Why don't protestants bless Mary?

[ToBeLoved]

So, when we ask each other to pray for us (mediate), we are blessing each other?

Praying for each other is in the Bible and we are instructed to do this for each other so that's not mediation.

 

[Standing Up]

Firstly, when we pray for each other, we are doing it as the spiritual bride of Christ, in one Spirit, that is, the body of Christ. So in this regard we are not mediating on each other's behalf, rather as one body in Christ, as it is written, where 2 or more are gathered in the Lord's name, we are petitioning our intentions through prayers, to the one mediator who is Christ.

Secondly, we are not blessing one another through our power, when we pray for others. Rather we are again petitioning to the one shepherd Christ Jesus to bless certain members within the body, so to fulfill the Lord's will.

Thirdly and lastly, the word bless can be used also to show high regard to one who is blessed, meaning Barack, which implies that we are putting the pride we have for the Lord, on display through our hearts. So when I say "blessed are you my Father, you alone know all things, blessed is your name forever!", this implies a Semitic form of supplication with the intent to glorify God.

Mary falls under the third usage of the word blessed, where we are glorifying God through his servant Mary.

We are the temple and Holy instruments within his Holy Temple and so we are glorifying the works of the Lord through members of his body.

One Old Testament prophet summed it up poetically as follows:



Now, allow me to contextualise this statement according to the New Testament believers.



To bless Mary is to glorify God. In fact to bless each other who do the Lord's marvellous works, we are glorifying God as we are all instruments, signs and symbols of his Holy works.

If we bless one another today, then we do not differentiate between the present and the departed members of Christ's body, who also glorify God, even though they are not around to do it themselves. So that leaves his present members to glorify God from Abraham down to the last member of his body who the sovereign Lord puts his marvellous works on display.

As Jesus said I go to my Father and if you ask in my name, greater works of the Father will manifest through you.

Now whether departed or present all are counted as living stones and if we nit pick who we want to bless in that regard, we are playing favouritism and not sincere in our praise of God.

Do we want to show insincerity to God by picking and choosing who we want to bless?

I don't think so!

So, we're all the same. What's the point of the thread, asking if people bless people?

 

[Standing Up]

Praying for each other is in the Bible and we are instructed to do this for each other so that's not mediation.

So, how is Mary's role different from other believers, or is it?

 

[ToBeLoved]

You realise that God blessed Saint Mary above all other women, right?

The thread states why don't Protestants bless Mary?

Who are we to not bless Mary if God blessed her, that is my statement of contention with all Protestants.

Lastly I am no Catholic and you must have misunderstood my previous post, thinking that I was endorsing Catholicism, which is obviously not the case, even though I love my Catholic brothers and sisters and that includes all brothers and sisters in Christ.

So I remain faithful to the word of the Lord and I say blessed is the womb that brought forth our King and saviour Jesus Christ.

So your definition of 'to bless Mary' is to say 'blessed is the womb that brought forth our King and Savior Jesus Christ'? Your not even supposedly blessing the person, but the womb? You do know since she is passed away that her body has returned to the dust of the earth?

What is 'blessing' to you?

When I bless someone it is a petition to God, for Him to bless this person and their life.

However, Mary is dead and in heaven. No tears, no sin, with Jesus. What blessing would we ask for someone who is dead? If they are dead their eternal destiny is already established. Either their name is in the Lamb's Book of Life or it is not.

 

[ToBeLoved]

So, how is Mary's role different from other believers, or is it?

Because she is no longer alive.

Deuteronomy 18:10-11
10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,5 anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord

1 Chronicles 10:13-14
13 So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. 14 He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Hebrews 9:27
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,


2 Corinthians 5:1–9
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ma house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

 

[Grafted In]

My mind's eye of the Catholic Church is a building lavishly adorned with statues, members taking communion, then its members leaving the building talking of nothing but Mary. The very fact that OP asked the question is (as I see it) proof that their biggest issue with the rest of the body of Christ is that they do not obsess over Mary.
The gospel according to the Catholic church is really the gospel of Mary, and thus idolotry.
It is beyond me how so many people around the world have been brainwashed to such an extent that they are blind to just how firmly they are held captive to a false gospel.
Many unsaved consider believers who talk about Jesus to be offensive and obnoxious. How can (so called) believers not understand that talking obsessibly about Mary is at least as obnoxious?
Then to go to the extreme of admonishing protestants for not following their example.....how did this come to be?

Where does this leave Jesus Christ?

 

[Aldebaran]

The spin around this is "they are dead" and cannot hear you. Sort of makes you wonder about all the dead people around the thrown in Revelations and what business they had being so alive.

It certainly isn't to have people pray to them so they can relay the prayer to Jesus, who then relays it to God the Father. Why would they have to do that if there is only one mediator--Jesus Christ?
When you die and go before the throne, do you think people are going to pray to you? Do you think it's your position to be prayed to?

 

[bbbbbbb]

My mind's eye of the Catholic Church is a building lavishly adorned with statues, members taking communion, then its members leaving the building talking of nothing but Mary. The very fact that OP asked the question is (as I see it) proof that their biggest issue with the rest of the body of Christ is that they do not obsess over Mary.
The gospel according to the Catholic church is really the gospel of Mary, and thus idolotry.
It is beyond me how so many people around the world have been brainwashed to such an extent that they are blind to just how firmly they are held captive to a false gospel.
Many unsaved consider believers who talk about Jesus to be offensive and obnoxious. How can (so called) believers not understand that talking obsessibly about Mary is at least as obnoxious?
Then to go to the extreme of admonishing protestants for not following their example.....how did this come to be?

Where does this leave Jesus Christ?

Where does this leave Jesus Christ? Where indeed? As I have observed time and again here at CF the Catholic concept of heaven has Jesus Christ as King with His Mother, Mary, as Queen, and the Holy Spirit as the Spouse of the Queen, Mary. God, the Father, has no place in their picture of heaven. I think the more telling question is what does the obsession with Mary do to God, the Father?

 

[Berean777]

So your definition of 'to bless Mary' is to say 'blessed is the womb that brought forth our King and Savior Jesus Christ'? Your not even supposedly blessing the person, but the womb? You do know since she is passed away that her body has returned to the dust of the earth?

What is 'blessing' to you?

When I bless someone it is a petition to God, for Him to bless this person and their life.

However, Mary is dead and in heaven. No tears, no sin, with Jesus. What blessing would we ask for someone who is dead? If they are dead their eternal destiny is already established. Either their name is in the Lamb's Book of Life or it is not.

In a western mindset this statement of yours can be perceived as you had mentioned below -

So your definition of 'to bless Mary' is to say 'blessed is the womb that brought forth our King and Savior Jesus Christ'? Your not even supposedly blessing the person, but the womb?

However believe it or not, the reference to Mary's womb is to glory God, regardless to whether the person is present with us or not. It is glorifying the intentions and will of God to use the womb of Mary to achieve his master piece for the salvation of man kind is what is being glorified by my statement.

For example blessed is the day of Pentecost that in dwelled us with the Spirit of truth.

In this instance that day has also passed, even though I don't know when it was, rather the intent and purpose of the statement is to recall that day in particular which ever day that was, with reference to the Holy works of God through thr Spirit of truth, even though we were not even alive back then. This applies in the same way I say blessed is the womb that brought forth our Lord and saviour.

It would be like blessed is the day that God gave me life and brought me into this world. Again it is a reflection statement that serves to remind us of the purpose and wonderful works of God.

 

[Berean777]

So, we're all the same. What's the point of the thread, asking if people bless people?

People blessing people to highlight the wonderful works of God. When we bless Mary upon reflection we are glorying the works of God and this is the intended purpose. It is a form of prayer that the western mindset has not discerned yet grasped, even after we are 2000 years and counting, into the Christian new covenant age.

Maybe one day the western mind will finally understand what prayers by supplications / reflections really mean and they can communicate with God through such devotional prayers.

 

[Panevino]

My mind's eye of the Catholic Church is a building lavishly adorned with statues, members taking communion, then its members leaving the building talking of nothing but Mary. The very fact that OP asked the question is (as I see it) proof that their biggest issue with the rest of the body of Christ is that they do not obsess over Mary.
The gospel according to the Catholic church is really the gospel of Mary, and thus idolotry.
It is beyond me how so many people around the world have been brainwashed to such an extent that they are blind to just how firmly they are held captive to a false gospel.
Many unsaved consider believers who talk about Jesus to be offensive and obnoxious. How can (so called) believers not understand that talking obsessibly about Mary is at least as obnoxious?
Then to go to the extreme of admonishing protestants for not following their example.....how did this come to be?

Where does this leave Jesus Christ?

there seems to be no understanding of a Catholic mass here

 

[bbbbbbb]

there seems to be no understanding of a Catholic mass here

I agree, but then, I have encountered various aspects of the Catholic mass from my Catholic friends. It seems to be quite multi-faceted.

 

[Standing Up]

People blessing people to highlight the wonderful works of God. When we bless Mary upon reflection we are glorying the works of God and this is the intended purpose. It is a form of prayer that the western mindset has not discerned yet grasped, even after we are 2000 years and counting, into the Christian new covenant age.

Maybe one day the western mind will finally understand what prayers by supplications / reflections really mean and they can communicate with God through such devotional prayers.

Ummm, I doubt this has anything to do with a western mindset. Folks I know ask other folks to pray for each other all the time. The split has to do with asking the dead in Christ to pray. EO does that, as do RC. So, it has zip to do with a "superior" mindset that the west supposedly lacks, but rather a P and EO/RC difference.

PS. E of EO stands for Eastern.

 

[Bryan G]

I will disagree with you that she is an ordinary person, just like you and me. The fact remains out of all the women that were born or will ever be born Mary was the favoured. In other words Mary was singled out as the better of any person for the important role that brought humanity salvation.

Can I or you say that we were favoured or better than other men and women?

No! So we are not like her at alll. We are generic branded friend whilst Mary has the brand special written all over her in spades.

Finally to bless someone does not mean that you need the authority to bless. The word bless in Aramaic or Hebrew is Barack which we say continuously to God himself. For example Blessed are you God almighty. In no why are we imparting our blessing over God rather we are faithfully testifying that God is the blessed one. This would be related to his Holiness. Like Jesus is the Christ or annointed one by God, so the word Barack/blessed has the same meaning.

When we say Mary is blessed we are testifying in agreement with God that Mary is Holy because in her was the Holy One. In that respect if in our hearts we don't want to bless Mary, then there is on display an act of contention with God, which implies disagreement with him. So when we don't bless or at least acknowledge Mary is Holy, then we are placing ourself in disagreement with God. In this case we are deemed silent objectors which is what it equates to friend.

This is your opinion, not one Bible reference, not one Bible verse. I know the Bible says she is favored, but show me one verse to back up anything you said. Show me one thing about us blessing Marry, or saying she's blessed.

David was called a man after God's own heart, do you say anything about him?
Mary was a sinner like us:
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
This verse does not say all except a few, or all except Mary.

Show me ONE verse that tells us we should say anything about Mary.
"So when we don't bless or at least acknowledge Mary is Holy, then we are placing ourself in disagreement with God."
Just because I don't say it, does not mean I don't acknowledge it.

"Can I or you say that we were favoured or better than other men and women?"
Do you know the mind of God? How do you know if someone today isn't favored?
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Mary was the only one favored, I know there were others, like Abraham, Noah, David and I'm sure all the disciples/apostles. I'm sure Danial was favored, how about Moses?

As I said, the things we need to do are told to us like to love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells us to perform Communion, we are told we should be spreading the gospel. While I agree, Mary was favored, the Bible does not tell us to do anything or say anything about it.

 

[Berean777]

Ummm, I doubt this has anything to do with a western mindset. Folks I know ask other folks to pray for each other all the time. The split has to do with asking the dead in Christ to pray. EO does that, as do RC. So, it has zip to do with a "superior" mindset that the west supposedly lacks, but rather a P and EO/RC difference.

PS. E of EO stands for Eastern.

The rule is that workers are bound by our earthly realm. That is the departed cannot help you if you pray to them, for they have been substituted out of the vineyard of God and are priests before Christ.

 

[Grafted In]

there seems to be no understanding of a Catholic mass here

I'm not even going to respond to that.

 

[ToBeLoved]

In a western mindset this statement of yours can be perceived as you had mentioned below -



However believe it or not, the reference to Mary's womb is to glory God, regardless to whether the person is present with us or not. It is glorifying the intentions and will of God to use the womb of Mary to achieve his master piece for the salvation of man kind is what is being glorified by my statement.

For example blessed is the day of Pentecost that in dwelled us with the Spirit of truth.

In this instance that day has also passed, even though I don't know when it was, rather the intent and purpose of the statement is to recall that day in particular which ever day that was, with reference to the Holy works of God through thr Spirit of truth, even though we were not even alive back then. This applies in the same way I say blessed is the womb that brought forth our Lord and saviour.

It would be like blessed is the day that God gave me life and brought me into this world. Again it is a reflection statement that serves to remind us of the purpose and wonderful works of God.

I guess, but there are a lot of hurting people in this world that need prayer and the love of Jesus Christ. I will not be sitting around blessing a womb or day or person who has passed away.

Jesus told Peter, three times that if he loved Him than he would feed His sheep.

You should think about it.

 

[Bryan G]

It certainly isn't to have people pray to them so they can relay the prayer to Jesus, who then relays it to God the Father. Why would they have to do that if there is only one mediator--Jesus Christ?
When you die and go before the throne, do you think people are going to pray to you? Do you think it's your position to be prayed to?

I was with you up to "when you die and go before the throne".
That is another false teaching of catholics, but not just them, also most protestant churches teach that same lie.
First, has the judgment day come? No, it hasn't
So, how can anyone go to heaven if judgment day hasn't come?

The Bible tells us that when we die, it's as if we're asleep.
1 Thess. 4:13-18. 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

This clearly shows that we will meet up with Jesus upon his return, "and the dead in Christ shall rise first", this cannot happen if they are already in heaven....

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.

Some use Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man to show some go to hell when they die, but they don't understand, it's just a parable, a made up story to make point, to teach something.

 

[Berean777]

I guess, but there are a lot of hurting people in this world that need prayer and the love of Jesus Christ. I will not be sitting around blessing a womb or day or person who has passed away.

Jesus told Peter, three times that if he loved Him than he would feed His sheep.

You should think about it.

Don't let me stop you from praying for others. What you do is good fpr the body of Christ, so I encourage you to continue.

God bless

 

[bbbbbbb]

I was with you up to "when you die and go before the throne".
That is another false teaching of catholics, but not just them, also most protestant churches teach that same lie.
First, has the judgment day come? No, it hasn't
So, how can anyone go to heaven if judgment day hasn't come?

The Bible tells us that when we die, it's as if we're asleep.
1 Thess. 4:13-18. 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

This clearly shows that we will meet up with Jesus upon his return, "and the dead in Christ shall rise first", this cannot happen if they are already in heaven....

Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.

Some use Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man to show some go to hell when they die, but they don't understand, it's just a parable, a made up story to make point, to teach something.

Paul said that he longed to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, not absent from the body and resting in soul sleep.