Posted on 04/14/2011 9:21:51 AM PDT by marshmallow
The Ascension of Isaiah
“[T]he report concerning the child was noised abroad in Bethlehem. Some said, ‘The Virgin Mary has given birth before she was married two months.’ And many said, ‘She has not given birth; the midwife has not gone up to her, and we heard no cries of pain’” (Ascension of Isaiah 11 [A.D. 70]).
The Odes of Solomon
“So the Virgin became a mother with great mercies. And she labored and bore the Son, but without pain, because it did not occur without purpose. And she did not seek a midwife, because he caused her to give life. She bore as a strong man, with will . . . ” (Odes of Solomon 19 [A.D. 80])
Justin Martyr
“[Jesus] became man by the Virgin so that the course which was taken by disobedience in the beginning through the agency of the serpent might be also the very course by which it would be put down. Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the serpent and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, for which reason the Holy One being born of her is the Son of God. And she replied ‘Be it done unto me according to your word’ [Luke 1:38]” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 100 [A.D. 155]).
Irenaeus
“Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying, ‘Behold, O Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word.’ Eve, however, was disobedient, and, when yet a virgin, she did not obey. Just as she, who was then still a virgin although she had Adam for a husband—for in paradise they were both naked but were not ashamed; for, having been created only a short time, they had no understanding of the procreation of children, and it was necessary that they first come to maturity before beginning to multiply—having become disobedient, was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient, was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. . . . Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith” (Against Heresies 3:22:24 [A.D. 189]).
“The Lord then was manifestly coming to his own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation that is supported by himself. He was making a recapitulation of that disobedience that had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience that was upon a tree [i.e., the cross]. Furthermore, the original deception was to be done away with—the deception by which that virgin Eve (who was already espoused to a man) was unhappily misled. That this was to be overturned was happily announced through means of the truth by the angel to the Virgin Mary (who was also [espoused] to a man). . . . So if Eve disobeyed God, yet Mary was persuaded to be obedient to God. In this way, the Virgin Mary might become the advocate of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so it is rescued by a virgin. Virginal disobedience has been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. For in the same way, the sin of the first created man received amendment by the correction of the First-Begotten” (ibid., 5:19:1 [A.D. 189]).
Tertullian
“And again, lest I depart from my argumentation on the name of Adam: Why is Christ called Adam by the apostle [Paul], if as man he was not of that earthly origin? But even reason defends this conclusion, that God recovered his image and likeness by a procedure similar to that in which he had been robbed of it by the devil. It was while Eve was still a virgin that the word of the devil crept in to erect an edifice of death. Likewise through a virgin the Word of God was introduced to set up a structure of life. Thus what had been laid waste in ruin by this sex was by the same sex reestablished in salvation. Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed Gabriel. That which the one destroyed by believing, the other, by believing, set straight” (The Flesh of Christ 17:4 [A.D. 210].
Pseudo-Melito
“If therefore it might come to pass by the power of your grace, it has appeared right to us your servants that, as you, having overcome death, do reign in glory, so you should raise up the body of your Mother and take her with you, rejoicing, into heaven. Then said the Savior [Jesus]: ‘Be it done according to your will’” (The Passing of the Virgin 16:2–17 [A.D. 300]).
Ephraim the Syrian
“You alone and your Mother are more beautiful than any others, for there is no blemish in you nor any stains upon your Mother. Who of my children can compare in beauty to these?” (Nisibene Hymns 27:8 [A.D. 361]).
Ambrose of Milan
“Mary’s life should be for you a pictorial image of virginity. Her life is like a mirror reflecting the face of chastity and the form of virtue. Therein you may find a model for your own life . . . showing what to improve, what to imitate, what to hold fast to” (The Virgins 2:2:6 [A.D. 377]).
“The first thing which kindles ardor in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater [to teach by example] than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? What more chaste than she who bore a body without contact with another body? For why should I speak of her other virtues? She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind, who stained the sincerity of its disposition by no guile, who was humble in heart, grave in speech, prudent in mind, sparing of words, studious in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue. When did she pain her parents even by a look? When did she disagree with her neighbors? When did she despise the lowly? When did she avoid the needy?” (ibid., 2:2:7).
“Come, then, and search out your sheep, not through your servants or hired men, but do it yourself. Lift me up bodily and in the flesh, which is fallen in Adam. Lift me up not from Sarah but from Mary, a virgin not only undefiled, but a virgin whom grace had made inviolate, free of every stain of sin” (Commentary on Psalm 118:22–30 [A.D. 387]).
Augustine
“Our Lord . . . was not averse to males, for he took the form of a male, nor to females, for of a female he was born. Besides, there is a great mystery here: that just as death comes to us through a woman, life is born to us through a woman; that the devil, defeated, would be tormented by each nature, feminine and masculine, as he had taken delight in the defection of both” (Christian Combat 22:24 [A.D. 396]).
“That one woman is both mother and virgin, not in spirit only but even in body. In spirit she is mother, not of our head, who is our Savior himself—of whom all, even she herself, are rightly called children of the bridegroom—but plainly she is the mother of us who are his members, because by love she has cooperated so that the faithful, who are the members of that head, might be born in the Church. In body, indeed, she is the Mother of that very head” (Holy Virginity 6:6 [A.D. 401]).
…
“Having excepted the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom, on account of the honor of the Lord, I wish to have absolutely no question when treating of sins—for how do we know what abundance of grace for the total overcoming of sin was conferred upon her, who merited to conceive and bear him in whom there was no sin?—so, I say, with the exception of the Virgin, if we could have gathered together all those holy men and women, when they were living here, and had asked them whether they were without sin, what do we suppose would have been their answer?” (Nature and Grace 36:42 [A.D. 415]).
Timothy of Jerusalem
“Therefore the Virgin is immortal to this day, seeing that he who had dwelt in her transported her to the regions of her assumption” (Homily on Simeon and Anna [A.D. 400]).
John the Theologian
“[T]he Lord said to his Mother, ‘Let your heart rejoice and be glad, for every favor and every gift has been given to you from my Father in heaven and from me and from the Holy Spirit. Every soul that calls upon your name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy and comfort and support and confidence, both in the world that now is and in that which is to come, in the presence of my Father in the heavens’” (The Falling Asleep of Mary [A.D. 400]).
“And from that time forth all knew that the spotless and precious body had been transferred to paradise” (ibid.).
Gregory of Tours
“The course of this life having been completed by blessed Mary, when now she would be called from the world, all the apostles came together from their various regions to her house. And when they had heard that she was about to be taken from the world, they kept watch together with her. And behold, the Lord Jesus came with his angels, and, taking her soul, he gave it over to the angel Michael and withdrew. At daybreak, however, the apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb, and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; the holy body having been received, he commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise, where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary’s body] rejoices with the Lord’s chosen ones and is in the enjoyment of the good of an eternity that will never end” (Eight Books of Miracles 1:4 [A.D. 584]).
“But Mary, the glorious Mother of Christ, who is believed to be a virgin both before and after she bore him, has, as we said above, been translated into paradise, amid the singing of the angelic choirs, whither the Lord preceded her” (ibid., 1:8).
Agreed. Mary needed a savior as much as anyone. Mary was a sweet young girl, a normal human being, in order for Jesus to be wholly God and wholly man. If she were anything else, as in “perfect”, Jesus could not have legally qualified to save mankind because He would not have been like us, been one of us. It’s a crucial part of the Plan of Salvation.
At the beginning of the New Testament, the very beginning, as in, Chapter One of the Gospel of Matthew, it’s obvious that she was a regular person, given the honor of carrying the Son of God Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit while she was still a virgin, but she then went on to have a normal marriage with Joseph:
Matthew 1
“18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”
Emphasis
Matthew 1:25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Sadly true. Exposes it. Applying the word “blasphemy” to the treatment of a mere mortal shows whoever thinks it’s blasphemy has elevated that mere mortal to the status of God. Blasphemy in the mind of the idolizer only.
Once and only once in the history of mankind has there been a person conceived “immaculately”: THAT ONE TIME WAS WHEN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS CONCEIVED.
Other than that, every human born was conceived non-immaculately. EVERY human being. Including Jesus’ mom.
Clement of Alexandria
“Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose son He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion; God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father’s will, the Word who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father’s right hand, and with the form of God is God. He is to us a spotless image; to Him we are to try with all our might to assimilate our souls. He is wholly free from human passions; wherefore also He alone is judge, because He alone is sinless. As far, however, as we can, let us try to sin as little as possible. For nothing is so urgent in the first place as deliverance from passions and disorders, and then the checking of our liability to fall into sins that have become habitual. It is best, therefore, not to sin at all in any way, which we assert to be the prerogative of God alone.” - The Instructor 1.2
Origen
“For in the connected series of statements which appears to apply as to one particular individual, the curse pronounced upon Adam is regarded as common to all (the members of the race), and what was spoken with reference to the woman is spoken of every woman without exception.” - Against Celsus 4.40
Cyril of Jerusalem
“This is the Holy Ghost, who came upon the Holy Virgin Mary; for since He who was conceived was Christ the Only-begotten, the power of the Highest overshadowed her, and the Holy Ghost came upon her, and sanctified her, that she might be able to receive Him, by whom all things were made. But I have no need of many words to teach thee that generation was without defilement or taint, for thou hast learned it.” - Catechetical Lectures 17.6
John Chrysostom
“For where parents cause no impediment or hindrance in things belonging to God, it is our bounden duty to give way to them, and there is great danger in not doing so; but when they require anything unseasonably, and cause hindrance in any spiritual matter, it is unsafe to obey. And therefore He answered thus in this place, and again elsewhere, ‘Who is My mother, and who are My brethren?’ (Matt. xii. 48), because they did not yet think rightly of Him; and she, because she had borne Him, claimed, according to the custom of other mothers, to direct Him in all things, when she ought to have reverenced and worshiped Him. This then was the reason why He answered as He did on that occassion....And so this was a reason why He rebuked her on that occasion, saying, ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee?’ [John 2:4] instructing her for the future not to do the like; because, though He was careful to honor His mother, yet He cared much for the salvation of her soul.” - Homilies on the Gospel According to St. John, Homily 21
Augustine
"It is therefore an observed and settled fact, that no man born of a man and a woman, that is, by means of their bodily union, is seen to be free from sin. Whosoever, indeed, is free from sin, is free also from a conception and birth of this kind. Moreover, when expounding the Gospel according to Luke, he says: It was no cohabitation with a husband which opened the secrets of the Virgin’s womb; rather was it the Holy Ghost which infused immaculate seed into her unviolated womb. For the Lord Jesus alone of those who are born of woman is holy, inasmuch as He experienced not the contact of earthly corruption, by reason of the novelty of His immaculate birth; nay, He repelled it by His heavenly majesty - A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
THX THX.
WELL DONE, AS ALWAYS . . .
Of course, folks who pick and choose what bits of history to put in their rubberized history text . . . and what bits of Scripture to put in their rubberized ‘bibles’ . . . and what DAFFYNITIONS to put in their DAFFYNITIONARIES . . .
are not likely to be the least bit interested or moved by THE TRUTH.
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crickets chirping
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hope you aren’t holding your breath for any respectable response from marshmallow or the other rOMANcATHOLICS (lower case deliberate). ...
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Real history probably matters somewhat.
Fantasized history a la the Vatican Cult is a farce and insult to intelligent folk far and wide.
INDEED.
None are so blind as those who WILL NOT see.
Sigh.
oh, post 52, oh, you said
I want the interpretations of those whom Jesus actually commissioned; the Apostles and their successors. That’s what’s important to me. That’s why I’m providing you with the opinion of the Church Fathers.
Ignore them at your peril.
oh, post 365, oh, ???do you still say:
I want the interpretations of those whom Jesus actually commissioned; the Apostles and their successors. That’s what’s important to me. That’s why I’m providing you with the opinion of the Church Fathers.
Ignore them at your peril.
Just because we reject sola scriptura (which is not, by the way, in the bible) doesn't mean we reject the bible. Not by any means.
My oh my, thats just awful.
Claim substantiation, please.
We’ve given that a lot of times and it’s just weasel worded out of or more often, side stepped and totally ignored.
Conservative Gramma just did so again with Marshmellow’s thread about purportedly sinless Mary a la the early fathers thread . . .
None of the Proddys are expecting anything remotely close to a reasonable response.
Okay then. I’ll just file that under unsubstantiated claim.
CHRIST HIMSELF--CREATOR GOD HIMSELF
SAID
"IT IS WRITTEN"
There's CHRIST HIMSELF!
CREATOR GOD IN THE FLESH HIMSELF
making a repeated very SHARPLY INSISTENT POINT--to satan, the pharisees--to all:
The point OF AUTHORITY,
THE SOURCE OF AUTHORITY
CREATOR GOD HIMSELF POINTED TO WAS:
So, y'all are BRAZENLY, BLASPHEMOUSLY, HAUGHTILY INSISTING
THAT
Creator God Himself
WAS WRONG!
It might be somewhat logical to argue that CREATOR GOD HIMSELF IN THE FLESH WAS A HIGHER AUTHORITY THAN "IT IS WRITTEN."
YET, THE RECORD indicates that CREATOR GOD HIMSELF deferred repeatedly to:
IT IS WRITTEN!
YET, the RCC INSISTS BOTH ARE WRONG.
THAT the very sort of !!!!TRADITIONS!!!!
That Creator God Himself most fiercely condemned
are more or at least equally authoritative than
the IT IS WRITTEN that CREATOR GOD DEFERRED TO AS THE HIGHER AUTHORITY.
THEN!
Y'all expect Proddys to pretend that's
No deal.
IT IS WRITTEN!
YET, the RCC INSISTS BOTH ARE WRONG.
THAT the very sort of !!!!TRADITIONS!!!!
That Creator God Himself most fiercely condemned
are more or at least equally authoritative than
the IT IS WRITTEN that CREATOR GOD DEFERRED TO AS THE HIGHER AUTHORITY.
THEN!
Y'all expect Proddys to pretend that's
No deal.
.
.
.
Actually, I'm not. Much of Catholic teaching is taken from the Bible. And all Catholic teachings are biblically justifiable. I don't know what people have told you, but I wholeheartedly suggest you read up on Catholic teachings for yourself. The truth is there for those willing to open their eyes and see it.
Well quix, I don't know what time it is where you're at, but here at my computer its nearing 12:30 in the a.m. I'll just bid you good night, or good day, or whatever it is at your locale.
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