Protestant/Catholic stance on Mary

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I found the references you posted from newadvent.org but truthfully I don’t find it helpful to read short pieces of a large document- it’s like playing Bible tag, quoting verses without context and historical setting. However researching this topic I found an extremely interesting article in the EWTN website- an excellent analysis “Justification in Catholic Teaching” by James Akin ,referencing the Council of Trent.It’s long but very worthwhile.Protestants and Catholics can agree on a lot of things!Getting back to your original point about protestant’s problems with Marian dogma being based on differences in justification beliefs-there is truth to it but I’ll bet most people don’t think that deeply. It’s a gut reaction to what they’ve heard so often -it’s “Mary worship”.
I have enjoyed this interesting discussion!
 
One thing to remember is that a lot of times people use poetic language to describe people they love. Many times women tell the men they love that “they give their hearts to them.” Really though, our hearts belong to God. However, few people believe that this is worship. It’s the same way with descriptions of the Blessed Mother, such as the one you quoted. For Catholics, because we recognize, and feel, the love behind those statements, we don’t necessarily feel that the person is worshipping Mary.

Also, for Catholics, giving honor to Mary and the saints is a way of worshipping God. Many Christians find it very inspiring to contemplate the beauty and wonder of creation, and find that their awe of nature gives way to a deep sense of the majesty of God. It is much the same way for Mary. Mary, as the crowning glory of creation, demonstrates the glory and power of God better than anything else that he created.
 
paula_s said:
Getting back to your original point about protestant’s problems with Marian dogma being based on differences in justification beliefs-there is truth to it but I’ll bet most people don’t think that deeply. It’s a gut reaction to what they’ve heard so often -it’s “Mary worship”.
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Paula, I think what you just said is true for the most part out there in our everyday lives, outside of forums. The average Protestant (and the average Catholic) whom I meet knows far less in terms of apologetics than the people (both Catholic and Protestant) on this forum.
 
Sorry all, got busy over the last few days- I’ll be online this weekend, and able to answer things more fully. Thanks!
Becka
 
Greetings All,
I have been in many discussions concerning Mary and I would like to preface this one by saying that I am not anti-Mary nor anti-Catholic.
Believers revere and admire many Biblical heroes of faith (Hebrews chap 11 for example) and do not “worship” them and there is no reason Mary cannot be afforded the same affection and respect by Catholic believers. I think part of the problem Protestants have is that Mary seems to have God-like abilities, for example at any given time there are thousands of Catholics all over the world praying to Mary at the same time, how can she hear them all at the same time unless she is omnipresent or omnipotent? The answer I usually get is that God in His kindness has shared this ability with Mary. My next question would then be where and when did you get this information concerning God giving or sharing these abilities with Mary? Of course Catholics are not required to prove anything concerning their faith to non-catholics but some questions are interesting to discuss if both sides can keep from getting mad.

respectfully,
 
First off Catholics believe and proclaim at every single mass, “All power and Glory belong to the Father” "

So whatever power or influence Mary has in hearing the millions of prayers, comes from the Almighty. Without God, Mary does nothing.

We know within their lifetime, some saints were able to “bilocate” (Padre Pio and St Anthony in particular). IF they can do so while living certainly Mary can do so now. Plus very likely time and space are very different after death. Very likely it is no longer linear, and heavenly folks can do far more things and probably do them concurrently if they wanted.

And last and probably more importantly Mary is Queen of the Angels literally, she has at her disposal many thousands or millions of heavenly beings. Every human has a guardian angel and every municipality has one as well. They could very easily or very likely be the messengers who bring our prayers to her attention.

AND IF you can’t buy any of those explanations, this should certainly suffice, with God ANYTHING is possible, and Mary most assuredly is with God.
 
wcknight said:
First off Catholics believe and proclaim at every single mass, “All power and Glory belong to the Father” "

So whatever power or influence Mary has in hearing the millions of prayers, comes from the Almighty. Without God, Mary does nothing.

We know within their lifetime, some saints were able to “bilocate” (Padre Pio and St Anthony in particular). IF they can do so while living certainly Mary can do so now. Plus very likely time and space are very different after death. Very likely it is no longer linear, and heavenly folks can do far more things and probably do them concurrently if they wanted.

And last and probably more importantly Mary is Queen of the Angels literally, she has at her disposal many thousands or millions of heavenly beings. Every human has a guardian angel and every municipality has one as well. They could very easily or very likely be the messengers who bring our prayers to her attention.

AND IF you can’t buy any of those explanations, this should certainly suffice, with God ANYTHING is possible, and Mary most assuredly is with God.
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Hello Wc,
Thanks for your reply.Certainly anything that God wills is possible
and I’m sure that Catholics believe that all Glory and power belong to God. It is indeed possible that God could bestow power and influence on Mary and it is also possible that He could declare her the Queen of the Angels but since we don’t see that in scripture it seems that this is a traditional belief or assumption rather than a fact. This is not to belittle or berate your faith that this is true but if for example God did not declare Mary Queen of the Angels in the scriptures where did that information come from?

respectfully,
 
Disciple2 said:
Greetings All,
I I think part of the problem Protestants have is that Mary seems to have God-like abilities, for example at any given time there are thousands of Catholics all over the world praying to Mary at the same time, how can she hear them all at the same time unless she is omnipresent or omnipotent?
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You don’t have to be omnipresent or omnipotent to do things not considered do-able at a certain point in time.

One man can talk to millions today by radio or TV, and be seen live round the world. That doesn’t give President Bush or Jay Leno “godlike powers”. God can do at least as much for the saints, who dwell outside normal time. He can give abilities to anyone to do anything
The answer I usually get is that God in His kindness has shared this ability with Mary. My next question would then be where and when did you get this information concerning God giving or sharing these abilities with Mary? Of course Catholics are not required to prove anything concerning their faith to non-catholics but some questions are interesting to discuss if both sides can keep from getting mad.

respectfully,
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This has always been taught by the Church, which is given authority by Jesus to teach and to preach.

If you read Revelation you will also see that the heavenly saints are shown offering the prayers of the earthly saints to God.

Revelation 4.4: Surrounding the throne were twenty four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
Revelation 5.8: …and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
 
hi all, sorry to butt in but i’m protestant and believe mary to be a very special lady. to me she’s the ultimate mum. i have a statue of her by my kitchen sink (the place where i seem the most time!(!)!) and it reminds me how a mum SHOULD be and helps me to be peaceful.

i used to think the same in that catholics worship mary above all else but a bit of self education changed that for me. ignorance is no excuse in making judgements.
 
tigerlily said:
hi all, sorry to butt in but i’m protestant and believe mary to be a very special lady. to me she’s the ultimate mum. i have a statue of her by my kitchen sink (the place where i seem the most time!(!)!) and it reminds me how a mum SHOULD be and helps me to be peaceful.

i used to think the same in that catholics worship mary above all else but a bit of self education changed that for me. ignorance is no excuse in making judgements.
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God bless you! What you said should be true of all of us, Catholic and Protestant. I am a Catholic, but I don’t like making judgements about Protestants, either. Education is great for all of us, especially so we can be more charitable. By the way, I love your disco hearts. Where did you get that?
 
lak611 said:
God bless you! What you said should be true of all of us, Catholic and Protestant. I am a Catholic, but I don’t like making judgements about Protestants, either. Education is great for all of us, especially so we can be more charitable. By the way, I love your disco hearts. Where did you get that?
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hi there, that was very nice of you, thank you!

i got the hearts from www.lafemmebonita.com there’s lots of lovely blinkies there.

i’m a great admirer of catholicism now having come from a very sectarian protestant family. i would convert but a couple of things i can’t get my head round so just have to admire from afar!😉

i just wish protestants the world over weren’t so quick to criticise, some folk (especially my family!) think admitting catholicism is right or at least beneficial means going back to the middle ages.

tsk! :rolleyes:

mary is just as important as god and jesus, i should think jesus would be pleased that his mother was so highly respected. if it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have christianity at all!
 
I dunno about Mary being just as important as God or Jesus :tsktsk: certainly she isn’t divine, but she’s by far more important than any other human that ever has been or will be.
 
LilyM said:
I dunno about Mary being just as important as God or Jesus :tsktsk: certainly she isn’t divine, but she’s by far more important than any other human that ever has been or will be.
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but don’t you think the three of them are responsible for christianity, the mother, the father and the son who made it all possible? if mary hadn’t given birth to jesus, i wonder what would have happened?

apologies if i’m offending, its my simple take on things…:o
 
I just want to say, who did our Lord Jesus love more than any other creature on this earth and heaven, and lets all remember He is God, one with the Father and the Holy spirit, well Mary, I think I will try to imitate Him also in that regard.
 
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