Was Mary the greatest woman that ever lived?

[Breckmin]

I say, yes. Absolutely. And I am not Catholic.

In what ways should Protestants show more respect to the Mother
of Jesus?

Is Mary the "new" Eve? The Eve that did not fail Jesus (the second Adam).


One more question: Do you believe that Mary is the only person
who rose again from the dead like Jesus did?

Did Mary rise from the dead, and what evidence do you use to support
this belief?

 

[pgp_protector]

Great ? Yea.
Greatest ? No.

 

[Breckmin]

Great ? Yea.
Greatest ? No.

Is there a greater honor than to carry and give birth to the Man
that God became?

Has anyone served Jesus more than Mary?

I believe that the phrase "blessed are you among women" is in
the scriptures because it is an axiom that just as John the Baptist
was the greatest before Christ.....Mary is the greatest woman that
ever lived because she served our Lord in the greatest way as His
Mother.

She deserves our utmost respect as the Mother of Jesus. Not
worship...Not idolization....but great respect - at least what we
give to Paul, Peter and the prophets and the apostles.

For the record, I do not believe in saying the Rosary as a continued
prayer. I think that it takes the focus away from Jesus Christ and
the Father Whom He glorified.

 

[Sphinx777]

​

 

[Ave Maria]

Yes, Mary is the greatest woman who has ever lived and God has made that clear.

 

[CaliforniaJosiah]

I say, yes. Absolutely. And I am not Catholic.

I also voted "yes."

In what ways should Protestants show more respect to the Mother
of Jesus?

Well, I think Lutherans and Anglicans do show Our Lady appropriate respect. But, as I understand it, we once focused more on Her. I suspect as Catholics focused more and more - with new Marian dogmas - Protestants kinda backed off. Silly, I think. But in my Lutheran church, we remember Her and hold Her in appropriate esteem.

Is Mary the "new" Eve? The Eve that did not fail Jesus (the second Adam).

I'm uncomfortable with this...

I don't DENY any of these Marian views (well, I'm a tad uncomfortable with to co-redeemer and I tend to think the issue of how often She had sex after Jesus was born is just moot and maybe inappropriate speech) but I don't reject or deny them. My Lutheran pastor tends to hold to all these views (a former Catholic), and Luther and the Lutheran Church "Fathers" mostly did, as well. I'm okay with that, but for me, Our Lady is more a focus of spirituality than doctrines. And I like that these views are adiaphoron in Lutheranism.

One more question: Do you believe that Mary is the only person
who rose again from the dead like Jesus did?

The dogma of The Assumption of Mary (1950) is unique to The Catholic Church. While I don't deny the POSSIBILITY (nearly everything is POSSIBLE), I find no support for it in Scripture or early church tradition.

Actually, Catholics aren't clear on whether Our Lady "rose from the dead" or was assumed without dying. My Catholic teachers were of the later view.



I love, adore, revere, esteem and in a sense "worship" Our Lady - not only because She is the mother of our Lord and the Mother of God, but because of her profound faith and obedience.





.

 

[cobweb]

Of course she is the greatest. She was chosen to be His mother.

You can not carry God in your womb for 9 months without being the recipient of a whole lot of grace.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Great ? Yea.
Greatest ? No.

Then who would be greater? Not attacking, just asking.

Mary

 

[pgp_protector]

Then who would be greater? Not attacking, just asking.

Mary

In my life ?
My Wife, My Mother.

In History.
Esther, Marie Curie,Joan of Arc,Helen Keller,Mother Theresa,Rosa Parks,Catherine of Siena,Florence Nightingale

 

[Dorothea]

Yes, she was and is the greatest. No other woman will hold the high place she does. She is the most blessed among women. No other woman will ever be as great and blessed as the Theotokos.

 

[MrPolo]

The phrase "blessed among women" means that of all women, she is most blessed. This would include Eve.

A Scripturally versed Protestant should have no problem with Mary as the type of Eve. Jesus is the type of Adam. And where Eve, the mother of all those in the OT, said "no" to God, Mary, the mother of all those in the NT starting with Jesus, said "yes." (Luke 1:38)

 

[MrPolo]

For the record, I do not believe in saying the Rosary as a continued prayer.

Does that mean you think it is ok to pray occasionally? After all, 18 of the 20 mysteries are explicitly taken from the Gospels.

 

[boswd]

God chose her among all women in the world to bear our Saviour
She raised, nutured, fed, clothed our Saviour.

Yeah I would say she is the Greatest

 

[Breckmin]

Does that mean you think it is ok to pray occasionally? After all, 18 of the 20 mysteries are explicitly taken from the Gospels.

Prayers should NOT be a ritual. They should come from the HEART and
through the Holy Spirit of God moving in you when you are meditating
on the Word of God.

I do NOT believe that the greatest woman who ever lived would want us
to "hail" her over and over. In fact, I believe whole-heartedly that this
is displeasing to Mary.

Mary is a humble servant of God...a humble servant of her Lord - Christ
and she would only want Him to be exalted and "hailed" NOT herself.

Even praying the Lord's prayer over and over as a ritual is religion
NOT relationship. You can pray "Dear Heavenly Father...how great
is thy Name above all the earth and above all the universe!"
"Your glory and your kingdom will come and your perfect will will be
done, both now and forever in heaven."
"Provide for us daily, Oh Lord - and forgive us our sins as we forgive
those who sin against us...for against You and against You only
we have sinned."
Protect us from anything that is not true and consistent with your
Word and not from You. Protect us from lies. Lead us away from
temptations and deliver us from the evil one."


The point of the above prayer is that I just prayed this and agreed
with what I wrote without ritual or legalism. It is somewhat dynamically
equivalent in the general meaning of the Lord's prayer and could be
prayed.

The Lord's prayer is a model - NOT a ritual. I enjoy praying the
Lord's prayer BUT - I recognize that we are praying it in the English
so it isn't exact as far as what Jesus said in koine Greek.

Prayer is Holy communication with God and should be include
confession, exaltation, supplication..what is the ACTS? Adoration,
confession, thanksgiving and supplication I believe...

It should be done from the heart without repetitive ritual which is
religious and NOT freely expressed.

When the spirit of God is speaking and moving inside your spirit...
you do NOT need a transcript.

 

[boswd]

Are there any other Bible editions besides the NIV that decided to throw out the word "Hail" in Luke when Gaberial visted Mary? I know the KJV and the NKJV still say Hail Mary.

 

[Breckmin]

The phrase "blessed among women" means that of all women, she is most blessed. This would include Eve.

A Scripturally versed Protestant should have no problem with Mary as the type of Eve. Jesus is the type of Adam. And where Eve, the mother of all those in the OT, said "no" to God, Mary, the mother of all those in the NT starting with Jesus, said "yes." (Luke 1:38)

Yes,
I believe Mary is the "new Eve." But this symbolism does not make
her equal to Christ as the new Adam. Jesus and Mary as the new
Adam and Eve are quite different.

Edit: In recent days I have placed my position on hold as to whether
Mary is the new Eve or not. I am currently testing this truth and re-evaluting
and praying for protection - regarding such position. This as of 10/15/09.

 

[Breckmin]

Are there any other Bible editions besides the NIV that decided to throw out the word "Hail" in Luke when Gaberial visted Mary? I know the KJV and the NKJV still say Hail Mary.

We don't need to mention Mary in any of our prayers.... I believe that
it is possibly o.k. to talk to her IF she can hear you. I believe that this
should not be seen as a prayer, necessarily. I believe all prayers should
be directed toward our Heavenly Father in Jesus Name. Sometimes we
talk directly to Jesus. I agree with this since He is God.

I believe in respecting Mary as the mother of our Lord. I believe we
should have tremendous respect for the mother of our King - our Lord
and our Savior.

But I do not believe we should exalt her in prayer. I also do not believe
we should pray from a transcript...but children often pray from memory
because they have not yet learned how to pray.

 

[MamaZ]

I look at many women in the bible. Esther comes to mind and being a woman after Gods own heart. Deborah also.. So Mary being the greatest? I don't see how.

 

[Breckmin]

I look at many women in the bible. Esther comes to mind and being a woman after Gods own heart. Deborah also.. So Mary being the greatest? I don't see how.

How about being chosen to raise the Greatest Man that ever lived?

Clearly, Jesus was God in human flesh. He was to only time God became
a Man. The woman who was chosen by God to have the Holy Spirit
come upon her and give birth to a Son. Clearly, Mary is the only virgin
who ever conceived a child prior to in vitro fertilization. She is the only
woman to ever have a child without the meeting of two gametes.

I believe that Mary is clearly the greatest woman who ever lived because
she actually took care of our Savior for us. She served the whole world
by serving Jesus who would grow up and provide salvation for us.

Let's not be blind to her role as an instrument of God's work and God's
work alone. What greater work is there than to cloth and protect and
nourish our Savior? Mary served us all by God's grace and by God's grace
alone, by being the instrument of God to raise His Holy Son. Not just
raise Jesus, but give birth to Him as well.

Mary served the whole world through her womb. By having the Savior
who would save the whole church of born-again believers grow inside
her and the fact that she actually feed Jesus - not only as a baby but
also in her body - she served the church with her earthly body in the
greatest way possible. This was by God's grace that she was the
greatest woman who ever lived...because she served the greatest.

 

[MrPolo]

We don't need to mention Mary in any of our prayers.... I believe that
it is possibly o.k. to talk to her IF she can hear you. I believe that this
should not be seen as a prayer, necessarily.

Remember, those who "pray" to saints do exactly what you say is ok...they are only "asking" that saint to intercede for them (like Paul did in Rom 15:30). The word "pray" means to ask. All Catholics, Orthodox, Anglican, etc... who "pray" to saints are only asking those saints to pray with them to the final end---God. It is no different than you asking me to pray for you.