Replies

Mrs. D, those are some very interesting and well researched examples. Taken in a vacuum, they might well advance your argument.

We can’t take any part of the Bible in a vacuum, however. Scripture must be taken as a whole.

In the issue at hand, we have input from the Lord Himself. Take note, please, that it was the Holy Spirit who saw to it that the following vignette was included in His inspired word. There must be a very good reason for it!

Here is the passage:

Luke 11:

27 While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”

28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

This is the passage where the rubber meets the road. This is the very first [and only] Scripturally recorded instance of veneration being done to Mary. It’s the only one.

Please note Jesus’ response. There is no equivocation. He does not say, ‘Yes, it is good to bless my mither, but it is even more blessed to hear and obey my words.’

He doesn’t say that, or anything approaching that.

Rather, Jesus nips this attempt to venerate Mary right in the bud. He grants it no quarter—none. When He says, “On the contrary,” He is cutting it off at the knees.

You can read this passage a hundred times. You will never come away from it convinced that Jesus approved of the veneration of Mary. The account is simple and clear. Given a golden opportunity to okay the veneration of His mother, Jesus vetoed it in no uncertain terms.

This raises questions. Is Jesus really our example? Should we really imitate Him?

If yes, then Mary veneration is off limits. Jesus illustrated this via a powerful example.

Whether we follow that example or defy it is our choice.

Good, Fantasywriter, this is very good.

Here we have an instructive example of how paradoxes in the Bible might or might not be taken as flatly contradictory. What to do?

BTW, When I looked up that quote at Biblehub, the big majority did not use the phrase "On the contrary," but the word "rather" which does not necessarily imply contradiction ("That's pretty low-cal" - "Yea rather, it's delicious!" --- doesn't mean it's not also low-cal!)

http://biblehub.com/luke/11-28.htm I think these come closer to the mark:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
He said to her, “Blessings to those who have heard the word of God and keep it.”
Young's Literal Translation
And he said, 'Yea, rather, happy those hearing the word of God, and keeping it!'

OK, now let's look at the Scriptures that seem to contrast with that:

King James Bible
Luke 1:45
(Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to Mary) "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord's word to her will be fulfilled."
Luke 1:48
[Mary said] "He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."

Two things strike me about this: first, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Mary and Elizabeth both call Mary Blessed, and Mary says all future generations will do so, too. Second: but Mary and Elizabeth don't make reference to Mary's womb and breasts but rather (not 'on the contrary,' but 'rather') to her lowliness and her faith.

My owns thought is that Jesus is looking past the kind of biological reductionism that characterizes a woman as childbearing-childcaring parts (womb and breasts) and pointing rather to inward spiritual qualities (lowliness and faith).

Jesus is, I think, saying: You admire mother for her physical lady parts? Much more you should admire her for her spiritual qualities: which you should all aspire to have, because "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." (Luke 8:21)

Your thoughts? First, look at what seems paradoxical: