Why Mary ?

[thecolorsblend]

I wonder why Catholics so focus on Mary, mother of Jesus, what is the hidden agenda behind this?

Is it a way to elevate the human status to be equal to God as The Pope as the middle man between God and human being?

Our Lady is of singular importance in history. Only she was selected to give birth to the savior. Nobody else can make that claim. God thought highly enough of her to give her that special gift.

Second, pointing out Our Lady's humanity also emphasizes Our Lord's divinity. And this is an important thing because in the first century, a lot of heresies were ultimately about denying the Incarnation. The heretics had a wide assortment of false doctrines to choose from but in the end they usually denied Our Lord's hypostatic union.

 

[johnnywong]

Our Lady is of singular importance in history. Only she was selected to give birth to the savior. Nobody else can make that claim. God thought highly enough of her to give her that special gift.

Second, pointing out Our Lady's humanity also emphasizes Our Lord's divinity. And this is an important thing because in the first century, a lot of heresies were ultimately about denying the Incarnation. The heretics had a wide assortment of false doctrines to choose from but in the end they usually denied Our Lord's hypostatic union.

I agree with you that she has great blessing from God.

However , many Christians now spending too much time on Mary rather than Jesus .


If I only have 10 min. to pray each day , I will rather spend all the time to pray to Jesus then pray to Mary ( Do you think Mary will be happy if we spend more time on praying to her then to Jesus ??).


It also cause confusion to the non-believers , once I was asked by non-believer :Can I be saved by believing in and praying to Mary ? Salvation is from Jesus alone !!

 

[thecolorsblend]

However , many Christians now spending too much time on Mary rather than Jesus .

That's an interesting ability you have there. I guess I always assumed that the judging of faith and souls of others would be done by God. It's a bit surprising to find you doing the job, I must say.

Salvation is from Jesus alone !!

Nobody has said otherwise. It's not an either/or proposition. Although Protestants sure try to make it one, bless their hearts.

Ages ago, my friend @Root of Jesse devised a pretty good formulation of the Protestant theological model over and against the Catholic model. I'm stealing it and using it here.

Protestant Zero Sum Theology:
There is one pie with only so many pieces in that pie. It's either all Our Lord or Our Lord has to share slices of that pie with other entities (Pope, Our Lady, Saints, priests). If the Pope is important, he somehow takes away from Our Lord. If Our Lady is important, she must be taking something away from Our Lord. This is the zero-sum problem. It's all about addition or subtraction: zero-sum.

Catholic Participation Theology:
Our Lord as a Divine Person of the Trinity can use creatures to magnify His power, grace and glory. So it's not about addition or subtraction, but about multiplication. The Pope doesn't subtract something from Our Lord. His office participates within Our Lord. Our Lady doesn't subtract something from Our Lord; instead her "soul magnifies the Lord."

It's not a zero-sum, either/or proposition.

 

[timothyu]

So churches building kingdoms of man on earth is merely multiplication of the Father's Kingdom even though they operate on opposing principles?

 

[Root of Jesse]

That's an interesting ability you have there. I guess I always assumed that the judging of faith and souls of others would be done by God. It's a bit surprising to find you doing the job, I must say.

Nobody has said otherwise. It's not an either/or proposition. Although Protestants sure try to make it one, bless their hearts.

Ages ago, my friend @Root of Jesse devised a pretty good formulation of the Protestant theological model over and against the Catholic model. I'm stealing it and using it here.

Protestant Zero Sum Theology:
There is one pie with only so many pieces in that pie. It's either all Our Lord or Our Lord has to share slices of that pie with other entities (Pope, Our Lady, Saints, priests). If the Pope is important, he somehow takes away from Our Lord. If Our Lady is important, she must be taking something away from Our Lord. This is the zero-sum problem. It's all about addition or subtraction: zero-sum.

Catholic Participation Theology:
Our Lord as a Divine Person of the Trinity can use creatures to magnify His power, grace and glory. So it's not about addition or subtraction, but about multiplication. The Pope doesn't subtract something from Our Lord. His office participates within Our Lord. Our Lady doesn't subtract something from Our Lord; instead her "soul magnifies the Lord."

It's not a zero-sum, either/or proposition.

Thank you sir. I'm sure you know I stole it, myself, though I can't remember from where.

 

[Root of Jesse]

So churches building kingdoms of man on earth is merely multiplication of the Father's Kingdom even though they operate on opposing principles?

If they operate on opposing principles, then no But Churches seldom build kingdoms on earth. Matter of fact, I know of no such churches that have done that. I think it's amazing how accurate the Pharisee scholar was...he said "If it's not of God, it will crumble on its own, but if it's of God, nothing will destroy it. " So far, the Catholic Church has survived 2000 years.

 

[johnnywong]

instead her "soul magnifies the Lord."

Why we need to magnifies the Lord ?

Are we stealing the glory from Jesus?

Do you know how large the damage it caused to the gospel ?


I am asked frequently from non-believers that we can be saved by believing in Saints and Mary not just Jesus !!!!

Otherwise why Catholic churches are full of images of Mary and the Saints !!


It is not magnifying , It is diminishing the Glory of God !!!

 

[Not David]

Why we need to magnifies the Lord ?

Are we stealing the glory from Jesus?

Do you know how large the damage it caused to the gospel ?


I am asked frequently from non-believers that we can be saved by believing in Saints and Mary not just Jesus !!!!

Otherwise why Catholic churches are full of images of Mary and the Saints !!


It is not magnifying , It is diminishing the Glory of God !!!

And Muslims say we don't worship one God because of the Trinity, we won't change stuff because of misunderstanding and ignorance.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Why we need to magnifies the Lord ?

Take it up with Our Lady, she's the one who said it.

Do you know how large the damage it caused to the gospel ?

I don't even understand what you're talking about.

I am asked frequently from non-believers that we can be saved by believing in Saints and Mary not just Jesus !!!!

Have you tried correcting their misunderstanding?

Otherwise why Catholic churches are full of images of Mary and the Saints !!

Many parishes are, yes.

It is not magnifying , It is diminishing the Glory of God !!!

To be fair, making a statue of God would be a tall order for anybody.

 

[johnnywong]

And Muslims say we don't worship one God because of the Trinity, we won't change stuff because of misunderstanding and ignorance.

Totally different topics ! This is not about misunderstanding and ignorance.

This is an open-mined discussion.

 

[johnnywong]

Have you tried correcting their misunderstanding?

Difficult to correct because they ask why so many Catholics have so many different idols to believe.

 

[thecolorsblend]

Difficult to correct because they ask why so many Catholics have so many different idols to believe.

You could try providing the historical characteristics of an idol:

01- A physical object...
02- ... made in the likeness of someone/something...
03- ... which is believed to literally be the person it depicts...
04- ... and is then worshiped as though it is God.

You could then explain that no Catholic statue meets all of those conditions and that therefore Catholic statues are not idols.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Why we need to magnifies the Lord ?

Are we stealing the glory from Jesus?

Do you know how large the damage it caused to the gospel ?


I am asked frequently from non-believers that we can be saved by believing in Saints and Mary not just Jesus !!!!

Otherwise why Catholic churches are full of images of Mary and the Saints !!


It is not magnifying , It is diminishing the Glory of God !!!

Catholic Churches are full of images of the saints who are in heaven. The Sanctuary is a representation of heaven.
Also, I don't care if non-believers just want to disparage what we believe. If they sincerely seek answers, that's different.
The gospels, which are the word of God, cannot be damaged. Our understanding, only, can be damaged.

No, not stealing any glory from Jesus, and your first question is why do we NEED to magnify the Lord? Why not ask Mary, herself? It's not that she needed to, but she DID.

 

[Jonaitis]

I wonder why Catholics so focus on Mary, mother of Jesus, what is the hidden agenda behind this?

Is it a way to elevate the human status to be equal to God as The Pope as the middle man between God and human being?

I just think it is so unnecessary, and it is frustrating to hear people talk so much about her. She is honored to be the one who carried Christ for 9 months, but people have turned this into something God did not intend. It is the weakness of man to be tempted to take their eyes off of Jesus and look to the creature... :/

 

[Not David]

I just think it is so unnecessary, and it is frustrating to hear people talk so much about her. She is honored to be the one who carried Christ for 9 months, but people have turned this into something God did not intend. It is the weakness of man to be tempted to take their eyes off of Jesus and look to the creature... :/

"All generations will call me blessed"

 

[FenderTL5]

...She is honored to be the one who carried Christ for 9 months...

First of all, she carried Christ more than 9 months, she likely carried him as an infant and at times as a toddler, most likely she taught him to speak and to walk.. she was His mother.
Yet, even still, we are to honor her not for those reasons, "rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."
Which is exactly what Mary did and why the scriptures indicate that All generations will call her blessed.

 

[Jonaitis]

"All generations will call me blessed"

And blessed she is!

 

[Jonaitis]

First of all, she carried Christ more than 9 months, she likely carried him as an infant and at times as a toddler, most likely she taught him to speak and to walk.. she was His mother.
Yet, even still, we are to honor her not for those reasons, "rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."
Which is exactly what Mary did and why the scriptures indicate that All generations will call her blessed.

She should only be talked about when we come to the account of the birth of Christ (and few places she is in the story).

 

[Not David]

And blessed she is!

She is blessed but you complain that we call her blessed and honor her.

 

[Jonaitis]

She is blessed but you complain that we call her blessed and honor her.

I complain that she is given too much attention.