Do Catholics worship Mary as a goddess?

  • Thread starter Thread starter IGotQuestions
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
IGotQuestions said:
Very true. It is God who decides what constitutes worship.
Click to expand...
No, we can clearly determine whether we are worshipping something/someone or merely venerating her. Offering sacrifice to God is worship. Placing God above all our other needs is an act of worship. Kissing the Cross may be worship or it may be veneration, depending on the intent behind it. Kneeling down to pray at a statue or icon is veneration, though many Protestants would immediately conclude that it is worship. Praying to a saint is, strictly speaking, neither worship nor veneration, it is communication. Likewise, Protestants invariably identify prayer with worship, and this is the main reason they recoil at prayer to the saints or Mary, because the act of prayer is, to them, inseparable from an act of worship, while Catholics clearly understand that prayer is simply a method of communication and does not intrinsically connote either worship or veneration.
 
Elizium23 said:
No, we can clearly determine whether we are worshipping something/someone or merely venerating her. Offering sacrifice to God is worship. Placing God above all our other needs is an act of worship. Kissing the Cross may be worship or it may be veneration, depending on the intent behind it. Kneeling down to pray at a statue or icon is veneration, though many Protestants would immediately conclude that it is worship. Praying to a saint is, strictly speaking, neither worship nor veneration, it is communication. Likewise, Protestants invariably identify prayer with worship, and this is the main reason they recoil at prayer to the saints or Mary, because the act of prayer is, to them, inseparable from an act of worship, while Catholics clearly understand that prayer is simply a method of communication and does not intrinsically connote either worship or veneration.
Click to expand...
Right, just like some Protestants say, one can just talk to God, no need for " formal " prayers… is just talking to God worship ?
 
porthos11 said:
Still, the question remains valid. This is the age of the Internet, where all sorts of good and bad stuff reside. The text of the Mass, in both its Ordinary and Extraordinary forms are out there for the world to see.

Can’t he exert a little effort and look it up and see for himself if the Mass is indeed “all about Mary?”
Click to expand...
He exerted a little effort and asked here. If you don’t want to answer, walk on by.

If you google, do Catholics worship Mary, you will find links where a lot believe they do.

Recently, I read where during polling, it was found that only 46 percent of Catholics are aware of what the Church teaches about the real presence and agree with that teaching. There is confusion inside and outside the church.
 
IGotQuestions said:
When I was a Fundamental Baptist I was taught that the Catholic Church worships Mary as a goddess. And the Mass is “all about Mary”. I was taught that the Catholic Mary was in reality an ancient Babylonian goddess.
What is the best way of refuting this?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
My advice to you is to go to a Catholic Mass
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
I use to read those tracts when I was a little protestant kid. I love how whoever is not the fundamentalist Christian converts to protestant Christianity within a matter of minuets of being confronted about how whatever they believe is wrong! 😃

I could just as easily (well, I am a terrible artist) do one in reverse about converting a fundamentalist to Catholicism. I would just make it that instead of the ex-Catholic lady saying “A priest raped me” the ex-fundamentalist lady saying “The pastor was having a affair with a married woman, had a child out of wedlock as a result of a affair, his wife divorced him and he later got arrested for soliciting a prostitute.”

What is sad is that I would not be surprised if that part of the tract was based on a true even in someone’s life. And my made up scenario, I am sure, has happened too.
Click to expand...
I have one of those tracks about the Eucharist and how it is really demonic thing I think it is the Eucharist I might be confused with an article that Catholic Answers wrote but I know I have one lying around somewhere at first it made me very angry then it made me very well I laughed
 
adamhovey1988 said:
I have one of those tracks about the Eucharist and how it is really demonic thing I think it is the Eucharist I might be confused with an article that Catholic Answers wrote but I know I have one lying around somewhere at first it made me very angry then it made me very well I laughed
Click to expand...
That one is called … The Death Cookie . 🙂
 
Techno2000 said:
That one is called … The Death Cookie . 🙂
Click to expand...
I actually called once and left a message with chick publications and that was fine and dandy obviously I didn’t give him my number because you know I’m Catholic but I tried to do it a few months later and I was not asked if I wanted to leave a message
 
sheepcat said:
The heretical group that worshipped Mary were called Collyridians, from the word relating to the small rolls or cakes they offered her as sacrifices.

You may hear some Catholics referring to “worship” of Mary or the saints, but that’s a very archaic way of describing it. Normally we’re said to “honor” or “venerate” her, due to her intimate connection with Christ.

To get technical, in Greek, “latria” is the form of worship reserved for God alone- you can see the word in idolatry, for example. Idol - latry. We honor or venerate the saints, and the word used there is “doulia”, which refers to servitude. We give to Mary, as foremost of the saints, “hyperdulia”.

Some confusion also comes from Catholics referring to Mary as “mother of God”. This doesn’t mean we believe that she created God or is the source of His divinity, but rather, as with all things with Mary, points toward Christ. Mary is the mother of Christ (a person, not merely a nature), Christ is God, therefore Mary is the mother of God. It’s a denial of Nestorianism and a focus on Christ’s full divinity.

As a protestant, I used to see art depicting a mother goddess and child compared to Mary with Jesus. Isis with Horus was a favorite. However, there’s nothing pagan about a mother holding her child, and there’s only so many ways to depict it! There’s really nothing to this, either.

This is the official Catholic teaching on Mary, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’s only a few paragraphs- you’ll find no mention of her as a goddess.
Click to expand...
👍
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
I use to read those tracts when I was a little protestant kid. I love how whoever is not the fundamentalist Christian converts to protestant Christianity within a matter of minuets of being confronted about how whatever they believe is wrong! 😃

I could just as easily (well, I am a terrible artist) do one in reverse about converting a fundamentalist to Catholicism. I would just make it that instead of the ex-Catholic lady saying “A priest raped me” the ex-fundamentalist lady saying “The pastor was having a affair with a married woman, had a child out of wedlock as a result of a affair, his wife divorced him and he later got arrested for soliciting a prostitute.”

What is sad is that I would not be surprised if that part of the tract was based on a true even in someone’s life. And my made up scenario, I am sure, has happened too.
Click to expand...
Wow, I was born and raised Baptist. I’ve never saw anything like that before in my life. Total lies! I was always taught that Catholics are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
I use to read those tracts when I was a little protestant kid. I love how whoever is not the fundamentalist Christian converts to protestant Christianity within a matter of minuets of being confronted about how whatever they believe is wrong! 😃

I could just as easily (well, I am a terrible artist) do one in reverse about converting a fundamentalist to Catholicism. I would just make it that instead of the ex-Catholic lady saying “A priest raped me” the ex-fundamentalist lady saying “The pastor was having a affair with a married woman, had a child out of wedlock as a result of a affair, his wife divorced him and he later got arrested for soliciting a prostitute.”

What is sad is that I would not be surprised if that part of the tract was based on a true even in someone’s life. And my made up scenario, I am sure, has happened too.
Click to expand...
Wow, I was born and raised Baptist. I’ve never saw anything like that before in my life. Total lies! I was always taught that Catholics are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
IGotQuestions said:
When I was a Fundamental Baptist I was taught that the Catholic Church worships Mary as a goddess. And the Mass is “all about Mary”. I was taught that the Catholic Mary was in reality an ancient Babylonian goddess.
What is the best way of refuting this?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
If someone said this to me, I would just say that is not true and physically get away from them as subtly and quickly as possible. To me, this has an element of madness. Genuinely misinformed is one thing, but “Catholic Mary was in reality an ancient Babylonian goddess” is really getting out there.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top