Posted on 03/13/2005 7:16:00 PM PST by churchillbuff
....In a shift whose ideological breadth is unusual in the fragmented Protestant world, a long-standing wall around Mary appears to be eroding. It is not that Protestants are converting to Catholicism's dramatic exaltation: the singing of Salve Regina, the Rosary's Marian Mysteries, the entreaty to her in the Hail Mary to "pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." Rather, a growing number of Christian thinkers who are neither Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox (another branch of faith to which Mary is central) have concluded that their various traditions have shortchanged her in the very arena in which Protestantism most prides itself: the careful and full reading of Scripture.
Arguments on the Virgin's behalf have appeared in a flurry of scholarly essays and popular articles, on the covers of the usually conservative Christianity Today (headline: The Blessed Evangelical Mary) and the usually liberal Christian Century (St. Mary for protestants). They are being preached, if not yet in many churches then in a denominational cross section—and not just at modest addresses like Maguire's in Xenia but also from mighty pulpits like that at Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church, where longtime senior pastor John Buchanan recently delivered a major message on the Virgin ending with the words "Hail Mary ... Blessed are you among us all."
This could probably not have happened at some other time. Robert Jenson, author of the respected text Systematic Theology, chuckles when asked whether the pastor of his Lutheran youth would have approved of his (fairly extreme) position that Protestants, like Catholics, should pray for Mary's intercession. "My pastor would have been horrified," he says, adding, "The pastor was my father." Yet today Catholics and Protestants feel freer to explore each other's beliefs and practices. Feminism has encouraged popular speculations on the lives of female biblical figures and the role of the divine feminine (think The Red Tent and The Da Vinci Code). A growing interest, on both the Protestant right and left, in practices and texts from Christianity's first 1,500 years has led to immersion in the habitual Marianism of the early and medieval church. And the influx of millions of Hispanic immigrants from Catholic cultures into American Protestantism may eventually accelerate progress toward a pro-Marian tipping point—on whose other side may lie changes not just in sermon topic but in liturgy, personal piety and a re-evaluation of the actual messages of the Reformation.
The movement is not yet prevalent in the pews. And it has its critics. While granting that Mary shows up more in the New Testament than some churches recognize, Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Southern Seminary, charges that those who use her full record to justify new "theological constructions" around her are guilty of "overreaching," "wishful thinking" and effectively "flirting with Catholic devotion." Yet Lutheran theologian Carl Braaten, co-editor of an essay collection on what might be called Marian upgrade, claims, "We don't have to go back to Catholicism. We can go back to our own roots and sources. It could be done without shocking the congregation. I can't predict how exactly it will happen. Some of it will be good, and some of it may be bad.
But I think it's going to happen." .....
She was human. To claim she was sinless is nothing more than accepting a man made supposition. There is no biblical support of the claim that she was sinless. Blessed of God yes, sinless no. We are all, past, present and future, sinners saved by grace, that grace provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus.
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The Proof is in the pudding, ie. Mother MARY's 3 Secrets of -FATIMA- that were given to 3 Children to share. Containing predictions that have all come true.
Including how EVIL takes over a third of the Church's Clergy and their Church leaders at the end:
Visit upon today's world wide Priest Child Abuse Cancer.
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This literally may have limited the number of people He was able to reach, leading to confrontations with the Scribes and Pharasies that may have come only later in His ministry.
swmobuffalo,So She was a sinner and The Lord was born of Her.
If I may say something here?
I have been taught that original sin was attributed to Adam because he chose to eat the fruit and was not deceived. Our sin nature is passed down by the seed of man. The seed of woman, Jesus Christ, has no taint for He was conceived separate from the seed of man.
Mary's seed alone does not contain sin nature.
I was not talking to you.Is this a question or a statement?Be Not afraid oh humble one except that I fall asleep or misspell.
Can you find it in yourself to forgive me? Your wish is my command.
How can you forgive me?One Hail Mary for Her intentions for Her program and it has to be a good one-just once:)
Sorry as I read you might not be catholic,pray for me as we help all faiths in the poor.
I am so sorry for your loss. Your son is your treasure stored in heaven, united with Christ. You will someday be able to hold him again, and share his vision of God.
That is why I included the "may have". I say literally because if the majority of scholars have it correct, then the literal text leaves us with this conclusion.
The Bible still teaches us that all, save Jesus Christ, are sinners, and the Bible consistently exposes the dirty laundry of all the faithful. This would only be expected of Mary as well, considering that the Holy Spirit desires for us to focus on Jesus Christ. He would be faithful to prevent people from looking to any other for their example of perfection.
Meant to ping you to above!
I'd say being the MOTHER OF GOD is a pretty BIG DEAL!!!! Of all the people who ever lived, only MARY can make that claim!
Odd coincidence, wouldn't you say?
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