AD), who knew Polycarp. This is seen in his work Against Heresies 3.3.4, “But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time...”

Polycarp is one of the first recorded martyrs of the Christian faith after the apostolic period, and his most well-known work is his Letter to the Philippians. In his martyrdom account, The Martyrdom of Polycarp, he is asked to renounce his faith before the Roman emperor. Polycarp refuses and responds with this before his death by fire:

“And when he had thus spoken, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘O Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of you, God of angels and powers and of all the race of the righteous who live before you, I bless you that you have thought me worthy of this day and this hour, to receive a portion among the number of the martyrs, in the cup of your Christ, for the resurrection to eternal life of soul and body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit.’”

Polycarp faithfully lived the life of Christ and died the death of a follower of Christ. There is a saying in Church history that “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” The early Church recognized the faithful obedience of this saint and followed the pattern of veneration given to them in the OT Scriptures and by the apostles. They did this by gathering his bones, like Joseph, burying them honorably, and accounting his grave to be holy. Furthermore, they commemorated his life and death annually, venerating him and showing honor to a vessel set apart for godly use. This is seen in the work The Martyrdom of Polycarp here,

“Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.”

This practice imitates OT prototypes of veneration of the relics of Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Elisha, and therefore sacred objects alike. It is vital to note that this practice did not stop with Polycarp but continued as seen in men like St. Ambrose and his successor St. Augustine, who both are deeply respected in the West and by the Reformed Tradition. These realities are testified by Ambrose and Augustine below in that order:

“For not without reason do many call this the resurrection of the martyrs. I do not say whether they have risen for themselves, for us certainly the martyrs have risen. You know—nay, you have yourselves seen—that many are cleansed from evil spirits, that very many also, having touched with their hands the robe of the saints, are freed from those ailments which oppressed them; you see that the miracles of old time are renewed, when through the coming of the Lord Jesus grace was more largely shed forth upon the earth, and that many bodies are healed as it were by the shadow of the holy bodies. How many napkins are passed about! How many garments, laid upon the holy relics and endowed with healing power, are claimed! All are glad to touch even the outside thread, and whosoever touches will be made whole.”

Augustine testifies of this same reality in book IX, chapter 7 of his Confessions:

“For when they were revealed and dug up and with due honour transferred to the Ambrosian Basilica, not only they who were troubled with unclean spirits (the devils confessing themselves) were healed, but a certain man also, who had been blind many years, a well-known citizen of that city, having asked and been told the reason of the people's tumultuous joy, rushed forth, asking his guide to lead him there. Arrived there, he begged to be permitted to touch with his handkerchief the bier of Your saints, whose death is precious in Your sight. When he had done this, and put it to his eyes, they were immediately opened.”

The practice of veneration and commemoration is absent from most Protestant circles, yet through each century of the Church from its birth we see examples of such practice rooted in biblical patterns and history.

Final Thoughts

Although there have certainly been abuses of practices mentioned above, those realities do not negate the biblical practice of recognizing saints and showing honor and reverence to those to whom it is due. There is a striking hypocrisy in how Christian traditions today approach veneration. Many Christians have no problem venerating the American flag, yet when they see an Orthodox or Catholic Christan venerate those who have passed on to the next life it is often considered idolatry. Consider a familiar American ritual: during the national anthem, patriots stand, remove their hats, and place their hands on their hearts in a show of respect. In that moment, we honor men and women who gave their lives for a temporal land, a nation that grants us freedom of religion and speech, and there is nothing wrong with that. By using our bodies in reverent positions, we demonstrate allegiance and love. How much more, then, should Christians use their bodies to honor those who died for an eternal kingdom, freed from sin and death? Scripture is full of examples of bowing and prostration before what God has blessed. The Israelites bowed before the ark of the covenant (Exodus 34:8; 1 Chronicles 16:29), recognizing God’s presence among them; they lifted up their eyes and looked at the bronze serpent to be healed (Numbers 21:8–9), only later to be condemned when they worshiped it much later. People bowed before kings and prophets as those set apart by God (1 Kings 1:16). If bowing and reverence were proper for God’s sacred instruments and those He appointed in the Old Testament, how much more fitting is it for us to honor those who lived and died in the fullness of Christ’s holiness?

If Scripture calls believers saints, and if the Church from its earliest days recognized and honored those who bore extraordinary witness to Christ, then the Orthodox practice of veneration is not as foreign as it may first appear. The saints are not competitors with Christ, but trophies of his redemptive work. They remind us that holiness is not something unattainable, but a reality that can be lived. Perhaps the question is not whether the Church should honor saints, but whether we have grown distant with the radical claim of Christianity, that human beings can truly be transformed by God. This is the vision the Orthodox Church continues to hold, and it is the vision I will continue to explore in the articles that follow.

Bibliography

Bible Hub. Bible Hub. Accessed January 2, 2026. https://biblehub.com

Catholic Answers. “Augustine and the Power of Relics.” Catholic Answers. Accessed January 2, 2026.

Holy Bible, ESV. Wheaton: Crossway, 2001.

Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Translated by Dominic J. Unger. Washington, DC: Catholic University Press, 2012.

Eusebius. Ecclesiastical History. Translated by C.F. Cruse. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1998.

Second Council of Nicaea. The Acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787). In Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 14. Accessed January 2, 2026. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp. In The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. 1, translated by Bart D. Ehrman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.

Augustine. City of God. Translated by Henry Bettenson. London: Penguin Classics, 2003.