Why should we pray to Virgin Mary? The reasons are many.
Why do Catholics pray to Mother Mary? Is Rosary really powerful?
The intercession of Mother Mary is very powerful as Jesus cannot neglect His mothers commands.This can be proved by the first miracle Jesus did at the wedding at Cana. – (John 2:1-11). Mother Mary told Jesus “They have no more wine.” And what was the final result? He turned water into wine.
In “The Poem of the Man-God” by Maria Valtorta, she says that Jesus told her about this incident as “I did it for Mary”. This proves that the intercession of Mother Mary is very very strong.
Mother Mary was blessed with Holy Spirit abundantly. We can see this as we read “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:39-41) ; just by Virgin Mary’s greeting.
Listen to the talk from Apologetics on Mary, Purgatory and The Bible
What the angels thought on this matter:-
When angel appeared before Zechariah,father of John, angel just greets him by his name ,nothing more although he was “upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.” – (Luke 1:6)
When angel appeared before Joseph, the greeting was like this: “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” – (Matthew 1:20). Angel greeted him ‘son of david’, thats all.
Now let us see how did the angel greet Virgin Mary. It goes like this: “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28). See the difference….
Also read the article Mary, The Mystical Rose
Thank God for Mother Mary.Without her mankind would not have had a Saving Grace as we now know him as Jesus Christ.
Well, let it be known then, that we do have all ten Commandments.
——————
Nice answer to this one…And yeah edit? I mean i don’t want to start a new argument but I believe the Catholics didn’t edited anything from the bible. If we will take some look back over the history, the reformation started because it is not the reason of the faith, but for politics and so, they made some versions over that and changed the mass rituals over to replace what was the ORIGINAL. Sorry to say this but I am standing at my FAITH and I am raised as a ROMAN CATHOLIC with a firm belief. Hosanna in the Highest and Peace to His people on earth…
How does this relate to Mary? It is sacred tradition that tells us of her importance to our faith. It is her ‘yes’ that we are supposed to imitate when being called by God. She is a willing prayer warrior for us at all times. Look at the wedding of Cana…Mary asked Jesus to intercede when the wine ran out…and at first he balked, when he said “Woman, why involve me…my time has not yet come”. Now, let’s think about the human nature of Jesus. He loves his mother, and wants to do what she asks of him. She said to the the servants “Do whatever he tells you”. He complied with her request out of great love for his mother. YES, JESUS ALONE CAN SAVE US. But how many other faiths have prayer chains? How many of you pray for each other? You don’t worship each other, you ask each other to pray for you. How much greater would a prayer be from one who has already gone to heaven, the very mother of Jesus? We absolutely do not worship or pray ‘to’ Mary. We ask for her for prayer intercession, as you ask for intercession from your fellow congregants.
In closing, I would like to tell you my story. Having been a very active protestant for the majority of my life, then turning to non-denominational worship after that, I have a vast knowledge of the inner workings of many faiths. After seeing division after division of churches, I decided to do a ‘180’, so to speak, and start at the beginning…the Catholic Church. I do not feel that I have ever had the experiences in worship and pure spiritual fulfillment in any other praise and worship situation, as what I receive at mass.
The body and blood of our Lord Jesus is the ultimate worship experience.
Peace be with you!
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
(Lk 1:46-49)
1) Mary acknowledged God as her savior – meaning she is a sinner needing a savior. if she was sinless then no need to call God savior.
2) Mary Mother of God
Jesus preexisted Mary so she cannot be the mother of GOd. If she is the mother of GOd who is the Father??? you say God then did God ever acknoledge Mary as His WIFE – Answer no!
But in the Bible God does acknoledge Israel as His wife and the Church as His bride. GOD THE FATHER NEVER ACKNOLEDGES MARY AS HIS WIFE SO SHE CANT BE THE MOTHER OF GOD!
1) Mary acknowledged God as her savior – meaning she is a sinner needing a savior. if she was sinless then no need to call God savior.
That’s not true. Firstly, Israel’s hope of a messianic savior, had earthly (as well as spiritual connotations), they looked forward to freedom from oppression as much as from sin. When reading the entire “Magnificat”, it’s apparent to me at least, that Mary is speaking on behalf of all Israel…”He has helped his servant Israel,in remembrance of his mercy,as he spoke to our fathers,to Abraham and to his seed forever” (vs 54-55). She praises God for the “good things” He has done for her, within this context, ie as a fellow Hebrew, awaiting with her people, for the promised Messiah.
Secondly, there are many ways in which a person can be saved both physically and spiritually, that has nothing to do with already having fallen into sin. How many times has God saved us from succumbing to sin today? Is He any less our Savior for doing so?
2) Mary Mother of God
Jesus preexisted Mary so she cannot be the mother of GOd. If she is the mother of GOd who is the Father??? you say God then did God ever acknoledge Mary as His WIFE – Answer no!
But in the Bible God does acknoledge Israel as His wife and the Church as His bride. GOD THE FATHER NEVER ACKNOLEDGES MARY AS HIS WIFE SO SHE CANT BE THE MOTHER OF GOD!
You’re argument seems to presuppose that each person of the Trinity is not fully God, but a third of God, so that only together, do they “comprise” one God. 1/3+1/3+1/3=1 God sort a thing. If such is the case, then may I suggest that you brush up on your Trinitology.
Secondly, your argument does not seem to be consistent (it does not follow through). You said that Mary did not pre-exist the divine Son, (that is true), and that God, the Father is truly God, but never acknowledged Mary as His wife. But then, you go onto say that God did acknowledge Israel and the Church as His wife and bride respectively. But, like Mary, neither the Church nor Israel ever pre-existed the divine Son, neither did they pre-exist the divine Father or the Holy Spirit.
Can you elaborate?
Mother Mary is the mediatrix – a woman who is a mediator, go-between, intercessor. We only ask her to intercede or pray for us.
All the worship, adoration and prayer goes to the Almighty GOD. We only venerate Mary.
God will not hear the prayer of a sinner. So we rely on these mediators (saints and mother mary) to tell our needs to GOD.
In Luke 7:4, the healing of the Centurions Servant, they say the 2 good qualities of the man like helping others and building synagogue. Our intercessor remind God about these two i.e how we treat others and how good is our realtion to GOD (building the synagogue).
Mother Mary intercedes for us even before we ask her, as is evident from the miracle at Cana wedding.
Its simple : My Lord has called Mary His Mother throughout his life here. So why can’t I?
Rosary – We are only going through the incidents in our Lord Jesus life. The word will make us pure each time we recite it.
In olden days, people used to say psalms using beads. We can see rosary as the same prayer of this age, made more compact.
Georgy
God will not hear the prayer of a sinner
He hears our prayers…remember before each decade of the rosary, we address the Father, saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven…”
Btw, I’m sorry I haven’t gotten back to you with the things I promised. I haven’t forgotten and will get to them as soon as I can.
Pray in Jesus Name because God will not despise a contrite heart.
-And I will do whatever you ask in MY NAME, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. Jonh 14-13
-You may ask me for anything in MY NAME, and I will do it. Jonh 14-14
-The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a BROKEN and CONTRITE HEART, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
Also no one who died and reached heaven will be aware of the activities on earth, unless Jesus himself allows this for a purpose. Only when we have died, we have an opportunity to meet and greet our loved ones who have gone there before us. That is why praying to the dead is forbidden, and also useless.It doesn’t matter if they are in heaven or hell. So our prayers will never reach to Mother Mary.Only through Jesus our prayers can be made heard. Because when we repent and apply the blood of Jesus in our prayer, we acquire the properties of Jesus , and we are eligible to be heard. You can actually see/hear lot of testimonies of Christians who have actually visited heaven(through NDE’s), and what is their testimony/message about Mary.
The best thing is Ask god in faith to reveal himself and show you the truth.He is faithfull enough to show up.
Dear georgy
It is said in the above link that mary only only got HAIL, scripture says the first Hail came to Noah, then also to Paul and the same hail he din keep it with him, he gave it to church, so now everybody has hail with them pls don’t forget.
Secondly,you say mother pls understand if this mary wouldn’t got holy spirit on pentacostal day she also cannot enter the kingdom of god and after received holf ghost again she also have to call Jesus has Abba father(Rom8:15), Real Revelation is only with apostles not with John Paul II or any other pope, these apostles knew Jesus more than anyone(1Jn 1:1), remeber the words spoken by apostles only(Jude:17) so tell any of these apostles did ROSARY are knelt before Mary, When God condemns a ministry of womans in his kingdom then how he’s going to give a place to Mary, Paul clearly says he is the only apostle for Gentiles (Gal 2:7), if that is not there and if anyone pervert the gospel of christ will be accursed(Gal 1:8).Pray god for you understanding..god bless
Daniel, I would like to know Why are you telling that God condemns a ministry of womans in his kingdom ???
What is Hail ?
And NO, god doesn’t differentiate in gender when it comes to gospel ministry
Dear all,
i started saying the rosary everyday as i believe that this is the only weapon that can destroy satan that continually keeps ploting the hatred he has for all of us.
We say the rosary because we continually glorify God with this humble prayer. In the psalms of David we praise the lord for the great things our God will accomplish by sending the messiah for our salvation. The rosary is a verifcation of the psalms and we should therefore glorify him with this humble prayer for creating the most holy creature because with her yes to our God we were all saved.The word now was incarnated. This is why this prayer is so perfect in the eyes of god. The other purpose of the rosary is that we can meditate on the new testament, on the life and death of Jesus Christ. We have to meditate on his life in order to grow in holiness and accept the graces that he wishes to give us.
Dear Bro.Georgy
I’ve always believed that prayer is our only means to have communication with God.Prayer is Talking to our Heavenly Father.Recited , memorized prayer has no power,why ? Because prayer is not a magic formula!Imagined your kids thanking you everyday with the same words…again and again and again…everyday…hmmm…I dont think it will brings satisfaction to you! why? because its not sincere,it didnt come from their hearts.And that’s why Jesus rebuked those Pharasees…:you call me Lord but your hearts are far from me. I want my kids to thanked me in their own words (Im sure not with enticing words!)…but words that they think,and not read from other people’s prayer.And that prayer is what I believed powerful! By the way…I prayed only to my God and no one else. God Bless!
Without Mary, we don’t know Jesus.
without Mary, No New Testament.
without Mary, no Christmas.
We need Mary to guide us to Jesus.
Who is Satan hate the most? Mary, Mary is human but God give Her power than satan.
Keep say the rosary because it against the hell.The hell is not our final distination.
Many people say Mary this Mary that. Remember the angel Gabriel say to Mary” For there
is nothing that God cannot do”.
Many have misunderstood the Rosary. if you note the mysteries, you are supposed to meditate the life of Jesus and Mary. In no way Mother Mary wanted us to worship her. All praise and glory is to be given to her son. Mother Mary wanted us to get closer to Jesus thru the Rosary.
Praying thru Mother Mary is just like asking your friends to pray for you. are our friends and family more worthy to pray for us than Mother Mary and the saints in heaven?
Since the Rosary is composed, principally and in substance, of the prayer of Christ and the Angelic Salutation, that is, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, it was without doubt the first prayer and the principal devotion of the faithful and has been in use all through the centuries, from the time of the apostles and disciples down to the present.
It was only in the year 1214, however, that the Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use today. It was given to the Church by St.Dominic, who had received it from the Blessed Virgin as a means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners.
I will tell you the story of how he received it, which is found in the very well-known book De Dignitate Psalterii, by Blessed Alan de la Roche. Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people’s sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse, where he prayed continously for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma.
At this point our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said, “Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?
“Oh, my Lady” answered Saint Dominic, “you know far better than i do, because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation.” Then our Lady replied, “I want you to know that, in this kind of werfare, the principal weapon has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter.”
So he arose, comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversation of the people in that district, he made straight for the cathedral. At once unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together, and Saint Dominic began to preach.
At the very beginning of his sermon, an appalling storm broke out, the earth shook, the was darkened, and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very much afraid. Even greater was their fear when, looking at a picture of our Lady exposed in a prominent place, they saw her raise her arms to heaven three times to call down God’s vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protection of the holy Mother of God.
God wished, by means of these supernatural phonomena, to spread the new devotion of the holy Rosary and to make it more widely known.
At last, at the prayer of Saint Dominic, the storm came to an end and he went on preaching. So fervently and compellingly did he explain the importance and value of the Rosary that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced their false beliefs. In a very short time a great improvement was seen in the town; people began leading Christian lives and gave up their former bad habits.
It is a wonderful book for those who would like to learn more on the rosary and since not everyone knows the origins of the rosary i wanted to share this real story with you.
I was born Roman Catholic but I cannot say that I have a deep personal relationship with God. One of the lies I discovered is praying the rosary and Mary or any saints for that matter. You know what I mean.
Go direct to the Provider. The Source of All. Ask in Jesus’s name.
In Hail Mary….”holy mary mother of God pray for us sinners…
This is a direct contradiction to the Bible in John 3. A well known teacher Nicodemus was clearly instructed by Jesus that salvation is a personal act and cannot be done by praying to Mary.
Thor,
Behind Crossroads
Over the centuries, various popes have added to this smelly heap of unbiblical tradition about the mother of Jesus. It started early. Aware of the powerful draw of the pagan goddesses, they declared Mary “Mother of God,†at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.
They continued to morph her into goddess hood at the First Lateran Council in 649 by discovering her “perpetual virginity.†In 1854 they found that she was “immaculately conceived,†—born without sin. Next, her “assumption into heaven,†at the “end of her life†was revealed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
Ardent devotees to this goddess are now lobbying for an additional “Fifth Marian Dogma†(read tradition). However, this push to make her “Mother of the World,†is not new. It was started in the 1020s. When a pope gets the word from the “spirit†to proceed, she will push Jesus aside in some of His most basic roles: Redeemer, Advocate and Mediator.
As Mother of the World, she will have three essential new roles: co-redemptrix, mediatrix of all graces, and advocate. This simply means that she will share Christ’s role as redeemer; she will be in charge (mediator) of who receives God’s grace (favor); and she, as our advocate instead of Christ, will argue our case before God’s Throne of Judgment. But the Bible says that there is “one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus.†(See 1 Timothy 2:5.) Mary as mediator is blasphemy, ignoring the clear statement of scripture.
This move to continue making the humble Mary into a pagan goddess only proves that Revelation 17, 18 and 19 is right calling the Vatican a whore, a prostitute “church.â€
Bible believers need to lovingly point out these unbiblical “dogmas†to the precious Roman Catholics who depend on the pope to get them into heaven.
I’m a Roman Catholic and the only one I put my trust in is God. That doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore the various Christians who have led me to Christ, nourished me in the faith and continue to uphold me by their actions and prayers. I’ve been knee deep in this sort of conversation for years and am of the opinion that the main thing which separates you and me, is not Mary per se, but in how we understand salvation, the human person, and their cooperation with God.
All the stuff about Mary is not isolated dogmas, they’re founded on what we believe about all Christians, then applied to Mary in particular, taking into account her own personal relationship with Jesus. In short, as Catholics we believe that salvation is a communal/familial affair. That whoever will be saved as a unique memeber of Christ’s body will not be saved apart from the rest. In other words, for a Catholic, it’s not so much a matter of ‘You and Jesus’ or ‘Me and Jesus’, but ‘You, Me and Jesus’.
We depend on one another, like a foot depends on a leg to get it to where it’s headed, or how blood and one’s heart works together to bring about a common goal, sustaining life. All Christians are members of this one body, including those in heaven, we each do our part depending on the role Jesus has called us too and He called Mary to be His mother according to the flesh-her role like each of our roles has far reaching consequences for the body as a whole. Each member relates to all the others in their own particular way and this relating is what we call, ‘being saved’.
Its not about what you beleive. It is about what those beleive, whom you trust.
See what they say…
In 1302 Pope Boniface said this in a letter to the Catholic Church:
Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.xii
Pope Pius V said this:
The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.xiii
Pope Pius XI said this about himself:
PIUS XI, Pontifex Maximus.xiv
Pope Leo XIII said this about the role of the Pope:
We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.xv
In 1512 Christopher Marcellus said this to Pope Julius II:
Take care that we lose not that salvation, that life and breath which thou hast given us, for thou art our shepherd, thou art our physician, thou art our governor, thou art our husbandman, thou art finally another God on earth (emphasis added).vi
The Gloss of Extravagantes of Pope John XXII says this:
To believe that our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he is decreed, is to be deemed heretical (emphasis added).vii
And speaking about the same document, Father A. Pereira said this:
It is quite certain that Popes have never disapproved or rejected this title “Lord God the Pope†for the passage in the gloss referred to appears in the edition of the Canon Law published in Rome by Gregory XIII.viii
So if you wish to stand under their umbrellas, you will be charged with what they believe, not for just what you alone beleive.
Vijay,
Where can I find the source material, ie the letters and encyclicals they come from? I have never heard any of these with the exception of the first.
Thanks.
There is ONE God, and ONE mediator between GOD and MAN, the MAN, Christ JESUS! Jesus said, I AM THE WAY, the TRUTH, and THE LIFE, NO ONE comes to the FATHER BUT through ME! Check your Bibles, folks. Praying to Mary, or ANYONE aside from JESUS CHRIST, and trusting in ANYONE aside of JESUS Christ is pure IDOLATRY! An insult to the amazing sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Catholics, please stop your idolatry and turn to Jesus, He is the ONLY MEDIATOR whom God hears! I say this weeping after reading many of these posts here….
Please find the references for the above quotes here..
i The Most Holy Councils Volume XIII, Column 1167.
ii Robert Bellarmine, On the Authority of Councils Volume 2: 266.
iii Catholic National (July 1895).
iv George J. Church et. al, “Hands of Terrorism,†TIME (May 25, 1981).
v Decretal de Translat. Episcop. Cap.
vi Christopher Marcellus addressing Pope Julius II, in Fifth Lateran Council, Session IV (1512), Council Edition. Colm. Agrip. 1618, (J.D. Mansi, ed., Sacrorum Conciliorum Vol. 32, col. 761). Also quoted in Labbe and Cossart, History of the Councils Volume XIV, Column 109.
vii The Gloss of Extravagantes of Pope John XXII, Cum. Inter, title 14, chapter 4, “Ad Callem Sexti Decretaliumâ€, Column 140 (Paris, 1685). In an Antwerp edition of the Extravagantes, the words, Dominum Deum Nostrum Papam (“Our Lord God the Popeâ€) can be found in column 153.
viii Statement from Fr. A. Pereira.
ix Decretales Domini Gregori IX Translatione Episcoporum, (“On the Transference of Bishopsâ€), title 7, chapter 3; Corpus Juris Canonice (2nd Leipzig ed., 1881), Column 99; (Paris, 1612).
x Quoted in the New York Catechism.
xi Lucius Ferraris, “Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility,†Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica Volume V (Paris: J. P. Migne, 1858).
xii Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam (Rome: 1302).
xiii Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Cities Petrus Bertanous Chapter XXVII: 218.
xiv Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos—The Promotion of True Religious Unity (Rome: 1928).
xv Pope Leo XIII, Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae—The Reunion of Christendom (Rome: 1894).
Can watch some of the controversial/un-biblical incidents papal has been involved in video below.
http://amazingdiscoveries.tv/media/137/224-232K/
Please read every scripture that i would present to you after asking the holy spirit to tell you if it is the truth or not.
1. Jesus Christ came to die for EVERY human being who has ever lived INCLUDING mary.John 3:16
2. No human being has ever been righteous INCLUDING mary Romans 3 verses 10.
3. Even mary the mother of Jesus needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the other disciples Acts 1 verses 14.
4. For ALL has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
God bless you.
Also, there have been many arguments that praying to Mary is just an intercession. So – does that increase your chances of getting your prayers answered? Why not pray to the source – God/Jesus? Why do you need her to intercede for you? Yes, we ask our friends to pray for us but – we also pray to God. We do not pray to our friends to pray to God. If you read revelations, you will note the timing of the new testament, old testament and tribulation saints and their roles in heaven.
Why is Mary any more important than Abraham? As noted before, she is an instrument of God. Just like Noah, Moses, David, the prophets etc. Does the catholic church emphasize praying through them? Asking them to intercede? If your answer is yes, then why is it that Mary is above them? Why is Noah not as revered as Mary? Without Noah, God would have wiped out mankind therefore, no David, no Mary, nobody.
Yes, she gave birth to the son of God. But do you truly believe that ‘if’ she said no, Jesus would not be born? God would have ensured that His plan went through.
I think Catholics have to be very careful about what they say the role of Mary is. She is human. She was used by God in a mighty way. She was a sinner (she had to be, only Jesus was sinless). She died and went to heaven. Hmmm….sounds a lot like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, Michael W. Smith. Her role happened to be the one who gave birth do Jesus. For God to appear in the flesh, SOMEONE had to. For God to free his people from slavery in Egypt, Moses was used, again – SOMEONE had to.
If you pray – pray to God. Put your emphasis on God and Jesus. No one else matters.
Reuben,
There is ONE God, and ONE mediator between GOD and MAN, the MAN, Christ JESUS! Jesus said, I AM THE WAY, the TRUTH, and THE LIFE, NO ONE comes to the FATHER BUT through ME! Check your Bibles, folks. Praying to Mary, or ANYONE aside from JESUS CHRIST, and trusting in ANYONE aside of JESUS Christ is pure IDOLATRY! An insult to the amazing sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Catholics, please stop your idolatry and turn to Jesus, He is the ONLY MEDIATOR whom God hears! I say this weeping after reading many of these posts here….
Well, I’m not going to stop anything which brings me closer to Christ, which things such as the rosary does. As for trusting in anyone beside Jesus, we all know from experience that we all have placed our trust in many others besides Jesus, our mothers and fathers for instance. Prayer has a wider range of meaning than you seem to allow, as in, “Pray you, mark”-Ophilia, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5. Jesus most certainly is all those things you said, but as a Catholic, I would argue that your conclusions do not follow.
Nnamdi,
Hello. I just want to say something. i am not a preacher or pastor but i believe what that the bible is the only basis of truth concerning the christain faith.Can any one show me in the bible where the early christains prayed to Mary?
Why is this necessary? Firstly, Mary was alive for awhile at least after Christ ascended. Secondly, the Bible imo, is not a manual. The way it’s constructed says to me that it is a collection of various writing styles by various authors combating real issues they were facing. It’s not a single piece of theological work, meant to encompass everything theological for all time. If it did, it would have had to on a philosophical basis, rather than a historical basis. Think, “Summa” rather than “Bible”. The only way I can see for the Bible to encompass all things theological while at the same time remain firmly rooted in historical circumstance, would be to affirm that every error, misunderstanding, or circumstance, the Church will continue to face, was already faced prior to approx. 90 AD. That’s not to say Scripture can’t be our jumping off point, but to make it ‘answer’ every theological dilemma the Church has had to face for approx 1900 years, makes Scripture bear a theological weight, it needs not bear.
It never happened. Mary was a normal human being who just had the grace of God.
No one’s ‘normal’. I don’t believe there’s any such thing. Every individual is one of a kind-unique.
She was not More Holy or righteous, she herself needed Jesus to make heaven.Remember that there is no one righteous not even ONE.
Of course she needed Jesus ‘to make heaven.’ No Catholic would deny that.
Please read every scripture that i would present to you after asking the holy spirit to tell you if it is the truth or not.
1. Jesus Christ came to die for EVERY human being who has ever lived INCLUDING mary.John 3:16
Yes.
2. No human being has ever been righteous INCLUDING mary Romans 3 verses 10.
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.(Matt 1:19) There are many other ‘righteous’ individuals named in Scripture.
3. Even mary the mother of Jesus needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the other disciples Acts 1 verses 14.
Perhaps. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’, so I can’t answer definitively.
4. For ALL has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
I’ve always been leery of applying this verse to every single person without exception. Even if Mary were the greatest sinner in the world, we still have others to contend with, such as infants. Contextually, it seems more likely that Paul is saying that not only are Gentiles sinners, but Jews too. Many Jews did not consider themselves ‘sinners’ because in their minds they were law obedient, whereas Gentiles and others (eg less informed Jews)were considered sinners on account of not following the law. Remember the not so pleasant conversation between the Pharisees and the man born blind in John 9? Rom 2:17-21:’Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God;if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law;if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
Le,
Can someone please tell me where you get the notion that Mary was also born a virgin birth?
Mary was not born from a virgin. She was born from the conjugal union of her mother and father. Who said she was?
Also, there have been many arguments that praying to Mary is just an intercession. So – does that increase your chances of getting your prayers answered?
God’s going to take care of us, no matter what. He doesn’t need us to tell Him what we need, He already knows. Prayer is not about ‘informing God’ or asking Mary to ‘inform God’ with the idea that God’s more likely to do what we want if Mary asks Him. Prayer is an invitation to commune with God and in and through God, each other. Prayer need be nothing other than just sitting still and listening.
Why not pray to the source – God/Jesus? Why do you need her to intercede for you? Yes, we ask our friends to pray for us but – we also pray to God.
It’s not a need in any sort of negative sense, as if God were less likely to hear our prayers if Mary didn’t pray for us. It’s about love. Catholics love those in heaven and it brings them great joy to be able to express that love in all sorts of ways, like talking with them and simply being in their presence.
We do not pray to our friends to pray to God. If you read revelations, you will note the timing of the new testament, old testament and tribulation saints and their roles in heaven.
I’m not sure what the latter means. Regarding the former, one definition of praying is asking/beseeching. So when Catholic use the term ‘pray’, in relation to the saints, they’re not using it in the sense of adoration (which is reserved for God alone), they’re using it in it’s more broader and if we lived 500-300 years ago, more common sense. I think some of the difficulty lies in linguistics. We no longer use the term ‘pray’ or any of its derivatives, in ways we use too. We’ve narrowed it down to a very strict definition, ie, ‘worship of God’. Which is really odd when you think about it, as it would mean that Ophelia was worshipping Queen Gertrude (see above) or I’m worshipping you, when I say, ‘I pray you, deliver this letter for me’.
Why is Mary any more important than Abraham?
Define important.
As noted before, she is an instrument of God. Just like Noah, Moses, David, the prophets etc. Does the catholic church emphasize praying through them? Asking them to intercede? If your answer is yes, then why is it that Mary is above them? Why is Noah not as revered as Mary? Without Noah, God would have wiped out mankind therefore, no David, no Mary, nobody.
Since my answer is ‘yes’, I would say this:
Mary is in a sense ‘above them’, but only because she is ‘below them’, that is, she considers herself that hand-maid of God and this sense of servitude she possesses extends to her fellow human beings (eg.Elizabeth). Jesus said whoever wants to become great must become the very least. For Catholics, Mary’s littleness, her obscurity, her humility is what makes her great. A ‘modern’ day example of this, is St. Therese (called the Little Flower). She is one of the most beloved saints in the Catholic Church and yet she lived her life in littleness, in childlike simplicity. Her diary which we have today has inspired many to imitate her life, which is commonly known now as, ‘The Little Way Of St. Therese’. Her love for Jesus was absolutely profound. I highly recommend reading her diary.
Yes, she gave birth to the son of God. But do you truly believe that ‘if’ she said no, Jesus would not be born? God would have ensured that His plan went through.
If Mary had said no (which, I don’t believe she would have, given that she was predestined for this very thing), then the girl who did respond in faith and humility to God’s invitation, would be the girl Catholics love.
I think Catholics have to be very careful about what they say the role of Mary is. She is human. She was used by God in a mighty way. She was a sinner (she had to be, only Jesus was sinless). She died and went to heaven. Hmmm….sounds a lot like Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, Michael W. Smith. Her role happened to be the one who gave birth do Jesus. For God to appear in the flesh, SOMEONE had to. For God to free his people from slavery in Egypt, Moses was used, again – SOMEONE had to.
If you pray – pray to God. Put your emphasis on God and Jesus. No one else matters.
I think it’s also important that nonCatholics have a good handle on Catholic theology as a whole. NonCatholics can talk about Mary all day long and criticize Catholics for their supposed ‘marian’ excesses, but until they have a working knowledge of things such as predestination, salvation, authority, sacraments, the atonement and person of Jesus ect. from a Catholic viewpoint, the ‘Catholic Mary’ will always seem excessive, unbiblical ect. These things must be understood first, otherwise the Catholic understanding of Mary and the good God has done for her will remain an enigma.
PAX
The Glory of St Dominic
Guido Reni
1613 A.D.
Fresco
San Domenico, Bologna
The Blessed Virgin Mary promised to Saint Dominic and to all who follow that “Whatever you ask in the Rosary will be granted.” She left for all Christians Fifteen Promises to those who recite the Holy Rosary. Imparted to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan
1.Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2.I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
3.The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4.The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5.The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6.Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7.Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8.Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenititude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9.I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10.The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11.You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12.All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13.I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14.All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
15.Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Dear non believers of Mary,
1. It was through the most holy Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He has to reign in the world.
2. Mary was singulary hidden throughout her life. It is on this account that the Holy Ghost and the Church call her Alma Mater – “Mother secret and hidden”. Her humility was so profound that she had no inclination on earth more powerful or more constant than that of hiding herself, from herself as well as from every other creature, so as to be known to God only.
3. He heard her prayers when she begged to be hidden, to be humbled and to be treated as in all respects poor and of no account. He took pleasure in hiding her from all human creatures, in her conception, in her birth, in her life, in her mysteries, and in her resurrection and Assumption. Even her parents did not know her, and the angels often asked one another: “Who is that?” (Cant. 3:6; 8:5) because the Most High either had hidden her from them, or if He did reveal anything, it was nothing compared to what He kept undisclosed.
4. God the Father consented that she should work no miracle, at least no public one, during her life, although He had given her the power to do so. God the Son consented that she should hardly ever speak, though He had communicated His widom to her.
God the Holy Ghost, though she was His faithful spouse, consented that His Apostles and Evangelists should speak very little of her, and no more than was necessary to MAKE JESUS CHRIST KNOWN.
Mary is the sublime materpiece of the Most High, the, knowledge and possession of which He has reserved to HIMSELF. Mary is the admirable Mother of the Son, who took pleasure in humbling and concealing her during her life in order to favor her humility, calling her by the name of “woman”, as if she were a stranger, although in His heart He esteemed and loved her above all angels and all men. Mary is the “sealed fountain”, the faithful spouse of the Holy Ghost, to whom He alone has access. Mary is the sanctuary and the resting place of the Holy Trinity, where God dwells more magnificently and more divinely than in any other place in the universe, including His dwelling between the Cherubs and Seraphins. Nor is any creature, no matter how, pure, allowed to enter into that sanctuary except by means of a great and special privilege.
6. I say with the saints, divine Mary is the terrestrial paradise of the New Adam, where He was made flesh by the power of the Holy Ghost, in order to work there incomprehensible marvels. She is the grand and divine world of God, where there are unspeakable beauties and treasures. She is the magnificence of the Most High, where He hid, as in her bosom, His only Son, and in Him all that is most excellent and most precious. God has wrought in this admirable creature, as she herself had to acknowledge, in spite of her profound humility: ” He that is mighty hath done great things to me.” The world knows them not, because it is both incapable and unworthy of such knowledge.
7. The saints have said admirable things of this holy city of God; and, as they themselves avow, they were never more eloquent and more content than when they spoke of her. Yet, after all they have said,they cry out that the degree of her merits, which she has raised up to the throne of the Divinity, cannot be fully seen; that the breadth of her charity, which is broader than the earth, is in truth immeasurable; that the length of her power, which she exercises even over God Himself, is incomprehensible; and finally, that the depth of her humility, and of all her virtues and graces, is an abyss which can never be sounded.
O incomprehensible height! O unspeakable breadth! O immeasurable length! O impenetrable abyss!
You guys seem to be pretty convinced and captivated by the Image of Mary.Devil seems to have provided pretty good answers to convince you guys to follow this goddess of yours.
Matthew 13:14-15
Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive.
For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Lord, lead your chosen children into completeness of truth.Amen.
Do you really think Mary has the power to do what’s written on this so called… 15 promises of Mary? All I remembered is the two greatest commandments of Jesus( where all the laws of the prophets hangs on this two commandments).And this is (first)To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and (second)love your neighbor as yourself! And let me tell you this…(with all my conviction)…THERE IS NO PURGATORY! We have only two destination…whether in Heaven…or in hell! Start reading your Bible and you cannot be deceived by man’s own doctrine!Jesus Loves You!
It is not that we take her for the last end of our services, for that is Jesus Christ alone; but we take her for our proximate end, our mysterious means and our easy way to go to Him. Like good servants and slaves, we must not remain idle, but, supported by her protection, we must undertake and achieve great things for this august sovereign.
We must defend her privileges when they are disputed; we must stand up for her glory when it is attacked; we must draw all the world, if we can, to her service and to this true and solid devotion; we must speak and cry out against those who abuse her devotion to outrage Her Son, and we must at the same time establish this veritable devotion; we must claim no recompense for our little services, except the honour of belonging to so sweet a Queen, and the happiness of being united through her to Jesus her Son by an indissoluble tie, in time and in eternity.
Glory to Jesus in Mary!
Glory to Mary in Jesus!
Glory to God alone!
Now, first Jesus is speaking about the possibility of mortally sinning by being angry with your brother. If one is angry, he is liable to judgment. So, we see the background to the passage is that it is speaking about how one will be judged by God, and subject to hell. In addition, He also says that we must be reconciled with our brother. Now, we see that in order to have eternal life, we must love our brother. We can only achieve eternal life if we have love. If we do not love our brother, Jesus says we will be liable to going to hell (this is affirmed also in 1 John 3:14-15, where it says one who hates his brother will not have eternal life). However, if there is a dispute with a brother, that is not to the same extent as mentioned in v. 22, Jesus next speaks of a different judgment place from that of v. 22 the fires of hell). Now, Jesus commands that one is to make friends quickly with the accuser. Thus, if these type of sins are not taken care of, one will have to face a judge. Now of course who is the judge except God? Thus, this is specifically about judgment before God. And then Jesus says, ‘you will be put in prison’, no one will get out of that prison, until one has ‘paid the last penny’. Since the context is judgment, here, Jesus thus refers to an intermediate state in v. 25-26, that is not hell. This is a place where one would be released from prison. Now, if he was speaking about hell, we know that there is no relief at all. Jesus condemns those to eternal condemnation with eternal punishment (Mt. 25:41, 46, cf., Mt. 5:22). There is no release from prison in hell. One can never ‘get out’ of hell. In heaven there is no punishment at all or any need to ‘get out.’ Thus, the place where one can ‘get out’ of prison, is purgatory.
Nothing unclean will enter the kingdom of heaven. Rev. 21:27:
Those who die in mortal sin, will not go to heaven. Those who die in God’s grace, but still with sins on their soul, will go to purgatory.
Please, Please , Please read your bibles, instead of all that non-sense.And I am sure that god will bring you into the perfect truth.Its the holy spirit that convicts our hearts.And do not interpret the scriptures by your own knowledge/intelligence, or some one else’s knowledge/intelligence.Give time and heart to the holy spirit to open up the scriptures for you. To remind you, Devil himself has already appeared in the form of an Angel to many people in the past (Muhammad of Islam, Joseph Smith founder of Mormonism) and injected them with false gospels/scriptures.
Do not accept any ones teaching just as they say.Always compare it with your own bible study and understanding. These Theologians have really complicated Jesus and his teachings.
Having a personal relationship with christ is as real as having any other relationship. If you really spend time reading your bible daily, he will certainly talk to you.And you will know it when he is talking to you.When you start having this relationship he will not just answer those questions/doubts from the bible, but he will also address the problems in your personal life as well. He really wants you to lean on him for even the minute things of your life (like buying something, or going somewhere, or talking to someone, or reading something). And this is really really possible and many true beleivers will testify with their lifes on this.
Your beleifs will affect where you are gonna spend eternity, in Hell or Heaven.
There will always be a thin line between truth and lies.A small twist in truth can lead you to hell.Choose wisely please.God bless.
One time when Gertrude was praying with great fervor for the Holy souls, she asked Our Lord how many Souls His mercy would release, He answered: “My love urges Me to release the Poor Souls. If a beneficent king leaves his guilty friend in prison for justice’s sake, he awaits with longing for one of his nobles to plead for the prisoner and to offer something for his release. Then the king joyfully, sets him free. Similarly, I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the Poor Souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from Purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer!”
Our Savior taught Gertrude for whom she should most ardently pray for. On the day when the community commemorated in common the death of their parents, Gertrude saw the happy souls ascend the darkness of Purgatory like sparks from a flame. She asked Our Lord if all these were relatives. He answered: “I am thy nearest relative, thy father and thy mother. Therefore, My special friends are thy nearest relatives, and these are among those whom I have liberated.â€
Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great that the following prayer would release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was later extended to include living sinners as well…
“ETERNAL FATHER, I OFFER THEE THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF THY DIVINE SON, JESUS, IN UNION WITH THE MASSES SAID THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY, FOR ALL THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.”
Pray for Souls in Purgatory(including our relatives, friends, and neighbor) when they go to heaven they won’t forget us. If you don’t pray for them you don’t love as yourseft.
BEFORE READING THIS KEEP YOUR MIND IN CONSCIOUS, BECAUSE WE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE ONLY THE BIBLE AND NO OTHER SCRIPTURES SO AFTER READING THIS INFORMATION. ASK SOME QUESTIONS YOURSELF.
1.WHO GAVE THE BIBLE TO THE WORLD JESUS OR MARY?
2.WHO CREATED THE WORLD?
3.WHERE WAS MARY WHEN THE LORD WAS CREATING THE WORLD?
4.HOW DID THE VIRGIN MARY GET THE CHILD HERSELF?
5.WHO SENT THE GABRIEL ANGEL TO MARY?
6.WHY COULDN’T MARY SAVE JESUS FROM THE CRUCIFIXION?
7.AFTER JESUS ROSEN FROM THE DEATH WHAT DID HE TOLD DOES HE TOLD TO WORSHIP MARY?
8.OK WHO IS GOING TO GIVE U THE JUDGEMENT DAY?
9.FROM ADAM TO THE PERIOD OF JOSEPH AND NOW WHO HAD SAVED ALL OF US MARY OR JESUS?
10.OK DON’T BELIEVE ANY FOLK STORY OR TALES ABOUT MARY SHE IS THE RESPECTABLE LADY BUT NOT GOD.
SO BELIEVE THE ONE AND ONLY JESUS THE LORD OF US.
(1.)Should we worship Mary?
While all Roman Catholics do not necessarily worship Mary, the fact that many pray to Mary (which is an act of worship and no where justified in Scripture) and give her titles which resemble those given to Jesus Christ including the idea of mediatorship, this question and others related to Mary have been included under this heading.
(2.)Should we pray to Mary???
Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and was sinless all of her life. She is worshiped in the Catholic church as the “Mother of God” and the “Queen of Heaven.” St. Bernard stated that she was crowned “Queen of Heaven” by God the Father, and that she currently sits upon a throne in Heaven making intercession for Christians.
The Bible teaches otherwise. In the Bible, Mary was a sinner just like the rest of us. She said herself that she needed a “Saviour” (Lk. 1:47), and she even had to offer a sacrifice for her sins in Luke 2:24. Jesus was only her “firstborn” son, according to Matthew 1:25, because she later had other children as well (Mt. 13:55; Gal. 1:19; Psa. 69:8). There’s only ONE mediator between God and men, and it isn’t Mary (I Tim. 2:5). The last time we hear from Mary in the Bible she is praying WITH the disciples, not being prayed to BY the disciples (Acts 1:14). The Bible never exalts Mary above anyone else. Neither should we.
Worship is something that is to be restricted to God alone. As the angel stressed when John fell at his feet in appreciation for the revelation he had seen and received, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God†(See Rev. 19:10; 22:9). Mary is not God and her exaltation in the Catholic church has no foundation in Scripture. While we may and should appreciate the ministry of men and women, they are only instruments used of God for His glory. Christ alone is our mediator. Paul clearly points this out in 1 Timothy 2:3-6.
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.
Though Mary was the mother of the humanity of Jesus, a miracle accomplished by the Holy Spirit, she was not the mother of God. As God, Christ is eternal and had no mother or beginning (see John 1:1f). In essence, worshipping Mary is a form of idolatry. In the New Testament, Mary is never mentioned in a way that exalts her as is done in Catholicism.
(1) The Bible says nothing about Mary ascending into heaven in some special way. She went to heaven as all do through faith in Christ as God’s Son who died for our sin, including hers.
(2) The conception of Jesus, was by the Holy Spirit as explained in Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:35. Other than stating this was a miracle work of the Holy Spirit, we are given no details.
(3) In Luke 1:28, Mary is called “favored one†(literally, “endowed or filled with graceâ€) but only in the sense that God, by grace, chose her to be the human mother who would
give birth to the Christ child. This same idea and word is used of all believers in Ephesians 1:6. We have all been endowed with grace. To say any more than this is to add to what the text of Scripture says.
(3) Mary the Mother of Jesus : Should we worship or reverence her?
Many times Catholics ask, “Why don’t Protestants worship Mary?” They tell us, “You have no respect for the mother of God.” Our answer is very simple, “we respect all women, especially godly Christian women, but we do not worship
anybody that is not God himself”. We reserve this reverence and honor only for God.
This tract will investigate the matter of the relation and attitude of a true Christian towards Mary, the mother of Jesus’ humanity.
Worship is only for God
Exo 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
God is very jealous, and because of this character of God, he demands that our worship be exclusively reserved for Him. If you worship anything or anyone else, it will inflame the fury of God (Deu 6:12-15). In Exo 22:20, God condemns with the death penalty all those who offer sacrifice to other gods outside of Jehovah.
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
In the temptation of Christ, we see Satan just wanted Jesus to worship him a little. We also see in Rev 22:8-9 that the (good) angels of God refused to receive worship from men, “their co-servants.” In Acts 14:13-15, we equally see the apostles refused to allow other human beings to do sacrifice to them or to worship them.
We Should not Worship Images
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (to “serve” them = hate God)
The 10 commandments clearly establish that we are not to “bow down” (honor) other gods, because anything that we honor or worship that is not God is an idol. This is explained even more in that we can not fashion ourselves images, neither anything that is in the earth or heavens in order to help our worship. The simple fact of making an image or representation of God, Jesus, Mary, or a saint, an angel, or any other similar thing in which we give honor and glory religiously as if to God but instead to these created things, this will greatly inflame the fury of God (Deu 6:15) against us. Because of this reason, images do NOT help us, but to the contrary, they cause God to get ragingly mad against us! Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Images are of Absolutely NO Use
Isa 44:9 They that make a graven image are all of them vanity (empty of real value); and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. 10 Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
“Vanity” means something that completely lacks of any spiritual value. God says that they are “of no profit”, and these people who resort to using images in their worship are blind and ignorant. It is as if Isaiah was saying directly to the Catholics today, “How foolish you are! You make a baby Jesus doll, but it cannot dress itself nor can it fix itself when it gets broken, or clean itself when it gets dirty, yet you worship this doll as God? How foolish you are! Don’t you see that this is useless in the true worship of God? It drags God down to the level of a dumbbaby doll. This is profitable for nothing. It is useless, don’t you understand?”
People who worship using images say that the images “help” them in their adoration of God. But the use of images is a testimony to their confusion, because images are not useful in any way in religion nor in the true worship of the one and only true God.
Isa 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods.
This is like when they make and worship (carrying it around and honoring it) using a doll they call “baby Jesus” as if it were really God. God himself pronounced a curse against all those using idols or images, and he says they are extremely confused by these things. In Lev 26:1 it is expanded to the prohibition of any type of activity that includes idols, sculptures, statutes, or “painted rocks” (pictures). In Isaiah 42:8 God says that he will not share his glory and praise with sculptures nor with anything!
Deu 4:15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
The representations of God or other biblical people or creatures (images) is still prohibited in the Bible, and to use them is to corrupt yourself in God’s eyes.
Worship or Reverence?
While the Roman Catholic Church says there is a great difference between worship given to God, and the reverence that they give to the saints and to Mary, the effect is the same. They bow the knee before representations of these “non-God” images, placing flowers and candles (which are a type of sacrifice for cheap people) and render service to honor and respect the images which are clearly prohibited by God.
The prohibitions of God use the words “give honor” and “serve” (Roman 1.25). To give honor means to worship or reverence which means the same thing. It is to serve giving religious respect and glory to someone or something such as services in honor of that person, or giving sacrifices. Service speaks of honor. Also the Bible uses the phrase “to bow down before” (Exo 34:14) or to kneel (Mat 4:9) before something or somebody. Therefore no figure neither created by human hands nor found naturally in the world is to be or represent God. We worship God spiritually because God is a spirit.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Communication with the Dead
Deu 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer (consulter of the dead). 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
The Bible is very clear on this point, that anyone who tries to communicate with the dead is actually practicing witchcraft. Then praying to Mary or the saints (which are dead humans) is witchcraft, and this is prohibited by God.
Isa 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
God clearly says that his people should seek God in their prayers, not seek out the dead. If anyone teaches anything else, then “there is no light in them,” or they do not understand what God is trying to tell them. Praying or communicating in any way to the dead is directly opposite of what God commands us to do. This is what the Roman Catholic Church teaches as basic Catholic doctrine. One should flee from people who promote doctrines and practices opposite of what God commands.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Only through the mediator Jesus do we have free access to God, to his mercy and grace, and access to salvation. There is every reason to come to Jesus directly, and no reason to seek first or alternatively Mary or the saints. We should note that prayers to Mary are like trying to bribe Jesus because supposedly he cannot refuse his mother. See Deu 10:17; 2Chro 19:7; and John 14:6.
Is Mary the Mother of God?
Simply put, no. For somebody to be the mother of somebody else, there are two ways of establishing this relationship: (1) the woman physically brings the person into being, or (2) the parents adopt the child (already existing independently before the child exists). If Mary gave birth to God, then we also need to affirm that Mary existed before God, which is not true. Jesus existed in his divinity before Mary and made appearances in the Old Testament, and Mary only gave birth to the humanity of Jesus. She had nothing to do with his divinity. It is incorrect to say that Mary is the “mother of God” because that implies her pre-existence before God, really making her greater than God and in authority over God, which is impossible.
The Catholic Church teaches that Mary is actually in the Trinity, that she is “the complement of the Trinity, Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, and wife of the Holy Spirit” – Hebdomas Mariana. Mary is “the center of the universe” – Salazar. DeMontfort says “Jesus Christ%u2026 has given her grace touching his Majesty, all rights and privileges that (Jesus) naturally possesses by nature.” This makes her another Jesus. “If there is any hope in us, any grace, any salvation, it comes to us by her, because thus is the will of God, who has desired that we have everything through Mary.” Pope Pius IX Ep Evangel 1849 B.C. Mary is “co-redeemer of the human race together with her Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Catholic book, “Mary, the Co-Redeemer.”
The Catholics make Mary to have a position identical to God, and the prerogative of providing salvation aside from Jesus, making Mary an idol, a false god in competition with the true God, exactly what God prohibits.
Is Mary the Queen of Heaven?
The expression “Queen of Heaven” occurs in the Bible only in Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25. It is a false goddess that Israel worshipped (served) in their idolatry, for which God punished them. To identify Mary with this “Queen of Heaven” is to identify her with a false religion prohibited by God.
Hello SELVAKUMAR:
I am glad that God opened your spiritual eyes to the truth. All the glory to our Almighty God!
Blessings to you all in Jesus Christ our Lord!
To Sis Monica…
You said ”Glory to Jesus in Mary
Glory to Mary in Jesus
Glory in God alone”
WHAT WAS THAT ? DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAYING?
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in my Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes in which the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in my Heart and it shall never be effaced.
12. The All-Powerful Love of my Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving the Sacraments; my Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.
Mary is a sinner just like all of us
SELVAKUMAR,
I’ve been working on a reply to your post. Right now, I’m half-way through, ‘Worship or Reverence”. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish and post it by tomorrow or the day after. Sorry it’s taking so long.
OK chery no problem. Try to answer the questions I have asked. And this is for information only and not for teasing you all. We are struggling for the truth to be reached to all of them about Jesus.
PRAISE THE LORD
AMEN
Do CHRISTIANS believe that our lord Jesus spoke and appeared to Saints on several occasions? Like for example Saint M. Faustina Kowalska or Saint Gertrude etc…
No one actually wrote any comments on saints although information was given above. You all seem to comment why we shouldnt pray to Mary and for this you give many reasons but on saints you do not comment.
To all the persons that don’t agree that we should not love jesus’s mother and you call yourself a christian when you meet jesus .I’m sure he will gladly have a few things to say to you .Don’t you love your mother and father and defend them .Just because we love jesus’s mother She did give him birth .Don’t you love your mother .Mary has brought me closer to her son through her .We are all part of jesus and the holy spirit and Yes Mary as well. Merry Chritmas
WHO TOLD WE ALL DOESN’T RESPECT MARY WHO WHERE THE MOTHER OF JESUS. WE ALL RESPECT ALL THE MOTHER OVER THE WORLD INCLUDING YOUR MOTHER ALSO BUT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT WHAT I HAVE GIVEN IN THE ABOVE ARTICLE WHO IS THE REAL LIVING GOD, HERE AGAIN I REPEAT TO YOU THE LIVING GOD. FIRST TRY TO ANSWER THE SIMPLE QUESTIONS WHAT I HAVE ASKED IN MY ARTICLE. OK LET IT BE.
(1)ARE U TAKING YOUR BIBLE TO THE CHURCH?
(2)ARE YOU READING THE BIBLE AT MORNING AND NIGHT?
(3)DO YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE?
(4)DO YOU GOT THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN BY THE JESUS NOT BY MARY?
(5)HAVE YOU GOT BAPTIZED?AND AT WHICH AGE NOT IN CHILDHOOD OR A BABY?
(6)AT WHAT AGE THE JESUS GET BAPTIZED?.
I AM NOT ASKING YOU ANY CRITICAL QUESTIONS ONLY SIMPLE QUESTIONS PLEASE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AND THE ABOVE ARTICLE QUESTIONS WITH NOT YOUR SAKE AND MY OR MARY SAKE IF YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE AND JESUS ANSWER IT ON THEIR SAKE AFTER ANSWERING THIS YOU SAY ME MERRY CHRISTMAS.
PRAISE THE LORD
IN THE NAME OF FATHER THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
AMEN
HAI FLOR,
THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
PRAISE THE LORD,
AMEN
————-
The numbers before each response are there so as to make it easy to refer back, whenever you see a, “see above”.
—————
1.WHO GAVE THE BIBLE TO THE WORLD JESUS OR MARY?
1) Well, Moses, then various Scribes, David, Solomon, various prophets, Matthew the apostle, probably John-Mark, Luke a doctor, and John the apostle, Peter, James and whoever wrote for Paul. I probably forgot someone in there. Anyhow, all by the grace of God. Mary, Jesus, the patriarchs (probably) and Paul all contributed to the oral tradition, but none of them wrote it down. Others did it for them.
2.WHO CREATED THE WORLD?
2) The Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3.WHERE WAS MARY WHEN THE LORD WAS CREATING THE WORLD?
3) In His heart and mind.
4.HOW DID THE VIRGIN MARY GET THE CHILD HERSELF?
4) Through her humility and and the Holy Spirit with whom she cooperated in order to carry, wean and bring the Child up. St. Joseph helped too.
5.WHO SENT THE GABRIEL ANGEL TO MARY?
5) Ultimately God.
6.WHY COULDN’T MARY SAVE JESUS FROM THE CRUCIFIXION?
6) It wasn’t God’s will. If it were God’s will, Mary would have (albeit by some miracle), for nothing is impossible with God and he can enable anyone to do anything. Similiarly, Jesus could have saved Himself, but His will was the Father’s-that He should remain on the cross, dying for the whole world (Mary included). Remember: “‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.'” Matt 27:42. I don’t think who could have saved who from the crucifixion is a very good argument.
7.AFTER JESUS ROSEN FROM THE DEATH WHAT DID HE TOLD DOES HE TOLD TO WORSHIP MARY?
7) Can you rephrase that? Thanks.
8.OK WHO IS GOING TO GIVE U THE JUDGEMENT DAY?
8) I don’t understand what you mean by, ‘Give us the Judgment Day’.
9.FROM ADAM TO THE PERIOD OF JOSEPH AND NOW WHO HAD SAVED ALL OF US MARY OR JESUS?
9) God the Father in Christ, through the Holy Spirit saves without question and has called each of us to cooperate in bringing that salvation to others, through prayer, teaching, good work, suffering, sometimes even death.
10.OK DON’T BELIEVE ANY FOLK STORY OR TALES ABOUT MARY SHE IS THE RESPECTABLE LADY BUT NOT GOD.
10) Please understand (and this pertains to all), Mary is not God. She never was and never will be. Neither has the Catholic Church ever…and I mean ever claimed she was God. Do you remember the Athanasian Creed you use to pray as a Catholic? How did it start? It started with, “I believe in One God…”
SO BELIEVE THE ONE AND ONLY JESUS THE LORD OF US.
11) Define, ‘believe’.
(1.)Should we worship Mary?
12) No!
While all Roman Catholics do not necessarily worship Mary, the fact that many pray to Mary (which is an act of worship and no where justified in Scripture)
13) This was already addressed in my previous post. As an aside, I finally got to see the newest version of ‘The Christmas Carol’ starring Jim Carry. In speaking to the ‘Spirit of Christmas Yet To Come’, Scrooged said, ‘Pray spirit tell me…’ Now, was he worshipping this spirit? No. He was entreating him. He wanted to know whether the things the spirit showed him were, ‘things that will be or things that might be.’ The point is, the term ‘pray’ has more than one meaning in the English language.
and give her titles which resemble those given to Jesus Christ including the idea of mediatorship, this question and others related to Mary have been included under this heading.
14) All Christians are mediators, in, with and by the power of the One Mediator, Jesus Christ. Jesus’ role as Mediator springs in part from His hypostatic union (the union of God and Man). That’s not all, because He assumed true human flesh, flesh common to all people and united it with His divine person,(His humanity thus shares in the divine attributes while remaining perfectly human), all who have been born of the Spirit, as members of Christ’s Body, has a share in His divine attributes. Hence, He sent them out into the world saying, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” Matt. 10:8. Now can mere men do such things? No. It is not within human nature to have such power. Are they then God(s)? No. They were men as St. Paul testifies after a crowd in Lystra thought he was a god for healing a crippled man. (Acts 14:8-18) What then? Peter gives us the answer when he says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)
(2.)Should we pray to Mary???
15) There is a difference in
asking, ‘Should…we do something’ and ‘May…we do something’. A person can live out their entire life, never ask Mary for anything and still be saved.
Roman Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and was sinless all of her life. She is worshiped in the Catholic church as the “Mother of God†and the “Queen of Heaven.†St. Bernard stated that she was crowned “Queen of Heaven†by God the Father, and that she currently sits upon a throne in Heaven making intercession for Christians.
16) All Christians will be crowned and seated with Christ on His throne. “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne”. Rev 3:21. What else would you call a woman enthroned? Princess? Empress? HRH? Queen? What if this woman were enthroned in England? HRH, The Queen of England. Now, what if she were enthroned in heaven? The Queen of Heaven. I hope to be a queen of heaven…or at least a princess…some day. Catholics call Mary, ‘Queen of Heaven’, because Heaven is the country wherein she sits with Christ upon His throne, endowed with a crown that will never fade.
The Bible teaches otherwise. In the Bible, Mary was a sinner just like the rest of us. She said herself that she needed a “Saviour†(Lk. 1:47), and she even had to offer a sacrifice for her sins in Luke 2:24.
17) Of course she needed a Saviour, but it does not follow that she first sinned. If you were walking in a park unaware that a robber was lurking in the bushes and God prevented that robber from attacking you, would He be any less your Saviour? Or would He be more of a Saviour to first allow the robber to attack and mug you, then after the robber was gone, dress your wounds, dust you off and give you a fifty with an offer to drive you to the police station to fill out a report so you could get your stolen goods back? Mary is an outstanding example, but she is an example of what God does for all of us day in and day out. He alone knows how many potential traps are out there waiting for us, while we blissfully go about our day unaware of all He is saving us from. God never ceases to be our Saviour. Whether we ask for forgiveness for sins already done or ask that He, ‘lead us not into temptation…’, His saving grace is always at work.
Jesus was only her “firstborn†son, according to Matthew 1:25, because she later had other children as well (Mt. 13:55; Gal. 1:19; Psa. 69:8).
18) The term, ‘firstborn’ refers back to the Mosaic Law, not forward to subsequent children Mary might have (even if she had twenty). When Joseph and Mary took the Child to Jerusalem to present Him before the Lord, they had to ‘buy back’ the Child, since by default, He belonged to God. “for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether man or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.” (Num 18:15) . If an Israelite woman bore a male child, had a complicated delivery so that she couldn’t bear any more children, her child would still fall under the ‘firstborn laws’, that is, he would still be considered her firstborn under the Law.
Regarding the other passages you cited (ie Mt 13:55, Gal 1:19, Psa. 69:8) , can you elaborate as to why you think they imply Mary had other children? I think I have a general idea, but I want to make sure. Thanks.
There’s only ONE mediator between God and men, and it isn’t Mary (I Tim. 2:5).
19) See above (9,14). As an aside, looking at the matter from an anthropological and psychological point of view, ‘mother’ and ‘mediatrix’ are closely interconnected. So much so as to be identical in certain cases. Applying this general rule to Mary specifically, it is at least linguistically possible to call her the Mother (Mediatrix) of Grace (Grace=Christ, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jn 1:14)
The last time we hear from Mary in the Bible she is praying WITH the disciples, not being prayed to BY the disciples (Acts 1:14).
20) So no one talked to her then, asked questions, or beseeched her to pray for them?
The Bible never exalts Mary above anyone else. Neither should we.
21) Define ‘exalt’ please.
Worship is something that is to be restricted to God alone. As the angel stressed when John fell at his feet in appreciation for the revelation he had seen and received, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God†(See Rev. 19:10; 22:9). Mary is not God
22) Yes. I thoroughly agree.
and her exaltation in the Catholic church has no foundation in Scripture. While we may and should appreciate the ministry of men and women, they are only instruments used of God for His glory. Christ alone is our mediator. Paul clearly points this out in 1 Timothy 2:3-6.
See above (9,14,16). We may have to delve into 1 Timothy 2:3-6 indepth.
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.
23) Okay…now we’re delving. Let’s cite a little more: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. ” 1 Tim 2:1-7
Taking a preliminary look at this passage, several points come to mind. One, that we are urged to make intercession for everyone. Two, we are to do ‘this’ because it pleases God. Three, there is a connection between our intercessions and God’s desire that all be saved and come to know the truth. Fourth, all this is predicated on the fact that there is One mediator between God and Man, who gave himself as a ransom. Regarding this last point, the term, ‘One’ seems to point not only to the uniqueness of Christ’s mission, but to it’s unitive effect. There are analogies from Scripture we can draw. Firstly, God is One, but He is not one person, but three persons-ie He’s unique while at the same time unitive (His uniquiness does not negate His unity). In John 17:22-23, Christ makes a connection between this oneness of God and the oneness of his followers with Him and with one another, “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me”.
Though Mary was the mother of the humanity of Jesus, a miracle accomplished by the Holy Spirit, she was not the mother of God. As God, Christ is eternal and had no mother or beginning (see John 1:1f). In essence, worshipping Mary is a form of idolatry. In the New Testament, Mary is never mentioned in a way that exalts her as is done in Catholicism.
24) According to this logic, no one has a mother then, since our spirits are the sole creation of God and not the propagation of a human mother. Although our spirits are not pre-eternal, they are distinct and not a part of human procreation. They come from God alone.
(1) The Bible says nothing about Mary ascending into heaven in some special way. She went to heaven as all do through faith in Christ as God’s Son who died for our sin, including hers.
25) Can you clarify what you mean by, ‘some special way’ as opposed to, ‘as all do through faith…’? Thanks.
(2) The conception of Jesus, was by the Holy Spirit as explained in Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:35. Other than stating this was a miracle work of the Holy Spirit, we are given no details
26) How is this significant to this discussion?
(3) In Luke 1:28, Mary is called “favored one†(literally, “endowed or filled with graceâ€) but only in the sense that God, by grace, chose her to be the human mother who wouldgive birth to the Christ child. This same idea and word is used of all believers in Ephesians 1:6. We have all been endowed with grace. To say any more than this is to add to what the text of Scripture says.
27) Yes, we are all endowed with grace. What have you heard that makes you think Catholics add to what Scripture says in regards to all being ‘endowed with grace’?
(3) Mary the Mother of Jesus : Should we worship or reverence her?
28) Reverence and worship are two totally different things. No, we should not worship her, but we ought to show due reverence toward her. For that matter, everyone has the right to be shown the reverence due them. There is no one on this planet whom we ought not revere.
Many times Catholics ask, “Why don’t Protestants worship Mary?†They tell us, “You have no respect for the mother of God.†Our answer is very simple, “we respect all women, especially godly Christian women, but we do not worship anybody that is not God himselfâ€. We reserve this reverence and honor only for God.
29) I have never heard a Catholic ask, “Why don’t Protestants worship Mary?”
Insofar as anyone thinks Mary ought to be worshipped, to that extent, they are more pagan than Catholic, (if by ‘worship’, they mean what we mean).
————–(Edited. The portion that was here dealt with the exclusive worship of God alone. As a Catholic, I agree. We should not worship anyone other than God. Regarding the use of images, they are not to be worshipped either. However, there are appropriate uses of images. God made use of them in the Temple. In Solomon’s day, ” in the inner sanctuary he (Solomon) made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold.” (1 Kings 6:23-28). That is a gigantic set of ‘images’! At 15 some odd feet, they would have been taller than the ceiling in most people’s houses, nearly twice the height. And this doesn’t even include all the other ‘images’ which were in the Temple.
(As an aside, what about Christmas and Easter plays or films depicting the life of Christ?)——–
Worship or Reverence?
While the Roman Catholic Church says there is a great difference between worship given to God, and the reverence that they give to the saints and to Mary, the effect is the same. They bow the knee before representations of these “non-God†images, placing flowers and candles (which are a type of sacrifice for cheap people) and render service to honor and respect the images which are clearly prohibited by God.
Would you object to kneeling at a grave or placing flowers at the headstone? I’m just trying to understand your thought process. Forgive me, if my questions come across as taunting.
The prohibitions of God use the words “give honor†and “serve†(Roman 1.25). To give honor means to worship or reverence which means the same thing.
30) “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and motherâ€â€”which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.†Eph. 6:1-3
It is to serve giving religious respect and glory to someone or something such as services in honor of that person, or giving sacrifices. Service speaks of honor. Also the Bible uses the phrase “to bow down before†(Exo 34:14) or to kneel (Mat 4:9) before something or somebody. Therefore no figure neither created by human hands nor found naturally in the world is to be or represent God. We worship God spiritually because God is a spirit.
31) Should we then not bow before the physical/natural/fleshy Christ?
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
32) See above(31).
Communication with the Dead
Deu 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer (consulter of the dead). 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
The Bible is very clear on this point, that anyone who tries to communicate with the dead is actually practicing witchcraft. Then praying to Mary or the saints (which are dead humans) is witchcraft, and this is prohibited by God.
Isa 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
God clearly says that his people should seek God in their prayers, not seek out the dead. If anyone teaches anything else, then “there is no light in them,†or they do not understand what God is trying to tell them. Praying or communicating in any way to the dead is directly opposite of what God commands us to do. This is what the Roman Catholic Church teaches as basic Catholic doctrine. One should flee from people who promote doctrines and practices opposite of what God commands.
32) This is where we differ. Catholics do not consider those who have gone before us, as dead. “But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Matt 22:31-32 . These patriarchs live within the ever-present, ever-living ‘I Am’ of God. In other words, they are alive here and now. For, God did not say, “I was the God of Abraham….” or, “I will be the God of Jacob…sometime in the future (at the, ‘Last Day’)”. If they were dead, God would not be their God, since He is only the God of the living. It might be useful to skim through the OT, especially Ecc. and Psalms. In contrast to Matt 22:31-32, the ‘authors’ of the these books talks extensively about the relation of the actual dead to God (e.g. they do not worship God ect.)
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Only through the mediator Jesus do we have free access to God, to his mercy and grace, and access to salvation. There is every reason to come to Jesus directly, and no reason to seek first or alternatively Mary or the saints. We should note that prayers to Mary are like trying to bribe Jesus because supposedly he cannot refuse his mother. See Deu 10:17; 2Chro 19:7; and John 14:6.
33) He refuses no one, who asks according to His will, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”1 John 5:14-15 Catholics believe Mary always asks in conformity with God’s will, ergo, He doesn’t refuse her, contrary to most of us, who are still learning what God’s will is (hence the proverbial, “Unanswered Prayers” or “Sometimes God Just Says, ‘No'”). Something which ought to be mentioned at this point (actually, I should have mentioned it earlier), is that when Catholics approach Christ in prayer, they are well aware, that Christ is not alone, but is surrounded by His saints and angels. So even if we speak with Christ directly, heaven is there with Him and if we speak to heaven, Christ is there with them. For Catholics there is no either/or (as in, ‘It’s either Christ or it’s someone else (and therefore not Christ)’). The unity between Christ and His Church is so strong, that practically speaking, to approach one, is to approach the other, “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Heb 12:18-24 . Remember Christ’s prayer, that His followers be one as He and the Father are one? Well, does approaching Christ, distract from approaching the Father directly? No. He goes onto say, that His followers are in Him as He is in the Father. That’s a profound oneness. Think about it. A Christian is one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father. We reside in Christ as He resides in the Father. When one thinks of the unity of the Trinity and applies this unity to our relationship with Christ and with one another…well…no words can express…no mind can truly comprehend the absolute profundity of that.
Is Mary the Mother of God?
Simply put, no. For somebody to be the mother of somebody else, there are two ways of establishing this relationship: (1) the woman physically brings the person into being, or (2) the parents adopt the child (already existing independently before the child exists). If Mary gave birth to God, then we also need to affirm that Mary existed before God, which is not true. Jesus existed in his divinity before Mary and made appearances in the Old Testament, and Mary only gave birth to the humanity of Jesus. She had nothing to do with his divinity. It is incorrect to say that Mary is the “mother of God†because that implies her pre-existence before God, really making her greater than God and in authority over God, which is impossible.
34) While God, both in regards to His divine nature and in regards to His existance as three co-equal persons, pre-exists Mary, from all eternity, it does not follow that she is therefore the mother of His humanity only. While it is true that He assumed His humanity and not His divinity from Mary (your point-I think), that humanity belongs to a divine person. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God in the same way they might say, “God was born in Bethlehem” or “The Divine Child, Jesus” or “God became incarnate”. Although God the Son, existed before Bethlehem, before becoming a Child, before becoming incarnate, He, God (in time) was born (according to the flesh) in Bethlehem, became a Child, and was incarnate. In other words, when God took on flesh, he took on everything (except sin) that comes with it, including a Mother. “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons”. Gal 4:4-5
The Catholic Church teaches that Mary is actually in the Trinity, that she is “the complement of the Trinity,
35) I’m not sure what you mean by ‘in the Trinity’.
Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, and wife of the Holy Spirit†– Hebdomas Mariana.
36) The same can be said for Zion (and the Church). Throughout Scripture, Zion is designated the wife/bride of God, mother of the Son(s) of God and so on and so forth. In fact, the same can be said of us as well.
Mary is “the center of the universe†– Salazar.
37) I can’t respond to this as I am unaware of it’s context.
DeMontfort says “Jesus Christ has given her grace touching his Majesty, all rights and privileges that (Jesus) naturally possesses by nature.†This makes her another Jesus.
38) Again, the same can be said of us as well. We possess by grace, what Jesus possesses by nature, through the union of our common humanity with the divine nature in Christ (as was mentioned above). “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God”. 1 Cor 3:21-22.
“If there is any hope in us, any grace, any salvation, it comes to us by her, because thus is the will of God, who has desired that we have everything through Mary.†Pope Pius IX Ep Evangel 1849 B.C. Mary is “co-redeemer of the human race together with her Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.†Catholic book, “Mary, the Co-Redeemer.â€
39) See above (9,14,16). Again, we are all mediators and co-redeemers with Christ. The idea that Mary is Co-redeemer and Mediatrix does not stem from an over-estimation of Mary. It stems from what Catholic believe about all Christians (Mary included).
The Catholics make Mary to have a position identical to God, and the prerogative of providing salvation aside from Jesus, making Mary an idol, a false god in competition with the true God, exactly what God prohibits.
40) There needs to be a better understanding of the fundamentals of the Catholic faith. What the Catholic Church believes about Mary is firmly rooted in what she (the Catholic Church), believes about Christ and Christians (in general).
Is Mary the Queen of Heaven?
The expression “Queen of Heaven†occurs in the Bible only in Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25. It is a false goddess that Israel worshipped (served) in their idolatry, for which God punished them. To identify Mary with this “Queen of Heaven†is to identify her with a false religion prohibited by God.
41) Catholics don’t identify her ‘with this Queen of Heaven’. Mary, as ‘Queen of Heaven’ bears no theological semblance to what God had condemned in Jeremiah’s day. The above argument is like saying, “Faith alone†occurs only once, in James 2:24. Per James 2:24, it does not justify, is dead, ect. Therefore any Christian who claims that we are “justified by ‘faith alone'”, is in serious error-contra to Scripture. I’ve heard some Catholics argue in just this fashion. And to this Catholic, it’s one of the most annoying arguments anyone could make. They are wrong to try to identify Luther’s ‘faith alone’ with the ‘faith alone’ James condemns. They’re two totally different things-not even in the same universe, despite the one-to-one wording.
In Christ.
Be not be deceived.
2 Corinthians 11:13-14
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”
What does this mean ?
It means that Satan can appear to be one of the elect and holy angels of God instead of a fallen evil angel for the purpose of deceiving people into thinking that if they listen to him they are doing what God wants them to do.
And how can we judge, whether they have encountered the chrit or Devil?
Matthew 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
What is the fruit?
The Words they speak and things they do.
Also See this..
Galatians 1:8
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
You yourself compare from the bible, what the apostles have preached, and what those saints of yours are preaching. and come to a conclusion.Did any of the apostles mention about Mary after the Christs ascention into Heaven. Please give me the verses from the bible.I will gladly accept what you have to say.
It is a false preaching, to say that one who has died and gone to hell , can again be pardoned and moved to Heaven for any reason.
becoz…
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, BUT AFTER THIS THE JUDGMENT;” Hebrews 9:27
And the judgement cannot be altered, as GOD is the righteous judge.
God makes this judgement by your choice, And the choice is made here on earth, whether to believe in christ as preached by the apostles, or to follow something/someone else.
Finally the Mary you are preaching or worshipping is by far similar to the God that Muslims beleive, who preach that by saying specific prayers/rosaries, so many no of times, you can go to heaven or receive some promises from God.And beleive me Even the Devil can fullfill your earthly needs.
And what is this PURGATORY? where is it mentioned in the bible.Please some one give me some references.