Tim Staples is Director of Apologetics and Evangelization here at Catholic Answers, but he was not always Catholic. Tim was raised a Southern Baptist. Although he fell away from the faith of his childhood, Tim came back to faith in Christ during his late teen years through the witness of Christian televangelists. Soon after, Tim joined the Marine Corps. During his four-year tour, he became involved in ministry with various Assemblies of God communities. Immediately after his tour of duty, Tim enrolled in Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and became a youth minister in an Assembly of God community. During his final year in the Marines, however, Tim met a Marine who really knew his faith and challenged Tim to study Catholicism from Catholic and historical sources. That encounter sparked a two-year search for the truth. Tim was determined to prove Catholicism wrong, but he ended up studying his way to the last place he thought he would ever end up: the Catholic Church! He converted to Catholicism in 1988 and spent the following six years in formation for the priesthood, earning a degree in philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania. He then studied theology on a graduate level at Mount St. Mary s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for two years. Realizing that his calling was not to the priesthood, Tim left the seminary in 1994 and has been working in Catholic apologetics and evangelization ever since.
H/t to freeper Heart Rest for posting the EWTN interview between Fr. Mitch Pacwa and Tim Staples here. Throughout the discussion, Tim expounded on how Dr. Martin's dismissal of Mary as Mother of God resulted in the dismissal of Jesus as Eternal Son.
“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ’s mother and you shall be saved” Says no verse in the bible.
“No man can come to me unless he comes through my mother”. is not what John 6:44 says.
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him who He sent and Her through whom He sent Him”. Says not John 6:29
Only theologians, those who seek knowledge and not God’s Wisdom, take something so simple as the Gospel and turn it into a train wreck.
The problem behind all the Mary confusion is rooted in a misunderstanding of the spiritual world (God is a Spirit - John 4), and how we as spiritual beings, created in the image of God, but living in the physical world, interact with the spiritual world. If you don’t have a revelation of what took place between Mary and Gabriel, the unrenewed mind will imagine all sorts crazy ideas, including transforming the self-proclaimed handmaid of the Lord into something unscriptural.
The Eternal Word, spoken by Gabriel and believed by Mary, became flesh in Mary’s womb. (John 1) There was no physical union between God and Mary like in pagan mythology that so many new Christians had just left behind. And no reason for Joseph to divorce Mary since she had not committed adultery. God broke no laws, nor did He cause Mary or Joseph to break any marriage laws, or sin in anyway - you must accept this as Truth. It was a work of the Spirit in cooperation with Mary’s faith in God’s Word. She believed God’s Word, acted on it, and received the manifestation according to the promise. God gave man dominion over the Earth (Psalm 8:3-6, 115:16), so Mary had to receive His Word - “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” - Few truly appreciate the significance of her statement in Luke 1:38, or the power of faith in, and the certainty of God’s Word. Its one of those historical moments like Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac, opening the way for God to offer His Son, that reverberates throughout Eternity. (see Genesis 22, Psalm 89:34-37, Isaiah 55:10-11, Mark 11:22-24, Luke 1:37, John 17:17-19, Romans 10, Titus 1:1-2, Hebrews 11:17-19, and the Sower/Seed Parables)
Jesus has always existed. Even a cursory study of God’s Word reveals this and undermines all attempts to elevate Mary to Creator status, and diminish or distract people away from their Savior, Jesus.
Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity. (Micah 5:2)
In the beginning was the Word, who was with God, and all things were created through him, the Word (Jesus). (John 1:1-4)
For I have come DOWN FROM HEAVEN to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. (John 6:38)
“Where is your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” (John 8:19) — Meditate on this verse carefully.
He (Jesus) image of the invisible God, firstborn over ALL creation, EVERYTHING created by him, he is before all things, head of the body, the Church, He is the beginning, firstborn of the dead so he can be FIRST place in all things. (Col 1:15-23)
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Rev 1:8)
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!” (John 8:58)
Philippians 2:5-11 (KJV) - 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (see also Luke 3:21-22, John 17:1-5, Romans 8:3, Hebrews 1 & 2)
Why would we in any way elevate, worship, or even give the appearance of worshiping Mary? The angels reject worship. Peter rejected worship, as did Paul and Barnabas. Even when spoon-fed the opportunity to praise Mary, or set an example for us to follow, Jesus flatly refused. Look at what Jesus offered as the alternative, and source of the Blessing.
Luke 11:27-28 (ASV) - 27 And it came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the breasts which thou didst suck.
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Jesus did praise people - John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11), Centurion (Matthew 8:10), Syrophoenician Mother (Matthew 15:28), Anointing at Simon the leper’s house (Matthew 26:10-13). Why can’t we find similar praise for his mother? In every conversation with Mary on Earth recorded in the Bible, Jesus calls her “woman” a respectful title he uses with all women - Samaritan woman, woman with an infirmity, the prostitute etc.
By no means did Jesus diminish Mary, or her faith example. Even Mary recognized Jesus as Lord, and acknowledged her need for a Savior. (Luke 1:46-49) Since Jesus was God’s Son, born of the Spirit - and not their natural child, Mary and Joseph were given the privilege and responsibility to care for Jesus and raise him. As early as 12 years old, Jesus already recognized God as his Father, even as he was obedient to his earthly guardians. His first recorded words corrected Mary’s assumption about his parentage.
Luke 2:48-49 (ASV) - 48 And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house?
If you truly love Mary, why not follow her example?
Luke 1:38 (KJV) - 38 Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. >>> Mary saw herself as a servant, which was accurate under the Old Covenant. Believers are now children of God, and joint heirs of Jesus. She heard God’s Word, believed it, and acted on it. Faith comes from hearing God’s Word, not the rituals of religion, or the reasoning of theologians. (Romans 10:17) Even Elizabeth confirmed her faith in God’s Word - Luke 1:45 (KJV) And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
John 2:5 (KJV) - 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. >>> Whatsoever JESUS says, do it. Is there any scripture where Jesus commands or suggests we give Mary any special attention? I’ll save you the research - NO.
Luke 1:46 (KJV) - 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, >>> Not a religion, not a denomination, not a theologian, not even herself, she magnified the only one who deserves such worship.
Luke 1:47-48 (KJV) - 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. >>> Her spirit recognizes her need for a Savior. If she was sinless, why did she need a Savior? Do a word search for “low estate” and you will see how this was truly Holy Spirit inspired, as she is acknowledging the spiritual death of ALL mankind from Adam and Eve forward. THAT is why she needs a Savior - why we ALL do. Religion can’t save you. Theologians can’t save you. Not even Mary can save you. There is only one person who brings life.
Ephesians 2:5-6 (AMP) - 5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).
6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One). >>>(Read all of Paul’s letters for the complete revelation of the New Birth, and your place in the Body of Christ. Its not just good news, but AWESOME news. You will be blown away by the infinite and Eternal Mercy of LOVE Himself.)
Jesus is referred to as the Last Adam, and the first begotten of many on this side of the cross (not “only begotten” as before). The first Adam was a created a being - consider that carefully. Note God’s Pronouncements “This is my Beloved Son.” And at the resurrection, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” “I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son.” (2 Samuel 7:14, Psalm 2:7, Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5) For a short time, Jesus set aside his Eternal Glory and lived as a spiritually alive human (like Adam before the fall). He operated as a “Son of Man”, his most common name for himself, anointed by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 10:38)
This discussion has nothing to do with Catholic or Protestant - those are man-made divisions inspired by the enemy, and considering the last 2,000 years of bloody violence and unspeakable evil, his influence is obvious. Nor does it involve any imagined “hatred” of Mary, but everything to do with GOD’s TRUTH. The Bible is the ONLY OBJECTIVE TRUTH there is. What His Word says on ANY subject is ALL that matters. You CANNOT separate Jesus, the Living Word, from His written Word. They both agree. As does the Holy Spirit, who is the Spiritual guide inside Believers. All are in perfect harmony when the Word is rightly divided. The simple fact that Mary is never mentioned in any letter written specifically to the Church (the Body of Christ) is quite revealing. The fact that she disappears from scripture after Acts 1 should raise serious questions concerning the level of attention she deserves.
Much of the NT is written by folks who personally knew Mary - John, James, Jude, and Peter. Past the Gospels and chapter 1 of Acts, there is nothing but silence. And before anyone attempts to “discover” Mary in Revelation 12, the “great wonder in heaven” is Israel - I suspect antisemitism fueled much of the bad interpretations of Revelation down through the centuries. John personally knew Mary. If he saw her “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” he would have identified Mary by name. He knew Jesus, and would have immediately identified the “man child” as Jesus if it was him. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John carefully recorded every detail of the vision. None of what he writes fits Mary or Jesus. It does, however, align quite nicely with many end time prophecies concerning Israel.
The Bible has one central theme from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22 - Jesus, the Savior of the World. He deserves ALL our attention. (Hebrews 12:2)
BTW - Don’t be this guy:
Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. (Matthew 22:29 NLT)
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Another lost, raving, antichrist finds the center of the antichrist universe, and writes a book to lead the lost further astray.
Bravo, Satan celebrates!
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I like to read these threads, although they always seem to devolve into the same arguments.
Relative to the original post - this may have been covered, sorry if it was (hard to read 1600 posts to find out). Can someone help me understand the following paragraph (as a start, at least). I don’t understand how the author reaches the conclusion in the next to last sentence that the second person of the Trinity is no longer the Eternal Son if we don’t accept Mary as the “Mother of God”?
“But there is just a little problem here. Beyond the fact that you don’t even need the term “Son” at all to determine Mary is the Mother God because John 1:14 tells us “the Word was made flesh,” and John 1:1 tells us “the Word was God;” thus, Mary is the mother of the Word and so she is the Mother of God anyway, the sad fact is that in the process of Martin’s theologizing he ended up losing the real Jesus. Notice, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity is no longer the Eternal Son! And it gets worse from here, if that is possible! Martin would go on:”