Lack of Mary in the Bible

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Jimmy Akin addressed this topic.

The tl;dr is:
  1. Paul was writing pastoral letters to address crises, not writing devotionals.
  2. Mary was still living on Earth, so any devotion would have been very local, not global. The same happened with Jesus and most saints.
With that said, anyone reading the writings of Matthew, Luke, and John would easily see a considerable significance of Mary. That should be enough, since we aren’t some religion founded solely by Paul (as some claim).
 
ComplineSanFran said:
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Kaliaa:
The bible was compiled after the Epistles and the Gospels were written. So of course the “bible” wouldn’t be mentioned in either of them.
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You are speaking of the New Testament, yes? The Hebrew Bible had been compiled, used, and mentioned during the time of Jesus’s life on earth as well as in the texts of the Gospels, letters, and other writings. Christians DID do an add-on to those Scriptures.
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Actually the gospels do refer to events that occurred after they were written: the various persecutions of Christians, the destruction of the Temple, and others. The gospels could have recorded Jesus saying “A new testament will be written, and canonized. This will be become your sole authoritative rule of Faith”. Nothing like that appears.

One can argue that Christians did an add-on to the Old Testament, but they added a few hundred possible scriptures. The Magisterium canonized only 27 as inspired Scripture, for the NT. THAT is the new testament we use today.
 
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Treacy17 said:
Talking to a Protestant and this question came up. If Mary is so important, why does she not get any mentions at all in the Epistles?
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Why should she? Is it not enough that she appears over and over in the Gospels?
 
In addition, the epistles tend to communicate what was unfamiliar, or forgotten; clarify what was vague; to encourage, or to chastise. They were written to Christians. They did not need to restate what would have been obvious, given the importance of the incarnation.
 
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Treacy17 said:
Talking to a Protestant and this question came up. If Mary is so important, why does she not get any mentions at all in the Epistles?
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If the Bible is so important, why wasn’t the canon determined until as late as it was…which was what, the 300s?
You don’t find the word “Trinity” in the New Testament, either. Not anywhere.
You don’t find anywhere that the Church is going to fall into error and have to be rescued by reformers, either. Quite to the contrary, as a matter of fact.
Actually, an awful lot of what various Protestant denominations hang their hats on cannot be found explicitly anywhere in the New Testament. Their major tenets are deduced from there, not enumerated.
 
I call this a non-issue. If my wife is so important to me, why isn’t she mentioned in any of my work emails? Essentially the same argument.
 
The Christians in those first few centuries didn’t need explicit knowledge of Mary written down when knowledge about her was taught and passed down through oral tradition.

She was so vitally important to the early Christian communities that the Council of Ephesus had to be convened in 431 A.D. to determine her role.

Crowds of people were celebrating in the streets when the Council finally made the determination that she was, indeed, the Theotokos.

Just saying, that while the Scriptures are focused on Christ and His role, they do say a lot about Mary. But a lot of our knowledge comes through Tradition.
 
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Treacy17 said:
Talking to a Protestant and this question came up. If Mary is so important, why does she not get any mentions at all in the Epistles?
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Acts 1:13-14
Galatians 4:4
Revelation 11:19-12:2
Revelation 12:5
Revelation 12:17
 
You’re spot on!
I’m simply pointing out that using whether something is mentioned in the Epistles as a criteria to determine the importance of something is such a silly idea.
 
Do we know when Mary died? Couldn’t it have been after many of the Epistles were written? Her intercession wouldn’t have really been in play before she was assumed.
 
Easy answer. St. Paul almost never mentions Jesus, either. Look it up. I think there are perhaps 5-6 references to Jesus (his life, not his theological importance) in all of St. Paul’s epistles. Paul was concerned with other matters, usually administrative issues that arose. He had no intention of giving a narrative like the Gospels. So–no surprise–Mary doesn’t feature in the epistles of Paul. There aren’t that many epistles by other authors, and they aren’t concerned with the life of Jesus (and thus Mary) either.
 
I just checked an early 19th century version of the Vulgate and the pronoun there does not infer it is feminine. It could be masculine, depending on the context.

What seems to lead to “her heel” instead of “His heel” is the vision of Saint John the Apostle written in Apocalipse 12 which is associated to that Genesis passage
 
Jesus gave His Mother to John. John is the only Apostle to not die from persecution. John kept Mary safe from the violence of persecution. This I think was part of Jesus’ intention when he gave His Mother to John. The below passage is about John keeping Our Blessed Mother safe from harm. The eagle is a symbol of St John. Since this seems to be part of the reason Jesus gave His Mother to St. John it seems reasonable to think that is also the reason Mary’s role in salvation remained hidden.

Also the task at hand for the Apostles was to reveal who Jesus is and that task was difficult enough for that time.

Revelation 12:14

But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle , so that she could fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
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The problem they have is that though they Believe in the Word of God and though they Believe in Christ, they do not Believe Christ nor the Word of God.

Christ Tells (Commands) us to do something and people who claim to Believe in Him choose to do their own thing; the Word of God Reveals something and people who claim the Word of God as their only Authority, often ignore the Word.

How is the Virgin greeted by the angel? Is it the same as in other instances when a messenger of God greets other people, such as Zechariah? No. The Archangel Gabriel salutes the Virgin: ‘Hail.’

This salute is one that is very formal and granted only to heads of states (as far as I have come to understand); so of what state is the Virgin the head of?

Then we have the “visit.” At the moment that the Virgin greets her relative, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, all of 6 months of him, jump for joy in recognition of the Presence of God, his Lord. Almost simultaneously, Elizabeth, infused with the Holy Spirit, Calls the Virgin the mother of her Lord (God); not only that but she is amazed that the Virgin would extend herself to visit a mere servant of God!

The Holy Spirit, not being finished, prophesizes through the Virgin that all generations will Celebrate the Incarnation of the Word as they would honor the Virgin, Who, in humble Obedience, Believe in the Word of God!

Now about missing things; since Jesus hanged around for about three and one half years, during His Ministry, could He not have found a few good men (no, not US Marines)… a few good scribes to consolidate the various versions of Sacred Scriptures into one volume and dictate a comprehensive plan for the Church that would include the New Covenant’s Revelations as well as Church Doctrinal Practices, with all the bells and whistles included, so that man would not have to wonder in the dark?

…or didn’t He?

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Kaliaa said:
I am aware that OT books had been compiled as a group as well, just not sure about the canon which I thought was itself revised later on and lead to leaving part of the OT canon (used by Catholics) out of the post reformation bible. However, I am no expert on that history.
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There were various versions of the Jewish Sacred Writings; the one used by Jesus and the Apostles is the version called the Septuagint (XXL). Yet, there were several schools in the Jewish religion that would hold their particular version as the “correct” and only deposit of Sacred Writings.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
Canvas said:
You know what else isn’t in the Bible? The doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). Ask your Protestant friend about that.
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Now, now; you must play fair. Hitting them with facts only confuses them! 😄

Maran atha!

Angel
 
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