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Martin Luther, Founder of the Reform, Speaks on Mary

In his sermon of August 15, 1522, the last time Martin Luther preached on the Feast of the Assumption, he stated:

There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know. And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith . . . It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.
The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart. (Sermon, September 1, 1522).
[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures. (Sermon, Christmas, 1531).
No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom, and sanctity. (Sermon, Feast of the Visitation, 1537).
One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God's grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).

Luther gives the Blessed Virgin the exalted position of "Spiritual Mother" for Christians:

It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God, that man is able to exult in such a treasure. Mary is his true Mother .. (Sermon, Christmas, 1522)
Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . . If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother. (Sermon, Christmas, 1529).

Martin Luther had the belief of Mary's Immaculate Conception, Luther's words follow:

It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin" (Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527).
She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great. For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. (Personal {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522).

Martin Luther on Mary's Perpetual Virginity

Here are some of the founders of refom commenting on Mary:

Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that.

{Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }

Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers.

{Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }

A new lie about me is being circulated. I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God, was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ . . .

{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:199 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }

Scripture does not say or indicate that she later lost her virginity . . .

When Matthew [1:25] says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son, it does not follow that he knew her subsequently; on the contrary, it means that he never did know her . . . This babble . . . is without justification . . . he has neither noticed nor paid any attention to either Scripture or the common idiom.

{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:206,212-3 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }

Editor Jaroslav Pelikan (Lutheran) adds:

Luther . . . does not even consider the possibility that Mary might have had other children than Jesus. This is consistent with his lifelong acceptance of the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary.

{Pelikan, ibid.,v.22:214-5}

". . . she is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. . . . God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. . . . God is with her, meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action of God in her. Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her."
Ref: Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968

". . . she is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God. . . . it is certain that Mary is the Mother of the real and true God."
Ref: Sermon on John 14. 16: Luther's Works (St. Louis, ed. Jaroslav, Pelican, Concordia. vol. 24. p. 107)

"Christ our Savior was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb. . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that."
(REf: On the Gospel of St. John: Luther's Works, vol. 22. p. 23, ed. Jaroslav Pelican, Concordia, 1957)

"Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on the trees." (From the Commentary on the Magnificat.)

Commentaries on Luther

". . . in the resolutions of the 95 theses Luther rejects every blasphemy against the Virgin, and thinks that one should ask for pardon for any evil said or thought against her." (Ref: Wm. J. Cole, "Was Luther a Devotee of Mary?" in Marian Studies 1970, p. 116:)

"In Luther's Explanation of the Magnificat in 1521, he begins and ends with an invocation to Mary, which Wright feels compelled to call 'surprising'".
(David F. Wright, Chosen by God: Mary in Evangelical Perspecive, London: Marshall Pickering, 1989, p. 178, Cited from Faith & Reason, Spring 1994, p. 6.)

Martin Luther defends the Eucharist

In 1529 Martin Luther engaged the question of transubstantiation in the famous conference at Marburg with Zwingli and other Swiss theologians; he maintained his view that Christ is present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

Other Reformers on Mary's Perpetual Virginity

John Calvin

Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned.

{Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55}

[On Matt 1:25:] The inference he [Helvidius] drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband . . . No just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words . . . as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called 'first-born'; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin . . . What took place afterwards the historian does not inform us . . . No man will obstinately keep up the argument, except from an extreme fondness for disputation.

{Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 107}

Under the word 'brethren' the Hebrews include all cousins and other relations, whatever may be the degree of affinity.

{Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 283 / Commentary on John, (7:3) }

Huldreich Zwingli

He turns, in September 1522, to a lyrical defense of the perpetual virginity of the mother of Christ . . . To deny that Mary remained 'inviolata' before, during and after the birth of her Son, was to doubt the omnipotence of God . . . and it was right and profitable to repeat the angelic greeting - not prayer - 'Hail Mary' . . . God esteemed Mary above all creatures, including the saints and angels - it was her purity, innocence and invincible faith that mankind must follow. Prayer, however, must be . . . to God alone . . .

'Fidei expositio,' the last pamphlet from his pen . . . There is a special insistence upon the perpetual virginity of Mary.

{G. R. Potter, Zwingli, London: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976, pp.88-9,395 / The Perpetual Virginity of Mary . . ., Sep. 17, 1522}

Zwingli had printed in 1524 a sermon on 'Mary, ever virgin, mother of God.'

{Thurian, ibid., p.76}

I have never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything concerning the subject of the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation, which could be considered dishonourable, impious, unworthy or evil . . . I believe with all my heart according to the word of holy gospel that this pure virgin bore for us the Son of God and that she remained, in the birth and after it, a pure and unsullied virgin, for eternity.

{Thurian, ibid., p.76 / same sermon}

Heinrich Bullinger

Bullinger (d. 1575) . . . defends Mary's perpetual virginity . . . and inveighs against the false Christians who defraud her of her rightful praise: 'In Mary everything is extraordinary and all the more glorious as it has sprung from pure faith and burning love of God.' She is 'the most unique and the noblest member' of the Christian community . . .

'The Virgin Mary . . . completely sanctified by the grace and blood of her only Son and abundantly endowed by the gift of the Holy Spirit and preferred to all . . . now lives happily with Christ in heaven and is called and remains ever-Virgin and Mother of God.'

{In Hilda Graef, Mary: A history of Doctrine and Devotion, combined ed. of vols. 1 & 2, London: Sheed & Ward, 1965, vol.2, pp.14-5}

John Wesley (Founder of Methodism)

The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.

{"Letter to a Roman Catholic" / In This Rock, Nov. 1990, p.25}

Some of the above from Nelson Pacheco from "Luther On Our Lady".
Most of the Martin Luther quotes were found on Dave Armstrong's site www.BiblicalCatholic.org

Lord Jesus, let Your prayer of unity for Christians
become a reality, in Your way
we have absolute confidence
that you can bring your people together
we give you absolute permission to move
Amen

These appearances (called apparitions) have occurred with increasing frequency since the nineteenth century, and have attracted widespread attention. Pope Pius XII, in calling attention to the apparitions, referred to the nineteenth century as the "century of Marian predilection [i.e., preference]." And the present century cannot be far behind: one leading Marian scholar notes that there have been more than 200 reported apparitions since the 1930s alone.[2] With the various shrines dedicated to the particular apparitions attracting millions of pilgrims each year, it is easy to see that this phenomenon is having a substantial impact on the almost one-billion-member Roman Catholic church.
From the thread Apparitions of the Virgin Mary: A Protestant Look at a Catholic Phenomenon: Part One

FROM LEFT: Lucha Libre wrestlers Renegado and Mr. Tempest look at an image of the Virgin Mary said to have appeared on a griddle at Las Palmas restaurant in Calexico. “I follow Our Lady of Guadalupe," Mr. Tempest said after the viewing. “This is amazing. It’s a true miracle.”

FESTIVAL OF APPARITIONS:

Pretzel Madonna
Funyun Madonna
Chocolate Madonna
Agate Stone Madonna

Tree stump Madonna
Another Tree stump Madonna
Madonna the Kudzu vine
Madonna inside a bar of soap
Madonna in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Madonna in a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, part 2
Madonna in a Grill
Madonna on a Cookie Sheet
Madonna in a Steam Iron
Madonna in a Beach Pebble
Madonna in a football-sized rock
Three virgins on one palm tree
Madonna in a window pane
Madonna in a hospital floor stain
Madonna on a wall, "beamed from the heavens" during a storm
Madonna in a Road Overpass Water Stain
Madonna in a Road Overpass Water Stain, part 2
Madonna on a Hospital Window, fading from view
Madonna on a Samoan church wall, promoting safe driving
Madonna on a Samoan church wall, ~~promoting safe driving~~ warning of an earthquake
Madonna and Jesus in Pancake

God in a Salami
Cross on a cow
Cross on an egg

Cheetos Jesus
Jesus on a Consecrated Wafer, at a Hospital Chapel
Jesus on a Laundry Room Door
Jesus in a Holy Land photo
Jesus in a Hospital Window
Jesus on a foggy truck window
Jesus in an MRI
Jesus in another MRI
Jesus on a Hillside
Jesus the Kudzu vine
Jesus the Kudzu vine, crucified
Jesus in a wheat field
Jesus inside a jelly jar lid
Jesus in a burned fry pan
Jesus in a Ukraine factory wall stain
Jesus on a drainpipe stain
Jesus in a Seat Cushion
Jesus on the bottom of a Steam Iron, pt 1
Jesus on the bottom of a Steam Iron, pt 2
Jesus on a Bathroom Door
Jesus on a Toilet Seat's Bumper Sticker
Jesus in an 8th grader's thumbprint
Jesus in a comedian's spit-take

Pope John Paul II appears as the flames of a bonfire

Mother Teresa, the Nun Bun
Mother Teresa on a coffee shop cutting board

Steven Spielberg's ET on a fence
Jesus in a Tortilla (THO)

Top five unexpected appearances of Jesus [Christ on a pancake, a Kit-Kat, a dog's bottom, and more!]
Make your own "Holy Toast"

lol...........

Song of Bernadette was one of the best books I’ve read in years.

Thanks.

My pleasure.

For decades on the subject of Catholics Americans have had nothing or very little on the menu to choose from, that wasn’t first manufactured by, massaged or ridiculed by Protestant know-it-all’s who think the world began when they personally became a Christian, and certainly nothing further than the hair on their chest could be true if it preceded their own personal adventure with some modern sect begun in the 1800’s, but which they insist on calling church. Certainly nothing Jesus designed in word and deed could be expected to last without an assist from good ole Luther who blew much of it up.

For decades on the subject of Catholics Americans have had nothing or very little on the menu to choose from, that wasn’t first manufactured by, massaged or ridiculed by Protestant know-it-all’s who think the world began when they personally became a Christian, and certainly nothing further than the hair on their chest could be true if it preceded their own personal adventure with some modern sect begun in the 1800’s, but which they insist on calling church.

A most impressive, 77-word run-on sentence. Congratulations! Be warned that you'll never break a hundred until you lose most of those capital letters and all of the commas/apostrophes.

lovely

While generally fairly reasonable (so far), this piece is somewhat incomplete.

Bayside, for example, was condemned by the Bishop of Brooklyn as "completely lacking in authenticity" and "contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church, undermin[ing] the legitimate authority of bishops and councils and instill[ing] doubts in the minds of the faithful".

Given that, there's nothing legitimate about it and it should be recognized as a phenomenon strongly disapproved of by the Catholic Church.

Medjugorje is not a whole lot better. It's been the cause of some serious disobedience among the priests there, and has been condemned by the Bishop of Mostar.

(I will distinguish somewhat between Bayside and Medjugorje, in the Bayside apparition's alleged "messages" contains stuff that's clearly contrary to the faith and even to plain reason*, while Medjugorje -- while banal and repetitive -- generally doesn't.)

*"Test tube babies don't have souls" being one of the more spectacular examples of Bayside's oddities.

Notice in not ONE of these apparitions, has anyone been led to the finished work of Christ. They are led to Mary. Everytime. And that's where they remain, praying to her, asking for her intervention, etc. It isn't too hard to figure out where the apparitions are originating, and why.

I think it’s rather sad that people spend so much of their time ridiculing everyone who isn’t like them. It appears that hatred is all their brand of ‘christianity’ has to offer.

2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”

I think it’s rather sad that people spend so much of their time ridiculing everyone who isn’t like them. It appears that hatred is all their brand of ‘christianity’ has to offer.

I've found that there are two kinds of religious people:

The first experience religion as a way to steadfastly correct their own behavior, and as a result experience the peace of divine love.

The second experience religion as a way to steadfastly correct everyone elses behavior, and as a result experience the lust of wordly power.

IMO, these two kinds of religious people are found all over the world, within every religion, and are forever mutually exclusive.

Great post, narses. The facts say it all. God bless you.

Thanks, Talisker, for the insights you offer..

BTW, I’m smiling here-—you wrote: “...experience the lust of wordly power”

Perhaps you actually meant worldly power and it was a typo. But “wordly” power fits just as well for some posters on this forum. :-)