OK, let's cut through some crap and all of the semantics, and whatever some supposed heretic believed or didn't. Let's focus on what Catholics teach about Mary that is unScriptural.
First place, I have no problem with technically referring to Mary as the "Mother of God" - AS LONG AS - we are not implying there is some deification or aspect of her that claims she was not a mere mortal and a sinner, but one blessed of God to birth God (Jesus) into the world. Jesus came into the world with a human mother - but she did not ORIGINATE Him. Jesus had NO Spiritual birth, as He is an ETERNAL Being (God!), but He did have a HUMAN birth - requiring a human mother. And Jesus' real Father (of Whom He is part of the Godhead with) was also MARY'S Father, and Jesus is ONE with the Father. Did Jesus die? Of course, His BODY died. What's the big deal? We know His spirit and the essence of ALL He has ALWAYS been did not die, nor could it. Period!
Back to Mary: She is no "Co-Redeemtrix!" Prayers to the Virgin - WHY???!!!! Where in Scripture or the New Testament is ANYONE told to pray to ANY saint, dead or alive? Now, we do ask others to pray for us. But there is no more power in Mary than of any other person's prayers for us. I would imagine my own mother, in Heaven, may well pray for me. But I don't PRAY to my mother. And Mary has no special power or persuasion over God that my own mother or any other saint, dead or alive, wouldn't have. Was Mary so venerated in Scripture? Absolutely not! She was a sinner. She plays NO role in our Salvation, as that would mean that something other than God is responsible for it. She clearly was not a virgin, as she had other sons and daughters.
OK, so, in John 19, Jesus is near death, and He hands is mother over to the "Disciple Whom He Loved." This is Jesus' last reference to His mother. Where, WHERE is ANY reference to all of the Catholic nonsense about Mary, beseeching Her, co-Redeemtrix - any of that? Who petitions for us? The Holy Spirit! "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but
the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." Romans 8:26).
Immaculately conceived - please! Guess what, IT'S CATHOLIC MADE-UP NONSENSE! The ENTIRE focus of prayer, devotion, promise, absolutely everything in the New Testament and its focus is ALL about JESUS, JESUS, JESUS!!! Mary is almost absent from mention, extreme reverence, or ANY special connotations. YES, she is blessed amongst women. Of course. But the rest is the Catholic Church building a dependency and focus upon a mortal woman, and not upon God/Jesus. Focusing or depending upon Mary as opposed to Christ is just WRONG. Focusing on one's need for a priest to intercede for someone - all of this stuff - bunk! When Jesus died, that curtain in the Holy of Holies was torn in half; the wall between God and man was destroyed FOREVER. No one needs another human being to do what they cannot also do: " Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
OK, post Jesus' ascent into Heaven, the disciples have gathered in Jerusalem, and Mary is with them - ALONG WITH Jesus' BROTHERS (Acts 1). And Mary is mentioned almost as an afterthought - she's certainly not the focus. Acts 1:14: ""All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and
Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" - oops, another reference to the post virginity of Mary.
The Catholic Church appeals, not to the New Testament which contradicts it, but to the "Protoevangelium of James," a work written nearly 50 years into the 2nd Century - over a 100 years after the events. Yeah, that's reliable! So, is a work that is not Scripture, that CONTRADICTS Scripture, that is 100 years past the events of Mary's life - is this to be the work we should consider to define Mary's asserted perpetual virginity? Read more about Mary's supposed Immaculate Conception here:
http://www.gotquestions.org/immaculate-conception.html And the CC scam continues with Mary's supposed rapture into Heaven - which is WHERE in the New Testament accounts? Are we to believe that this miraculous occurrence of Jesus' mother is totally absent in Scripture???!!!
How mysterious that the New Testament that tells us everything we know about Mary, yet it mentions not one bit of these Catholic teachings, and the CC justifications for them are so strained and thinly connected as to be totally lacking in credibility or rational interpretation.
You decide about Mary:
https://www.jashow.org/articles/world-r ... ly-divine/
Just like Peter and all this pope nonsense - and all the contradictory stuff they have said - contradicting not only Scripture, but also each other, time and again (WHICH pope are we to believe?) - the Maryfication of the Catholic Church is just more man-made religious teaching - and certainly not Scriptural. One has to realize that both the papacy and Mary are very central teachings of Catholicism. And yet, neither teaching is specifically taught in the New Testament for either to be credible, and the CC justifications for them are unbelievably obscured with creative interpretations that are in no way obvious from Scripture. And again, these are teachings central to CC dogma. If they are CENTRAL and key teachings, why aren't they VERY clearly taught and redundantly discussed in Scripture???!!!
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