Jesus taught in the Synagogues and touched them. Were they thereafter unholy places after others worshiped there? Since God never touched anything or anyone else in the way He "touched" Mary, I'm not sure what you are comparing it to. Are you thinking along the lines of the Ark of the Covenant? Those would not be comparable because God gave specific instructions not to touch the Ark. He gave no such instructions about touching Jesus and people did so all the time. The same goes for Mary, so nothing would prevent her own husband from touching her in that sense, nor would it prevent other people from hugging her, etc.
There is nothing wrong with marital sex per se, but not when the sex object is someone purified by God. Anything else that touches it will make it less pure, less holy, "damaged goods."(emphasis added)
Sex object? This Apostolic teaching is getting more and more interesting. :) Does the Bible say anywhere that martial sex is OK, ONLY IF the sex object has not been purified by God? Where does the Bible say that any husband touching the purified sex object will make it/she less pure or damaged goods? I do not understand this mindset that marital sex is somehow at odds with the concept of holiness. When married couples are together, is the woman somehow "defiled"? Is marital sex sort of a necessary "evil" for perpetuation purposes?
For God, only the pure and without blemish was to be offered. You think Mary could just have sex and bear other children in the same womb that carried Christ?
How do these two sentences relate? Jesus was pure and without blemish. He was offered as a sacrifice, Mary was not. Usually, when a womb is filled with child it is considered blessed, is it not? What sin did Mary commit that she was denied her womb ever being blessed again? :)
God is not your next door neighbor who borrows your new tool and then you continue to use it. But I am beginning to believe that some Protestants see God as just the Good Ole Old Man next door that we can be "buddies" with.
WHAT??? :) How do you arrive at that? My side is the one who harps on God's absolute sovereignty. It is we who say that God controls everything and gets whatever He wants whenever He wants it, and tramples over whatever we want if it stands in His way. Does that sound like my buddy next door? To the contrary, it is you who say that we cooperate with God, just like good neighbor buddies do. :)
"Touching that which is holy would desecrate it"
Would someone please give the citation for this proposition?
!!! Not everyone on your "side" says that. You have forgotten that there are as many ideas about God in the Protestant camp as their are heads (...paraphase of Luther, discovering the Pandora Box he had opened with Sola Scriptura)
Regards
FK, Mary was destined to be the Mother of our Lord and nothing else, for anything else that she would be remembered for would diminish not only her special place in God's Plan but our Lord as well. It takes an active stretch of one's imagination to think that she was used as a temporary dish to carry God Incarnate only to be used later for unholy things.
Holy Cow, Batman! They've turned Mary from a human being into a relic, an icon, a holy object.
No one could "touch" mary without defiling her! This would mean that Joseph could not hold her hand, or hug her, or kiss her, or accidentally spit on her while talking, lest he defile this sacred object. Only Jesus could touch her. She could not have other children as that would mean that her other children would have touched her. She could not have other children because that would mean that Jospeh would have had to touch her. She was "untouchable".
I think I get this thing now. Mary worship is the same as icon worship and relic worship and object worship. It is the adoration of idols and graven images and objects. Mary is not simply a person on a pedestal, she is a HOLY object. Do not touch her, lest ye defile her. Bow before her, as SHE IS HOLY.
I thought I had seen everything. But now I get it. They can deny that they "worship" of Mary all they want, but this is worship. There is no other word for it.