Why do Catholics adore, worship and deify Mary so much?

[theefaith]

This is where Catholics tend to confuse non-Catholic Christians.
I can't tell from this complex sentence structure whether Mary (an obedient Jewish girl blessed by God) "obtained peace for all men!" or if her son ... "our Salvation", God Incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ ... "obtained peace for all men!"

If you ascribe Mary as the one who obtained "peace for all men", then I really have a problem with crediting Mary with what Christ accomplished on the Cross. If you ascribe the Son of God, born of Mary as the one who obtained "peace for all men" ... then I can add my "Amen."


PS. I disagree about the rainbow:

"This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."
- God [Genesis 9:12-17]​

mary is the mother of our salvation
Mother of our savior

Lk 1:45 all generations shall call me blessed!

Actually this is an exultation of thanksgiving for having obtain thier eternal salvation!

 

[theefaith]

[Act 15:23-29 NKJV]

23 They wrote this [letter] by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "[You must] be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no [such] commandment-- 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.​

Then you are in violation of the command of the Holy Spirit and the Apostles to the Church as recorded by the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:29).
(... and the ridiculous charge of cannibalism is true).

Spiritual reality transcends physical reality, it does not deny it. It is a wafer and a cup of juice (I could take it and have it DNA tested and it would not come back "human remains").

no that’s blood of animals offered to idols
Not cannibalism he is not dead but alive
I am the Resurrection and the life

we must share in the divine nature
Jn 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Jesus commanded this

 

[theefaith]

From the pen of Paul himself and the lips of Jesus himself ... bread.

took bread and wine and changed it into the body and blood

THIS IS MY BODY!

THIS IS MY BLOOD!

 

[theefaith]

Luke 2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation.

Simeon, speaking of the baby Jesus and NOT about his mother Mary. Don't take my word for it, read the story for yourself: Luke 2:25-35

logical
Jesus is our salvation
Mary is his mother
Mary is the mother of our salvation
Lk 1:30 Mary found our salvation

 

[theefaith]

Non sequitur.
Luke 2:30 is STILL about Jesus and not about Mary, in the middle of a whole section about Jesus and not about Mary (Luke 2:25-35)


Yes.


Yes.


No. Mary did not give birth to our salvation, God the Son was already our salvation from the foundation of the earth. Mary gave birth to God Incarnate.

Mary deserves credit for what SHE did, but not credit for what GOD does.

Everything is what God does Lk 1;49

 

[theefaith]

[Isa 7:14 NKJV] 14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

The EVENT is the sign, not the person.

[Rev 12:1 NKJV] 1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

(Sorry, but I do not comment on the visions in Revelation ... they say what people want them to say in online discussions.)

Neither verse mentions "salvation" anywhere. That hardly proves that "Mary is the sign of our salvation".

God with us is the incarnation
Christ is our salvation

 

[atpollard]

Lk 1:45 all generations shall call me blessed!

Luke 1:45 says no such thing.
[Luke 1:45 KJV] 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

 

[atpollard]

took bread and wine and changed it into the body and blood

Says you and not scripture.

[John 10:7, 9 KJV] 7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. ... 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

That doesn't mean that Jesus transmutated himself into wood, does it.
Jesus loved to use similes and metaphors when expressing spiritual truths.

 

[theefaith]

[Isa 7:14 NKJV] 14 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

The EVENT is the sign, not the person.

[Rev 12:1 NKJV] 1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.

(Sorry, but I do not comment on the visions in Revelation ... they say what people want them to say in online discussions.)

Neither verse mentions "salvation" anywhere. That hardly proves that "Mary is the sign of our salvation".

the queen has a right to the entire kingdom

the mother has the right to her children’s possessions

Mary is the mother of our salvation

in vain do Thou try to separate Jesus and Mary they have a mystical union that cannot be broken Lk 1:28 the Lord is with her!

 

[atpollard]

logical
Jesus is our salvation
Mary is his mother
Mary is the mother of our salvation
Lk 1:30 Mary found our salvation

No, Mary is not the source of salvation.
No matter how many times you claim it to be true.

 

[atpollard]

Everything is what God does Lk 1;49

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. [Luke 1:46-55 KJV]​

Mary IS worthy of respect. Unlike her 'worshipers', she gives glory to God (where it belongs) rather than to God's obedient servants.

 

[atpollard]

God with us is the incarnation
Christ is our salvation

Amen.

 

[atpollard]

in vain do Thou try to separate Jesus and Mary they have a mystical union that cannot be broken Lk 1:28 the Lord is with her!

You have a LOT of people in that mystical union alongside Mary:

• [Gen 26:28 KJV] 28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, [even] betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
• [Gen 39:2-3, 21, 23 KJV] 2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. ... 21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ... 23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
• [Jos 6:27 KJV] 27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
• [Jdg 1:19, 22 KJV] 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. ... 22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them.
• [Jdg 2:18 KJV] 18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.
• [1Sa 3:19 KJV] 19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
• [1Sa 18:12, 14, 28 KJV] 12 And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. ... 14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. ... 28 And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him.
• [2Ki 18:7 KJV] 7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
• [1Ch 9:20 KJV] 20 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the ruler over them in time past, and the LORD was with him.
• [2Ch 17:3 KJV] 3 And the LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;
• [Luk 1:66 KJV] 66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
• [Act 11:21 KJV] 21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

The Lord was with ALL OF THEM!

• [Num 14:9 KJV] 9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
• [Jdg 6:12 KJV] 12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
• [1Sa 16:18 KJV] 18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.
• [2Sa 7:3 KJV] 3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.
• [2Ch 15:2 KJV] 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
• [Psa 54:4 KJV] 4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
• [Jer 20:11 KJV] 11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
• [Zec 10:5 KJV] 5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
• [Luk 1:28 KJV] 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

The Lord is with ALL OF THEM!

 

[Bruce Atkinson]

Jesus is our salvation!
mary is his mother!
so Mary is the mother of our salvation!
isa 7:14 rev 12:1 Mary is the sign of our salvation!

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (KJV)
Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: (KJV)

There is NOTHING in Isaiah that indicates Mary is the 'sign' of anything. He is merely writing prophecy 600 years before Christ was born. God could have chosen ANY virgin as far as Isaiah understood.

Rather than taking verse 1 from Revelation 12 out of context and misapplying as you've done countless times in the many threads you've created, read the FULL scripture that leaves no doubt:

Revelation 12:1-6 (KJV)
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Note especially verse 6 above. It is ISRAEL fleeing into the wilderness for 3 1/2 years, exactly as Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. How Catholics can perceive verse 1 as a reference to Mary is completely baffling.

Oh, and by the way....how many people (famous, unfamous, etc) that you are aware of that ever lived or are alive now spend as much time 'worshiping' and magnifying their mother like you and other Catholics do Mary?

Your thinking that Mary is the mother of our salvation comes from your misinterpreting Luke 2:30 in error -

Look at the ENTIRE portion of scripture...taking one or two verses out of context and twisting it to mean something totally different is a specialty of Catholics, it seems:

Luke 2:25-35 (KJV)
25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

There is absolutely no way whatsoever that verse 30 references Mary in any way. Read the entire passage over and over until you actually comprehend what has been written.

I'm reminded by two verses from 2nd Peter:

2 Peter 3:15-16 (KJV)
15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

 

[michaelvpardo]

Given the excessive number of threads and responses in this forum an others regarding Mary, I have to ask...WHY?

Why are Catholics so fixated on Mary? Why does every Catholic church have a significant number of statues and shrines to Mary on the premises and only the giant crucifix with Christ hanging on the cross and maybe a handful of stained glass windows depicting Him? Why do Catholics have shrines to Mary in their front yard and NOT a cross?

In my opinion, it's the magicians 'trick' of distraction taking ones' focus off Jesus, our Savior! How many 'Hail Mary's' have Catholics droned over the years? How many Catholic prayers even MENTION Jesus?

There is close to zero prophecy in the old testament about her other than a couple of references to 'born of a virgin' that refer to Mary 100s of years before she was chosen by God to carry HIS Son. Yet there is voluminous OT prophecy of the Messiah...Jesus.

And no, Genesis 3:15 does NOT reference Mary. The woman in that verse refers to Israel in and Satan's war to destroy Israel thus nullifying Gods' Word, not MARY!

Mary is NOT God! Mary is NOT A god! Mary is simply the 'birth mother' of Jesus chosen by God, no more, no less. So why all the hub-bub about Mary?

Are you familiar with the Roman doctrines that Mary remained a perpetual virgin and that she was taken up to heaven rather than die and be buried? The Romans have a very elaborate doctrine about the "mother of God", but it isn't found in scripture and couldn't be as that would contradict the teachings of scripture and "break" the word of God.
That church has entertained the idea of elevating Mary to the role of coredemptress for at least 25 years. One of my first works of ministry after being born again was to write a letter to Pope John Paul urging Him to reject the pressure to make Mary a coredemtress and avoid further division in the church, and calling upon Him to reject unbiblical doctrine.
John Paul considered Mary his patron saint, but he didn't fold under pressure and did urge a new approach to understanding and growth, but without contradicting existing dogma.

 

[michaelvpardo]

They just do it to provoke Protestants.
It is sort of funny how upset some people get about other people’s prayer life.

It is no skin off my nose how Catholics want to pray.
It is not like they are trying to force ME to pray to Mary (or anything else).
They just refuse to share their wafer and juice with me (which is sort of OK since I am not a member of their church).

The average Catholic is completely unaware of what protestants think or believe and could care less. The people you encounter on forums are exceptional Roman Catholics in that they study scripture and try to reconcile it to their church's doctrine.
In Rome, Mary became a substitute for the fertility goddess. All the patron saints are substitutes for the gods of ancient Rome and this was a major cause of division between Rome and Constantinople, but the latter was over run by Islam and Rome became the dominant church.

 

[theefaith]

Luke 1:45 says no such thing.
[Luke 1:45 KJV] 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

lk 1:48
Nobody’s perfect

 

[theefaith]

Says you and not scripture.

[John 10:7, 9 KJV] 7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. ... 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

That doesn't mean that Jesus transmutated himself into wood, does it.
Jesus loved to use similes and metaphors when expressing spiritual truths.

that’s true when it comes to door and gate

but not the holy Eucharist

Jn 6

 

[theefaith]

No, Mary is not the source of salvation.
No matter how many times you claim it to be true.

Then you are saying Jesus is our salvation?

 

[Daniel Veler]

mary is the mother of our salvation
Mother of our savior

Lk 1:45 all generations shall call me blessed!

Actually this is an exultation of thanksgiving for having obtain thier eternal salvation!

Christ also said more blessed are those hear the word and obey it then Mary.