Posted on 08/15/2013 7:03:11 PM PDT by annalex
Once a woman in the crowd surrounding Christ and His disciples cries out to Him:
Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. (Luke 11:27)
What is it? We have, clearly, an act of venerating Mary. Note that the Blessed Virgin is venerated properly: not on her own but as the mother of Christ. Yet the reason for venerating is indeed concerning: it is her physiological and physiologically unique relationship with Jesus that is emphasized. That is not yet paganism with its crude theories of gods giving birth to other gods, but it is lacking proper focus and Jesus corrects it:
Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. (Luke 11:28)
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| The Virgin with the Child on her knees and a prophet pointing at the star. Catacomb of Priscilla, late 2nd c. Source |
Having gotten past this linguistic hurdle, we can understand clearly what this passage, Luke 11:27-28, does: it establishes veneration of saints based not on their blood relation to Christ but on their obedience to God. It is in that sense that we venerate Our Lady: given that Christ is the Word of God personified, she heard and kept both Him in person as her Child and His teaching, figuratively. In Mary the essence of sainthood is seen in the flesh as well as in the mind. We could say that by the late second century at the latest, when we find evidence of the veneration of both the prophets and the Mother of God in the catacombs, the two reasons to venerate a saint: his martyrdom as in the case of Polycarp, or his obedience to the Word, as in Mary, -- unite into a single practice.
Great post bb.
“why veneration of saints is necessary for our salvation in practice if not in theory.”
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS NECESSARY FOR OUR SALVATION BUT A BELIEF IN JESUS AND WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED ON THE CROSS!
And you have just proven the case that the RCC is an abomination because it advocates something else is needed for salvation other than Christ.
Unbelievable!
And the RCC's 'tradition' IS??
You guys want it both ways; but Homie don't play dat.
Yup!
It's like the Your Reply: box now has autospell in it.
Is it a new feature in FRland or has my browser gotten an 'upgrade' that does it?
annalex,
My, my, my....I just do not know how you come to these erroneous conclusions.
I am a saint, any born-again believer in Christ is a saint...period...end of....full stop.
You’d better WAKE UP and get your act together because if you think all this tripe you are spewing is truth......then you will be sorely disappointed come the judgment seat of Christ.
You can do it like this by just copy and pasting the URL at the top of the page like this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3055274/posts?page=145#145
However, if you use HTML in the rest of your post, you have to format it for the link to work. If you don’t use HTML, you can just click on the link and it’ll take you there.
All you can do is say, "DRAT!" (or something on that order) for a small blip, or get the Mod to pull it for a big one.
“You know, I am Christian.”
I am not sure that you are, annalex. I think you think you are, but I think it is debatable.
Maybe YOURS isn't...
1 John 2:12 (NIV)
I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
“Evangalization is a must, Evangelical Protestantism is a stupid, counter-scriptural, and dangerous superstition.”
Methinks you are beyond hope with an ignorant statement like that.
Once it comes down to the name-calling, you show your true nature.
Game over.
I can see why!!
Now then; just WHAT was His 'command(s)' again?
Oh; so it's the OTHER LAWS that save; eh?
“I usually ignore what Metmom posts unless there is a question in it.”
You ignore her at your own peril.
She knows exactly what she is talking about.
That's ok. I still will make time for yours...
HMMMmmm...
“If as Protestant doctrine has it the Christian faith consists of only what is contained in Scripture. Then one would expect that somewhere in the New Testament a statement of this doctrine could be found. Since it is not, than it is no better founded than the “extrabiblical” doctrines that you deplore.”
What??!!
Why don’t you put that in English instead of some Catholic gibberish?
Neither do the Catholic ones...
“I know why I believe she is alive because this is what the Church says.”
Bingo! ‘Nuff said!
“for she is her own rule”
No doubt!
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