[nickcarraway]

Just in time for May...

[nickcarraway]

ping

[Zipporah]

I agree that Mary should be honored as the mother of JESUS..but I do have a problem with calling Mary the 'mother of God' .. for she was a sinner like us all.. and in that is it not even MORE of a miracle?? IF Mary had been born without sin.. had been perfect..then what miracle is there? He was the second Adam in that his humaness came from his mother.. inheritance being from the father.. as he had no human father.. just as Adam did not.. he had God as his creator..his father. Mary should be honored as Jesus mother.. but worshipped as the mother of God? Jesus did exist before his human birth. The Word of the Living God:

1Jo 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

1Jo 1:2 Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

1Jo 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship [is] with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

[xzins]

Martin Luther (who had a very robust Marian devotion and whose tomb is decorated with an illustration of the Assumption of the Virgin into Heaven) it seemed to me that it was we Evangelicals who were excessive in our fear of her rather than Catholics who were excessive in their devotion.

Mary is deserving of at least the respect we afford a John the Baptist or an Isaiah. She truly was used by God.

That, however, is far different than making her captive to a doctrine of "original sin" that requires us to "remove" that kind of sin from Jesus by postulating a "sinlessness" for Mary. Do you realize that the only support for the "immaculate conception" of Mary is a logical argument....there isn't a bit of scripture. The support is that since God knew his Son would be born to Mary wouldn't it make sense for him to have had her "born pure?" That's it. No other support.

The same is true of the Assumption of Mary. There is no canonical support for her being taken into heaven in an "Elijah-type" uplifting/translation. It is a logical argument only. It says, "Jesus was Mary's son. Son's love their mothers and would do what they can to keep them from pain and suffering. Therefore, Jesus in heaven prevented pain and suffering for his mother by "translating" her into heaven."

These are logical arugments based on a form of piety. There is nothing, though, that REQUIRES them to be true.

[Thinkin' Gal]

3137 Maria {mar-ee'-ah} or Mariam {mar-ee-am'}
of Hebrew origin 04813;; n pr f

AV - Mary the mother of Jesus 19, Mary Magdalene 13,
Mary the sister of Martha 11, Mary the mother of James 9,
Mary the mother of John Mark 1, Mary of Rome 1; 54

Mary or Miriam = "their rebellion"

[history_matters]

Marian ping

[EODGUY]

"Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."

Thanks for the post, Nick. It amazes me that one of the most beautiful prayers ever written affirming our love and respect for Mary and asking for our Blessed Mother's intercession is a mere two lines long.

God Bless,

EODGUY

[11th Commandment]

As a former Roman Catholic, now a Lutheran Catholic, I have contemplated this question. Here is my answer.

"Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. This is strait from scripture. Catholics and Evangelicals should take this seriously. She is blessed. This is a loaded theological point.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen." This is "man made" and should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Gophack]

That was a really good, short and to the point essay. (I am rarely "short" or "to the point", so I admire it when I see it!)

41 And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.

42 And she cried 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 behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

45 And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.

God bless!

[Angelique]

Beautiful post. Thanks HM for bringing me here.

[babylonian]

I haven't changed my mind about Mary. Mary was mortal and Mary is dead. The Bible says the dead know not a thing and have no part in what's happening where we are. So much for Mary. Regardless of how many beads you flip, Mary ain't hearing any prayers. Why not pray to a doorpost? Same results.

[Some hope remaining.]

No Mary, no human nature for Christ. No human nature for Christ, no death on the cross. No death, no resurrection. No resurrection, no salvation. Without Mary, we are still in our sins.

And of course without Mary's parents there would have been no Mary and therefore no Christ. And without her grandparents, there would have been no parents. And don't forget Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And without Adam and Eve there would have been no Abraham. And of course without the dust of the earth there would have been no Adam.

Ok, it's not my intention to bash. I just don't find this particular part of his argument to be very compelling.

[nickcarraway]

On the cross, Jesus took the time to assign the care of his Mother to the ``beloved disciple.'' You have to ask yourself if you want to be Jesus' beloved disciple or not.

[narses]

FWIW, my conversion was based in no small way on similar thoughts. I started saying a daily Rosary almost seven years before my final decision. I looked at every argument against the Church and found them either false or lacking in substance. Scott Hahn's book (Home Sweet Rome?) was another part of that process. I think almost anyone who does a daily Rosary and meditates on the Mysteries will end up Catholic.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Mary Did You Know

Mary did you know
that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered will soon deliver you.

that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby you've kissed the face
of God.

The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb

that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.

To hear the song click on
http://www.pagefrompage.com/mary.html

Song sung by Kenny Rogers & Wynonna
Mark Lowry , Buddy Greene / 1991 Word Music

[redhead]

Bumping...

[RobbyS]

The first two chapters pf Luke are all about the Incarnation. That’s why the heretic Marcion omitted them in his version of the New Testament.