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Jesus is the way,
 the truth, and the life

 

 

 

Chapter 1 -
The status of Mary

 

 

 

 

As we start to examine some doctrines of the Catholic Church, we should start with the saints and Mary, who have a significant status in this church. Especially Mary has got such a status that she is clearly more important than the other saints, and often even equal to Christ, or in practice even more important. Revelations of Mary have been seen through the times in which “Mary” has tried to get confirmation for her own special status in the minds of people.

   This status of Mary appears, for example, in the Catholic prayer book which refers to her lack of sin, how she is an eternal virgin and the Queen of Heaven, how she was taken into Heaven and how people must turn to her at their hour of death. If these are really true, she must have been a really significant person, equal to Jesus:

 

"To the Mother of our Savior, the Virgin Mary, God has allowed a larger amount of holiness than to anybody else created. That was required by the high task to which Mary was called: to be the mother of the mankind's Redeemer. God preserved her from the original sin, equipped her with the grace of sanctification from the first moment of her life. (...) There is not even the smallest sin in her, her will was always in harmony with the will of God, (…) She is the most perfect Virgin and at the same time the real Mother of the Son of God, Virgin before and after, perpetual Virgin. (...) She is the Queen of Heaven, taken to the residence of the brightness with her soul and body already before the general resurrection (…) Therefore let us seek safety, humble and trustful, in the recommendation prayer of Mary, especially at our hour of death, so that we will be able, purified from sin, to move from time to blessed eternity.”

 

The next description also refers to the special status of Mary in the Catholic Church. It is from a Catholic leaflet in which a medallion capable of miracles is advertised. In it we can see how Mary is believed, for example, to have crushed the head of the serpent (actually, this was written about Jesus; Col 2:15. Hebr 2:14, 1 John 3:8) and to even have been participated in the redemption work, in other words, the attempt has been to give her the role that belongs only to Jesus:

 

 MEDALLION CAPABLE OF MIRACLES

 

Mary has opened her hands to help. The rays coming from her hands describe her good acts. She stands on the globe; she wants to help all people. She crushes with her foot the head of the serpent, which means that she wins the devil was prophesized in the Fall. ("it shall bruise your head", Gen 3:15.) There is a short prayer around her picture: "Oh Mary, born without original sin, pray for us, who put our trust in you." Mary promised to holy Catharina Labourél in Paris in 1830 that she would help anyone who carries this medallion and by trusting her utters this prayer.

   On the other side of the medallion there is the cross of Jesus rising from the letter M. Jesus was born of Mary; and Mary stood by the cross. She has suffered and prayed with Jesus, and thus assisted with the redemption work. Below, there are two hearts. One is the heart of Jesus. (Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. John 19:34.) The thorns surrounding the heart are caused by our sins that pain her. The heart of Mary is beside the heart of Jesus. It is pierced by a sword, as Simon prophesied. (Luke 2:35) Mary has suffered much for us. The pictures are surrounded by twelve stars - the twelve apostles, the foundation of the Church. The Church takes these good news to everybody all over the world.

 

How does Mary of Catholic Church differ from the Bible's Mary?

 

Mary is important in the Catholic Church; there is no denying that. However, a whole different issue is whether the view of the church of Mary is correct. It is actually interesting to observe that when we compare the view the Catholic Church has created of Mary to what the Bible tells about her, it is like reading about two different persons. In the Bible Mary is not said to be any different than the next person, and she is only briefly mentioned, but the Mary of the Catholic Church is, on the contrary, a huge queen-like figure, who acts as an intercessor, mediator and even as a medium of salvation. Also, her life on earth is believed to be different from that of others in that she is believed to have been "an immaculate Virgin", in other words, a person who never sinned.

   We should study these differences between the Mary of the Catholic Church and that the Bible a little closer. For example, the following differences can be seen:

 

1. Mary, way to salvation

 

The significance of Mary as a medium of salvation in the Catholic Church appears perhaps best in a book by Alfonso Mary Liquori (1697-1787), Le glorie di Mary (1784, "Mary in her all brilliance"). In the book, a person who was promoted to a teacher and saint of the church after his death describes the status of Mary as a savior. Mary has been made a mediator between God and people, savior, intercessor, the only hope of the sinners and only way to salvation. This kind of a viewpoint is nowadays quite ordinary both in the teachings of Popes and elsewhere:

 

When Mary receives this grace for sinners, she will arouse them back to live by her intercessions (p.54).

   She has really been made a mediator of peace (p.56) between sinners and God.

   Only Mary has been given the gift of salvation by her powerful intercession (p.101).

 She is the hope of the wrongdoers (...) the only hope for sinners (p.102).

   The Holy Church teaches us, her children that we must attentively and confidentially keep putting our trust in this loving protector. Because of that, the church determines Mary her own special worship (p.106).

   Mary is called the gate of heaven, because nobody can step into the blessed kingdom without passing her (p.134).

   Were we to doubt to ask her to save us, when the way of salvation is not open otherwise than through Mary (p.143).

   How could she be anything else than full of grace, when she has been made for the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the very realest mediator between God and people, (p.128).

   A person whom Mary protects, will be saved; who does not have this protection, goes to damnation (p.144)

 Often we get what we peg for faster by calling the name of Mary than calling the name of Jesus (p.228).

   Mary is our life, because she gets us pardon for our sins (p.54).

   For she (...) is our salvation, our life, our hope, our advice, our protection and our assistance (p.230). (1)

 

Mary has been presented as a way to salvation and it has been said that she would be the "mediator" and "defender" for us and the "fellow-Redeemer”, who, together with Jesus, suffered his crucifixion, etc. It may also be directly presented that Mary is "the mother of atonement" and that the way to heaven is possible only through her.

   What is remarkable is that when we study some references to Mary in the Bible, we do not find anything about her task as a mediator or her being a fellow-Redeemer together with Jesus or the only hope of the sinners. Instead, it is indicated that these many issues are connected with Jesus alone, who is the only hope of people in salvation and also the only way to heaven. This can be seen, for example, in the next passages of the Bible that we are going to use to further study the idea of Mary as a savior:

 

The way to salvation. The doctrine that salvation is be available only in Mary appears, in addition to the previous statements, also in a statement of Pope Pius  lX, who was the pope in the 1800s (1846-1878). This Pope also defined the doctrine about the Immaculate Conception of Mary. According to him, by Mary it is possible to get hope, grace and salvation:

 

God has entrusted to Mary the treasury of good, so that everyone would know that by way of her all hope, all grace and all salvation is available. (2) 

 

This Pope - as most popes - has not, however, read the Bible very carefully. If we look at the Bible, it shows very clearly that the above-mentioned statement is in conflict with what Jesus said about Himself and what also Peter and Paul taught about Him. For example, Jesus said that no-one comes to the Father except through Him and Peter also referred to the fact that besides Jesus there is no other name, in which one can be saved. Therefore, we see that the statements of Jesus and His disciples are certainly more important than these statements, which now, hundreds of years later, may be presented:

 

 - (John 14:6) Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.

 

- (John 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

 

- (Acts 4:11,12) This is the stone which was set at nothing of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

 

- (1 Cor 3:11) For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

 

The status as mediator. Secondly, it has been attempted to raise the status of Mary so that she would be the mediator between God and people. This viewpoint appears, for example, in a revelation that occurred in Medjugore, and in which a person called "Mary", appeared and spoke (of course, it was not “the real Mary” but only the spirit of a deceased appearing as Mary - cf., for example, Isa 8:19). Millions of sincere Catholics have made a pilgrimage to this place. In the revelation it is said:

 

Today I called you, so that you would get a answer to your question as to why I am with you for so long. I am the mediator between you and God. (Marija, Medjugore, Croatia, 17 July 1986)

 

If we think about the status of Mary as the mediator, however, we can ask that could a sinner be a mediator for the sinners. For example, in the Gospel of Luke (16:24), when a rich man prayed to Abraham, Abraham was not able to help him, even though Abraham was called God's friend. (James 2:23). Therefore, on grounds of this one can ask how could Mary then help us and be the mediator for us?

   The only possibility is that we need a perfect mediator, such as Jesus Christ alone was and is, because He was sinless when He lived on the Earth (John 8:46: "Which of you convinces me of sin?...”). The Bible also tells that there is only one mediator between God and people. In other words, if there is only one mediator, then there cannot be two. It is, therefore, impossible for Mary to be the mediator in our relationship with God:

 

- (1 Tim 2:5,6) For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

 

- (Hebr 9:15) And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

 

Status as defender and intercessor. Mary's task as mediator also includes that she is believed to be a defender and an intercessor.

   When Jesus is seen in the Catholic Church as a harsh judge and difficult to approach, Mary is seen as a defender and an intercessor full of understanding and pity as a mother, who then - high in the heaven - prays for her son to forgive and to pity those Catholics who turn to Mary. It has also been presented that Mary does not need to do anything but show to her Son "breasts which he has sucked", for His anger to immediately abate (this is taught by, for example, Alfonso Mary Liquori, [1696-1787], who has been called the teacher of the church.).

   Another problem with this teaching is that we cannot find from the Bible a single passage in which it is mentioned that Mary or some of the "saints" was our defender and intercessor in heaven. Instead, it is indicated that Jesus Himself is the Defender, Intercessor and merciful high priest. Also the weary and burdened can turn to Him. In other words, we can ask that if Jesus is the perfect Defender and Intercessor, why would we turn to others, who cannot help us before God:

 

- (1 John 2:1,2) My little children, these things write I to you, that you sin not.  And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

- (Rom 8:34) Who is he that comdemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

 

- (Hebr 7:25) Why he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.

 

 - (Hebr 2:17,18) Why in all things it behooved him to be made like to his brothers, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

18  For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

 

- (Matt 11:28) Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

Receiving grace. The fact that Mary has darkened the role of Jesus as the Savior in the Catholic Church also appears in how she has been made "the distributor of all grace." She has namely been made the distributor of all grace in the way that she mediated her grace to this world by bearing Jesus, but also in the way that she all the time by her intercessions distributes grace to people. Many Catholics also believe that all grace and favor of God comes to the mankind only by Mary. A good example of this belief is Pope Leo Xlll (1878 1903), who said in his time:

 

It can be confirmed as the truth that of God's will from that enormous treasury of all grace that God has reserved, nothing comes to us except through Mary (...) how huge is the wisdom and grace that has been informed in this plan of God (...) Mary is our excellent mediator, she is the powerful Mother of the Almighty God… (3)

 

This Pope has also read his Bible sloppily: if we look at the Bible, it very clearly indicates that grace has come and comes by Jesus, not at all by Mary. Joining Mary to this is futile confusing of matters only. The important status of Jesus as the mediator of grace is indicated also for instance by the apostle John in his Gospel and Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. They have written that the grace of God has been given to people expressly by Jesus, and not by Mary, for example. We must only believe in this, and not try to place other false donors of grace at the same level with Him:

 

- (John 1:14,16,17) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

16  And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

 

- (1 Cor 1:4) I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

 

A conversation regarding the status of Jesus and Mary

 

In order to understand that salvation can be received only by Jesus, we should read the dialogue below; we will get a good picture about the status of Jesus as our Savior, to which role Mary does not suit to the least. This dialogue is from a book called Fifty Years in the Church of Rome (Charles Chiniquy), and in it Charles Chiniquy, who was a priest in the Catholic Church, talks with his superior, in other words with the bishop of that time, when some doctrines of the Catholic Church have started to trouble him. The conversation goes like this:

 

- Esteemed bishop, who has saved you and me on the cross?

- Jesus Christ.

- Who has paid by his blood for our sins, Jesus or Mary?

- Jesus Christ.

- When Jesus was on earth, who loved sinners more: Jesus or Mary?

- Jesus.

- Did any sinner ever come to Mary asking for salvation?

- No, they all came to Jesus.

- Did Jesus ever command those sinners who came to Him to go to His mother, for example?

- No. Jesus received them all.

- Do you remember from the Bible that Jesus has ever said, "Go to Mary and she will save you?"

- No, I don't.

- Do you remember that Jesus has said to miserable sinners, "Come to me and I will never drive you away?”

- Yes, I remember.

- Has Jesus ever - as far as the teachings of the Bible are concerned - said to us that His above-mentioned words would no longer be valid?

- The words of Jesus are valid.

- Who then is the most powerful and marvelous Redeemer of the sinners, Jesus or Mary?

- Jesus, of course.

- Esteemed bishop, why would we then not go to Jesus and to Him alone for salvation of our soul? Why do we priests call miserable sinners to Mary, when - in accordance with our own confession - Mary is nothing like the Savior?

   No answer.

- Jesus and Mary are both in heaven. According to the doctrine of the Church, Mary has even been bodily taken to heaven. Where is the word, that came from heaven, and by which the way to Jesus goes by Mary. (...) Can we find any biblical truth to confirm even a little the Roman Catholic dogma about the status of Mary?

   The bishop wasn't able to answer. (4)

 

2.”Immaculate virgin"

 

The fact that Mary is dear to the Catholics can be seen from the numerous names she has been given. She may be called for instance “the Queen of Heaven”, “the empress of the angels”, “the gate of the Paradise”, "the Mother of God", "the Ark of the Covenant" and who knows how many other names. However, whether there is any biblical foundation for these names is a different issue altogether.

   If we further list the names given to Mary, we will see that one of them is "Immaculate Virgin", by which is meant expressly that Mary is believed to have lived on the Earth completely without sin. She is also believed to have experienced before that "the Immaculate Conception", in other words that original sin did not affect her at all in the beginning of her life.

   This viewpoint, which became a doctrine of the Catholic Church in 1854 by the Pope Pius lX, can be very well seen for instance in a book published by the Catholic Information Centre of Finland (Katolisen uskon perusteet or “The Fundamentals of Catholic Faith”, Helsinki 1992, p. 115) (Already above, we mentioned the Catholic prayer book, in which was said that "not even the smallest sin can access her" and that God preserved her completely from the original sin.) This book says:

 

"... the Church believes that God also preserved her (Mary) from sin until the end of her life and took her after her death, with her body and her soul to heaven." 

 

The Finnish Catholic Catechism (1953, p. 25) also refers to the same issue. It also very clearly shows how deeply Catholics have been rooted in the doctrine of the sinless life of Mary. It is said there that Mary was preserved from the stains of original sin for the sake of the merits of Jesus:

 

Who alone has been preserved from original sin?

The most blessed, the Virgin Mary has, because of the special grace, for the sake of the merits of Jesus, been preserved from all stain of the original sin. (The celebration of Mary's Immaculate Conception).

 

However, if we look at the Bible, we have no grounds to believe that Mary was sinless. The Bible does not support this idea in any way, and neither does it support the other Catholic beliefs regarding Mary. Paul, who wrote to Romans, said, for example, that "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) and "…for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).

   In the same way, when we read the Gospels, we can read how Mary rejoiced in God, her Savior. In other words, if Mary rejoiced in her Savior, this indicates that she had also sinned - she was not sinless - and needed freedom from her sins as everyone else. Therefore, she was a sinner as all of us:

 

- (Luke1:46,47) And Mary said, My soul does magnify the Lord,

47  And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

 

3. MARY's Ascension TO heaven

 

One of the beliefs connected with Mary is that she ascended to heaven in a bodily form, so that her body was not permitted to disappear. This is again a thing that the Bible tells Jesus alone has experienced and about which the first chapter of the Acts tells, for example. Thus, we can see how the idea has been to make Mary also in this respect equal to Jesus in the minds of many people.

   This doctrine can be seen very well in the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church (published in English in 1994), passage 966. It speaks about the status of Mary "as the Queen of Heaven", which is one belief concerning her. The same passage also refers to how Mary lived without sin.

 

The Lord took the immaculate Virgin, who had been preserved free from the stains of original sin, when her earthly life came to an end, up to the heavenly brightness with her body and soul, and raised her as the Queen of All, so that she would be just like her Son, who is the Lord of Lords and the winner of sin and death. The Blessed Virgin's ascension means that she has a special part in the resurrection of her Son and it heralds the resurrection of other Christians.

 

However, we must note again in the same way as it was difficult to find proof for Mary being sinless, it is difficult to find any evidence showing that Mary ascended to heaven in the Bible. The last reference to Mary is when she was praying together with others, (Act 1:14); after that nothing is said about her. In other words, we can assume that if she really experienced the ascension to heaven, it would certainly have been mentioned in the Bible. Why is this not mentioned at all in the Bible then? Is that not a clear indication that Mary's ascension to heaven never really took place?

   Instead, it is mentioned as the words of Jesus that no-one has ever gone to heaven except Him - in other words, this excludes Mary's ascension to heaven. Certainly, the words of Jesus are more important than people's opinions also in this issue.

 

 - (John 3:13) And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

 

4. ”A Permanent and everlasting Virgin"

 

As we study more beliefs of Mary, we must not forget one of the most common of them: that Mary is a "permanent and everlasting virgin." It has really been said that when Mary gave birth, she remained a virgin, and that she did not have more children after Jesus. One example of this special doctrine is for instance a dogma that Pope Martinus I confirmed in 649: Mary is an everlasting Virgin. In it is said:

 

"Blessed eternally virginal and immaculate Mary is the mother of God, because she bore him (Jesus) without loosing her virginity and after his birth preserved her virginity as holy."

 

At this point, it is actually no wonder that no evidence for the permanent virginity of Mary can be found in the Bible. Even though many sincere Catholics would gladly want to believe in this, it is difficult to find confirmation for it in the Bible. Instead, several verses of the Bible refer to the fact that Mary was an ordinary Jewish girl and later on quite an ordinary mother. Her privileged status was restricted only to the fact that she was virgin when the Holy Spirit came on her and that she got to bring Jesus into this world; otherwise, she had the ordinary life of a mother. The following issues, for example, also show the family life of Mary:

 

Joseph, Mary's husband. The Gospel of Matthew, for example, very clearly states how also Mary had a husband by the name of Joseph. The Gospel says that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, and that she was called his wife. They had also sexual intercourse after the birth of Jesus, because Joseph is told to have had no union with Mary just after this. How can Mary then be the "Permanent Virgin", if she also practiced normal sexual intercourse with her husband?

 

- (Matt 1:18-20) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19  Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.

20  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son of David, fear not to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

 

- (Matt 1:24,25) Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took to him his wife:

25  And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

 

Jesus' brothers. The second good example of the ordinary family life and marriage of Mary and her connection with her husband are the brothers and sisters of Jesus. They are mentioned several times in the Bible and in some places also their names. In other words, we can see that if Mary and Joseph had children together, Mary cannot be the Everlasting Virgin. What is special is that these siblings did not believe in Jesus at first, but already in the Acts of the Apostles they are mentioned praying together with other believers:

 

- (Luke 8:19-21) Then came to him his mother and his brothers, and could not come at him for the press.

20  And it was told him by certain which said, Your mother and your brothers stand without, desiring to see you.

21  And he answered and said to them, My mother and my brothers are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

 

 - (Mark 6:3) Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

 

- (John 7:3-5) His brothers therefore said to him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that your disciples also may see the works that you do.

4  For there is no man that does any thing in secret, and he himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

5  For neither did his brothers believe in him.

 

- (Acts 1:14) These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

 

- (1 Cor 9:5) Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

 

- (Gal 1:19) But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

 

5. Praying and worship of Mary

 

As we start to speak about praying and worshipping of Mary, we reach a domain that is one of the main points of the Catholic piety. In the Catholic Church, people really pray for Mary and turn to her like to God. In other words, they can pray and worship Mary just like God and this is not deemed strange. People are even advised to give their life to Mary, in other words dedicate themselves to her as to Jesus (Jesus said, for example: “Follow me…” - Matt 4:19). Mary may also be regarded as “the Queen of Heaven", "the Mother of God", who from heaven regulates the events of the world; in other words, the change from an ordinary Jewish mother to the current status in the minds of people is really dramatic.

   In order to get a good view of the current interest in Mary, we should study it in the light of a few examples. For example, the well-known "Hail Mary”, which apparently dates back to the thirteenth century, illustrates this well. In it is said:

 

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death.”

 

Also the Catholic catechism (Finnish catechism,1953) brings out the same issue: it includes, for instance, the following passages of turning to Mary and also to other saints:

 

Which saint must we especially respect and ask for help?

We must especially respect and ask for help from the most blessed Virgin and the Mother of God, Mary. (p. 71)

 

Why must we especially honor Mary and ask for help from her?

We must especially honor and ask for help from Mary,

 1) because she is the Mother of God;

 2) because she in grace and holiness defeats all angels and saints;

 3) because her prayers most benefits us with God. (p. 71,72)

 

As far as the Bible is concerned, we have to note that no reference to this can be found there. Nothing about praying to Mary (or other saints) or worshipping her is said, nor is it mentioned that Mary in some way in heaven would take the prayers and requests of people to Jesus or to God.

   The only reference that in any way could refer to worship of Mary, is in Gospel of Luke - but in a negative tone. In this case, one woman referred to the bliss of Mary, because she had been allowed to be the mother of Jesus. However, Jesus immediately diverted her attention to the word of God and to its observance, which should of course come true also in our lives:

 

- (Luke 11:27,28) And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said to him, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which you have sucked.

28  But he said, Yes rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

 

Further, as comes to praying, Jesus clearly showed us what to do in order to be heard. According to Him, people must either pray directly to Him or to turn to the Father in the name of Jesus - Jesus said nothing about Mary and the saints. If Jesus Himself, the Son of God, has given us instructions on how we must act, why would we disobey?

 

- (John 14:13,14) And whatever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14  If you shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

 

- (John 16:23,24) And in that day you shall ask me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

24  Till now have you asked nothing in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.

 

- (John 16:26) At that day you shall ask in my name: and I say not to you, that I will pray the Father for you:

 

The next conversation also refers how we must pray. If we pray saints, God does not hear us, because He answers only those prayers that have been presented in the name of Jesus:

 

- Is it very bad, Raul? Probably it is better to pray something than not to pray at all!

- No, mother, this is not true. If you do not pray to God by Jesus, you don't, as a matter of fact, pray at all. Those "saints" are not in any way more important than you to God!

- Raul! Do not say that! Mother frowned and seemed doubtful. - The saints of the church are significant people - not ordinary people like me!

- Mother, the Bible says that we all are holy! Mother held already her forehead, terrified. I had to laugh at her shock. She could not imagine herself as a saint. Not to mention to imagine me one!

   I snatched the Bible from the shelf and searched the letter to the Ephesians from the New Testament. - Listen, mother. ”Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus"  Do you know, what the word "saint" means? It means "set apart, devout, blameless, sanctified." And we will all be that when Jesus forgives our sins and saves us.

- But the church has chosen the saints, because they have performed miracles... Mother looked at me with suspicion. - Shouldn't we honor them for that reason?

- We are all able to do miracles, mother. Even you could raise people from the dead, if God wanted you to do that. I could too. We could all see visions. We could all heal the sick. We could all change the history of the mankind - with the help of the power of God that lives inside us.

   Mother sipped her tea and looked out the window. She had difficulties digesting my words. I annulled everything she had ever learned, but she still had a feeling that there was a hidden truth in my words. Finally, she said:

- Now I see what you mean. Now I won't pray the saints any longer. - That is most important! The Bible says that there is only one person who can speak to God for us - and that person is Jesus. He is said to be our "Mediator." If we pray someone else, we displace Jesus from the place which belongs to Him. (...) (5)

 

Spiritualism

 

Worshipping of Mary and the saints has one danger for the Catholics: when they turn to saints, it is actually an ancient form of spiritualism, in other words turning to the deceased and familiar spirits, and the Bible forbids this. Thus, these people do not - even though they sincerely think so - are not in connection with actual deceased and saints, but actually turn to the spirits of the deceased, in other words to evil spirits. The Bible speaks about turning to these misleading spirits in the next way, for example:

 

 - (Lev 19:31) Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.

 

- (Lev 20:6) And the soul that turns after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

 

- (18:10-12 There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.

11  Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

12  For all that do these things are an abomination to the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD your God does drive them out from before you.

 

Also Nicky Cruz tells an example of how people can even do healing work with the help of these "saints". This occurred in his home, but these saints or deceased were actually only familiar spirits or demons, which the Bible mentions, and who want to bind our lives (if you are bound by these spirits, you can turn to Jesus, who has already won them, Col 2:15):

 

Everybody believed that mother and father didn't only speak to the dead, but also did healing work with the help of the deceased - especially with the help of the very holiest saints of the Bible.

   Now I know that the word of God says that we live only once. Then He will condemn us before we continue into heaven or into everlasting punishment - and from both places there is not return. Well, what supernatural power then pretended to be my grandfather that evening? A demon. Some evil spirit, a fellow-worker of Satan.

   I believe that our beautiful jungle home was full of such devilish beings. When mother went into a trance, she allowed these evil, lying spirits to come into her and to speak through her - demons, who have an ability to pretend that they are our loved ones sending messages from the grave. (6) 

 

Another point to be mentioned here are the numerous revelations of “Mary and the saints", experienced for instance in Fatima of Portugal, (1917; these revelations "of Mary" are significant in that at least six Popes have given their support to them), in Medjugore of Croatia and in numerous other places around the world, to which places millions of devoted Catholics also have made pilgrimages.

   We can understand that these revelations have not originated of these deceased saints - for example Mary or holy Teresa - but they have been caused by misleading spirits that have pretended to be these persons (2 Cor 11:14: And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.) They - the lying spirits - can imitate our dear deceased, because they know very much about their lives on earth (for example, Acts 19:15). Many people who see these revelations, such as ordinary mediums, have gone astray, because they did not know what they were dealing with and from whom they got their revelations.

   In order to make this very clear, we only need to study these revelations. If the person speaking really is the Mary of the Bible, would it not be fair to expect that she would not at least raise herself as the way to salvation or something else that is not mentioned in the Bible? Should she not raise Jesus alone as the way to salvation, because this was clearly what the early church taught too? However, we can see in these revelations quite a different message. In other words it is certainly not the Mary of the Bible. Instead, we can say that these revelations are teachings of evil spirits and doctrines of demons, of which Paul warned us:

 

- (1 Tim 4:1) Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

 

 - (Gal 1:8,9) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

9  As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel to you than that you have received, let him be accursed.

 

As examples of these revelations are mentioned the cases below. The revelations clearly show how "the Mary of revelations" raises doctrines that were quite unfamiliar to the early church: 

 

Jesus wants you to serve Him, so that people would know and love me. He wants to start everywhere in the world a belief in my Immaculate Heart. To all those who want join this belief, I promise salvation. Their souls are dear to God as the flowers that I set to decorate His throne. (Lucia Santos, Fatima, 13 June 1917)

 

I promise to be with everybody at the time of their death and bring to them the grace they need to be saved, if they confess their sins on the first Saturday of five months, receive my holy Eucharist, pray the prayers of the rosary and will be with me for 15 minutes thinking about the miracles of the rosary and thus easing my condition. (Lucia Santos, Portugal, 10 December 1925)

 

I love you with maternal love and ask you to open perfectly to me, so that I by each of you could convert and save the world, in which there is much sin and immorality. (Marjana, Medjugore, Croatia, 25 August 1992)

 

Today I called you, so that you would get a answer to your question as to why I am with you for so long. I am the mediator between you and God. (Marija, Medjugore, Croatia, 17 July 1986)  

 

All the children in the world will soon know that I am the mediator of all grace. (Julia Kim, Naju, South Korea, 26 November 1991) 

 

I want to blow my spirit into those children of mine who do not know me, and to allow light shine from them as a flow. But how can they understand my words, if they keep their heart closed? (Julia Kim, Naju, South Korea, 21 October 1986)

 

Those who do no acknowledge me as the Queen of Heaven and the Earth, will see God's greatness and their pride and stubbornness will be broken. They will see the truth and know that God has not become smaller, even though He has given honor to a humble creature. On the contrary, He has been glorified through my virtues and obedience. (Cyndi Cain, Bella Vista, Arkansas, USA, 8 January 1992)

 

Mary as the Queen of Heaven and mother goddess

 

In Catholicism Mary has been raised to the status of the Queen of Heaven and a mother goddess. This is just like the earlier pagan customs. For this cult of the Queen of Heaven and mother goddess is not of Christian origin, but its origin is in pagan religions that appeared in the Mediterranean countries already during the times of Jesus, and several centuries after this - the last temples of the goddesses were destroyed in the 6th century.

   At that time, the pagans prayed and worshipped their mother goddess and turned to her; the only difference was that in those times, the name of the mother goddess was not Mary, but the most well-known were, for example, Semiramis, Astarte, Isis and Artemis. These "queens of heaven" of those times were also normally described mother figures, who were full of pity and grace - as Mary - and promised their help and grace to people; in other words, the similarities to the current cult of Mary are apparent.

   Paavo Hiltunen has described well the similarity of worshipping Isis and the current worship of Mary. This cult was the most widespread of the mother cults in Rome in the 4th and 5th century:

 

When we compare this message of Isis to her faithful supporter and what "Mary" says to her successors in the so-called revelations of Mary in different parts of the globe, the expressions are surprisingly similar. Did the same spirit speak through Isis that now appears as Mary?

   Isis was to her successors the same as Mary is to hers: savior, lover, donor of gifts, protector, helper. Her power reached even the kingdom of death. As Mary, Isis had an ability to help hopeless cases. She healed the blinds, paralyzed and those who were rejected by doctors. Writings and pictures, onto which those who believed in her, have drawn their thanks, are similar to that in Lourdes.

   Even the titles of Isis bear a surprising resemblance to the titles of the Christian mother of God: dear mistress, loving mother, the Queen of Heaven, goddess risen onto the throne, the queen of the sea, the distributor of grace, savior, immaculate, holy queen (Sancta Regina). (7)

 

Also the next quotes show well how in the Mediterranean of that time appeared this worship of the goddess that is similar to the current worship of Mary. The second quote also clearly shows how Mary, to whom Catholics now pray and worship, is in fact an Isis goddess in the form of Mary. The paganism has not been destroyed, but Isis has only gotten a new form in Mary:

 

"Just as there were several popular mystery cults with a mother goddess as the main figure in Rome during the time when Jesus was born. These included the cults of Caereen, Cybele (Magna Mater), Artemis, Astarte and Isis, whose evidence can be found up to the beginning of the fifth century. All the properties and epithets connected with these divinities can be found later connected to Mary, such as the Morning Star, the star of the sea, the mother of believers and the Queen of Heaven." (8)

 

“Mary became an instrument to fill the need of the semi-pagan people who joined the church for their goddesses. In fact, the mother of Jesus did not become the Queen of Heaven, but that status was taken by the goddess of antiquity who was worshipped in all countries around the Mediterranean. It was a disastrous legacy." (9)

 

In order to get yet another perspective to the issue, we are going to study it in the light of the next examples, in the light of the Bible, what it says about this, and how nowadays in Asia, for example, similar worship of the goddess mother is seen. These examples indicate well that the current worship of the "Queen of Heaven" is nothing new and that it appears in the same kind of form also in other countries. God was and is, however, angry of this idol worshipping:

 

1. References in the Bible to the Queen of Heaven

 

 - (Jer 7:17-19) See you not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18  The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

19  Do they provoke me to anger? said the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

 

- (Acts 19:27,28) So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nothing; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.

28  And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

 

2. The worship of the Queen of Heaven in modern Asia

 

"The third month of the moon calendar is the month of Matsu. The goddess of the Sea, the Queen of Heaven, the Holy Mother of Heaven, the Concubine of the Emperor of Heaven is the object of worship in hundreds of thousands of homes and approximately in four hundreds temples. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims go to the fishing center of the western coast, to the town of Peikang, where the largest pai-pai of Matsu's birthday is concentrated.

   (... ) Over time, the Goddess of the Sea has become a mild, immortal helper who is present everywhere. The fishermen pray for protection at sea, the farmers rain on theirs fields, the young mothers boy babies, the sick healing. An amulet from the temple of Matsu may be suspended on the neck of a young man going to the army. (...) Everybody accepts the assistance of the Holy Mother of Heaven."  (Matleena Pinola, Pai-pai, p. 58-60)

 

"However, Buddhism had to go through a powerful process of change before it was ready as a religion of the Chinese. The doctrines that came from the outside had to be adapted to the Chinese way of thinking. (...) The goddess of grace, Kwum Yum, who is very popular among the Buddhist, got a competitor, the Taoist Queen of Heaven or Tin Hau. These competing divinities can be found nowadays in many temples side by side on the same altar, in perfect harmony."  (Olavi Vuori, Hyvät henget ja pahat, p. 35)

 

What about the pictures of Mary and saints?

 

Mary has a high position in the Catholic Church, and one form or her worship are her pictures and statues that can be found in almost every Catholic Church; there is usually a collection of pictures and statues of her in every church, and people can pray and worship before them. In these pictures, you can, of course, see Jesus as well but usually as a small child only. The composition of these pictures usually stresses the commanding, adult Mar, and then there is small Jesus who Mary carries on her arms. Mary, who Catholics regard as the Queen of Heaven, has also in this regard an advantage over Jesus.

   In any case, what is special is that to support the worship of Mary and the saints, the Church has even removed the second Commandment from the catalogue of the Ten Commandments: the second Commandment forbids making and worshipping of idols. Instead, this Commandment has been replaced by dividing the tenth one into two parts - like this, the number of the Commandments has remained the same.

   The next comparison of the Finnish Catholic catechism (1953, p. 4) and the Bible also show this matter. We can see how the Commandments have changed:

 

Catholic catechism:

             

1. “I am the LORD your God. (…) You shall have no other gods before me.

2. You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God. (…)

3. Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy (…)

4. Honor your father and your mother

5. You shall not murder.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

10. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor's things.”

 

The Bible (Deut 5:6-21):

 

1. I am the LORD your God...  You shall have none other gods before me.

2. You shall not make you any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them

3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain

4. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it

5. Honor your father and your mother

6. You shall not kill

7. Neither shall you commit adultery

8. Neither shall you steal

9. Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor

10. Neither shall you desire your neighbor's wife, neither shall you covet your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is your neighbor's

 

The support of the Catholic Church to worshipping idols can also be seen in a decision made in the Synod of Trento (session 25), for example. This decision strongly supports respecting and worshipping of idols. It is said:

 

“The pictures of Christ and the Virgin Mary, mother of God, such as other pictures of saints must be kept in the Church, and people shall respect and worship them."

 

Even though the Catholic Church accepts worshipping of pictures, the Bible has said that this is not God's will by any means. Several verses of the Bible indicate that God does not want people to make any idols, pictures of neither a man nor a woman. It is also said that he does not want people to make any statues, which he hates. The following list also includes a passage of how apostle Paul was angry, when he saw how the city of Athens was full of idols:

 

 - (Lev 26:1) You shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither raise you up a standing image, neither shall you set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down to it: for I am the LORD your God.

 

- (Deut 4:15,16) Take you therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire:

16  Lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

 

- (Deut 27:15) Cursed be the man that makes any graven or molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

 

- (Deut 16:22) Neither shall you set you up any image; which the LORD your God hates.

 

- (Isa 44:15-19) Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yes, he kindles it, and bakes bread; yes, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto.

16  He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied: yes, he warms himself, and said, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:

17  And the residue thereof he makes a god, even his graven image: he falls down to it, and worships it, and prays to it, and said, Deliver me; for you are my god.

18  They have not known nor understood: for he has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

19  And none considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yes, also I have baked bread on the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

 

- (Acts 17:16) Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

 

Sometimes, the Catholics may in spite of all justify their idols by saying that they are only reminiscing these people and establishing a contact with God.

   To this one can say that God certainly does not need to make a connection with us with images that he has forbidden. He certainly does not need images in order to communicate with people, because there is also a more direct and the only connection, His Son (John 14:6). Why would we not use this connection that is already there?

   The second good question is why anyone should remember others - the deceased - when wishing to speak to God. Will not other people and things only take us far away from God and our thoughts away from Him? Why would we, therefore, need futile props around us of which we will not benefit? The next conversation also shows how futile these kinds of props are:

 

When mother told about her disappointment to the church, it started to trouble me. I thought how she displayed statues in her home. She tried so hard to do what is right. But she did not have a real relationship. One afternoon, I drove to her just for fun. I walked in through the front door and said, - These idols must be taken down, mother! She was horrified. - But Raul, they are not idols. I do not pray to them… Her voice became faint when she tried to explain powerlessly that the images “were only reminding.”

- What do you mean you don't pray to them? Why are there candles then?  You can't keep all these things around you. It prevents you from knowing Jesus. Then I started to tell her, what the Bible says about idols and about who Jesus really is. (10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jari Iivanainen




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