Some contend against Blessed Mary

Xeno.of.athens

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Since the protestant revolts of the sixteenth century Blessed Mary has been a person whose role is disputed.

Some contend that Mary was a sinner like any other human being.
Some contend that Mary had other children after the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some contend that Mary must have been saved by grace because she sinned.

But what does Blessed Mary say of herself?
In the Magnificat, also called the Song of Mary we read:
And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord.​
And my spirit leaps for joy in God my Saviour.​
For he has looked with favour on the humility of his handmaid.​
For behold, from this time, all generations shall call me blessed.​
For he who is great has done great things for me, and holy is his name.​
And his mercy is from generation to generations for those who fear him.​
He has accomplished powerful deeds with his arm.​
He has scattered the arrogant in the intentions of their heart.​
He has deposed the powerful from their seat, and he has exalted the humble.​
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.​
He has taken up his servant Israel, mindful of his mercy, just as he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his offspring forever."​
Then Mary stayed with her for about three months. And she returned to her own house.​
Luke 1:46-56

Set to music and with poetic license the song of Mary is sung thus in many a Catholic mass:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
And my spirit exalts in God my Savior
For He has looked with mercy on my lowliness
And my name will be forever exalted
For the mighty God has done great things for me
An His mercy will reach from age to age
And holy, holy, holy is His name
He has mercy in every generation
He has revealed His power and His glory
He has cast down the mighty in their arrogance
And has lifted up the meek and the lowly
He has come to help His servant Israel
He remembered His promise to our fathers
And holy, holy, holy is His name
And holy, holy, holy is His name
At least one contention may be put to rest on the basis of Blessed Mary's words.
Blessed Mary did indeed have a saviour.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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Here’s a video that details myths about Mary. Mary is an important person in scripture, but our focus needs to be not on Mary, not on a church, but on Jesus Christ. Only though His blood and following Him can we be saved.
With several billion confessing Christians it seems possible for the body of Christ to focus on several things at one time. To both honour the Lord Jesus Christ and to reverence human beings who have served the Lord well.

Blessed Mary is honoured because of what God did for her. As the Magnificat teaches us:
For God has looked with favour on the humility of his handmaid, Mary.​
And we behold, from that time onwards, all generations have called Mary blessed.​
 
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SabbathBlessings

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With several billion confessing Christians it seems possible for the body of Christ to focus on several things at one time. To both honour the Lord Jesus Christ and to reverence human beings who have served the Lord well.

Blessed Mary is honoured because of what God did for her. As the Magnificat teaches us:
For God has looked with favour on the humility of his handmaid, Mary.​
And we behold, from that time onwards, all generations have called Mary blessed.​
The scripture does not spend a lot of time on Mary, it actually spends very little time on Mary.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

Psalm 77:13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary

We would be better served to spend time understanding the blueprint of the sanctuary that people spend very little time understanding, which is the blueprint to salvation. Mary can’t save, she was human and sinned like everyone else, I do expect to see her in heaven and she was a good women, but she is being elevated by the RCC much more than the scriptures. Jesus never once called her mother in scripture. Jesus is the way to eternal life. Amen!
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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The scripture does not spend a lot of time on Mary, it actually spends very little time on Mary.
The scripture spends much more time on Blessed Mary than it does on people taken as significant in some denominations, such as Ellen White.

So given that holy scripture does in fact spend some time on Blessed Mary it is right and proper for Christians to spend some time on studying the scriptures that speak of her and her role. As was said in the Magnificat - behold, from this time, all generations shall call me [Mary] blessed.
 
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SabbathBlessings

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The scripture spends much more time on Blessed Mary than it does on people taken as significant in some denominations, such as Ellen White.

So given that holy scripture does in fact spend some time on Blessed Mary it is right and proper for Christians to spend some time on studying the scriptures that speak of her and her role. As was said in the Magnificat - behold, from this time, all generations shall call me [Mary] blessed.
You will never see me quoting Ellen White as I only quote scripture or elevating her above Jesus. Only Jesus can save, only the scriptures that everything must be tested by, not humans. Isaiah 8:20 reminds of us this important fact.

Anyway, take care!
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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You will never see me quoting Ellen White as I only quote scripture or elevating her above Jesus. Only Jesus can save, only the scriptures that everything must be tested by, not humans. Isaiah 8:20 reminds of us this important fact.

Anyway, take care!
Quoted or not, I imagine that you've read some of her writings. :)
 
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Jonaitis

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As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” - Luke 11:27-28
Jesus putting his mother's status in its proper place.

He even addresses her as "woman" at the wedding of Cana, and said in another place that his mother and brothers are those who keep the word of God when Mary was looking for him.
 

Xeno.of.athens

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Jesus putting his mother's status in its proper place.

He even addresses her as "woman" at the wedding of Cana, and said in another place that his mother and brothers are those who keep the word of God when Mary was looking for him.
It was not Blessed Mary who was corrected but rather the unnamed crowd member who was corrected.
 
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Jonaitis

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It was not Blessed Mary who was corrected but rather the unnamed crowd member who was corrected.
He is also correcting us, the crowd representing his following.

If there is no Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free, in Christ, then there is no extra status given to Mary in Christ. She is blessed on a very human level, because she conceived and bore and raised Jesus. It should not be placed on a spiritual level, else we are adding to scripture.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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He is also correcting us, the crowd representing his following.
Yet, God inspired Blessed Mary to say " behold, from this time, all generations shall call me blessed." So, scripture tells Christians to call Mary blessed, and we do.
 
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ViaCrucis

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I don't believe in Mary's immaculate conception. As to whether God preserved her from the stain of original sin or not is simply something that can't be answered. Likewise, was the Blessed Virgin assumed directly into heaven before or after her death (Assumption and/or Dormition)? I don't know. I would agree with Luther than the Lord's blessed mother is in heaven, how she got there we don't know (and it really doesn't matter either).

Was the blessed mother of God a perpetual virgin? I don't know, Scripture doesn't answer this. But it's been a faithful opinion of the Church since ancient times, and even the Lutheran Confessions at one point call her sempervirginis. But I consider this to be something that just isn't my business. I don't need to know what the blessed mother of our Lord and God Jesus Christ did in the bedroom with St. Joseph, or what she didn't do.

I have nothing but the highest reverence for the blessed birth-giver of our God Jesus Christ, which is why I call her blessed, even as the Scriptures declare. She is the blessed virgin mother of God, Theotokos. I believe we should confess this not to praise Mary herself, but to praise Christ. For all true honor of Mary, and indeed all true honor of all the precious saints of God, is to the praise of Christ.

I agree with Luther that of regular, mortal human beings, Mary is deserving of a chief honor. All higher honors are to God alone. But I also believe that the highest honor we can give to Blessed Mary is by confessing her Son, and putting all our hope and trust in Him and what He has done. For Mary, God's faithful servant, says, "Do all that He says". She always points to her Son, our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ who alone redeems and saves us.

So I do not dishonor the mother of God by not believing in her immaculate conception or her assumption; I honor her by believing in her Son. I honor her by confessing that she is indeed blessed and favored of God, for God chose her to be His mother, and to be mother of our very Salvation.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Jonaitis

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Yet, God inspired Blessed Mary to say " behold, from this time, all generations shall call me blessed." So, scripture tells Christians to call Mary blessed, and we do.
We do consider her blessed, because she bore the Christ. That's enough.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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We do consider her blessed, because she bore the Christ. That's enough.
It doesn't say "consider me blessed", that is really a given, what it does say is "call me blessed" which is what Catholics do when we refer to her as Blessed Mary.
 
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Jonaitis

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It doesn't say "consider me blessed", that is really a given, what it does say is "call me blessed" which is what Catholics do when we refer to her as Blessed Mary.
I see that as a pointless distinction in semantics. The point is that we recognize her blessed contribution to redemptive history the same way we recognize John's ministry. She isn't anything special in any other sense.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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I don't believe in Mary's immaculate conception. As to whether God preserved her from the stain of original sin or not is simply something that can't be answered.
It can be answered, and the Catholic Church does answer in the affirmative; Blessed Mary was in fact immaculately conceived.
Likewise, was the Blessed Virgin assumed directly into heaven before or after her death (Assumption and/or Dormition)? I don't know. I would agree with Luther than the Lord's blessed mother is in heaven, how she got there we don't know (and it really doesn't matter either).
Here too the answer can be known, the Catholic Church affirms the assumption of Blessed Mary.
Was the blessed mother of God a perpetual virgin? I don't know, Scripture doesn't answer this.
It is true that holy scripture does not explicitly state that Blessed Mary is ever virgin, but holy scripture does speak of Blessed Mary as the virgin who gave birth to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have nothing but the highest reverence for the blessed birth-giver of our God Jesus Christ, which is why I call her blessed, even as the Scriptures declare. She is the blessed virgin mother of God, Theotokos. I believe we should confess this not to praise Mary herself, but to praise Christ. For all true honor of Mary, and indeed all true honor of all the precious saints of God, is to the praise of Christ.
Amen, this is true. Every title that the Church uses for Blessed Mary is a praise of Jesus Christ; thus, when we say Mary is the mother of Mercy, we are calling the Lord Jesus Christ, Mercy. Or when we speak of Blessed Mary as mother of God, we are thus calling the Lord, Jesus Christ, God.
 
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Philip_B

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Mary of course is the first true evangelical, carrying Jesus into the world. And her yes, perhaps one of the biggest yesses in history, is an important part of the story of our salvation, so long will I name her blessed and a blessing for us all. It is sad that it has been such a point of division. Mary never points to herself, she always points to Jesus.
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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Mary of course is the first true evangelical, carrying Jesus into the world.
I much prefer to speak of Blessed Mary as the first Christian and also the first evangelist because "evangelical" has many theological connotations that do not really fit well the description of Blessed Mary's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
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Philip_B

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I much prefer to speak of Blessed Mary as the first Christian and also the first evangelist because "evangelical" has many theological connotations that do not really fit well the description of Blessed Mary's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hence the use of the adjective 'true'.
 
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SabbathBlessings

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Amen, this is true. Every title that the Church uses for Blessed Mary is a praise of Jesus Christ; thus, when we say Mary is the mother of Mercy, we are calling the Lord Jesus Christ, Mercy. Or when we speak of Blessed Mary as mother of God, we are thus calling the Lord, Jesus Christ, God.
This seems to be putting Mary as a mediator between man and Jesus which goes against the scriptures. Praying to Mary for anything won’t help as she is human and died. I believe she will be in heaven once Jesus Comes to resurrect the dead in Christ, but thats besides the point.

We are told we do not need any mediator- we can go directly to Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:15 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
 
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