[Mr Rogers]

There are multiple passages that indicate we should use scripture to guard against false teachings.

My point on finding a right to abortion in the Constitution is, I think, valid. If you NEED the right to an abortion, then you can craft an argument about privacy and from that derive a right to an abortion.

And if you NEED for Mary to be sinless and a perpetual virgin, then you can take a sentence in Luke and call the references to the brothers and sisters of Jesus as referring to cousins, and you have what you need.

However, no one just reading the Constitution would think it had anything to say about abortion, and no one picking up a Bible and reading it would think Jesus was Mary’s only son, or that she was born & lived without sin.

This isn’t an area I get very emotional about. I think one of the serious mistakes made by many early church fathers was to spend too much time arguing over things not discussed in Scripture. You don’t need a perfect understanding of the Trinity to be a Christian - I hope!

So it is with Mary. If you pick up a Bible and read it without prejudice, you won’t derive Catholic teachings about Mary - you’ll get the contrary. However, if you CHOOSE to believe Catholic teaching about Mary, go ahead. As long as folks understand she isn’t God, that she isn’t our mediator, and that we shouldn’t ask her to grant our prayers, then I don’t care about the rest.

[Petronski]

...no one picking up a Bible and reading it would think Jesus was Mary’s only son, or that she was born & lived without sin.

We are back to your own personal interpretation of Scripture.

If you pick up a Bible and read it without prejudice, you won’t derive Catholic teachings about Mary...

Ditto.

[bdeaner]

I can see your point with the analogy between the Bible and the Constitution, but the analogy does not hold when examined more closely.

First of all, the 'right to an abortion' really cannot be derived from the Constitution with any validity based in evidence and logic, if one starts with the premise that a fetus is a human being. If the fetus is a human being--which undeniably, according to natural law, she is--then the fetus has all of the rights attributed to it in the Constitution, and the rights of the mother cannot be placed above them without undermining the basis of the natural law conception of rights that are at the root of the Bill of Rights. A pro-choice philosophy ends up completely undermining the conceptual ground of the Constitution, as has been demonstrated very eloquently and thoroughly by Robert Spitzer in Healing the Culture--highly recommended for anyone interested in pro-life ethics.

In contrast, the purity of the Virgin Mary is a doctrine that, like the Trinity, can be shown to be implicit when the Sciptures are read as a whole, such that her status as the Mother of God, the New Eve, and the Ark of the Convenent integrate OT and NT Scriptures in ways that has great theological depth and infinite significance, once grasped through the many teachings of the Magisterium on Mariology as it is revealed through the Scriptures.

It's just not possible to point to a single verse in the Bible in order to demonstrate the depth and bredth of Catholic Mariology. It's something that takes time to demonstrate, moving from Genesis all the way through Revelations, as I am sure is the case in Shea's new book (which I have not yet read, but will be reading soon). But I do highly recommend Hail, Holy Queen by Catholic convert and former Presbyterian minister, Scott Hahn, which I found very helpful for grasping the very important role of Mary in salvation history, as taught by the Catholic Church. It was a very moving experience that really clinched by decision to enter into full communion with the Church by converting to Catholicism. There is an internal logic such that the puzzle of many Biblical mysteries come to light with a clarity that would simply be lacking were it not for the premise of Mary's role in salvation history, including her status as within sin, through which, using typology as a hermeneutic strategy, Mary can be understood as the New Eve, the Ark, etc.

[lastchance]

You do understand that it is Catholic teaching that Jesus saved Mary. However she was saved at the moment of her conception. Now you may disbelieve that, but please do not think the Church teaches that Mary somehow saved herself or is sinless by anyone merits but Christ’s.