Posted on 04/09/2007 10:55:31 PM PDT by Macoraba
The Holy Spirit speaking through Mary says that all generations will call her blessed.
Luke 1:48. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
I do not see how a person can call themselves a Christian and not call Mary "Blessed"!
It's a sign of those who truly believe in the Word of God; that they will call her "Blessed"!
She takes nothing away from her Son.
Like if someone were to say to President George W. Bush that his mother Barbara was a fine woman would he become angry and say "Why are you insulting me?". No! On the contrary he would be honored.
Of course I call her blessed. But I don’t pray to her. It’s more than sufficient to pray directly to God.
(And, yes, I DO ask fellow Christians for prayer. But I ask them on occasion - I don’t repeat the same request day in and day out over and over and over and over and over again).
Of COURSE they wouldn't ADMIT it! The Mary worshippers (and this does NOT include every Catholic) say so by their actions, in mindlessly flocking at every apparition of her in a tree, highway overpass, etc.
And I repeat, this is NOT everyone. Just far too many.
1Ti 2:5 For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
The old Catholic Encyclopedia uses the word ‘worship’ to describe Catholic veneration of Mary (and other ‘saints’).
no one Worships Mary. Catholics hold her in high esteem, as befitting anyone who is Theotokos — and there was only one who earned that name
“Why do Catholics insist on callimg Mary mother of God instead of Mother of Jesus?”
Oh come off it already!!
You know perfectly well why because this is at least the third thread now that you’ve received detailed explanations.
No one can make you agree, but one thing you CANNOT claim is that you don’t understand the catholic point of view!
What are you trying to accomplish when you ask the exact same question despite having received your answer umpteen posts ago?
This developed as a means to counter the Nestorian heresy, which separated Jesus' humanity and divinity into two persons in the same body. They denied that God could suffer, and that the person of God the Word died on the cross. They believed Mary was only the mother of Jesus' human person.
In contrast, the Church has always taught that Jesus is one person, fully God and fully human. Therefore, referring to Mary by her title of "Theotokos (Mother of God)" reinforces the theological concept of Jesus as a single person.
Well because it still makes little sense. I am somehow a heretic for saying what the Bible says, and questioning the usage of terms that the Bible does not say. It is twisted that I am somehow separating the two natures of Christ by saying Mary is the Mother of Jesus, which I fail to see how I am doing that. That is exactly how the Bible states it. But by saying Mary is the Mother of God, it somehow does not imply that Mary is the mother of the three persons of God. There just seems to be a consistant attempt to make Mary into more than what the Bible says. Is it not enough to say that Mary was the Mother of Jesus and that it was a virgin birth? How is someone a hereic for not wanting to say Mary is the Mother of God, which is only true for one of the three persons of God?
I believe that my wife has said the Rosary silently most of her life, without actually holding a physical Rosary. I am slow and had to gather items like the Rosary and descriptions of the Mysteries before I was ready. But I have everything now. I have been preparing by saying certain prayers such as Mary’s Seven Sorrows every day since last fall — have never been that consistent before.
Blessed Virgin Mary, get ready to hear a lot of prayers!
“Well because it still makes little sense.”
on another thread you agreed with another poster that the catholic position may be “technically correct” but that it still seemed wrong to you.
So - it appears that this isn’t an issue of what makes sense or not...it appears to be an issue of what “seems” right or wrong to you.
“I am somehow a heretic for saying what the Bible says, “
You are not saying what the bible says.
The bible does not say Mary was the mother of Jesus’s “human nature”. The bible says Mary was the mother of Jesus. The bible also says Jesus is God.
This is not rocket science.
You are not a heretic for saying what the bible says, you are being compared to the heretic Nestorian who was a bishop in the Church and whose beliefs were condemned by the Church.
People may never heard of Nestorius, but if they attempt to separate the two natures of Christ, then are agreeing with the Nestorian heresy.
“It is twisted that I am somehow separating the two natures of Christ by saying Mary is the Mother of Jesus, which I fail to see how I am doing that.”
because a mother is a mother of a person...not of a “nature”.
Jesus is a person. He is a person who is fully human and fully God at the same time.
Mary is His mother.
She is not the mother of a separated nature - but of the person of Jesus.
Jesus is her son.
“That is exactly how the Bible states it”
No it is not, and repeatedly claiming it does doesn’t make it true.
“But by saying Mary is the Mother of God, it somehow does not imply that Mary is the mother of the three persons of God.”
No it does not, and you have received this answer before.
She is the mother of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity.
She is not the mother of the Holy Spirit who DID NOT become her child, and she is not the mother of God the Father who DID NOT become her child.
“There just seems to be a consistant attempt to make Mary into more than what the Bible says.”
No..what is happening is that there is a constant attempt to make claims about catholic teaching that are not true.
And no matter how often you are told you do not want to give up your anti-catholic bias.
“How is someone a hereic for not wanting to say Mary is the Mother of God, which is only true for one of the three persons of God?”
This statement does not exclude referring to Christ as “God”.
But then again...you know that already.
“...which implies, to me, ‘worship’”
Fatboy, I am sure it does, to you, seem like worship. I just wondered if you had ever heard anyone say, “I worship Mary” — in the same sense as “I worship Christ.”
I’m a Catholic and I personally have never heard anyone say that. That doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen, but if it does it must be very rare.
Freegards
“Has anyone said she is not blessed.”
No, I have never heard anyone declare that she is not blessed.
Freegards
Oh puh_leeez show me one place where I have said 'mother of Jesus's human nature'. You are putting words in there that I have never stated. I have stated it as the Bible does, 'mother of Jesus' period.
“Of COURSE they wouldn’t ADMIT it!”
Why not? If they say so by their actions, according to you, I’d think one or two of them would admit to worshipping Mary in the same sense as worshipping God.
Freegards
“no one Worships Mary. Catholics hold her in high esteem, as befitting anyone who is Theotokos — and there was only one who earned that name”
I totally agree. I was just wondering if a large group of people had been admitting they worship Mary in the same sense as they worship God and I didn’t hear about it. Know what I mean?
Freegards
Because Jesus is God. Therefore the Mother of Jesus IS the Mother of God.
But what about the Father and the Holy Ghost? Saying God implies all three. Saying Jesus as the Bible does, doesn't.
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