How Come you Christians Don't Believe in
Mary?
That's
a great question. We do believe that Mary was a most favored woman. What a
wonderful privilege to be chosen by God to bear the Christ child. I too admire her for her love and trust in God. Let's now consider a number of important questions regarding Mary.
Was Mary sinless?
The
Catholic church says Mary never sinned, but here we run into a problem, for the
Catholic Bible says, "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God." (see Romans 3:23). By the way, all Bible verses quoted are from the
Catholic Bible Confraternity Version. The Catholic and Protestant New
Testaments are virtually identical. I think the differences we do have could be
settled if we both look at what the Catholic Bible itself says. Even popes have
repeatedly urged people to read the word of God. Pope Benedict said, "we
shall never...desist from urging the faithful to read daily the Gospels, the
Acts and the Epistles, so as to gather thence food for their souls."
Did Mary also need a Savior for her sins?
Mary
herself said, "My soul rejoices in God my Savior" (see Luke 1:47).
Again, let me state that I hold Mary in high esteem. She was a godly
woman, but none of us believe she was God. Even if Mary only sinned a few times
in her entire life, with an unkind word or thought, she too would then need a
Savior. And the Savior of Mary and all who trust in Him was born via the Holy Spirit and Mary. We too can rejoice
with Mary that God would send His only Son to be the Savior of sinners like us.
Did the Virgin Mary remain a virgin all her life?
The
Catholic church teaches this, but this runs opposite of what the Catholic Bible
declares. It reveals that Joseph had no sexual relations with her until after Jesus was born (see Matthew
1:25). Then what happened? They had other children. Even the people of Jesus'
hometown of Nazareth said of Jesus and his family, "Is not this the
carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph
and Simon and Jude? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" (see
Matthew 13:55-56).
Was Mary born by "immaculate conception?"
Some
Catholics don't know much about this church declaration. For hundreds and
hundreds of years, Catholics believed that Mary was born like any other child.
But on December 8th, 1854, Pope Pius the IX declared that Mary was conceived
without sin. To quote his words, "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the
first instant of her conception... was preserved free from all stain of original
sin." But the Catholic Bible says nothing about such.
Did Mary really go directly to heaven without
dying?
This new Catholic doctrine is known as the assumption of
Mary, that she was assumed up into heaven without dying. Pardon me, but to me it
does seem like quite an assumption to believe this new teaching for the
following reasons. First, there is not even a hint of this happening to Mary
mentioned in the Catholic Bible. Second, good Catholics did not believe this
for centuries. Many Catholics alive today didn't believe such and weren't
required to believe such until 1950.
Zan Michiteru wrote the following: "The doctrine of the
Assumption of Mary was officially declared to be a dogma of the Roman Catholic
faith on November 1, 1950. However, in 495 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared that
the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary is a heresy and people who teach it are
heretics. In the sixth century, Pope Hormisdas declared that anyone teaching
this doctrine is a heretic. Two "infallible" popes both declared that
this doctrine is a heresy. Then on November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII (another
"infallible" pope) declared that the same doctrine is official Roman
Catholic dogma, which all Catholics are required to believe. So before November
1, 1950, any Catholic who believed in the Assumption of Mary was a heretic
(because of "infallible" declarations of popes). But after November
1, 1950, any Catholic who failed to believe in the Assumption of Mary was a
heretic (because of the "infallible" declaration of Pope Pius XII).
How could this be?"
Are the traditions of the Popes infallible?
The Catholic church teaches a doctrine called "papal infallibility"-
that the pope is supposedly incapable of speaking error when he makes decrees
regarding church teachings. The problem with that belief is that as the above
quote pointed out, sometimes popes contradicted each other. I guess that was
okay up until 1870. That is the year that the church began proclaiming that the pope
was infallible. Since then, you must never disagree with the pope. Before the
year 1139, priests could marry, but since then they have been forbidden to do
so. Was that a good decree? Did you know the Catholic Bible denounces those who
would forbid marriage as a doctrine of demons? (see 1 Timothy 4;1-3). Many
believe that the results of clergy celibacy have been disastrous. Did you
know that even Peter, whom Catholics call the first pope, was married? (see
Matthew 8:14-15 and 1 Corinthians 9:5).
So should we pray to Mary?
Many Catholics
pray to Mary every time they use a rosary. They believe that since she was the
mother of Jesus, she can thus influence her son in heaven to do what people on
earth ask of her. But with all due respect to Mary, let's see if this could be
true. Is Mary more concerned for us than Jesus is? Is Mary more knowing of our
situation than the all-knowing Jesus? Is there anything in the Catholic Bible
encouraging us to pray to Mary? No, nothing. Can Mary mediate our needs to God?
No. Instead the Catholic Bible declares, "For there is one God, and one
Mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom
for all." (See 1 Timothy 2:5-6).
Praying to Mary and doing penance
cannot take away your sins. Only Jesus can. Only He died and rose again for you.
Only He can come into your life and transform it. It’s not by trying and by doing
good works; it’s by trusting His finished work on the cross. Jesus paid all
your sin debt and now offers you a free gift of complete forgiveness by faith
in Him alone. Obey His command to repent of depending on your good works and
trust Him alone. (see Ephesians 2:8-9). That’s what Mary would want you to do. In
John 2:5, she said, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Men, the article above was written for a Catholic to read, so please copy it and pass it on to those whom you think might be receptive to it. Will it convert them? Probably not that alone. But we should be thinking and acting like farmers. Our responsibility is to spread the seed and leave the results to God to make things grow in His time. He doesn't normally without our part of sowing seeds.
1.- A number of verses were quoted or referred to. What's one that you want to remember? Share it with us and and then write it on your MP3 card.
As you've noticed, we have been also discovering gold in Romans 1-5 over the past couple weeks. Like a prosecuting attorney, Paul set forth the evidence that all men are unrighteous before a righteous God. But then he set forth the good news of salvation through faith in the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. If you have time, read through the last of our apologetics study in Romans 1-5. Read Rom.5:12-21. You'll note the contrast between two men- the first Adam and the last Adam, Jesus Christ. Mary is never mentioned.
Announcements
Jack will not be in town after all this weekend. So our meeting is rescheduled for the following Sunday, May 3rd at 3:00. See you then.
What's our mission? To Multiply MANLY Men! To do that we need to do focus on *Enriching others with what we've been learning and enjoying. "Hey, I want that too!"
*Enlisting others. We award you for doing so. You move up in rank and honor.
*Exemplifying- Be a G.R.E.A.T. example for others to be inspired by.
*Encouraging others- You'll see on the scoreboard that some of your brothers are passing on encouragement to a few others in one day. If you are new or weak in this, then please make it a goal to pass on encouragement to at least one other brother each day. It could be on what they said or it could be a brief pray or word of commendation to them. We all need it, including our family members. M3 is also about helping you in your family life too. And we just gave you perhaps a suggestion that some family members are dying to receive from you- ongoing encouragement and appreciation. Pour such on like water on a dying plant, and watch what happens.
So who will you be enriching this week with videos we've enjoyed,etc? Target Christian men you would like to later enlist into M3. Friday, you'll get to share whom you shared with.
I'm glad to welcome Daniel Contreras back with us. He blogged late last night. Please give a word of encouragement to men I didn't see on the blog yesterday- Israel, Lucas and Oscar, who is now back from his honeymoon. Welcome back Oscar! Please reach out to these men especially if they are on your fire team and if you are on today's team standing guard- that would include the following good men- Ismael, Alex, James and Phil. Eddie is on that team too, but he is away from technology in Cuba, scouting out the land. Please keep him in your prayers.
