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People have been speaking of Mary on here recently. I thought the following would be interesting.
The Bible describes Mary as a faithful woman, ready to listen to God, to put spiritual interests first. She appreciated moral cleanness and was most scrupulous in teaching the Word of God to her children.—Luke 1:26-38; 2:41, 42, 46-49; Acts 1:14.
1st-3d CENTURY
Mary is virtually never mentioned and that in the ancient world, before the third century, there is no trace of festivities or prayers in her honor. Further, the various Catholic doctrines concerning her appeared rather late in history and have no Biblical foundation.JESUS IS OUR EXEMPLAR IS HE NOT?
On one occasion, someone said to Jesus: “Happy is the womb that carried you and the breasts that you sucked!” This was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to give special honor to his mother and to show that others should do the same. Instead, Jesus said: “No, rather, Happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it!”—Luke 11:27, 28.If Jesus, our exemplar wanted to indicate that we should give special honor to Mary, what better opportunity could there possibly be? Instead, he directed attention away from Mary and toward the word of God.
Jesus took care not to give devotion or undue honor to Mary or to address her by any special title.
And the apostles and disciples followed his example, for nowhere in their inspired writings is Mary given any undue honor, title, or influence. While they respected her as the mother of Jesus, they did not go beyond that.
3rd and 4th CENTURIES, A CHANGE FROM TRUE CHRISTIAN THINKING
The New Encyclopædia Britannica states: “The title [‘mother of God’] seems to have arisen in devotional usage, probably in Alexandria, sometime in the 3rd or 4th century . . . By the end of the 4th century, the Theotokos had successfully established itself in various sections of the church.”So with Christ finally established as God in 325, and therefore with Mary now being the Mother of God, the cult of the Mother-goddess was well on it’s way.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the doctrine was accepted officially “since the Council of Ephesus in 431.”
Of interest is where that council met and why. The book The Cult of the Mother-Goddess, by E. O. James, states: “The Council of Ephesus assembled in the basilica of the Theotokos in 431. There, if anywhere, in the city so notorious for its devotion to Artemis, or Diana as the Romans called her, where her image was said to have fallen from heaven, under the shadow of the great temple dedicated to the Magna Mater [Great Mother] since 330 B.C. and containing, according to tradition, a temporary residence of Mary, the title ‘God-bearer’ hardly could fail to be upheld.”
4TH CENTURY – PRESENT
Mary is called:
Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of the World, Queen of Mercy, Queen of Angels, Queen of Paradise, Queen of the Universe, Immaculate Queen, Immaculate Mary, Sovereign Princess, Blessed Virgin, Our Blessed Lady, Blessed Virgin Queen,
Images and icons of Mary are bowed down to in a worshipful attitude. In some countries, she is flat out worshiped.An early edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia admits that the devotion given to Mary has come with “extravagance and abuses, it is impossible to deny.”
Hundreds of millions of people in many lands have prayed to her or through her and have given worshipful devotion to images and icons of her. While theologians may try to excuse this by saying that such veneration of Mary is only an indirect way of worshiping God, that is not the way God views it. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1, 2) Jesus himself said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—John 14:6.* * *
This THREAD IS NOT about the biblical fact that Mary was a virgin “until” she had intercourse. It is about how people go to far with almost worshipping her.
david
OK, let's start slowly:
JESUS IS OUR EXEMPLAR IS HE NOT?
On one occasion, someone said to Jesus: “Happy is the womb that carried you and the breasts that you sucked!” This was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to give special honor to his mother and to show that others should do the same. Instead, Jesus said: “No, rather, Happy are those hearing the word of God and keeping it!”—Luke 11:27, 28.If Jesus, our exemplar wanted to indicate that we should give special honor to Mary, what better opportunity could there possibly be? Instead, he directed attention away from Mary and toward the word of God.
David I don't think that you are going to convince the Catholic here on site to change His mind,
Good Post on History. It was Constantine who first in the 313 after almost three century of brutal and bloody percecution issued an edit to grant all Christians full freedom to practice their religion.
In A.D. 321 Constantine issued an edit, forbidding work on Sundays.
In A.D. 324 Constantine established Christianity the official religion of his empire. It will become known
as the Roman Universal Church. And it is still called the Roman Catholic Church today.Also don't belief that the Catholic on this site is going to belief this. We learned this or my Husband learned all of this by listening to History Channel. Also we have a Britannia Encyclopedia and Georg told me it is listed in there. If it is not I will retract my statement. I am going to look it up. But I didn't want to loose my Post here.
And David it is not just almost, it is worship when you pray to Her. That is what they do. Here is how they pray and so did we at one time. Holy Mary Mother of God, blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen
Peace and Love IreneTo all! If you don't believe what I said, go and google Constantine and you will see all what He did. It is more what I said. It has been some time that Georg wrote His Book and He cannot remember How He got all the Information on Constantine. But there is so much. Google is a good source to prove History. Maybe we should google Mary Mother of God!!!!
Peace and Love Irene
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