Gravity is also not in the Bible, somebody please stop me from floating away........
Mary in Scripture:
"A true understanding of Mary and her role in salvation can come only from a full understanding of Scripture and the portrayal of Mary in Scripture. This full understanding comes from careful study of the two covenants between God and His people, the Old and the New. Mary is the bridge between the Old and the New Covenants. The two covenants are basic to the divine plan of salvation and Mary's role in salvation history becomes apparent when we see that she is the living embodiment of fundamental themes in the Old and the New Testaments: as the Daughter of Zion, the Ark of the Covenant, the new Eve working with the new Adam. Once we come to understand the scriptural Mary our entire understanding of the meaning of Scripture will be transformed. In fact the various Marian doctrines and devotions only dimly convey the full majesty of Mary as she is portrayed in Scripture. Luke 1 and 2 alone, as we shall see, is a compendium of all the major Marian doctrines. Continued reflection on Scripture is essential for a better understanding of the Mary that the first Christians, the Fathers of the Church and even the Protestant Reformers saw in Scripture."
and more......
"Over the last two centuries many Christians have lost the Scriptural Mary venerated and praised by all Christians in every other century. Two factors in particular led to this loss. The first was the decision to ignore the interpretations of Scripture adopted historically by the Christian faithful and to replace these with one's own interpretations. The second was the decision to ignore the divine inspiration of Scripture so as to make interpretations solely using the criteria and tools employed by professional historians. The first factor led to the Fundamentalists and the second to the Liberals."
http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/MARYINSC.htm
Read it ALL at website above. This is my answer to your challenge.
Many thanks to a number of posters, I've learned quite a bit. Let me see if I can apply this knowledge:
GROUND RULES
1. Acceptable Source.
The official and authentic New King James version of the bible. Yes, I know there are other translations as good as or better than this (so you all will tell me), and that the original languages relate a better understanding. But since most of us don't speak the languages of those original sources nor have access to them, and since I've received much flak from the usual nitpickers, I thought I'd better pick one translation and stick with it.
2. Allowable Points.
A. Direct statements. If the bible says it, it is admissible.
B. Direct Inference. If the meaning is directly inferred with irrefutable logic (i.e. 1 + 1 = 2 ), it is admissible.
C. Supporting Historical Context. If there is direct and demonstrably true history that lends supporting evidence to a point, it is allowed. A good example of this was a poster who pointed out that Mary was courageous to accept becoming pregnant while unmarried at a time when the penalty for such behavior was being stoned to death. If he can provide reasonable supporting evidence (think OT law), then this is perfectly acceptable information to be used in painting a correct biblical portrait of Mary.
Additionally, I will refrain from engaging others in the discussion, no matter how much they bait me with their haranguing and tortured contortions of logic and Scripture.
Please remember that this thread is not to push any extra-biblical theology or Ism. It is simply to celebrate the biblical portrait of Mary, mother of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!
Looking forward to your thoughts!
You don't have any references from the Old Testament, where Mary is represented by the word, woman.
The Protestant Reformers on the Virgin Mary
Luther, Calvin, and Other Early Protestants on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary
Just a reminder that this thread is for painting a portrait of Mary based upon Scripture. There have been many extrapolations well beyond Scripture and any rational idea of Direct Inference. The rules are contained in post #264, please check them out.
While certain faith's doctrines might contain much about Mary that is not included in Scripture, this thread was set up strictly for the use of Scripture.
Thank you.
I see that you are from Oregon and that you are probably a former Catholic.
You are always welcome to come back to the church. There are several of us who have posted on this thread who are from Oregon. We would be glad to sit down with you and discuss your misconceptions. In fact, many Catholic Churches have classes for returning Catholics. The one at my Church is called Catholics Can Come Home Again. We will have the class after Easter. You would be welcome.
Remember you are always welcome to return to the Catholic Church.
Blessings to you and your family.
To your list of scriptural references to the Blessed Virgin Mary, you somehow omitted the earliest one, Genesis 3:15.
Here is what I was looking for:
A basic, Scriptural portrait of Mary
Mary was a young woman found to be acceptable by God to bear His son into this world. She freely accepted God's will. Even though, at the time of her decision, she could not have known how her betrothed husband would react, nor the community at large, she trusted God and agreed.
She and her husband raised the Son of God in their house, seeing to his upbringing. Mary was reminded of His special nature at times, for example, when her and Joseph retrieved Jesus from the temple.
While she could not have fully comprehended the meaning, she knew that this Son of hers was both her Savior and that of the world. Also, she knew that His life would cause her grief. The agony she felt for her Son standing at the foot of His cross is unimaginable to me.
She attended the prayer meeting in the upper room with the Apostles after the Resurrection. And although Scripture doesn't say it, it is likely that she saw her resurrected Son, and experienced the same joy as the rest of the disciples, and the special joy only a mother could have.
Mary was a devout Jewish woman, blessed by God, and filled with His grace. She subjugated her life plans to the will of God, trusting His Word without knowing where it would lead. She subjugated her will to her earthly husband, trusting him to follow the God-given visions and directions he received. Mary's trust was not misplaced, God's providential care and direct interaction in her and her family's lives proved His faithfulness.
Mary's faith in God is a good example for us all.
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I left off the Scriptural references to make reading easier. If you wish to see those references, they are provided at the start of the thread.
I'm not into this whole "What does Mary look like" thing.
I just want to know if God has a mother.