Need help defending devotion to the rosary

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TemplarKnight1

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im trying to promote this devotion.i have been accused that the rosary is an unblibical practice, especially from evangelicals… what should i say to them? Specifically. they say that the practice of the rosary is not in the bible and that it places too much emphasis on Mary.

Also… how can explain to evangelicals Mary’s role as co-redeemer and co-redemptrix? They get really mad when at this because this defies the notion of “Christ through the father”
 
I wish you luck on this one! First of all, you could share this verse with them:
2 Thess 2:15: “Stand firm and hold fast to the Traditions you were taught, whether by an ORAL STATEMENT or by a letter from us.”

Since the first Gospel (Mark) was not written until between 60-70 A.D. that means that EVERYTHING was taught orally up until that point in time. The first Christians HAD NO BIBLE.

The best explanation I have been given about Mary as intercessor (I would NOT teach about her as Co-Redeemer or Co-Redemptrix at this point unless you want them to shut you out completely!) is that if your mother were to ask you to do something for her, how likely would you be to turn down that request? If we as humans would likely honor our mother’s request, then how much more so would Jesus honor HIS mother’s requests?! Also, if we look at the Wedding of Cana, we see Mary telling Jesus, “They have no wine.” At first, of course he says, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” But then Mary INTERCEDES for the wedding party and tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus honors His mother’s request.
If we ask our friends and family on Earth to pray for us, why would we not ask the Mother of God to pray for us? Who is closer to God: the Mother of Jesus who is in Heaven or we on Earth who still struggle with sin?

Finally, I’ve found that few Protestants are willing to accept arguments from a Catholic. So PRAYER (especially the ROSARY) is more likely to be a better way of helping them to see the Truth.
 
Oh, and as for the rosary being too much emphasis on Mary, are they aware that all the meditations (except for 2 of the Glorious Mysteries) are on the LIFE OF JESUS?
 
TemplarKnight1 said:
im trying to promote this devotion.i have been accused that the rosary is an unblibical practice, especially from evangelicals… what should i say to them? Specifically. they say that the practice of the rosary is not in the bible and that it places too much emphasis on Mary.

Also… how can explain to evangelicals Mary’s role as co-redeemer and co-redemptrix? They get really mad when at this because this defies the notion of “Christ through the father”
Click to expand...
catholic.com/tracts/the-rosary
 
Veronica97 said:
I wish you luck on this one! First of all, you could share this verse with them:
2 Thess 2:15: “Stand firm and hold fast to the Traditions you were taught, whether by an ORAL STATEMENT or by a letter from us.”

Since the first Gospel (Mark) was not written until between 60-70 A.D. that means that EVERYTHING was taught orally up until that point in time. The first Christians HAD NO BIBLE.

The best explanation I have been given about Mary as intercessor (I would NOT teach about her as Co-Redeemer or Co-Redemptrix at this point unless you want them to shut you out completely!) is that if your mother were to ask you to do something for her, how likely would you be to turn down that request? If we as humans would likely honor our mother’s request, then how much more so would Jesus honor HIS mother’s requests?! Also, if we look at the Wedding of Cana, we see Mary telling Jesus, “They have no wine.” At first, of course he says, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” But then Mary INTERCEDES for the wedding party and tells the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Jesus honors His mother’s request.
If we ask our friends and family on Earth to pray for us, why would we not ask the Mother of God to pray for us? Who is closer to God: the Mother of Jesus who is in Heaven or we on Earth who still struggle with sin?

Finally, I’ve found that few Protestants are willing to accept arguments from a Catholic. So PRAYER (especially the ROSARY) is more likely to be a better way of helping them to see the Truth.
Click to expand...
this X 10
 
TemplarKnight1 said:
im trying to promote this devotion.i have been accused that the rosary is an unblibical practice, especially from evangelicals… what should i say to them? Specifically. they say that the practice of the rosary is not in the bible and that it places too much emphasis on Mary.

Also… how can explain to evangelicals Mary’s role as co-redeemer and co-redemptrix? They get really mad when at this because this defies the notion of “Christ through the father”
Click to expand...
Are you promoting this devotion to Evangelicals? I really don’t see how that would work.

IMHO, if you want to evangelize to evangelicals, you have to start from common ground. Devotion to our mother is not a common ground.
 
DJK100 said:
catholic.com/tracts/the-rosary
Click to expand...
Meditation the Key

First we must understand that they are meditations. When Catholics recite the twelve prayers that form a decade of the rosary, they meditate on the mystery associated with that decade. If they merely recite the prayers, whether vocally or silently, they’re missing the essence of the rosary. It isn’t just a recitation of prayers, but a meditation on the grace of God. Critics, not knowing about the meditation part, imagine the rosary must be boring, uselessly repetitious, meaningless, and their criticism carries weight if you reduce the rosary to a formula. Christ forbade meaningless repetition (Matt. 6:7), but the Bible itself prescribes some prayers that involve repetition. Look at Psalms 136, which is a litany (a prayer with a recurring refrain) meant to be sung in the Jewish Temple. In the psalm the refrain is “His mercy endures forever.” Sometimes in Psalms 136 the refrain starts before a sentence is finished, meaning it is more repetitious than the rosary, though this prayer was written directly under the inspiration of God.

It is the meditation on the mysteries that gives the rosary its staying power. The Joyful Mysteries are these: the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke 1:40-56), the Nativity (Luke 2:6-20), the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:21-39), and the Finding of the child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-51).

Then come the Sorrowful Mysteries: the Agony in the Garden (Matt. 26:36-46), the Scourging (Matt. 27:26), the Crowning with Thorns (Matt. 27:29), the Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17), and the Crucifixion (Luke 23:33-46).

The final Mysteries are the Glorious: the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-12), the Ascension (Luke 24:50-51), the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), the Assumption of Mary into heaven (Rev. 12), and her Coronation (cf. Rev. 12:1).

With the exception of the last two, each mystery is explicitly scriptural. True, the Assumption and Coronation of Mary are not explicitly stated in the Bible, but they are not contrary to it, so there is no reason to reject them out of hand. Given the scriptural basis of most of the mysteries, it’s little wonder that many Protestants, once they understand the meditations that are the essence of the rosary, happily take it up as a devotion. We’ve looked at the prayers found in the rosary and the mysteries around which it is formed. Now let’s see how it was formed historically.
 
TemplarKnight1 said:
im trying to promote this devotion.i have been accused that the rosary is an unblibical practice, especially from evangelicals… what should i say to them? Specifically. they say that the practice of the rosary is not in the bible and that it places too much emphasis on Mary.

Also… how can explain to evangelicals Mary’s role as co-redeemer and co-redemptrix? They get really mad when at this because this defies the notion of “Christ through the father”
Click to expand...
I think for the moment it might be well to discuss other points especially about the unity that Jesus prayed for the night before he died in the garden of olives. And also at the last supper when he said that by this all men will know you belong to me, if you have love for one another.

Maybe work into how important faith is, especially when it comes to Baptism. The night that Nichodemous came to Jesus and Jesus said that unless a man be BORN AGAIN of water and the Holy Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

And again the time when Jesus said that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood we cannot have life.

These two teachings depend on the very faith that we were given and are a continuation of that faith “only” which he required to be one with him. “Faith only” means he gave us the foundation and the means to accept and believe in these other two requirements made by Jesus himself.

You might pay a visit to this website as well as it was designed to help fundamentalists.

davidmacd.com/catholic/mary_in_the_bible.htm

Just a few thoughts.
 
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