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Is The Virgin Mary Mother of Jesus Divine?
Many people pray to the Virgin Mary mother of Jesus or the Virgin Mary as if she was a goddess. Praying to a goddess is nothing new to mankind...we have been doing it for thousands of years. Why should man pray to Mary mother of Jesus Christ? Was she divine in some way? What does scripture say about her human condition?
First of all, this article is based on the assumption that when we pray, we are praying to a divine being or a higher power who has the power and the ability to answer prayers. So praying to the Virgin Mary is, in essence, praying to a higher power. A divine being. Someone with the ability to do something about the supplications offered. The question is, is the Virgin Mary divine? Is she equal with Christ? Mr. S argues, "You are setting up a false dichotomy here. You assume, almost by definition, that praying is only the sort of thing that one directs toward a god, therefore, by praying to Mary we are treating her as some sort of goddess." But what is prayer? Strictly it is simply asking, entreating, imploring. But it has also come to mean giving honor. Since the English Reformation the word prayer has come to mean "the sort of communication we only have with the divine" but that is not how Catholics use the word. We use it in the older sense of the word. To see that sense in practice just do a search on "pray" in a online King James Bible," He has a valid point. Some examples from the Bible include: And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly Gen 19:7 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.Mic 3:9 My point is that most people in today's world think of the word "pray" as an entreaty to a higher power. I believe this to be the case when many Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary. Of course, we may ask a priest or a brother and sister in Christ to pray for us. When we do that we are basically asking them to appeal to God on our behalf. Mr. S states, "So why should we ask anything of the Virgin Mary? Why ask a person to ask God for something rather than ask God directly? I don't know why, but it is certainly biblical to do so. If you were a 1st century resident of Palestine with a friend in need of healing, and St. Peter was passing by, would you advise your friend not bother St. Peter to pray for you and to only ask God directly? Yet the Bible tells us that Peter's prayers healed people. Likewise with the Holy Mother's prayers. " 1 Titus 2:5 states, For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; To me this is plain and simple. Only Jesus can speak to God on our behalf. Scripture does not say anything about asking the Virgin Mary to speak to Christ who then speaks to God on our behalf. Therefore, all of Christian prayers should be directed to Jesus Christ. Scripture states all of mankind are sinners and are born that way. There are no exceptions (except Jesus Christ). for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23 Psalm 14:3 states They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one. Romans 3:12 states They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Based on these text taken literally, the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus and wife of Joseph and mother of several of the brothers and sisters of Jesus, was a sinner. That means the Pope, who is just a highly honored human being, is a sinner. That means you and I and everyone else are sinners. What does scripture say about Mary's sinful state and her relationship to Jesus besides being chosen by God to bear His child in the womb? In the book of Luke Chapter 1 we hear this: 46 And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Why would the Virgin Mary need a savior if she was sinless? Mary, like the rest of us, needed a savior. A savior is someone who rescues. The question then becomes; rescued from what? Why did Jesus die at Calvary? To pay the penalty for your sin and my sin, so we wouldn't have to. All we have to do is say yes to the pardon that Jesus offers the entire world. The Catholic Church believes that Jesus saved Mary from ever having committed a sin by His redemptive work on the cross. In this case, math and logic get in the way of that argument. The Virgin Mary was around fourteen years old when Jesus was conceived within her. This may seem young to today's society in which it is a crime to have sexual relations with anyone under the age of eighteen but it was a common practice in ancient times as children were highly valued and a sign of wealth. Since Jesus was 33 when he was crucified, Mary would have been around 47 or 48 years old at the time. How could have Jesus saved Mary from ever committing a sin by His death on the cross after Mary had been alive for 48 years? Yes Mary was highly favored and blessed to be chosen to bear the son of God and she probably did not have much sin in her life but Jesus said if we even think something contrary to God's laws, we have sinned. The Catholic Church has the position that Mary mother of Jesus is the Perpetual Virgin. They believe that Joseph and Mary never consummated their marriage but that teaching is contrary to the very culture they lived in. Children were considered gifts from God and a sign of His blessing. If Joseph and Mary were highly favored by God, then logic dictates that he would bless them with their own children and He did. A virgin is someone who has not had sexual intercourse with a man. After Jesus was born, did Mary have sexual intercourse with Joseph? When Jesus was 12 years old, he taught the rabbis in the synagogue and they asked, 55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Matthew 13. Since the rabbis were familiar with Jesus and His family, they were incensed that He was proclaiming Himself to be God. Taking this text literally we must conclude that Mary was not a virgin after the birth of Jesus. We also conclude that Jesus really did have half brothers and sisters which would be consistent with the normality of life that Jesus had in His childhood. God took great pains to see that there was nothing in which it could be said that Jesus was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A normal family with brothers and sisters would be consistent with God's plans. How could Jesus understand the human condition fully if he had no brothers and sisters? How could he fully know what sibling rivalry meant? It was God's intention for Jesus to fully know man which makes His sinless life so extraordinary. Luke 11 verse 27 says And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" How did Jesus respond? But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" Verse 28 Jesus said that those who heard the word of God and kept it were more blessed than His earthly mother. Yes, the Virgin Mary was highly favored to be chosen as the vessel to bear the son of God and she was probably chosen based on her obedience to the word of God which would make the Virgin Mary a very blessed person. Jesus said we are equally as blessed if we keep His word. The Catholic Church believes that Mary was assumed into heaven body, soul, and spirit without dying. When I did an online search, I was surprised to find that no one really knows what happened to Mary. It is believed that she lived to an old age and is buried in Jerusalem or another city but the place of burial is unknown. Why? God took the life of Moses and buried the body Himself. I believe that if the world knew where the burial places of Moses and the Virgin Mary were, their graves would become shrines filled with gold, tungsten, and objects of worship. God makes it very clear that only He deserves to be worshiped. God said He did not want man to worship idols and I believe that if the burial sites of Moses and Mary were known, then they would become idols. In my view, Mary already is an idol. Where is the mother of Jesus now? Since Mary is a part of the body of Christ which we have come to know as "the church", I believe her soul and spirit is with God awaiting the resurrection of her body just like all of the other dead saints. Thousands upon thousands of people report seeing visions of the Blessed Virgin. Many believe that this is solid proof of her divinity. Could something else be happening here? For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Cor. 11:14 Could Satan be making appearances as the Blessed Mother? The answer to that question can be found in what people are claiming the Blessed Mother has told them in their visions. Since I personally don't know what is being taught by these apparitions, I cannot make a judgment on the validity of the apparitions. From what I have read, many of the statements made by these apparitions support Catholic teaching rather than scriptural teaching. You draw your own conclusions. I, personally, do not believe that Mary mother of Jesus is divine in any way and I invite you to research the subject and arrive at your own conclusions. Copyright 2006 by Gary Goodworth
Ghosts, UFOs, and The Blessed Virgin Mary
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