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CATHOLIC TEACHING ABOUT MARY
Victor M.
Eskew
The Bible explicitly teaches that Mary was the mother of Jesus. “And Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of
Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:16). The angel Gabriel told Mary “that the
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke
1:35). The selection of Mary to
give birth to the Christ-child was to bring her blessings throughout every
generation to come. Mary herself
declared: “…from henceforth all
generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48).
With these facts before us, we can also make these assertions: 1) The Bible nowhere refers to Mary as
“the Mother of God;” 2) The Bible nowhere records any occasion when Mary was
worshiped; and 3) After speaking of her presence in the upper room, divine
inspiration removes Mary from its divine pages.
The Roman Catholic Church is responsible for exalting Mary to a status
never afforded to her in the Word of God.
They see her as “the Mother of God,” or “theotokos.” She is an object of devotion and
worship. The teachings of the
Catholic Church concerning Mary have exalted her to a height equal to, and even
above, the Son of God Himself.
Catholics would deny this, but their teachings and practices involving
Mary prove otherwise. In this
article, we will be looking at several things the Catholics teach about
Mary. It is important to note that
all of our quotes come from a book which bears the imprimatur of the Catholic
Church. This book was copyrighted
in 1994. Its title is Catechism
of the Catholic Church.
One Catholic doctrine about Mary that is sorely misunderstood is her
Immaculate Conception. Most think
that this has to do with the conception of Jesus. The doctrine really centers upon the
conception of Mary herself. Mary,
it is said, was conceived without the taint of original sin. Pope Pius IX put it in these words: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was from
the first moment of conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty
God and by the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved
immune from all stain of original sin” (Catechism, 138). Original sin is a man-made doctrine that
declares that the stain of Adam’s sin has been passed on from generation to
generation. In the course of normal
affairs, Mary should have been stained by the original sin, but she was not
according to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Since Mary was not stained by original
sin, when she gave birth to Jesus, He was not tainted either. It is interesting that there is not one
mention of Mary’s conception and birth in the Bible. This is a doctrine that was devised by
the mind of man in order to explain how Jesus was born without original sin, a
false doctrine itself (See Ezek 18:20).
In addition to Mary’s not having the blemish of original sin, Catholic
doctrine also teaches that Mary was sinless her entire life. On page 138 of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, we read: “The
Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God ‘the All-Holy’ (Paragia)
and celebrate her as ‘free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the
Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.’
By the grace of God Mary remained free from every personal sin her whole
life long.” If Mary were free from
sin, she did not know it. In her
“Magnificant,” she praised God her “Savior.” “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). If Mary had been sinless and perfect,
she would not have needed a Savior.
The most well-known doctrine about Mary as taught by the Catholic Church
is her perpetual virginity. Mary
was not only a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus, but, it is
said, she remained a virgin for the rest of her life. The Catechism states: “The deepening faith in the virginal
motherhood led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity even in
the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ’s birth did not diminish
his mother’s virginal integrity but sanctified it. And so the liturgy of the Church
celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the ‘Ever-virgin’” (pp. 140-141). Two passages of Scripture easily refute
this doctrine. One of them is
Matthew 1:24-25. “Then Joseph being
raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him
his wife: and knew her not till she
had brought forth her firstborn son:
and he called his name JESUS.”
If Mary were a perpetual virgin, she never had sexual relations with her
husband Joseph. Matthew 1:25
reveals that they did have sexual relations after the birth of Jesus. The word “know” refers to sexual
intercourse. Joseph knew her not
“till” she brought forth her firstborn son. After Jesus was born, Joseph did know
her. In fact, he knew her many
times for they had numerous children.
Matthew 13:55-56 names four brothers of Jesus. The passage also speaks of “his
sisters.” “Is not this the
carpenter’s son? Is not his mother
called Mary? And his brethren,
James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these
things?” The force of these
passages is undeniable to an honest mind.
Mary did not remain a virgin.
She lived in a wholesome relationship with Joseph and bore him many
children.
Another Catholic doctrine about Mary concerns her assumption. Catholics do not believe that Mary
died. They believe that she was
miraculously taken up into heaven to be with her Son Jesus Christ. On page 276 of the Catechism, we
learn: “The Most Blessed Virgin
Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and
soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her
Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his
Body.” Again, not one word is said
about this in the pages of the New Testament. The last we see of Mary is when she is
gathered with the small band of disciples in the upper room on Pentecost Day
(Acts 1:16). She then slips from
the pages of divine inspiration.
There is not one hint that she was “assumed” into heaven. This comes from the fanciful thinking of
mere men.
The last Catholic doctrine of Mary that we will discuss is based upon her
Assumption. In heaven, Mary is said
to act as an advocate and mediator.
“Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her
manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal
salvation…Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles
of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix” (Catechism, 275). We have already shown that Mary was not
taken up into heaven. Therefore,
she cannot be a mediator. If she
were there, and performed a mediatory role, she would be at odds with the
teaching of the apostle Paul. He
wrote: “For there is one God, and
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5). Paul says there is one mediator. The Catholics claim there are at least
two mediators, Jesus and Mary. Both
cannot be right. Surely an inspired
apostle speaks the absolute truth.
The doctrine of Mary is very important in Catholic theology. It is based upon a wrong interpretation
of Luke 1:48, which states: “…from
henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” Calling Mary blessed has turned into
devotion and worship and praise for Mary.
This praise is sinful. It
involves the worship of a human being.
Dear readers, Mary is to be blessed, but only God is to be
worshiped. It was Jesus Himself who
said: “Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10).