Understanding Mariology

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AugustineFanNYC said:
As I start to research this does anyone recommend a video or article dispelling the myths around Catholic beliefs in Mary.
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Here is a great video


As someone mentioned I also read Tim Staples Book Behold your Mother. It was excellent and an easy read.

Also, if you go here…


Right on the front page you can sign up for “The Bible and the Virgin Mary”. FOR FREE!!!

I did that one last Lent. It’s a Bible study on the Virgin Mary. If memory serves you will get 2 videos to watch every week of Advent that go deeper into the teachings on Mary.

If you want, but not needed to do the study, Dr. Hahn’s companion study guide and his book Hail, Holy Queen, which the series is based on you can order it from that web site.

Hope these helps.

Feel free to ask any questions you have.

God Bless
 
AugustineFanNYC said:
I know Catholics do not worship Mary, but where does the idea that she is sinless come from?
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It stems most simply from her being referred to as “full of grace”. In the English Bible this phrase is used to reference at least one other person I know of, however the word used in Greek is unique to Mary.

Closely related to that idea is the immaculate conception. It makes sense for Mary to be immaculate for the following reason: Jesus is the savior. He doesn’t need one. Thus Jesus was born without original sin. But original sin is Genetic. So his human parent must have also not had original sin. That’s a sketch of how I think through it.
AugustineFanNYC said:
How is she the “queen of heaven”?
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In Jewish and other Ancient cultures Kings took more than one wife, and thus it was just practical to place the king’s mother above the king’s wives. Well Jesus is the King of the Jews, so His mother must be the queen.
 
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I disagree, the prophesies of Fatima were for
Peace in THE WORLD, and defense against
the FALSE DOCTRINES of Russia that will be
spread to the WHOLE WORLD. That, to me
is that the Revelations are PUBLIC and not
just meant for the personal benefit of the
seers who witnessed them.
 
GLam1761 said:
I disagree, the prophesies of Fatima were for
Peace in THE WORLD, and defense against
the FALSE DOCTRINES of Russia that will be
spread to the WHOLE WORLD. That, to me
is that the Revelations are PUBLIC and not
just meant for the personal benefit of the
seers who witnessed them.
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So should this not be included in the Bible?
 
Like St Paul said, put everything to the test, then hold on to what is good. Mary is our spiritual mother.
 
GLam1761 said:
I disagree, the prophesies of Fatima were for
Peace in THE WORLD, and defense against
the FALSE DOCTRINES of Russia that will be
spread to the WHOLE WORLD. That, to me
is that the Revelations are PUBLIC and not
just meant for the personal benefit of the
seers who witnessed them.
Click to expand...
You are right. It was public because it was intended for all, and not just for the seers. What the Church meant was that there would be no new public revelation after the death of the last Apostle. You will notice that the message of Fatima did not add a new public revelation to what was already in the Bible. Our Lady merely highlighted our need for prayer, which is already in Holy Scripture. Overall, the message of Fatima was more a request from Our Lady rather than a disclosure of a new religious truth. She requested to Consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart and to spread the First Saturday devotion. It was a request, not a command. But it was accompanied by a promise of peace, if her request is granted, and a warning of more trouble for the world, if her request is not granted. Many pious souls heeded our Lady’s request. Unfortunately, there were also many who did not.
AugustineFanNYC said:
So should this not be included in the Bible?
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No, because only “inspired” writings are supposed to be included in the Bible. The memoirs of Sr. Lucy may not contain any errors, but it is still not regarded as “inspired.” The Church uses other criteria to judge whether a book was inspired by the Holy Spirit, one of which is that the book should have been used in Church readings or prayers in the past.
 
Read the Gospels and focus on the relationship between Jesus and Mary.
 
Re: Mary – Brant Pitre just put out a book called Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, showing how we Catholics are just following Jewish monotheistic traditions and the Bible. It’s a bit more technical than most apologetics books, and a bit less technical than the academic ones.

Re: private revelation – Remember that the prophets in OT times, as well as the prophets in NT times, received many more messages from God than ever got put into Scripture. All sorts of people got messages from God in dreams or visions, or from angels, or from apparitions of holy people from the past, or as songs or things they were compelled to write.

Being a prophet could be a full time job in ancient Israel. There were entire villages of prophets (remember all that stuff about “the sons of the prophets” and Elisha). The vast majority of all those prophecies were directed only to the people of that time and place, or only survives in folklore or as asides in historical accounts outside the Bible.

“Private revelations” are basically the same thing, when they are real and good. We don’t think of modern visionaries the same way as Elijah or the daughters of St. Philip, but that’s their gig.

Of course, since the primary job of a prophet is to pass along messages from God, the most common prophetic activity in today’s Church is the readings at Mass. 😉
 
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AugustineFanNYC said:
… where does the idea that she is sinless come from?
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Early Christians, such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, compared obedient Mary to disobedient Eve who sinned, similar to the way Paul compared obedient Jesus who was sinless to disobedient Adam who sinned. Not much a leap to conclude that, like obedient Jesus, obedient Mary was also sinless.
 
100% no… a person can be an excellent catholic and never believe in private revelation or practice private devotions like the rosary, scapular, etc… not an issue
 
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