Indeed, were you correct that Jesus showed not even one communique of affection for His mother, than you would have to argue Jesus was acting opposite the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit certainly shows affection for Mary by inspiring Luke to include Chapters 1 and 2. Finally, if you are right that Jesus saw the future -and I would argue you are- then so, too, did the Holy Spirit. And if God truly WERE concerned about Catholic devotion to Mary, then most certainly he would have had Luke edit out his first two chapters. After all, its not in the other three gospels. Thus, the scriptural evidence shows God obviously ISN'T concerned about our practice else those verses wouldn't be there.
But even this isn't the most interesting thing to come from this little exercise. What's really interesting is that as I write this, no Protestant has denied they worship the Bible.
I didn't know I'd been asked!
I have never bowed down before my Bible.
I have never spoken to it, and it is an "it".
I have 8 or 10 of them, and use different ones depending on what I'm studying.
I do prefer the large print one though. ;-)
I have never acknowledged it as anything other then a book.
It contains God's mind and his intentions for us, and I've never known one person to treat their Bible as anything other then a good book that one would take normal care of.
I think your barking up the wrong tree with NC’s, we or should I say I, was not brought up by people who seem to need their feelings massaged and stroked as often as most RC’s seem to.
It seems you need statues, and crucifixes, and candles and pictures, sounds, smells and things that stimulate you and make you feel religious. Most of us do not go by feelings, but by the written assurances given us by God.
So mark me down as a non-bible worshiper.
JH
Very nice citations, but it still doesn't give me one where Jesus, Himself, commands the writing of the Gospels, the collection of the epistles, etc. What they do tell me is that God commanded the writing of parts of the Bible. However, using this logic, then God (in this case, the Holy Spirit) commanded Luke to include the verse in Luke in which Mary is called 'blessed by all generations.' Since our God is One, then Jesus DID show significant affection for His mother.
Indeed, were you correct that Jesus showed not even one communique of affection for His mother, than you would have to argue Jesus was acting opposite the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit certainly shows affection for Mary by inspiring Luke to include Chapters 1 and 2. Finally, if you are right that Jesus saw the future -and I would argue you are- then so, too, did the Holy Spirit. And if God truly WERE concerned about Catholic devotion to Mary, then most certainly he would have had Luke edit out his first two chapters. After all, its not in the other three gospels. Thus, the scriptural evidence shows God obviously ISN'T concerned about our practice else those verses wouldn't be there.
Okay, first of all, I don't need to show that God commanded that every single word of the Bible be written. There are more than enough citations to show that the writing down of His Word is a methodology He Himself has inspired.
Second, I never said or even intimated that JESUS did not feel a normal affection for His mother. However, it does appear that He takes pains to not allow that relationship to interfere in His ministry.
It would be akin to a priest officiating in a Catholic service where his mother was in attendance. Would it be proper for him to show preference to his mother in such a public service ?
I'm sure that in their more private moments together, JESUS and His mother shared in a way that was more like mother and son. However, even then, the relationship must have been tinged with the understanding by Mary that her son was someone greater than she, and that He had a singular mission to accomplish, a mission which must have filled her heart with a growing dread (in regard to the enemies He was making) as it progressed day by day.
Certainly Mary was blessed to be the mother of JESUS, but like many great blessings from God ... with them comes great responsibility. Early in JESUS' life, Mary was warned that a sword would also pierce her heart ... such a knowledge in regards to one's child would be difficult to bear, but Mary bore it and bore it well.
She never got in the way of His ministry ... she was with Him from the beginning to the end. She stood by bravely as He suffered and died on the cross, something I'm sure that she, as a mother, couldn't possibly have understood.
I cannot imagine her emotions as it began to sink in that He may have raised Himself from the dead. Certainly she had seen Lazarus rise, but who could she turn to for such a miracle ? I'm certain that even this was difficult for her ... she didn't dare to hope that He lived. When she saw Him, ... her heart must have stopped. It was true after all ... all that was prophesied was true ... her son was also ... her God. Finally she watched as He ascended in the clouds to His Father, ... and she returned with the other disciples to Jerusalem to live for Him.
Yes, Mary's experience as the mother of JESUS was unique.
Yes, she completed her course with dignity and with grace.
But, as with so many other great ones in scripture, we must take care not to make something different of them than God has presented to us.
You'll recall that, during the journey of the Israelites across the wilderness, God plagued them with biting serpents because of their incessant murmuring against Him. When the people began to fall ill and die of the serpents bites, Moses went to God in behalf of his people.
God told Moses to fashion a serpent of bronze and place it high on a pole, where the people could see it. God told Moses to bring those suffering from the serpents bites to look upon the bronze serpents, and that when they looked up at the serpent, that they would be healed.
Moses did as God commanded, and so the people were healed of their serpent bites.
However, there came a time later in the history of the Israelites where they began to make too much of this bronze serpent. In the time of the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, the people had begun to worship the bronze serpent as a god, and so, as part of his religious reformations, good King Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent, lest it further tempt the people to sin.
Such was the case where something which was truly used by God to bless His people, ultimately became a snare and a cause for disobedience on the part of His people. We do well to take care to not allow the same to happen in the case of Mary, the mother of our Lord.
So, I believe that what we see in the Bible regarding Mary is a balanced position. Certainly she was blessed and was a great blessing to every one of us. But, we want to see her as she truly was/is, not lesser, nor greater, for God is a God of truth, and, as His children, we should desire His truth.
Oh, and on another point ... Protestants don't worship the Bible.
We certainly make good use of it, though.
By implication you insist that each and every rediculous assertion must be denied?