[Mrs. Don-o]

Without doing a mile-long cut-and-paste in three colors, let me say the principal problem is:

• You see Mary as a wall, obstructing; we see her as a window, transparent.

• You put little to no emphasis on the Body of Christ; we put major emphasis on the Body of Christ, with all of us (and Mary first) as efficacious members.

Some say that after 1500 years of this, the Reformers were right to rip out all the "idolatrous" stained glass and smash the statuary.

I'd disagree. I'd say it's not that they couldn't stand idolatry, but that that they couldn't stand (or understand) the Incarnation.

The context of Mary is Christ. If you see the context, then you see that honor for Mary is certainly not idolatry. Mary the human person, the handmaid, the mortal, relying on God her Savior, is not an idol: she's an icon. A window.

It doesn't really matter whether this devotion unfurled full-flowered in the NT. It's prophesied in the OT, it takes nascent form in the NT, and it blossoms in the ages of the Church. Honoring Mary was part of the devotional life of Christians before the canon of the New Testament even existed.

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"The LORD has chosen Zion;
he has desired her for his habitation."
Psalm 132:13

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[aMorePerfectUnion]

WOW! Are you confused!

You see Mary as a wall, obstructing; we see her as a window, transparent.

Totally false. You put little to no emphasis on the Body of Christ; we put major emphasis on the Body of Christ, with all of us (and Mary first) as efficacious members.

Totally false.

What happened to "Just ask! Don't tell me what I believe!"?

[Elsie]

You see Mary as a wall, obstructing; we see her as a window, transparent.

I DO??

Isn't this known as MINDREADING?

I 'see' Mary (of the bible just as her relative Elizabeth did: "...mother of my Lord..."

Luke 1:43

[Elsie]

Mary the human person, the handmaid, the mortal, relying on God her Savior, is not an idol: she's an icon

Only SINNERS need a Savior.