Critique of HAIL, HOLY QUEEN by Scott Hahn
Chapter 5 – From Typing to Teaching
The Mother is the Message
The study of biblical typology can easily consume an avid reader – or an amateur detective. It’s fascinating to search out the ways in which, as Saint Augustine said, the New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New. Typology uncovers a hidden dimension to every page of the scriptures; careful study shows us that God writes history the way men write words, and that He is an author of supremely subtle artistry and meticulous craft. He wastes no words in revelation; nothing is incidental or accidental in God’s providence.
Note: Bad typology will lead to erroneous conclusions.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 1 Corinthians 1:18-20
Note: Jesus Christ is the message not Mary.
Typology is liberating. It frees us from the slavish reading of biblical texts in isolation from all other biblical texts and in isolation from Tradition. Typology can also be illuminating, revealing the richness of passages that had formerly seemed obscure or trivial.
Note: Bad typology will lead to erroneous conclusions.
And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:17-21
Note: Jesus Christ is the message not Mary.
Yet typology has its own pitfalls, and its abuses have led some scholars far afield and others into heresy. To avoid these excesses, it’s important that we be clear about our purposes, that we begin with an end in mind. When we read scripture in a typological way, we’re not trying to crack a code, or solve a puzzle, or impose our own fanciful visions on the inspired word. We’re trying to encounter a person. We want to know God, His ways, His plan, His chosen people – and His mother.
Note: Dark age traditions will lead to erroneous conclusions.
I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” John 8:18-19
Note: Jesus Christ is the message not Mary.
Thus we want to avoid a danger I call atomism – concentrating on biblical types in isolation, as if they were disconnected metaphors or individual specimens in a laboratory dish. Nor are we talking about some occult system of symbols when we consider the typology of Eve, the ark of the covenant, and the queen mother. We’re looking at creatures ordained by providence to come to fulfillment in a real, historical person. Just as Isaac, Moses, and David were real people who foreshadowed the divine Messiah, Jesus, so Eve, and the ark, and the queen mother give us glimpses of the great reality that is Mary.
Note: The great reality is that God hates dark age Roman Catholic traditions that are pagan.
The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. Jeremiah 7:18
She, then, must be our goal as we study her types. For she was and she remains a real, living person; and a person is an irreducible mystery, not the sum of his or her symbols. Paul was moved by the way Jesus was foreshadowed in Adam; but Paul was in love with Jesus Christ. So we must come to know and love Mary herself as she is Illuminated by her biblical types.
Note: Dark age traditions will lead to erroneous conclusions.
Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Ephesians 6:24
Note: Jesus Christ is the message not Mary.
This is not something optional for Christians. It is not something ornamental in the gospel. Mary is – in a real, abiding, and spiritual sense – our mother. If we are to know the mother whom we share with Jesus Christ. Without her, our understanding of the gospel will be, at best, partial. Without her, our understanding of salvation can never be familial. It will be stalled out in the old covenant, where God’s fatherhood was considered to be metaphorical, and man’s sonship was more like servility.
Note: Dark age traditions will lead to erroneous conclusions.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Note: The Christian Gospel is only about Jesus Christ.
Who is this woman, then – this mother, this chosen vessel of God and of all believers? She is a historical person, and the Church has carefully preserved certain historical facts about her in the scriptural accounts and in the form of dogmas.
Note: Roman Catholic dogmas left out facts about Mary and her children.
When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So, they were offended at Him. Matthew 13:54-57
Note: Dark age traditions will lead to erroneous conclusions.
Keeping the Faith
What is dogma? A useful definition comes from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who wrote that “dogma is by definition nothing other than an interpretation of Scripture.” The cardinal’s insight was confirmed by the Church’s International Theological Commission in its 1989 document On the Interpretation of Dogmas: “In the dogma of the Church, one is thus concerned with the correct interpretation of the Scriptures.” Dogma, then, is the Church’s infallible exegesis of scripture.
Note: Roman Catholic dogmas left out facts about Mary and her children.
Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35
Note: Dark age traditions will lead to erroneous conclusions.
There are certain facts of Mary’s life that the Bible teaches explicitly. Her virginal conception of Jesus, for example, is put forth clearly and unequivocally in Luke’s gospel (1:34-35). Other facts are implicit in the biblical text, but have always been taught by the Church, such as Mary’s assumption into heaven and her immaculate conception. The truth of these implicit facts is no less important for our understanding of the gospel. In fact, implicit details are often more important to a narrative, because they show us what the narrator takes for granted. Though these details – assumptions, if you will – remains unspoken, they make up the fabric in which the narrative is woven. Without their tacit presence, the narrative disintegrates.
Note: Roman Catholic dogmas left out facts about Mary and her children.
Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.” Luke 8:19-21
Note: Dark age traditions will lead to erroneous conclusions.
Thus, down through the centuries, the Church has carefully preserved, protected, and defended its Marian teachings, because to give them up would be to give up the gospel. To suppress them would be to deprive God’s family of its mother. Without the dogmas, Mary becomes unreal: a random female body from Nazareth, insignificant in her individuality, incidental to the gospel’s narrative. And when Mary becomes unreal, so does the incarnation of God, which depended upon Mary’s consent; so does the suffering flesh of Christ, which He took from His mother; so does the Christian’s status as a child of God, which depends upon our sharing in the household and family of Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Mary.
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:32-34
Note: John the Baptist bore witness of Jesus Christ not Mary.
Together with the scriptural accounts, the Church’s Marian dogmas keep us close to the incarnate reality of God’s family. Again, for a believing Christian, neither the dogmas nor the types should be abstractions or metaphors. They are aspects of a living person, our mother.
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. Jeremiah 44:15-17
Note: God hates the pagan Marian doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.
Consider the Christian example of Saint John of Damascus, a Father of the Church who loved the scriptures so much that he moved to Jerusalem in order to live within their landscape. He knew, in a profound way, all the Old Testament types of Mary and Jesus. And he knew the facts of Mary’s life, including those that had not yet been officially declared as dogmas. Around 740 A.D., he preached three homilies on Mary’s assumption into heaven, and he incorporated many of the dogmas of the Church and the types we’ve discussed in this book: the new Eve, the ark of the covenant, the queen mother. Yet all the while, John never preached about ideas; he interpreted the scriptures as he preached about a person, a person who had been taken by God to heaven.
Note: It is written that Mary will not precede other believers to heaven.
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 will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 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. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
His evocation of Mary’s reception into heaven is especially telling. “David her forefather, and her father in God, dances with joy.” He said, “and the angels dance with him, and the archangels applaud.” In imagining this scene, John did not see King David dancing around a dogma, or around a metaphor for the ark of the covenant (2 Sam 6:14). Rather, John saw David dancing out of love for a person, who was his daughter and yet his mother.
Note: The Apostle John gives a Scriptural vision of heaven that does not mention Mary.
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5:11-12
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
It is, however, dogma – the Church’s infallible interpretation of scripture – that enables us to see this real mother as clearly as David did. For the dogmas are facts of faith that preserve a certain vision of God’s family.
Note: It is written that the Apostle John gives a vision of heaven that does not mention Mary.
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Revelation 5:13
Note: Only the Father and Son receive glory in heaven.
God’s Plan of Salvation: Immaculately Conceived
The immaculate conception is the doctrine that God preserved Mary free from all stain of original sin. From the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, then, she lived in a state of sanctifying grace won for her by the merits of her son, Jesus. Thus the angel’s greeting to Mary, “Hail, full of grace,” was uttered years before Jesus won grace for mankind. Yet Mary was, even then, “full of grace.”
Note: Mary was infected with original sin as she had a natural father.
Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Luke 2:22-24
Note: Mary abided by the law of Moses and offered a sacrifice for sin.
Cardinal John Henry Newman taught that the immaculate conception was an important corollary to Mary’s role as the New Eve. He asked: “If Eve was raised above human nature by that indwelling moral gift which we call grace, is it rash to say that Mary had even a greater grace? …. And if Eve had this supernatural inward gift given her from the first moment of her personal existence, is it possible to deny that Mary too had this gift from the very first moment of her personal existence?”
Note: It is written that any sinner can receive grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; Romans 1:1-5
Note: Jesus Christ is the message not Mary.
Newman also found it fitting for Christ to be born of a sinless mother. Mary was no mere instrument in God’s dispensation. The Word of God … did not merely pass through her, as He may pass through us in Holy Communion. It was no heavenly body which the Eternal Son assumed …. No, He imbibed, He sucked up her blood and her substance into His Divine Person. He became man from her, and received her lineaments and her features as the appearance and character under which He should manifest Himself to the world. He was known, doubtless, by His likeness to her, to be her Son … Was It not fitting … that the Eternal Father should prepare her for this ministration by some preeminent sanctification?
Note: Jesus Christ was never infected with the sinfulness of this world.
When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:1-4
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
The immaculate conception was a commonplace of the early Church. Saint Ephrem of Syria testified to it in the fourth century, as did Saint Augustine in the fifth. Augustine put the doctrine in its proper, familial context, saying that it would be an offense against Jesus to say that His mother was a sinner. All have sinned, said Augustine, “except the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom, for the honor of the Lord, I wish no question to be raised at all, when we are treating of sins. After all, how do we know wheat greater degree of grace for a complete victory over sin was conferred on her who merited to conceive and bring forth Him Who all admit was without sin.”
Note: Mary was a sinner who Jesus Christ considered lesser than John the Baptist.
As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’ Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:7-11
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
While in the West theologians have taught the doctrine somewhat negatively, emphasizing Mary’s sinlessness, the Eastern churches have always put the accent, instead, on her abundant holiness. The affectionate colloquial term for her is Panagia, the All-Holy; for everthing in her is holy.
Note: Eastern churches fell into error during the Apostolic era.
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Galatians 3:1-4
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Still, the Church did not make a dogmatic pronouncement on the immaculate conception until 1854. In the meantime, some Christians – even some saints – worried that to say that Mary’s sinlessness proceeded from the moment of her conception would somehow nullify her human nature or Christ’s saving work. Yet Pope Pius IX addressed these concerns completely as he solemnly defined the dogma “that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of Original Sin.”
Note: Saint Paul disagrees with Roman Catholic dogmas.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned — For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. Romans 5:12-14
Note: According to Roman Catholic tradition, Mary lived and died near Ephesus.
That’s less than a single sentence, but it’s densely packed with teaching. Pope Pius makes it clear that the immaculate conception is a unique (“singular”) grace of God, just as the incarnation of Jesus is a unique event in history. Next, he states unequivocally that this singular grace was won for Mary by Jesus Christ, her Savior. And finally, the pope emphasizes that the immaculate conception is a divine act of preservation – a work of God, and not a work of Mary herself.
Note: Pope Pius IX was wrong on many subjects.
Pius definitively reaffirmed Catholic teaching in favor of the establishment of the Catholic faith as the state religion in nations where the majority of the population is Catholic. However, his most important legacy is the First Vatican Council, convened in 1869, which defined the dogma of papal infallibility, but was interrupted as Italian nationalist troops threatened Rome. The council is considered to have contributed to a centralization of the church in the Vatican, while also clearly defining the Pope's doctrinal authority. Many recent ecclesiastical historians and journalists question his approaches. Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
The immaculate conception, then, was a fruit of the redemption applied to Mary by way of anticipation; for the redemption was always in view for the eternal God, Who is not bound by time as we are. Thus, Christ’s redemption applies to you and me, though we could not be there at Calvary – and it applied to Mary at the moment of her creation, though Christ’s saving death was still years away. Her redemption was an act of preservation, while for all others it is an act of deliverance.
Note: It is written that all believers have been redeemed from wrath by Jesus Christ.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. Ephesians 1:7-10
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Even today, we can see that Christ, in an analogous way, rescues some sinners by deliverance and others by preservation. Some people turn away from sinful habits, such as shoplifting, drug abuse, or adultery, after they receive the grace of conversion. But others reject sin habitually from an early age because God has given them the grace of a good upbringing in a Christian family. Either way, by preservation or deliverance, redemption is a work of God. In His providential plan, He found it fitting that Mary should be preserved from sin completely, all the days of her life.
Note: It is written that all believers are preserved for eternal life by Jesus Christ.
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 1:1-2
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
If Mary was sinless, did she really need Jesus to redeem her? Yes, she did. Her singular preservation could not have taken place without the redemption won for all men by Jesus. Jesus is God, and so He is both our creator and our redeemer. In the very act of creating Mary, he redeemed her from any limitations of human nature or susceptibility to sin. She is a creature, but she is His mother, and He has perfectly fulfilled the commandment to honor her. He honored her in a way that is singularly beautiful.
Note: It is written that all believers have been redeemed from wrath by Jesus Christ.
For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:22-26
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Fetal Attraction
As we pray the Hail Mary, we echo one of the most ancient titles Christians have given to Mary: Mother of God (in Greek, Theotokos, literally “God-bearer”). As early as the third century (and probably earlier), the Church in Egypt prayed: “We fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God …” Early Fathers such as Saint Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Saint Alexander called upon Mary as “Mother of God” or its equivalent, “Mother of the Lord.” This prayer of Christians follows Elizabeth’s inspired greeting of Mary, her kinswoman: “And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).
Note: A question to a human being is not a prayer to God.
In this manner,
therefore,
pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom
come. Your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give
us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our
debtors. And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and
the power
and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
With such scriptural precedent, the title “Mother of God” went uncontested in the first centuries of the Church. Moreover, the statement follows logically from a Christian’s necessary acknowledgment of Christ’s divinity. If He is God and Mary is His mother, then she is the Mother of God.
Note: Churches went into error during the apostolic era.
Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. Revelation 2:4-5
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
The traditional use of “Mother of God” depended upon a theological principle called the communication of idioms. According to this principle, whatever one says about either of Christ’s natures can be said truly of Christ Himself; for the two natures, divine and human, were united in Him, in one person. Thus, for example, Christians can boldly say that God the Son died on the cross at Calvary, even though God is surely immortal. Thus, too, Christians have always maintained that God was born in a manager in Bethlehem, even though God is surely eternal.
Note: “Mother of God” phrase is not found in Scripture.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
In the fifth century, however, some theologians began to raise scruples about the title “Mother of God,” worrying that it implied Mary was somehow the “originator” of God. They could accept the title “Mother of Christ,” they said, but not “Mother of God.” They further argued against the unity of Christ’s natures, saying that the Virgin gave birth to Christ’s human nature but not His divine nature.
Note: Churches went into error during the apostolic era.
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. Revelation 2:14-16
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
The Church disagreed, and Mary’s title was vigorously defended by Pope Celestine I, who drew strong support from Saint Cyril of Alexandria, a leading theologian of the day. Cyril pointed out that a mother does not give birth to a nature; she gives birth to a person. Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, Who was and is a divine person. Though Mary did not originate God, she most certainly bore Him. She “mothered” Him.
Note: Churches went into error during the apostolic era.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. Revelation 2:20-23
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
To us, the dispute might seem abstract and academic, but its progress consumed the attention even of ordinary Christians in the fifth century, stirring them to more fervent devotion. History tells us that when Pope Celestine convoked the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) in order to settle the “Mother of God” controversy, Christians thronged the city, awaiting word of the bishops’ decision. When the bishops read the council’s proclamation that Mary was indeed the Mother of God, the people gave way to their joy and celebrated by carrying the bishops (all two hundred of them!) aloft through the streets in a torchlit procession.
Note: Besides glorifying Mary, the Council of Ephesus completely eliminated the literal interpretation of eschatology.
In addition to its condemnation of Nestorianism, the council also condemned Pelagianism, and rejected premillennialism (Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Papias, Tertullian, Origen, Lactantius) in favor of amillennialism (Clement of Alexandria, Chrysostom, Jerome and Alexandria, Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo): “Augustine's explanation became Church doctrine when it was adopted as the definitive explanation of the millennium by the Council of Ephesus in 431.” Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Think, for a moment, about the intensity of the affection those believers felt for the Blessed Virgin Mary – to sojourn to the city of the council, to wait outdoors for the bishops’ decree, then to spend the night in celebration, all because this woman had received her due honor. They would not act this way out of love for an academic argument. Nor would they celebrate the triumph of a metaphor. I daresay they would not make the perilous journey to Ephesus for the sake of any other mother: only for their own. For their own mother was also the Mother of God.
Note: Ephesus had been the center of goddess worship for a thousand years.
The Temple of Artemis, also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis (associated with Diana, a Roman goddess). It was located in Ephesus (near the modern town of Selçukin present-day Turkey). It was completely rebuilt twice, once after a devastating flood and three hundred years later after an act of arson, and in its final form was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
When we call Mary “Mother of God,” we share that long-ago joy. For bound up in that phrase is the astonishing fact that we are children of God. We are brothers and sisters of Mary’s Son – the God-man – and not just His human nature!
Note: Christians are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Once a Virgin, Always a Virgin
The gospels of Matthew and Luke leave no room for doubt that Mary was a virgin at the time she conceived the Son of God (Mt 1:18; Lk 1:34-35; 3:23). Of course, the early Fathers and creeds all uphold the truth of the virginal conception. Why has the Church always insisted that Christians believe in Jesus “born of the Virgin Mary”? Because Mary’s virginal motherhood is the guarantor of both Jesus’ divinity and His humanity. Saint Thomas Aquinas summed it up: “In order that Christ’s body might be shown that His Godhead might be made clear, He was born of virgin.” As we have seen in previous chapters, Mary’s virginity is crucial also to Tradition’s understanding of her as the New Eve.
Note: Jesus Christ came from God and not from a human father is the significance of being born by a virgin.
“You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. John 8:41-43
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Thus, from the beginning of the Church, Mary’s name has almost always appeared with a modifier: “virgin.” In the Apostles’ Creed, in the Nicene Creed, in the early baptismal creeds of Rome and Africa, believers have consistently professed belief in Jesus “born of the Virgin Mary.” For the first Christians, to believe in Jesus was to believe in Mary’s virginity.
Note: It is written that the Christian confession does not include Mary.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. Hebrews 3:1-3
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Indeed, Mary’s identity is incomplete without the word “virgin.” She is “the Virgin Mary.” Virginity is not merely a characteristic of her personality, or a description of her biological state. Virginity is so much a part of her that it has become like a name. When literature or songs refer to “the Virgin” or “the Blessed Virgin,” it can mean only one person: Mary.
Note: It is written that the Christian confession does not include Mary.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
“Virgin” is, once and always, who she is. Thus the church has constantly taught that Mary preserved her virginity not only before the conception of Jesus, but ever afterward as well. Though she was married to Joseph, the two never consummated their marriage by sexual intercourse. This doctrine is known as Mary’s perpetual virginity.
Note: It is written that Joseph and Mary had sex after the birth of Jesus Christ.
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. Matthew 1:24-25
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Heretics in the early Church occasionally challenged this teaching, but they never gained much ground. Their purportedly scriptural arguments were easily refuted by the likes of Saint Jerome, the great biblical scholar of the ancient church. (Jerome was also a great name-caller, and he reserved his most scathing insults for those who dared to question Mary’s perpetual virginity.) What were the arguments of these heretics?
Note: Jerome’s errors were based on his ascetic lifestyle and not on Scripture.
In Rome (c. 383) Jerome wrote a passionate counterblast against the teaching of Helvidius, in defense of the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary and of the superiority of the single over the married state. An opponent of a somewhat similar nature was Jovinianus, with whom he came into conflict in 392 (Adversus Jovinianum, Against Jovinianus) and the defense of this work addressed to his friend Pammachius, numbered 48 in the letters). Once more he defended the ordinary practices of piety and his own ascetic ethics in 406 against the Gallic presbyter Vigilantius, who opposed the cultus of martyrs and relics, the vow of poverty, and clerical celibacy. Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
The bulk of their arguments rested on the New Testament passages that refer to Jesus’ “brethren.” We find in Saint Mark’s gospel, for example: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?” (6:3). In Matthew 12:46, we see: “Behold, His mother and His brethren stood outside, asking to speak to Him.” In Luke 2:7, we read that Jesus was Mary’s “first-born.”
Note: The family of Jesus Christ tried to interrupt His ministry and were not in the will of God.
While He was still talking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:46-50
Note: Jesus Christ made a distinction between literal and spiritual families.
This is virtually a nonissue for anyone who has a glancing familiarity with Hebrew customs. The Hebrew word for “brother” is a more inclusive term, applying to cousins as well. In fact, in ancient Hebrew there is no word for cousin. To a Jew of Jesus’ time, one’s cousin was one’s brother. This familiar principle applied in other Semitic languages as well, such as Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Furthermore, precisely because Jesus was an only child, His cousins would even assume the legal status of siblings for Him, as they were His nearest relatives. Finally, the word “firstborn” raises no real difficulty, because it was a legal term in ancient Israel that applied to the child who “opened the womb,” whether or not the mother bore more children afterward.
Note: Jesus Christ never referred to His cousin John the Baptist as his “brother.”
When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’ For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Luke 7:24-28
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
This is a classic example of amateur exegesis. It was definitively and easily leveled by a professional biblical scholar. Responding to Helvidius, Jerome demonstrated that scripture “often uses a fixed time … to denote time without limitation, as when God by the mouth of the prophet says to certain persons, ‘Even to old age I am He” (Is 46:4).” Jerome thundered on: “Will He cease to be God when they have grown old?” The answer, of course, is no. Jerome goes on, then, to quote Jesus, Who said: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). Wryly, Jerome asked Helvidius if he thought the Lord would then forsake His disciples after the close of the age. Jerome multiples such examples, but we don’t need to repeat them here. Suffice it to say that those who question Mary’s virginity don’t have a page of scripture to stand on – and Christian Tradition is univocally against it.
Note: Ascetic Jerome should have married to have a balanced view of Scripture as Pope Peter had a wife.
Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So, He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. Matthew 8:14-15
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
If they wanted to find a message implicit in scripture, they should have examined the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. There, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary – who was then betrothed to Joseph – and tells her that she will conceive a son. Mary responds: “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” (Lk 1:27-34) Now, this would be an odd question if Mary had planned to have normal marital relations with her husband. The angel had told her only that she would conceive a son, which is a commonplace event in marriage. If Helvidius were right, then Mary should have known exactly “how shall this be.” It would happen in the normal course of nature.
Note: Being betrothed or engaged is not being married.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
But that, apparently, was beyond the realm of possibility for her. The unspoken assumption behind her question is that, even though she was betrothed, she should not have an opportunity to conceive a child. How can that be? Some commentators speculate that Mary must have vowed virginity from an early age, and that Joseph knew of her vow, accepted it, and eventually took it on himself. Contrarians respond that vowed celibacy was almost unheard of in ancient Israel. Yet we do find examples of celibacy in the time of Jesus, evidenced in the New Testament by Jesus Himself and by Saint Paul, among others. The Dead Sea Scrolls attest that celibacy was a common practice of some Israelite sects. So it is not unthinkable that Mary could have vowed virginity.
Note: Roman Catholic priests should be married to have a balanced view of Scripture as Pope Peter had a wife.
Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. So, He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them. Mark 1:29-31
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
In any case, it is clear from scripture and Tradition that she lived her virginity – so much that, for all future generations, she became its very personification. Saint Epiphanius dismissed all arguments against Mary’s virginity with the witness of her name. Even in his day (the fourth century), she was well established as simply “the Virgin.” A good son firmly defends his mother’s honor – though most of the time, he need not do so with long and labored argument. Still, there is a place for proofs as well; and sons of Mary can, if challenged, take up the Scriptures in her defense, as Jerome did.
Note: Ascetic Jerome should have married to have a balanced view of Scripture as Pope Peter had a wife.
Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. So, He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. Luke 4:38-39
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
A Gratuitous Assumption
Earlier we established that Christ honored His mother by preserving her from sin from the first moment of her life. That would be glory enough, but we know that He didn’t stop there. As she received redemption as a first fruit of Christ’s work, so she also received bodily resurrection and heavenly glory. We see this in the scripture: “And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1). Christ brought the ark of the new covenant to dwell in the holy of holies in the temple of the heavenly Jerusalem. This fact we profess as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the end of her earthly days, Mary was taken up, body and soul, into heaven.
Note: The blasphemy of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not in Scripture.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. Hebrews 6:1-3
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
Documentary evidence of the assumption stretches back to the fourth century. By the end of the sixth century, the doctrine and the feast day were already universally established in the Church. There is no evidence that the teaching was seriously challenged or disputed during the period of the Fathers; nor did any church or city ever claim to own the relics of the Blessed Virgin. That, in itself, is quite remarkable. In the early Church, cities and churches vied with one another for possession of the bones of the great apostles and martyrs. If Mary’s bones had remained on earth, they would, of course, have been the grand prize. The search for her relics and their transfer from city to city would have been well attested. But again, the historical record shows not a hint of a Marian reliquary – aside from her empty tomb. (And two cities claim that prize!)
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
The body of the legendary Eurystheus was also supposed to protect Athens from enemy attack, and in Thebes, that of the prophet Amphiaraus, whose cult was oracular and healing. Plutarch narrates transferrals similar to that of Theseus for the bodies of the historical Demetrius I of Macedon and Phocion the Good The bones or ashes of Aesculapius at Epidaurus, and of Perdiccas I at Macedon, were treated with the deepest veneration. Wikipedia Encyclopedia
The most reliable surviving testimonies of the assumption come from the sixth-century Saint Gregory of Tours. Earlier documents, such as the fourth-century Passing of Mary, testify to her assumption, but with descriptions that are perhaps too fanciful and extravagant to be believed. We can accept them as testimony to the doctrine without accepting them as authoritative in the small details.
Note: The Passing of Mary is pure nonsense and blasphemy.
In the second year, therefore, after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most blessed Virgin Mary continued always in prayer day and night. And on the third day before she passed away, an angel of the Lord came to her, and saluted her, saying: Hail, Mary, full of grace! the Lord be with thee. And she answered, saying: Thanks to God. Again he said to her: Receive this palm which the Lord promised to thee. And she, giving thanks to God, with great joy received from the hand of the angel the palm sent to her. The angel of the Lord said to her: Thy assumption will be after three days. And she answered: Thanks to God. Then she called Joseph of the city of Arimathæa, and the other disciples of the Lord; and when they, both relations and acquaintances, were assembled, she announced her departure to all standing there. Then the blessed Mary washed herself, and dressed herself like a queen, and waited the advent of her Son, as He had promised to her. And she asked all her relations to keep beside her, and give her comfort. And she had along with her three virgins, Sepphora, Abigea, and Zaël; but the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ had been already dispersed throughout the whole world to preach to the people of God. Then at the third hour there were great thunders, and rains, and lightnings, and tribulation, and an earthquake, while queen Mary was standing in her chamber. Passing of Mary
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.
A great theologian and biblical scholar, Saint John of Damascus, left us the most trustworthy and enduring legacy of the assumption. We mentioned earlier that John’s three homilies weave together all the biblical types discussed in this book into a single portrait of a mother in heaven. He refers especially to the liturgical readings for the feast and its vigil. They are the same readings the Church uses today.
Note: There is no portrait of a queen mother in heaven.
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Revelation 4:1-5
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.
What do they show us? They show that Christians have always venerated Mary as the Ark of the Covenant. John draws extensively from 1 Chronicles 15, in which King David assembles all Israel to bring the ark of the Lord to its resting place in Jerusalem. Though John of Damascus never quotes Revelation 11:19-12:17, he repeatedly calls Mary the Ark, and describes David dancing around her upon her arrival in heaven. This connection is continued in the responsorial psalm for the Vigil of the Assumption: “Lord, go up to the place of Your rest, You and the ark of Your holiness” (Ps 132:8). Could a single line more perfectly summarize King David’s transfer of the ark – or the Son of David’s assumption of the new Ark?
Note: There is no portrait of a queen mother in heaven.
Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:6-11
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.
John of Damascus also draws from the typology of Eve and Eden to show that the assumption was a fitting end to Mary’s days: This day the Eden of the New Adam welcomes its living Paradise, in whom our sentence has been repealed …. Eve gave ear to the message of the serpent … and, together with Adam, was condemned to death and assigned to the world of darkness. But how could death swallow this truly blessed soul, who humbly gave ear to the word of God? … How could corruption dare touch the body that had contained Life? Such thoughts are abhorrent and totally repugnant in regard to the body and soul of the Mother of God. Thus, this last of the Church Fathers makes explicit what was implicit in the doctrine of his second-century predecessors: Mary’s status as the New Eve requires our belief in her bodily assumption.
Note: There is no portrait of a queen mother in heaven.
And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Revelation 5:1-7
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.
The readings for the feast also show us how the assumption confirms Mary forever as the queen mother. The responsorial psalm of the feast day itself describes the wedding of a Davidic king: “The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold” (Ps 45:9). Yet that line just as surely describes the heavenly court of the ultimate Davidic king, Jesus Christ, who reigns with His queen mother at His right hand – just as Solomon reigned beside Bathsheba. “So it was fitting,” said John of Damascus – after calling Christ the New Solomon – “that the Mother should take up her abode in the Royal City of her Son.”
Note: There is no portrait of a queen mother in heaven.
Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:8-10
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.
Why in heaven would God assume such a queen? She’s more than His type. She’s His mother. The Damascene gets the last word in that matter: “What honors He has conferred on her – He Who commanded us to honor our parents.”
Note: There is no portrait of a queen mother in heaven.
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. Revelation 5:11-14
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.
Idol Talk?
Some non-Catholics charge that all these Marian dogmas add up to Mary worship – idolatry pure and simple. There was a time in my life when I thought so. As a young evangelical, I even passed out tracts identifying Mary with the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, whose worship is described by the prophet Jeremiah (7:18; 44:15-17). Marian devotion, I believed, was nothing more than goddess worship smuggled into Christianity by long-ago pagans who feigned conversion.
Note: The pagan queen of heaven infected the nation of Israel then and infects the Roman Catholic Church today.
Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?” Jeremiah 7:17-19
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
I was wrong, of course – first of all, in my belief that Catholics “worship” Mary. In truth, the Church gives her honor and veneration as the greatest of saints, while reserving adoration and worship for God alone. Indeed, the early Christians who were most vigorous in their Marian devotion were equally vigorous in denouncing any local remnants of goddess worship.
Note: The pagan queen of heaven infected the nation of Israel then and infects the Roman Catholic Church today.
Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you! But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble. Jeremiah 44:15-17
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
I was wrong, too, in condemning the title “queen of heaven” just because it was once applied to a pagan goddess. Anti-Christians use this very argument to discredit the claims of Jesus Christ. Call it the comparative-religions approach. It runs like this: many ancient pagan myths told of a “son of a god” born of a virgin who came to earth, died, and rose from the dead; therefore, the “Jesus myth” is nothing but a late and very successful copycat.
Note: The pagan queen of heaven infected the nation of Israel then and infects the Roman Catholic Church today.
But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” The women also said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?” Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people—the men, the women, and all the people who had given him that answer—saying: “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and did it not come into His mind? So, the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore, your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day. Jeremiah 44:18-22
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with paganism.
On the contrary! From great Christians like C.S. Lewis I learned that such parallels between Christianity and paganism are best understood as a preparation for the gospel – God’s way of giving even the gentiles a hint (Lewis called these premonitions “strange dreams”) of a glorious future that would one day be theirs.
Note: C.S. Lewis was a Protestant who never proclaimed Mary.
Hail Marys raise a doctrinal question: whether it is lawful to address devotions to any creature, however holy. My own view would be that a salute to any saint (or angel) cannot in itself be wrong any more than taking off one’s hat to a friend: but that there is always some danger lest such practices start one on the road to a state (sometimes found in [Roman Catholics]) where the [Blessed Virgin Mary] is treated really as a deity and even becomes the centre of the religion. I therefore think that such salutes are better avoided. And if the Blessed Virgin is as good as the best mothers I have known, she does not want any of the attention which might have gone to her Son diverted to herself. In a letter to Mary van Deusen dated June 1952
Note: Down through the centuries, unscriptural traditions have infected the Roman Catholic Church with nonsense.