Catholics Revere Mary
Catholics
claim they do not worship Mary but worship God alone. Catholics supposedly revere
or honor Mary [1]. They justify their reverence through verses such as Genesis
37:7–9, 49:8; Exodus 18:7; Romans 13:7; 1 Timothy 5:17 et al.
Catholic.com justifies reverence of Mary,
“…there certainly can be no argument
against giving honor to saints whose lives are done and who ended them in
sanctity…” [2].
Mary’s statue
is a familiar sight in Catholic Church. But Catholics claim that they do not worship
statues, “The fact that someone kneels
before a statue to pray does not mean that he is praying to the statue…” [3]. Catholics justify presence of statues
in their churches through Numbers 21:8-9; 2 Chronicles 3:10-14 et al.
Catholics
believe in four Marian dogmas [4]:
Immaculate Conception declares
that Mary was conceived without original sin by the grace of God. This dogma
has no Scriptural foundation.
Divine Motherhood refers to
Mary’s role as the mother of Jesus, who is God incarnate. This is the most
acceptable of Marian dogmas.
Perpetual Virginity implies that
Mary never had sexual intercourse with a man and was a virgin till her death.
Thus, her purity from original sin and personal sin is implied. This is a hotly
contested dogma.
The Assumption declares Mary’s
elevation or assumption into heaven by God’s grace and power. Similar to
Immaculate Conception, the Assumption has no Scriptural foundation.
Is Marian Reverence
Justified??
The Infancy
Gospel of James (a.k.a. Protevangelium of James) offers the notion that Mary
was a perpetual virgin. However, this apocryphal book is erroneous for the
following reasons [5]:
1. It was a
late text written in the 2nd century (140-170AD).
2. The
author of Protevangelium of James claims to be Christ’s half -brother (son of
Joesph from a prior marriage) but appears ignorant of Jewish customs of 1st
century.
3. Textual
critics claim that the author of Infancy Gospel of James could not have been
James. This gospel takes much of its content from gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Apostle James’
death at the hands of Ananias occurred in AD 62, whereas gospels of Matthew and
Luke were authored after AD 62. Hence the author of Protevangelium of James
could not have been James, the brother of Christ.
4. The
Infancy Gospel of James was first mentioned by Origen in 3rd
century, who, in his commentary on Matthew, rejected this gospel as heretical
and untrustworthy. (At one stage, in his homily on Luke 7: 4, Origen held to
the view of perpetual virginity of Mary.)
5. Pope
Gelasius condemned Infancy Gospel of James in his 5th century “Gelasian
Decree” and advised Catholics to avoid this book.
6. The
Infancy Gospel of James contradicts the Bible [6].
The Bible categorically states that Mary had sons
and daughters other than Christ (Matthew 12:46-50, 13:55-56; Mark 3:32-35, 6:3;
Luke 8:19-21; Acts 1:12-14; Galatians 1:19). However, Catholics dispute these
verses by claiming that these siblings of Christ were not born of Mary but were
Christ’s stepbrothers, stepsisters, cousins or distant relatives.
The Greek
words for cousin and relatives are “anepsios”
and “suggenes,” respectively. These
words were not used by the New Testament writers while referring to Christ’s
brothers and sisters. Instead, Matthew and Mark used the words “adelphos” and “adelphe” terming them as Christ’s own brothers and sisters – born
of Mary.
Claiming
that Christ’s siblings mentioned in the Bible were not born to Mary is to argue
from silence. The Bible does not offer any indication to this effect. So the
Catholic teaching that Christ’s siblings were not born of Mary is erroneous,
and should be discarded.
Significantly,
perpetual virginity of Mary is unnecessary for her veneration by the Catholic
Church. Christ’s brothers and sisters were born to Mary and Joseph within the
sanctity of their marriage. Hence, Mary did not commit a sin while bearing her
children.
Perpetual
virginity of Mary has a dubious reasoning and an invalid source. Mary was a mere
subject chosen by God to bring forth Christ in human form.
The dogmas
of Immaculate Conception and Assumption are Catholic fabrications. These dogmas
have no Scriptural foundations.
The Bible neither
mentions that Mary was preserved from original sin nor does it state that Mary
was taken up into heaven à la Enoch and Elijah. The Bible does not accord a
special place in heaven for Mary.
The
Catholic Church reveres saints and prays through them. The fundamental problem
with the Catholic dogma is elevating human beings as mediators between God and
man.
The
Catholics justify their reverence of saints by hermeneutically twisting verses
such as 1Timothy 2: 1 - 4 and James 5: 16. These verses refer to people on
earth and not those in heaven.
There is a
marked distinction between prayers with
fellow believers and prayers through
fellow believers. Prayers with fellow
believers constitute Christian fellowship in the precincts of the Church. But
prayers through fellow believers
elevate people to a co-equal status with Christ, who is the only mediator
between God and man (1Timothy 2: 5).
It is a sin
when man is elevated to status of God. Reverence for Mary or other saints
cannot be justified. Therefore, Mary need not be glorified or venerated.
Conclusion
Protestant
churches are not pure in comparison to Catholic church.
Divisions within
Christianity are not God’s intent but God’s sanction of man’s corrupt freewill.
When we point one finger there are three fingers pointing at us. So, at the most, this article is an instance of
pot calling kettle black.
Protestants
should be well aware of the failures in the protestant worship system. Some
Protestant churches worship in vacuum to lead believers away from Christ.
False
teachings are abundant. For instance, prosperity
or health & wealth gospel is a dangerous phenomenon. Some churches teach
that Christ is unnecessary for salvation and that the Bible need not be
trusted.
Worship songs
in which Jesus, God, and Christ are never mentioned are sung in churches these
days. How could these songs draw people closer to Christ other than the fact
that these are sung in the church? These so-called worship songs if sung in the
context of a Hindu temple or a mosque could well relate to their worldviews.
Protestants
strive not to commit similar errors as Catholics. This was the purpose of the reformation.
But as sinful humans, Protestants commit novel errors that are equally
deplorable. By no means is a Protestant worship more proximal to God than Catholic
worship.
However, a
minority of Protestant churches remain true to Christ. Errors in worship, in
these churches, are minimal in comparison to the other churches.
Our worship
systems may have systemic inconsistencies and errors but every honest Christian
ought to consider if he/she believes in Christ as the only way to heaven and if
he/she remains in Christ to love, honor and glorify HIM.
God has
given much to both Catholics and Protestants. HIS salvific mind, knowledge and
future plan for mankind is adequately revealed in the Bible.
So let us
ensure that our worship is acceptable to God. This verse should ring loud in
the ears of both the Catholics and Protestants, “…from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and
from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked”
(Luke 12: 48b, NIV).
Endnotes:
[1] http://www.catholic.com/tracts/saint-worship,
last accessed 21/Sep/2015.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/mary/general-information/the-four-marian-dogmas/,
last accessed 21/Sep/2015.
[5] http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/why-shouldnt-we-trust-the-non-canonical-gospels-attributed-to-james/,
last accessed 21/Sep/2015.
[6] https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/is-the-perpetual-virginity-of-mary-a-biblical-view/,
last accessed 21/Sep/2015.
