Why Don’t Fundamentalists Call Mary “Blessed”?

[IanS]

I don’t understand how fundamentalists can know the Bible inside and out , shoot scripture at you from the hip out of their KJV, and yet refuse to follow even the most simple of teachings from the Gospels within it. Why aren’t they among the generations to call Mary “blessed”? Why do they treat the Blessed Mother like she was just some incubator when they are told to at least refer to her as ”blessed”? I have my own ideas, but what do you all think?

*King James Version

Luke, 1
[42] And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb…
[45] And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
[46] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
[47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
[48] For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.*

blessed defined
adj 1: highly favored or fortunate (as e.g. by divine grace);

 

[Dan-Man916]

because it sounds too Catholic.

I’m not kidding when I say this.
It is out of an anti-Catholic bias.

 

[johnshelby]

Dan is right…

but, it also has to do with an almost… paranoid fear…
of being accused of idol worship, or worshiping someone,
or something other than God…

i didn’t know squat about the Catholic church when i was
a kid… but i knew you didnt’ call ANYONE blessed, or
have a statue of Jesus or anything like that in the church …

 

[Dan-Man916]

well, they used to bow to kings and call them ‘your worship’.
No one was worshipping them. They udnerstood what the words meant. The lack of understanding by some fundamentalists can be amazing.

 

[IanS]

I don’t know if it’s more funny or sad that they can determine the earth is only 6,000 years old, the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon, and the Pope is the antichrist, by what they claim is “plainly” written in the Bible. However, still dismiss writings like this and John 6: 31-71 as “hazy” and “just symbolic”. The ironies seem to be never ending.

But hey, why let the truth get in the way of your feelings???

 

[ComradeAndrei]

Anything that might give a point to Rome is to be avoided by the fundamentalists.

In all reality, it is sad. I’m sure we’ve all had conversations with these types of people, many of them just plain don’t want to hear anything else.

If St. John Chrysostom, or St. Augustine, or St. Thomas Aquinas or any other great saint known for their expertise in theology, Scripture and or homiletics came down from heaven and tried to set them straight, I wouldn’t be suprised if the fundamentalist would just bombard them with out of context Scriptural references to try to get them “Saved”.

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Hi Ian, I have no problem recognizing that Mary was blessed of God of being the Mother of Jesus or Mother of God in the sense that it brings out the deity of Christ.

among anti-catholics you are right, they are anti-blessed mary because it is catholic.

regular protestants do not think anything about the text at all. They look at it, and say that is nice.

Others of us, are concerned that calling Mary blessed could be misunderstood as being a form of idol worship — no I do not think you worship Mary as being a goddess.

It is because some Catholics go too far in their devotion to Mary that many of us shy away from such.

 

[IanS]

Hi Daniel:

Thanks for your candid response. I singled out the fundamentalists because I realize that some non-Catholics do honor her. I guess I’m just not too concerned with what others in the world think of me. I refuse to back off from doing what is pleasing to Jesus just because of the ignorance of others.

I try to follow all of the Marian Doctrines closely and not make any more or less of them than what they are.

For me, the fact that Almighty God would actually lower himself enough to come to us as a little baby required the biggest leap of faith. Everything else just seemed to fall into place after that. This is coming from somebody who never went to church wasn’t even baptized until age 26.

 

[joseph_caiphas]

IanS:

Hi Daniel:

Thanks for your candid response. I singled out the fundamentalists because I realize that some non-Catholics do honor her. I guess I’m just not too concerned with what others in the world think of me. I refuse to back off from doing what is pleasing to Jesus just because of the ignorance of others.

I try to follow all of the Marian Doctrines closely and not make any more or less of them than what they are.

For me, the fact that Almighty God would actually lower himself enough to come to us as a little baby required the biggest leap of faith. Everything else just seemed to fall into place after that. This is coming from somebody who never went to church wasn’t even baptized until age 26.

How can a sentient, all-knowing force have faith in anything but himself? Why would he need faith as he knows the future? He knows what would happen.

 

[IanS]

joseph caiphas:

How can a sentient, all-knowing force have faith in anything but himself? Why would he need faith as he knows the future? He knows what would happen.

Huh I am talking about my faith, not God’s. Please don’t try to hijack my thread and take it off subject. Post this under a new title where it belongs. Besides, if you check under the “Ask the Atheist” thread, this has already been covered in painful detail (I should know). If I want to deal with the disparities and ratings of an atheist, I’ll go call up one of my relatives. Thank you and good-by.

 

[Like]

IanS:

Huh I am talking about my faith, not God’s. Please don’t try to hijack my thread and take it off subject. Post this under a new title where it belongs. Besides, if you check under the “Ask the Atheist” thread, this has already been covered in painful detail (I should know). If I want to deal with the disparities and ratings of an atheist, I’ll go call up one of my relatives. Thank you and good-by.

GOOD FOR YOU!!!

 

[joseph_caiphas]

For me, the fact that Almighty God would actually lower himself enough to come to us as a little baby required the biggest leap of faith.

(Edited for charity) You just said right there that God had to have a leap of faith. So are you going to answer the question now? Or are you unable?

(Edited for charity)

I believe I am entitled to express my opinion here, not limit myself to one thread, as I was a Catholic for 16 years.

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

(Edited for charity) You just said right there that God had to have a leap of faith. So are you going to answer the question now? Or are you unable?

(Edited for charity)

I believe I am entitled to express my opinion here, not limit myself to one thread, as I was a Catholic for 16 years.

Peace be with you!

Ummm…he was saying that believing that God came to us as a child requires US to have a leap of faith. Not God to have a leap of faith.

In Christ,
Rand

 

[IanS]

(Edited for charity) You just said right there that God had to have a leap of faith. So are you going to answer the question now? Or are you unable?.

It means leap of faith from ME for ME to accept about GOD!!!. Why are you the only one here who can’t figure this out?

(Edited for charity)

I believe I am entitled to express my opinion here, not limit myself to one thread, as I was a Catholic for 16 years.

Your immediate resort to name calling tells me all I need to know about you. Perhaps you should also look up what a “fear monger” is. If you are going to call me names, I don’t really mind, because Jesus was called names all the time, but please use it in the proper context. . BTW… I was an atheist for a lot longer than 16 years and I’m not some teenage kid.

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

What’s a fear monger? I’ve never heard that term before.:whacky:

 

[IanS]

Rand Al'Thor:

What’s a fear monger? I’ve never heard that term before.:whacky:

Someone who spreads or invokes fear to gain power and control. Like the atheistic communists. Which is probably why he thinks he is so familiar with the term.

 

[AJV]

IanS:

Someone who spreads or invokes fear to gain power and control. Like the atheistic communists. Which is probably why he thinks he is so familiar with the term.

Doubt he used it because of that…and we don’t know why or what experiences have made him become an atheist.

Anyhow, my short search of the forums has indicated that you are the first person in the history of the CA Forums to be directly called a fear monger. My congratulations :clapping:

 

[Rand_Al_Thor]

AJV:

Anyhow, my short search of the forums has indicated that you are the first person in the history of the CA Forums to be directly called a fear monger. My congratulations :clapping:

Peace be with you!

And mine as well! And I’ve been on these forums for quite some time and this is the first fear monger title I’ve seen given out. Here here!

In Christ,
Rand

 

[Jeanette_L]

IanS:

I don’t understand how fundamentalists can know the Bible inside and out , shoot scripture at you from the hip out of their KJV, and yet refuse to follow even the most simple of teachings from the Gospels within it. Why aren’t they among the generations to call Mary “blessed”? Why do they treat the Blessed Mother like she was just some incubator when they are told to at least refer to her as ”blessed”? I have my own ideas, but what do you all think?

King James Version

Luke, 1
[42] And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb…
[45] And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
[46] And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
[47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
[48] For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

blessed defined
adj 1: highly favored or fortunate (as e.g. by divine grace);

I just had this conversation with my parents a few weeks ago. I am converting to Catholicism and they are freaking out. But there was no reasonable response to this question. Because reason is not an issue when dealing with Marian Doctrine. Reason gets thrown out the window. It’s all gut level fear of offending God by giving any attention to any creature. Of course, I give love and attention to my friends, my family, even my pets! But to love and honor the woman who gave birth and loved and nurtured our Lord until his death, heaven forbid!

Now I have to be honest, those gut level reactions still get me on occasion, it’s kind of like slowly coming out of a phobia or something. When you’ve been programmed from birth to believe something, even if it is irrational, it takes a long time to come out from under it.

Jeanette

 

[Grace_and_Glory]

Jeanette L:

Now I have to be honest, those gut level reactions still get me on occasion, it’s kind of like slowly coming out of a phobia or something. When you’ve been programmed from birth to believe something, even if it is irrational, it takes a long time to come out from under it.

Jeanette

Mark P. Shea actually has a name for this: Mariaphobic Response Syndrome. He describes it here:

"Mariaphobic Response Syndrome: the irrational terror of the Blessed Virgin that paradoxically makes her loom far larger in many Evangelical imaginations than in Catholic ones.
…

Something in the gut stirs. The terror that the whole Catholic faith is a vast charade flares up in the mind. Say what they will, the “Catholic Mary” is some terrible pretty face on the worship of Babylonian deities! Must. Get. Out! Must. Escape! It’s all a trick! Once I’m in the Church I’ll be ushered into the Secret Chambers where Scary Marian Rites of Worship take place in the secret rooms beneath the sanctuary! There’ll be no escape! I will be forced to worship the Goddess!!!"

Part 1: here

Part 2: here