Is
Catholicism Christian?
Chapter
3
MARY
We
would not find a more powerful protectress or one more irresistible before God.
She is for us the best of mothers, our safest confidante and in fact the very
motive of our hope; she obtains all she asks for and her prayer is always heard.
-- Exultavit Cor Nostrum
Before
I was brought to Ireland, I went to a church of England school where the Bible
was taught every morning at assembly. Prayers were open and scriptures were
memorized. When I came to Ireland as a young boy I was put into a Catholic
school against my wishes!. I remember I
was asked if I had rosary beads for my prayers. I didn’t and there was a
shocked stunned silence. A small plastic blue child’s set was given to me, and
everyone in the classroom just went into chanting the Hail Mary's. This was
the first time I heard prayer that wasn’t offered up to God, and I didn’t
like it at all, and just kept quiet. I wasn’t comfortable with this kind of
prayer, even though I didn’t know why.
Later
when I was sent to a strict boarding
school, they noticed I wasn’t praying to Mary, and I was
beaten for this by the ‘christian’ brothers who worked there. I was
forced to kneel down at the feet of a statue of Mary, and the hair on the back
of my head was grabbed, then my head was repeatedly smashed into the feet of the
statue until I apologized to her. I wouldn’t. I had remembered by that time
the Scripture which stopped me praying to her. It was Luke 4:8
And Jesus answered and said
unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.
Luke 4:8
I
cried this out as my head was being smashed on the statue, but
this angered the brother, and he hit my head even harder while I bled. I could
never understand the hatred and anger that man had, and the fear and reverence Catholics have for Mary.
Examining
what the Catholic church says about Mary throws some light on matters. The Mary
of the Bible is very different to the Mary the Catholic church teaches about.
Essentially they believe she is sinless, ascended into heaven like Jesus did,
was eternally a virgin, is called the queen of heaven, the Mother of God,
absolutely sinless, the
mediator between sinners and God, and co-saviour, equal to Christ and can command
Jesus as a mother. If you are a Bible believing Christian
who never examined the beliefs of Catholicism, I know that list will shock you.
Let me back that list up with quotes and references from their own publications.
The Hail Mary
HailMary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our
death. Amen.
To a Catholic this one of the most important and powerful
prayers. It first showed up in history in a prayer book from the Camaldolese
monks in the Order de Mercede in 1514. It is repeated constantly in Catholic
churches, homes and meetings. The Hail Mary prayer goes against all the warnings of Jesus in the
Bible not to indulge
in vain and repetitious prayer
But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they
think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Mathew 6:7
The words
"Holy Mary mother of God" are blasphemous to a Christian. If God had a
mother, then by definition He isn't God. God is God because He is from everlasting to everlasting,
without beginning and without end. Mary is the mother of Jesus, and yes He is
God, but she only gave birth to Him in the flesh, not the spirit. The only
qualification Mary had was that she was a virgin, and she was from the line of
king David. Listed
below are some other heretical views of Mary as taught by the Catholic church.
Again I urge you to read these quotes, and see if the Mary of the Bible is
anything even remotely like what the Catholic church teaches.
Is
Mary the one who saves us?
Taken
up to heaven she (Mary) did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold
intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation... (Catechism
of the Catholic Church Pg. 252, #969)
Being
obedient she (Mary) became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole
human race. (Catechism of the Catholic Church Pg. 125, #494)
She
(Mary) is inseparably linked with the saving work of her Son. (Catechism of the Catholic Church Pg. 303, #1172)
"Who can worthily thank you and adequately praise you,
oh Blessed Virgin, who by your fiat has saved a lost
world." St. Augustine
"The foundation of all our confidence is found in the
Blessed Virgin Mary. God has committed to her the treasury of all good things,
in order that everyone may know that through her are
obtained every hope, every grace, and all
salvation. For this is His will: That we obtain everything
through Mary." Pope Pius IX
Mary
suffered and, as it were, nearly died with her suffering Son; for the salvation
of mankind she renounced her mother’s rights and, as far as it depended on
her, offered her Son to placate divine justice; so we may well say that she with
Christ redeemed mankind. -- Inter
Sodalicia
The
Catholic Church has always and with justice put all her hope and trust in the
Mother of God. She who is associated with him in the work of man’s salvation
has favor and power with her Son greater than any other human or angelic
creature has ever obtained or ever can obtain. --
Supreme Apostolatus
"All those who seek Mary’s
protection will be saved for all eternity." Pope
Benedict XV
The Blessed Virgin Mary is to be
called Queen not only on account of her divine motherhood but also because by
the will of God she had a great part in the work of our salvation ... In this
work of redemption the blessed Virgin Mary was closely associated with her
Christ ... Just as Christ, because he redeemed us, is by a special title our
King and Lord, so to is Blessed Mary, our Queen and our Mistress, because of the
unique way in which she co-operated in our redemption. She provided her very
substance for his body, she offered him willingly for us, and she took a unique
part in our salvation by desiring it, praying for it, and so obtaining it ... --
Ad Coeli Reginam
The
Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by ascent on
the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in
bringing about death, so also a woman should contribute to life ... Rightly,
therefore, the Fathers see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as
freely co-operating in the work of man’s salvation through faith and
obedience. For, as St. Irenaeus says, she “being obedient became the cause of
salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the
early Fathers gladly assert with him in their preaching: “the knot of Eve’s
disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through
her disbelief Mary loosened by her faith.” Comparing Mary with Eve, they call
her “Mother of the living,” and frequently claim: “death through Eve life
through Mary.” -- Vatican 2
Let us look at these quotes in depth. first, is Mary our Saviour?.
Yes according to the Catholic church, No according to the Bible. In fact, Mary
couldn't save even herself, she openly admits this fact in the Magnificat, her
prayer in Luke chapter 1:46-47
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my saviour . Luke 1:46-47
So we see Mary does not have a saving office, she cannot
save. In fact, the Bible says there is only one saviour, God.
"I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no
saviour ." Isaiah 43:11
Tell ye, and bring them near;
yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time?
who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else
beside me; a just God and a saviour ; there is none beside me. (Isaiah 45:21)
Mary acknowledged God as her Saviour, never did she say she was a
Saviour. So how
can the Catholic church say that Mary is the cause of salvation for all the
human race?. The Bible clearly says in reference to Jesus:
Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to
be the saviour of the world. 1 John 4:14
She
isn't a mediator between man and God who intercedes on our behalf, that
office belong to Jesus alone. The Bible says:
For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1
Timothy 2:5
Does the Bible say Mary suffered so as to merit salvation for everyone? No. And here's one that
might open your eyes Christian, does the Bible tells us that our salvation comes
through Jesus' suffering? No!. It was through His Death that we were saved, not
his suffering (see Mark 10:45, Romans 5:10, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:15,
1Peter 3:18, Revelation 1:5 & 5:12). So to say that Mary suffered because of
the death of her son makes her part of our salvation is wrong. Yes she suffered
as any mother would seeing her son dying in agony, but this happens every day
mothers see their children dying and suffer loss, inner turmoil, sadness,
anguish and so on.
The Bible does say though WE are partakers in Christ's
suffering.
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of
Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also
with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:13).
So by Catholic definition if Mary
suffered in Christ's work she is a redeemer. But the Bible says We suffer with
Christ, therefore are we not all redeemers? NO!.
Can these Scriptures be interpreted
in any other way?, they simply and straightforwardly say in no uncertain terms
"There is only one saviour , that is God". Nowhere in God's Word does it
ever say "there is another saviour called Mary". In fact, it very
specifically says "There is NO OTHER saviour ". So how on earth can the
Catholic church teach that Mary can save, or has a part in our salvation, became
the cause of salvation, worked for our salvation, co-operated in our salvation
or that she is the meadiatrix (female mediator) of our salvation?. It is without
an answer from Scripture, so it must resort to it's own manufactured tradition.
Mary Never Sinned?
By
the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church Pg. 124, #493)
Finally
the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the
course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into
heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things." (Catechism
of the Catholic Church Pg. 252, #966)
Mary
is the most excellent fruit of redemption (SC 103): from the first instant of
her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she
remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life. (Catechism of the Catholic Church Pg. 128 #508)
We
declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most
blessed virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace
and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ,
the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original
sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and
constantly by all the faithful. --
Ineffabilis Deus
Can
it be possible that Mary never sinned?. Jesus said no one is good except God
alone. Everyone who has walked this planet has sinned, except God, that is
Jesus.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
(Romans 3:23)
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned: (Romans 5:12)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that
we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John
1:8-10)
So the Word of God says that everyone has sinned, that is everyone who
has walked on the face of this earth except God. And anyone who claims to be
without sin makes God out to be a liar. Would Mary make God out to be a liar?,
the Catholic church does when it says Mary was without sin. In the Bible, there
is a very different Mary, she is delighted to have a saviour, and She never claims she
was sinless, ever.
Mary to be Worshipped?
The
Church' s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.
(Catechism of the Catholic Church Pg. 253, #971)
Let
them (Children of the Catholic Church) fly with utter confidence to this most
sweet Mother of mercy and grace in all dangers, difficulties, needs, doubts and
fears. Under her guidance under her patronage, under her kindness and
protection, nothing is to be feared; nothing is hopeless. Because, while bearing
toward us a truly motherly affection and having in her care the work of our
salvation, she is solicitous about the whole human race. And since she has been
appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven and earth, and is exalted above all
the choirs of angels and saints, and even stands at the right hand of her
only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she presents our petitions in a most
efficacious manner. What she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard. --
Ineffabilis Deus
"Let all the children of the Catholic
Church ... Proceed to worship, invoke, and pray to the most blessed Virgin Mary,
mother of God, conceived without original sin" Conception of the Virgin
Mary, Pope Pius IX 1854
Can a Christian worship another person or
deity other than God?
And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Luke 4:8).
The Bible also says
very strongly that to worship the queen of heaven is disgusting and abominable.
The queen of heaven is actually a pagan goddess worshipped during the time of
the prophet Jeremiah. She was representative of the moon, and the sun was the
king in pagan lore. The queen of heaven was a pagan goddess known as Ashtoreth or
Astarte: the wife of Baal or Moloch, the king of heaven. The prophet Jeremiah
warns in God's Word, the Scriptures not to worship the queen of heaven (see
Jeremiah Ch 7 and Ch 44), God condemns the worship of the queen of heaven, the Catholic church asks us to devote ourselves to
her, which will you listen to, God or the Catholic Church?
Mary
Tells Jesus What to do?:
For,
while the prayers of those in heaven have certainly some claim on the watchful
eye of God, Mary’s prayers place their assurance on the right of a mother. For
that reason, when she approaches the throne of her Divine Son, she begs as
advocate, she prays as handmaid, but she commands as mother. --
Tanto Studio
The very idea that Jesus, God in the flesh is commanded
about by Mary not only lowers Jesus status at creator of everything (including
Mary), but makes him subservient to His own creation. He did this once with His
death on the cross, but doesn't need to take orders or commandments from Mary.
Mary and saints to be seen as on same level as with God?
"The second commandment forbids the abuse of God's
name, i.e., every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also of
the Virgin Mary and all the saints" (Catechism of the Catholic Church
#2145 )
"The second commandment forbids every improper use of
God's name. Blasphemy is the use of the name of God, of Jesus Christ, of the
Virgin Mary, and of the saints in an offensive way. "(Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2162)
The Second Commandment according to the Bible where we get
the commandments from say nothing of the sort. I'll go into more detail on how
the Catholic church twists, distorts and changes the Scriptures to it's own
ends. For the moment, let's have a look at what the second commandment actually
says:
Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water that is under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me. Exodus 20:4-6, Deuteronomy 5:8-10
Does this commandment forbid taking God's Name improperly?,
No!. It actually forbids making statues and praying to or worshipping them. Ever
seen a Catholic church without statues? no, every one of them are full of idols
in total disobedience to the second commandment. So the Catholic hierarchy
change the ten commandments by removing the commandment that shows their forms
of worship to be idolatrous. It is the third commandment that forbids abusing
the Lords Name. The Third commandment says:
Thou
shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not
hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Exodus 20:7, Deuteronomy
5:11
Now reading this commandment does it say anywhere in there
not to take Mary's name in vain is a sin?, same question for the 'saints'?. No
this commandment forbids using God's Name as a curse word, and that includes
Jesus' name also as He is God. It would not be right to curse Jesus' mother or
call her something bad, this would be ugly. Mary was a virgin when Jesus was
born, and to say that was a lie is also blasphemy.
A disturbing aspect of Mary the Catholic church tries to
force on the world is the perpetual virginity of Mary. You see they equate sex
with sin, defiling of the womb, therefore if Mary had other children then she
would have sinned in their eyes. The Catholic church says Mary didn't ever sin,
the Bible says otherwise. The Catholic church says Mary remained ever the
virgin, the Bible says otherwise.
"The most blessed Virgin Mary was from
the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of
almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ. Savior of the human
race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." Pope Pius IX
Inefabilis Deus 1854 DS 2803
Thomas Aquinas showed how such a belief was heretical many
centuries before this in Compendio do Teologia Chapter CCXXXII
If she would not have been born with
original sin, she would not have needed to be redeemed by Christ, and, this
being so, Christ would not be the universal Redeemer of men, which would
abolish the dignity of Christ."
The Catholic church cannot appeal to the Bible to prove
their claims, so they use forged books that were rejected outright from the
Bible like the Protoevangelium of James. This book claims Mary was also born of
the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin thus sinless. These very teachings were
declared heretical by Pope St. Gelasius I (492-496), this of course causes
problems, because if one 'infallible' Pope calls something Heretical, how then
can a later 'infallible' Pope call it worthy of doctrine?. In the Protoevangelium of
James Mary is a 12 year old virgin serving in the temple of Jerusalem. One
problem with the Mary's presence in the Temple as a maid is that no such
practice existed in Israel's history. In fact young virgins were permanent part
of the Greek, Roman and Arabian pagan temples. They were called virgins but were
actually similar to the Devadasis of Indian temples. They were temple
prostitutes. So if the Catholic church wants to accept the protoevangelium of
James, they have to accept that a pagan practice of temple prostitution was
taking place in Jerusalem and Mary was one of the Temple prostitutes. If they
don't accept the protoevangelium of James, then they have to throw out all the
other false teachings it provides them with, including saying Joseph was an
elderly widower with children, that Mary was conceived without sin, and was born
of the Holy Spirit.
You may notice I mention the teaching Joseph had children
and was a widower. Again there is nothing in the Bible to suggest this, just in
the heretical protoevangelium of James. The reason I bring this up is because
there are some troubling passages in the Bible for those who hold to the belief
that Mary remained ever a virgin. You see there are mentions of Jesus' brothers
and sisters. Now these passages are usually discounted with a lie that in the
original language of the New Testament the same word could be translated
cousins. This is a blatant lie taught by the Catholic church, and we will
examine it here.
Matthew 12:46-47 - "While He was still speaking to the
multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers (Adelphus)
were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. And someone said to Him, "Behold, Your
mother and Your brothers (Adelphus) are standing outside seeking to speak to You."
Adelphus: from the Koine Greek (Language the New
Testament was written in) means "From the same Womb". Greek
words like these have made their way into modern speech, for instance
Philadelphia: Philo =love, Adelphus =Brother ="The city of brotherly
love". Now could that mean the city of cousinly love? lets face reality
here.
Matthew 13:55 - "Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His
brothers (Adelphus),
James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?"
Here 4 of Jesus' brothers are named, James (who wrote the
Epistle of James in the New Testament), Joseph, Simon and Judas. Just because 3
of them have names of Apostles doesn't mean they were the same Apostles. They
were common names in Judea.
Mark 6:2-3 - "And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and
brother (Adelphus) of James, and
Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters (Adelphe)
here with us?"
Again Jesus' 4 brothers are named, and again it is the same
Greek word, and His sisters (Adelphe) are
also mentioned. Again the Greek word Adelphe is the feminine of Adelphus meaning
from the same womb.
John 2:12 - "After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His
brothers (Adelphus), and His disciples; and there they stayed a few days."
Again the same word Greek word Adelphus. Also note, some
try to say He (Jesus) called His disciples His brothers and this is true, but
notice there is a differentiation in this verse between disciples and brothers.
Acts 1:14 - "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of
Jesus, and with His brothers (Adelphus)."
Adelphus again, from the same womb. Notice also they are
praying but not to Mary.
1 Cor. 9:4-5 - "Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of
the apostles, and the brothers (Adelphus)
of the Lord, and Cephas?"
Adelphus, from the same womb. Are we getting the message?,
note also the Apostles are separate or distinct from the brothers.
Galatians 1:19 - "But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s
brother (Adelphus)."
Adelphus, yet again.
Some say that word could also mean cousin, this is a lie. Remember in Luke
chapter 1 just before Mary says the Magnificat, her cousin Elizabeth is
mentioned in verse 36. The Greek word for cousin is 'Suggenes' (Pronounced soong-ghen-ace)
and it means a relative by blood. It is a different word entirely from Adelphus
or Adelphe isn't it?.
More Chapters being researched and added shortly please be patient
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