Testimony of a Former Irish Priest

BereanBeacon.Org ^ | Richard Peter Bennett

[Dr. Eckleburg]

They’ve made skeptics of us trusting souls. 8~)

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Oh and you never responded to:

Contrary to RC assertions, I do not spend my life here. I miss half these comments.

If you really want a response, and you don't get one, just ask again. In this case, you asked again, and I answered.

[D-fendr]

In the Eastern Orthodox, they use: "Our All-holy, immaculate, most blessed and glorified Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary."

All-holy is from the Greek, Panagia and is also used by all Orthodox. It, Panagia, is used in titles because she is the supreme example of cooperation between God and the free will of man. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word"

I realize that you don't believe in free will, but this the origin and use of the term for those who are interested.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Snopes

LOLOL.

That John Wayne tidbit was written by Barbara Mikkelson, a Canadian who runs Snopes and who no doubt gets much of her information from the internet.

I'll believe John Wayne's daughter, Aissa, and personal friends and relatives who knew Wayne who say he did not convert on his deathbed, but may have received last rites when he was dying and unconscious at the request of his son, Patrick.

[the_conscience]

The doctrine goes on with gibberish about sanctifying grace preserving her from original sin. The bottom line is that they want a “New Eve” goddess to worship.

[Alamo-Girl]

I understood his term “Almighty” to include God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. If he meant the Father only, well, the Catholic Church never declared that Mary was the mother of God the Father. If that’s what he meant, his post is erroneous on its face. The Church never said that, nor will it ever say that.

I suspect the difference is indeed Who one means by using the Name God Almighty (El Shaddai).

But I do not think the Name of God, The Almighty, applies only to God the Father. Jesus is revealing Himself to John in Chapter 1 of Revelation. And at verse 8 He announces and defines several Names of God: I AM, Alpha, Omega, The Lord, The Almighty.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. - Revelation 1:8

Likewise, in this prophecy of the Incarnate Word, several Names of God are announced, Names which we might apply to the Father or the Holy Spirit:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6

That verse, btw, clearly reveals the Trinity, i.e. Counsellor is a Name we would consider when speaking of the Holy Spirit.

But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. - John 14:26

[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. - Romans 8:1

Likewise, in the following verse the Name of God, Spirit, applies to each Person of the Trinity:

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Romans 8:9

In my view, it is too easy to get knotted up trying to separate the Names of God and the Persons of God beyond the obvious God the Father, His only begotten Son (Jesus, Christ, Messiah, Emmanuel, Word) and the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps that underscores the word "name" being singular in the following reference to the Trinity:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: - Matthew 28:19

As for me, I turn to Revelation 5 when meditating on the Trinity. The Father is on the throne and the Son emerges from His midst or bosom and the Spirit extends through Him into the world.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. - Revelation 5:1-6

We see the same imagery here:

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared [him]. - John 1:18

And here:

Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; - Hebrews 1:3

All of this involving the Names of God further underscores my preference for "Mother of the Incarnate Word" as the title for Mary.

God's Name is I AM.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

"All-holy."

Do they even read what they write about her?

[Deo volente]

She is the “New Eve”, but she is not a goddess and we don’t worship her.

Period.

[D-fendr]

In your theology, would Mary be more accurately described as “Totally Depraved”?

[Cronos]

So then, would you attend a Lutheran service where they have all the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, kneeling, icons, crucifixes, etc?

[Cronos]

So then, would you attend a Word-of-Faith pentecostal service where they have “pastr” Kenneth Hagin who wrote that God “made us in the same class of being that he is himself,” or Creflo Dollar who said “Gods. Little “g” gods. You’re not human. Only human part of you is this flesh you’re wearing.”

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Why do you care what church I’d attend?

[Cronos]

Alamo-Girl. NO ONE in any way claimed or insinuated that — do you have any post where that was claimed or even insinuated? Mary was the Mother of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was/is God, Mary was His Mother, yet Mary was His creation. Jesus was/is/will be part of the eternal Godhead. How that works out, God knows, but unless you say that Jesus was not God, or that Jesus had two separate natures, like twins stitched together or that Jesus was possesed by the Holy Spirit, you have to say that Mary was the Mother of God, Jesus CHrist

[the_conscience]

I’m sure they have all sorts of sophistry to explain it. Even if we were to accept, for argument sake, that Mary was without original sin, “all-holy” seems like a term that should be designated only for God (or a goddess).

[Cronos]

I quote from post #4564 by bkaycee:

First of all, it is not a claim that the Bible contains all knowledge. The Bible is not exhaustive in every detail.

Are you misquoting on purpose or just clumsy?

[Cronos]

Oh, I scroll past the multi-colored clown posts too -- they're too full of nothing to really spend any time on. So, LA Murzelli was the latest "great exposę" that the enemies came out with?

[D-fendr]

seems like a term< If one were entereted, they could find out what a term refers to and avoid pondering what it seems like prior to criticizing. Nonetheless…

I'm not sure if you share Dr. E's theology in addition to her criticism, so I'll ask you: Would Mary be more accurately described as “Totally Depraved”?

[D-fendr]

Sorry, should be:

If one were interested...

[Alamo-Girl]

I don't have a post number for you, I was responding to Quix' post.

Again, I understand the rationale behind the title but I prefer "Mother of the Incarnate Word" because it does not require footnotes.

[Cronos]

Well, you never know, there is the entire Word-of-faith pentecostal movement (which is separate from the more orthodox Assemblies of God pentecostals) where they teach:

Suffer the Children, a documentary highlighting some of the teachings of the Word of Faith movement, has a video clip of Creflo Dollar teaching the "little gods" doctrine to his congregation based on the notion that "everything reproduces after its own kind":^[30]

Dollar: "If horses get together, they produce what?"
Congregation: "Horses!"
Dollar: "If dogs get together, they produce what?"
Congregation: "Dogs!"
Dollar: "If cats get together, they produce what?"
Congregation: "Cats!"
Dollar: "So if the Godhead says 'Let us make man in our image', and everything produces after its own kind, then they produce what?"
Congregation: "Gods!"
Dollar: "Gods. Little "g" gods. You're not human. Only human part of you is this flesh you're wearing."

And, the teaching that in order to atone for sins, Jesus had to die both physically and spiritually. As a consequence of his ‘dying spiritually’, the Word of Faith movement argues that Jesus thus needed to be born again just as any other sinner. While making it clear that Jesus Himself was never a sinner, they argue that Jesus was ‘forsaken by God’ just as if Jesus had committed every sin in human history.