You need to know about Artemis Diana of Ephesus. Mary was declared “Mother of God” by the Christian church in about 431AD at Ephesus, Turkey where the temple to the goddess, Artemus Diana whose sacred title was “Queen of Heaven”. Artemus Diana was called “the mother of us all” by here worshipers. Check out the temple to the goddess Artemus Diana in Ephesus, Turkey. Read the account in Revelation 2 about the church at Ephesus. Thou hast left they first love” is referring to their allowing the worship of the goddess Artemus Diana to infiltrate the church. The Catholic Church has allowed the same to happen.
"Ephesus was an important religious city. The Temple of Diana (or Artemus, as the Greeks called her) was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The goddess Diana was the patron of all the prostitutes and, with her many-bosomed image, represented fertility and sexuality. Many writers in ancient times described the immorality of the city.
"One pillar in the Ephesian economy was the production of silver images of Diana by the many silversmiths who plied their trade there. Devotees of this goddess brought much gain to the city (Acts 19:23-27). Black magic was also widely practiced in Ephesus."
The Madonna and child are fashioned after Isis and her son Horus. Another was Dmeter and her daughter Kore.
Another is Astarte, also known as Astarat and Astoreth both are incarnations of Ishtar and Inanna Semitic goddess worshiped by Syrians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, and Egyptians. Even King Solomon built a Temple to her near Jerusalem. Astarte was referred to in the Bible as “the abomination”.
1 Kings 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
In 2 Kings God calls her an abomination. 2 Kings 23:13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.
Jeremiah castigates the people for making offerings to the queen of heaven. Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Make no mistake. The RCC worship of Mary is pagan based, not scriptural based.
Negative. Protestants have been spewing that manure for 150 years, and this is no different.
Accept the fact that there is one true church. The one, the only, the original. “The REAL thing!”
Catholics DO NOT worship Mary, but we do recognize her as the mother of God.
"And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?" - Luke 1:43
You scratching around on the interned to find something, anything to impugn the Chruch doesn't in any way confound Catholic teaching nor change the hearts of any Catholics. Christianity is not the first faith to proclaim a virgin birth. Marduk, Perseus, Horus, Krishna, Buddha and Mithra are all purported to have been the product of virgin births. That doesn't in any way negate the Virgin Birth of Jesus, does it?
The Ecumenical Council of Ephesus was simply held in that city.
A great ecumenical council was held in Ephesus in 431, concerning whether the Virgin Mary might properly be called Theotokos, or bearer of God. The term had become popular in devotion and worship but was controversial. Many church leaders held that it was an appropriate title, reasoning that since Christ was both truly man and truly God, one could say Mary gave birth to God.
Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, and his party believed the term “Theotokos” threatened the humanity of Christ and denigrated the greatness of God, and suggested Mary be called “Christotokos,” bearer of Christ, instead. The council decided in favor of the Theotokos title, which has been used for Mary ever since. Nestorius was harrassed by mobs in Ephesus throughout the council, and exiled to Antioch afterwards.
Therefore anyone who denies the title “Theotokos” is a Nestorian, and is committing heresy. Plain and simple.
Since Catholics do not worship Mary, what is the point of your post?
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa1.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/pcc/pcc03.htm
These are just two links that make the claim that Christianity is nothing more than a conglomeraton or rehash of other pagan myths.
This is a favorite charge against Catholicism, but can be used against all Christianity by non believers.