What Catholics don't understand is that people don't believe they are "evil" because they "Catholic". I know of many ex and current Catholics that are wonderful people.
It's what current Catholic believe that is troublesome - such as praying TO Mary who is just another dead sinner who can't hear you anyway. NO where can you "infer" that she is without sin as the Catholic Church bangs into their head through endless recitations of "Hail Mary". It truly doesn't matter how many times you say something - repetition doesn' t make it TRUE when it is FALSE.
For the moment I'll focus on the false teaching of elevating Mary to the position of Christ or very close to it. None of this is Biblical and further revealed in Scripture clarifies this false teaching about Mary.
Mary must have been a wonderful person otherwise God would not have chosen her as the vessel to give birth to Christ. Mary was WITH sin as ANY and ALL human beings since Adam and Eve are. Mary INHERITED their sinful nature as have ALL those before her to Adam and Eve.
To say Mary is WITHOUT sin is totally unBiblcial. Let's just take that a step further -> IF any mere mortal was capable of being "without sin", then Christ would NOT have had to lead a SINLESS life, die and rise again to atone for OUR sins. The punishment of sin is DEATH.
People have NO business suggesting Mary is without sin since it DETRACTS from the glory of God and what Christ did for us on the cross. Mary is NO "co-redeemer" and does NOT share in the redemption of sin when she herself is another sinner in need of Christ too!
When something, anything detracts and doesn't give GOD the GLORY, then it is false teachings. It's all about CHRIST; not Mary. Catholics are told to pray TO MARY to get close to Jesus. we pray to Mary so that we might grow closer to Jesus. Mary was NOT the "first disciple". Mary was barely mentioned in the Bible and did NO discipleship what so ever! She was a tad goofy and couldn't figure out where Jesus was when they LEFT CHRIST at the Temple when He debated with the Rabbis there. She didn't know what Christ was doing and was looking all over for Him and angry that He started His ministry WITHOUT her no less! Mary is hardly a mortal that has omnipresence, omnipotent or omniscient! Nor is there any evidence at all in the Bible that she developed those godly attributes in heaven!
So let's see what God's WORD, not fallible man's word has to say about Christ and His role to us.
Christ a Mediator
“And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant,” Hebrews 12:24 “
For there is ONE God, and ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” 1Timothy 2:5. Notice the word - ONE mediator! He is not only God, but man; not only man, but God: a blessed reconciler of man to God, and of God to man. Galatians 4:4-5.
: No where does the BIBLE state Mary is either a mediator or an intercessor. God is very clear that CHRIST is the ONLY mediator. Not Mary and there is NOTHING unclear or in need of "inferring". Using Mary in these ways DETRACTS from Christ's individual and finished work on the cross. It is CHRIST that deserves all the glory according to God.
Now, who, according to God, NOT MAN, intercedes for us? Now, who intercedes for us?
Romans 8:26 and 27
[26] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
[27] And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
: Mary is NOT God. Mary doesn't have the attributes of omnipresence, omnipotent or being omniscient. The Holy Spirt DOES and KNOWS how to approach the Father in heaven properly for us. If you don't believe ME, argue with God.
It is GOD that is stating this and I'm a just repeating it to clarify false teachings about Mary. Yes, show your "love" and insult me or condemn me for stating what GOD states in the Bible as truth. It dosn't bother me at all.
Isn't it odd how that "truth" doesn't match up with what the Catholic Church teaches you? Yes, they will mix in LIES with truth so something else they state may be true and keep you hooked. But I ask you this, when you mix FALSE teachings, such as those with about Mary with truth, you have a mess, to put it tactfully. In a true false table, T + F = F.
Excellent post, you HATER /sarcasm
Amen, Mary was a chosen and saved sinner as the Gospel of Luke declares when her mouth said;
Luke 1:
46 And Mary said , My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
41And it came to pass , that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said , Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo , as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed : for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said , My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And it came to pass , that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said , Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo , as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed : for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. 46 And Mary said , My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold , from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed . 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away . 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months,50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away . 54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months,
Excellent post.
I have no hatred for Catholics, half of my relatives are Catholics. My father was a Catholic from birth to adulthood, he than converted to Lutheran (WELS). I believe it is out of love that one speaks the truth of the erroneous teachings of the Catholic church.
I am kind of surprised that not one Catholic has commented on your post, I am praying it is due to their contemplating the truths within it.
God Bless (Catholics included)
Where God is, sin is not. On that you can depend. Is heaven a place of sin? Of course not. Can God and sin coexist in the same dwelling? No. Jesus came down from heaven and the womb of the Virgin became His dwelling. Could he be nourished, protected, and given life in the Virgin's womb by flesh which was corrupted by sin? Could corruption give rise to unblemished sinlessness?
Bear in mind that it is not Catholics who choose to give Mary a special place in the history of salvation. God himself did that. Only she is the Mother of the Savior. That makes her unique. God, being God, was under no obligation to dwell for nine moths in her womb or be subject to her at Nazareth. But that was God's plan. God's plan of salvation included a special role for her. Jesus could have come to us in a fiery chariot, a spaceship, or he could have come down the same way he ascended at the end of his earthly ministry; on a cloud. He had no need of human means.
Yet He came to us through Mary whose "yes" was freely given to the angel Gabriel.
Think about this in terms of the overall battle of good versus evil. A fallen angelic being who is above all proud (Satan), is defeated by the humble "yes" of a mere human, a poor Jewish girl, all the more to torture and vex him. Mary's participation in the plan of salvation makes Satan's defeat all the more dramatic and dismal. In a fight, it's one thing to be humbled by another spiritual being....but a human??
This is why Satan reserves a special hatred for the Virgin. Jesus doesn't have a problem with her like a lot of Protestants. She was/is His Mother. She always will be. He "was subject to them" as Scripture tells us, meaning Mary and Joseph. Horrors!! Cover your eyes! Stop your ears! Jesus was subject to Mary His Mother. Oh no!!
No, this isn't "brainwashing". It's historical, biblical fact. It's the way Jesus wanted it. The Holy Family; Jesus Mary and Joseph. There's a touch of Islam in much of the Protestant approach to God; "God's gonna get real mad if you (make your own list).................a) honor His Mother.......b) make images of either Him or His Mother and revere them (we can do that to members of our own families but not Jesus).........and He's gonna smite ya.......etc etc". It's an irrational, vengeful God who can be found only in Scripture and who operates only in the ways we say. As John says.........."but there are many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written."
Try not to put God in a box. The narrow, minimalist Protestant approach to Jesus misses so much.
If you even bothered to investigate the prayer “Hail Mary”, you would know that it is very very biblical....not just 2 words as you seem to think. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women” (Luke 1:28) “and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:42) The rest is simply asking her to pray for us. “Holy Mary, Mother of God (being she is the mother of Jesus...she is the mother of God is she not?) pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”
You do believe in intercessory prayer yes? Asking people to prayer for us is a good thing. You believe in life after death yes? in the spirit world? So there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking someone who is among the community of saints to pray for us. And who better than the one who gave birth to Jesus.