In doing so, please avoid leftist tactics. Protestants are not "Mariaphobic." Nor do they "fear" Mary. Yours are lazy, small-minded arguments.
I feel badly for Protestants who reject Mary's generously-offered graces. Like rejecting a cup of cold, clear water when you are dying of thirst. And they reject it militantly, not out of ignorance.
One might suspect Mr. Shea has spent some time on FR.
</rolls-eyes>
Protestants believe that Mary was a sinner in need of salvation through the grace of God the son—just like everyone else. how does that make them “Mariaphobic”?
The funny thing is that Martin Luther treats Mary with almost Catholic respect, all through his writings. About the only exception is that he denies her the title, Queen of Heaven, because that is the name that was given to the Goddess Ishtar, condemned in the Old Testament.
John Milton, a convinced Puritan, also speaks highly of Mary in his early poems, in Paradise Lost, and most notably in Paradise Regained, his last poem.
The Protestant refusal to treat Mary with respect, and pretty much to ignore her, was a fairly late development, not yet present in the early Reformation. And, of course, it goes against several passages in the Bible, for instance, “All generations shall call me blessed.”
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
I have never met a protestant who is fearful of Mary. the whole premise of the article framed this way shows the bias.
There are large differences in dogma in terms of how protestants and catholics view Mary. Because we don’t look at Mary the same - we consider her a great and special person, but not a sinless person or that she was assumed bodily to heaven, that protestants must “fear” her? Nope.
We relate to Mary far more closely than the catholics do as far as I am concerned. And this from a person who’s been in both “camps”.
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
...And for the record, MY God is not the slacker that needs to be nagged by his mother to get his work done as Catholics insinuate.
And who is Mark Shea? Some blogger who who suffers from Scripturaphobia? He creates his own mythical character and undercuts his own arguments.
ho hum. Next?
On the other hand, I agree with you that it is far more serious how we differ in our views of the Eucharist. When I've gone home in the past, I would go to mass with my parents but would not partake of the Eucharist. The differences are too big, too important, to be swept under the rug. My mom did not like it, but I thought that if it was given to me with the belief it was the Body and Blood of Christ, and I received it as a symbol... well, at the very least it showed a tremendous lack of respect to both my parents and my beliefs. So I just sat in the pew and spent the time in prayer.
“Mariaphobia”? Talk about tearing a page right out of the LGBT tactical manual...
Make sure to plasticize that victim card; one rainy day or forget it in the wash and you’ll have no one to blame but yourselves.
Yet another article demeaning those who disagree with key Catholic principles for sound reasons. No discourse, just insults.
Really? Mark Shea actually believes this? It has got to be one of the dumbest things I have ever read from the self-proclaimed Roman Catholic "apologists". Let me ask you this. Are Catholics "homophobic"? The homosexual lobby spits out this claim whenever anyone suggests the Bible is against homosexual conduct and prohibits it. We can certainly say that God calls such conduct a sin and, as a society, we should not condone behavior God condemns, but are we "homophobic" by doing so? Are we in fear of or afraid of homosexuals? NO, of course not. That is a silly and stupid thing for them to say.
So, by what right do Catholics have to claim anyone who does not hold to the same glorification of Mary, Jesus' mother, that others do, qualify as Mariaphobia? JUST AS STUPID! I can honor and praise Mary for her faithfulness and bravery in the things God called on her to do. I can agree she is blessed among women and strive to be the same kind of faithful Christian as she was. But, I do not consider her the "Mother of God" nor do I believe she is the spiritual mother of all Christians. I don't believe we are to "pray" to her nor expect her to have any special "in" with God because she is his mother and he has to listen to her. I don't believe we should erect statues of her to burn candles in front of nor do I believe she has any special powers to "deliver" people from Purgatory (there IS no such place, but that's another thread all its own). There are many things that I believe some people go overboard in consideration of Mary and it has only escalated over the centuries to where it has become a cult all to itself.
But, am I afraid of Mary? Do I think I am missing something by not joining with others who adore and worship/venerate her? Nope. I believe all glory and honor and praise should go to the one who deserves all the glory and honor and praise - the Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God incarnate. Without him, nothing else would exist that exists. I prefer to give HIM what is due Him and which He will share with NO ONE else. Mariaphobic Response Syndrome, that's a joke, right?!
"Mariology of the Popes"
"Pope Pius XII dedicated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He prescribed this Feast for the whole Church in 1944 and placed his pontificate under the special patronage of the Virgin,[62] and was called the most Marian pope in Church history.[63] His life and pontificate were clearly marked by his Marian veneration. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariology_of_Pope_Pius_XII#Pius_XII
"Mariology of the Popes"
"Pope Pius XII dedicated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He prescribed this Feast for the whole Church in 1944 and placed his pontificate under the special patronage of the Virgin,[62] and was called the most Marian pope in Church history.[63] His life and pontificate were clearly marked by his Marian veneration. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariology_of_Pope_Pius_XII#Pius_XII
The Catholic obsession with Mary continues..........
(Jesus WHO?)
Do you (catholics) pray to Mary? If so, does that mean she's somewhat omniscient? Being human, who does she hear first and in what order? Should Paul have said 'for almost all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God'? And finally, what's the point of praying to Mary or any other saint if God has given us direct access to Himself?
Recently, I participated in an online conversation about the Blessed Virgin. As an Evangelical convert to the Catholic faith, I can empathize with the deep fears many Evangelicals have about Mary.
Fears? That's silly.
What kind of protestant was Mr. Shea?