Posted on 11/02/2001 5:42:58 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
Mary and the Moslems
11/1/01
Moslemism is the only great post-Christian religion of the world. Because it had its origin in the seventh century under Mohammed, it was possible to unite, within it, some elements of Christianity and of Judaism, along with particular customs of Arabia. Moslemism takes the doctrine of the unity of God, His Majesty and His creative power, and uses it, in part, as a basis for the repudiation of Christ, the Son of God.
(The following was written in 1952 and reprinted in the October 2001 Mindszenty Report.)
The Power of Islam
by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Misunderstanding the notion of the Trinity, Mohammed made Christ a prophet, announcing Him just as to Christians Isaiah and John the Baptist are prophets announcing Christ.
The Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa ws practically destroyed by Moslem power, and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again. If Moslemism is a heresy, as Hilaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Moslemism, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its followers.
The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of Gods real prophets.
At the present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it may shake off a West which has ceased to be Christian, and affirm itself as a great anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, When the locust swarms darken countries, they bear on their wings these Arabic words: We are Gods host, each of us has ninety-nine eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it.
The problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but that Moslemism, instead, will eventually be converted to Christianity - and in a way that even some of our missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the Mother of God. This is the line of argument:
Mary, Mother of God
The Koran, which is the Bible of the Moslems, has many passages concerning the Blessed Virgin. First of all, the Koran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also, in her Virgin Birth. The third chapter of the Koran places the history of Marys family in a genealogy which goes back through Abraham, Noah, and Adam. When one compares the Korans description of the birth of Mary with the aprocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary, one is tempted to believe tht Mohammed very much depended upon the latter. Both books describe the old age and the definite sterility of the mother of Mary. When, however, she conceives, the mother of Mary is made to say in the Koran: O Lord, I vow and I consecrate to you what is already within me. Accept it from me.
When Mary is born, the mother says: And I consecrate her with all of her posterity under thy protection, O Lord, against Satan! The Koran passes over Joseph in the life of Mary, but the Moslem tradition knows his name and has some familiarity with him. In this tradition, Joseph is made to speak to Mary, who is a virgin. As he inquired how she conceived Jesus without a father, Mary answered: Do you not know that God, when He created the wheat had no need of seed, and that God by His power made the trees grow without the help of rain? All that God had to do was to say, So be it, and it was done. The Koran has also verses on the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. Angels are pictured as accompanying the Blessed Mother and saying: Oh Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and elected you above all the women of the earth.
In the nineteenth chapter of the Koran there are 41 verses on Jesus and Mary. There is such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that the Koran, in the fourth book, attributed the condemnation of the Jews to their monstrous calumny against the Virgin Mary.
The Significance of Fatima
Mary, then, is for the Moslems the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only possible serious rival to her in their creed would be Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed himself. But after the death of Fatima, Mohammed wrote: Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary. In a variant of the text, Fatima is made to say, I surpass all the women, except Mary.
This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century, should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future generations she would be known as Our Lady of Fatima. Since nothing ever happens out of Heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known as Our Lady of Fatima as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son too. Evidence to suport these views is found in the historical fact that the Moslems occupied Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Moslem chief had a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him she not only stayed behind when the Moslems left, but even embraced the Faith. The young husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he live to Fatima. Thus, the very place where our Lady apeared in 1917 bears a historical connection to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.
The final evidence of the relationship of Fatima to the Moslems is the enthusiastic reception which the Moslems in Africa and India and elsewhere gave to the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as mentioned earlier. Moslems attended the church services in honor of our Lady, they allowed religious processions and even prayers before their mosques; and in Mozambique the Moslems who were unconverted, began to be Christian as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected.
A Missionary Strategy
Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Moslems will be successful in the measure that they preach Our Lady of Fatima. Mary is the advent of Christ, bringing Christ to the people before Christ Himself is born. In an apologetic endeavor, it is always best to start with that which people already accept. Because the Moslems have a devotion to Mary, our missionaries should be satisfied merely to expand and to develop that devotion, with the full realization that Our Blessed Lady will carry the Moslems the rest of the way to her divine Son. She is forever a traitor, in the sense that she will not accept any devotion for herself, but will always bring anyone who is devoted to her to her divine Son. As those who lose devotion to her lose belief in the divinity of Christ, so those who intensify devotion to her gradually acquire that belief.
Many of our great missionaries in Africa have already broken down the bitter hatred and prejudices of the Moslems against the Christians through their acts of charity, their schools and hospitals. It now remains to use another approach, namely, that of taking the 41st chapter of the Koran and showing them that it was taken out of the Gospel of Luke, that Mary could not be, even in their own eyes, the most blessed of all the women of Heaven if she had not also borne the Savior of the world. If Judith and Esther of the Old Testament were pre-figures of Mary, then it may very well be that Fatima herself was a post-figure of Mary! The Moslems should be prepared to acknowledge that, if Fatima must give way in honor to the Blessed Mother, it is because she is different from all the other mothers of the world and that without Christ she would be nothing.
(This article courtesy of The Mindzenty Report, published by the Cardinal Mindzenty Foundation.)
I don't agree, but if you are right there is a reason for this. No other denomination makes the kind of arrogant claims for itself the the RCC does. And spare me the "that's because they are true" sermon. I've heard it all many times.
I knew about the revelations at Fatima but am astounded to the link with Mohammed's daughter.
In the sense you mean "Western Civ." there is no hope, because in that sense "Western Civ." is the present materialism, the current horrible apostasy, and not instead the secular image, the veritable reflection, of Our True Holy and Catholic Church, over which even the gates of Hell have no power.
"Western Civ." without the Church is exactly like my heart without the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Just nothing there!
You people aren't the only folks here who are proud to be Roman Catholic. Would you please put me on the list?
"I put the bible above church doctrine."
The church is the "pillar and foundation of truth." -The Bible (1 Tim. 3:15)
Pillars and foundations are obviously references to buildings,therefore so is truth a part of the building.(in this analogy).Truth is that that must be seen yes? So in this analogy of a building truth is that part which must be the most easily seen.Pillars and foundations are that which HOLD UP the truth for all to see.The church itself is not the truth,it is that which should HOLD UP THE TRUTH for all to see.
John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth"
Grace and peace to you
God bless
God bless
When you're equally hated by the liberals, homosexual activists, abortionists, population controllers, the UN, feminists, agnostics, atheists, communists, etc, as well as the fundamentalists and bible only folks, you know ya' just gotta be doing something right.
... I know in their own little minds they mean well, and think they are doing god's work. But so do the terrorists, to be blunt.
produd2bRC, switch to de-caf. Speaking from personal experience, people who disagree with you are not neccessarily the spawn of Satan, do not neccessarily hate you, and are not necessarily in league with liberals, homosexual activists, abortionists, population controllers, the UN, feminists, agnostics, atheists, and communists. I personally find the comparison of fundamentalists and bible only folks with terrorists to be extremely offensive, and unwarranted.
Cordially,
To: proud2bRC; 2sheep; Thinkin' Gal; veronica; dennisw; TrueBeliever9; Prodigal Daughter; Zadokite...
The basis of the Anti Christs one world religion...the "Queen of Heaven"!
101 posted on 11/2/01 5:09 PM Eastern by RnMomof7 [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
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I have been told so many times on this forum that we Catholics worship Mary, belong to the church that represents the Whore of Babylon, listen to a Pope who is the anti-Christ, etc etc etc. Most Catholics here hold their tongue, in charity to our poor separated brethren who simply are ignorant.
When I posted the response to which you refer, I must admit I was in a foul mood and was thoroughly disgusted with the constant bigotry against the Catholic faith on this forum.
Regardless, Catholicism is continually attacked on this forum.
people who disagree with you are not neccessarily the spawn of Satan, do not neccessarily hate you
No, but they implicitly and explicitly say that we Catholics belong to a church that IS the spawn of Satan, that devotion to Mary is idol worship, etc etc etc.
Grow a thicker skin. If these folks want to continually insult and assault my faith, I'm not going to hold my tongue.
What I stated in that post is noting compared to what has been said to me personally and what has been said about my Faith on this forum. If you attack Catholicism, you attack the body of Christ. If you attack the body you attack the head, Christ. He who attacks Christ is anti-Christ. Therefore the ignorant bigots here who attack Catholicism work for Satan, whether they know it or not, whether they admit it or not.
They're just whining now because they usually are on the other end of making the charges about anti-Christ and Whore of Babylon. If they don't like it, stay off our Catholic threads!!!
Good. In my mood at that time, it was absolutely intended to be extremely offensive. Absolutely.
Now you are beginning to get a feel for the way we Catholics feel as we continually bite our tongue and return insult with patient apologetics. Starting to get the point yet???
Every time the Jack Chick types make statements like
The basis of the Anti Christs one world religion...the "Queen of Heaven"!
it is even more offensive to us than what I said in my post is offensive to you, yet it happens every day here on FR.
One Catholic gets fed up and calls a spade a spade and just look at the whining. Give me a break.
I guess I'll be heading to confession this afternoon. My patience is gone, my charity depleted, for those who see the speck in their neighbor's eye yet fail to see the plank in their own on this forum.
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.If possible, they would even seduce the elect. The Father, who has called us, will together with Christ and the Holy Spirit preserve us. No one will snatch us from His hands. We shall perservere against all.
UMMMMMMMMMM LOL Lurking are ya? *grin* God bless ya Woody !
Well, the Church propagates doctrinal truths; wrote, preserved and canonized Scripture; and interprets Scripture infallibly, so your interpretation could be valid.
But how would this conform with the passage where Jesus tells us to take our disputes "to the church"? And if someone refuses to listen to the church, we should treat him as a "publican"? Why would He not send Christians to "the Church" to settle disputes if, in some sense, it were not the Truth? After all, he could have told us to take our disagreements to Scripture.
In fact, at least insasmuch as the Church is the mystical Body of Christ, It is the Truth.
After JFK was shot, Sheen wrote a book called "The Power of Love" in response. The idea for the book came from George Levy, a smart magazine publisher and good Jew, who contacted Sheen with the title, and Sheen took it from there. Very successful publication. My, how times have changed.
Ol' Binny doesn't cotton to that. There are some signs that 'mainstream' Muslim clerics disapprove of Binny's war...perhaps this will be the beginning of a split.
Interesing.
The original scriptures,however, some 2600 years on are only now starting to be proved in the world of physics,quantum physics,chaos theory etc,as for sodomy the history of the Talibans inception(to resolve a dispute over little boys)and their treatment of women would seem to indicate homo-erotica Nambla style is quite prevalent,also the Christian church gets to blush on this issue ;as for playing with ones privates and karma sutra stuff Buddhists can't hold a candle to certain Taoist sects.
Whilst the Dalai Llama might be a nice chap he is also,by necessity a political animal he can't very well come out with scathing attacks on China as there are a lot of Tibetan Buddhists still in Tibet,the correct Buddhist thought on the matter is to feel sorry for China for the balance of consequences Bad Karma or juju its accumulating for itself to manifest at some future date.
Yes, and the false prophets flourished exponentially a couple hundred years ago, denying the gospel of Christ and substituting a new false gospel that suited better their lusts and vices. ("Sin heartily yet believe even more heartily" versus the words of Christ, "Go and sin no more. Repent and believe the Good News.")
Whether or not priests marry has always been a matter of Church discipline, not dogma. And there are married priests in the Latin rite today, mostly converts from Anglicanism. In the eastern Catholic church priests are allowed to marry or, if they enter the priesthood single, they must remain single. Latin rite bishops are single, in imitation of the Apostles. I think the same holds true for bishops in the eastern rites.
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If Jesus tells us to take our disagreements to the church, he must be talking about a visible, discernable church. Otherwise He'd be speaking nonsense. A gathering of two or more people in Jesus' name does not constitute the church. Even the passage doesn't imply that.
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