=Zenas;7110120]It goes without saying that Protestants and Catholics have a very different view of Mary. Protestants view Mary as a devout woman chosen by God to bear His Son, but still a sinner just like all the rest of us.
Not all Protestants. In Lutheran belief, the mariology is adiaphora. I happen to hold the position that, by the grace of God and not by her own doing, she may have been sinless. this makes her still a part of a sinful people, and in need of the Savior.
Since the Immaculate Conception is not expressly found in scripture, they reject it.
It is not that Lutherans reject it, though some do. We reject that there is explicit scriptural support to make it dogma. Again, adiaphora.
Moreover, in the view of many Protestants, the Immaculate Conception would not have been necessary because Jesus did not have Mary’s DNA. She was merely an incubator for flesh that was exclusively of the Holy Spirit, not a biological mother. There is even one school of thought that maintains Mary could not be the biological mother of Jesus because if she had been, Jesus would have inherited original sin. Imagine that!
I would reject this line of thought.
Protestants reject the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, even though it was affirmed by no less than Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Wesley. They truly believe that Mary was the mother of at least six other children, maybe more.
Again, for Lutherans, adiaphora. In fact, in some translations of the confessions, the term ever-virgin is used.
Protestants regard the title Mother of God as blasphemous because they can’t (won’t) wrap their minds around this concept that actually transcends time.
For Lutherans, Holy Theotokos is explicitly stated in the confessions.
Finally, Protestants reject the idea of the Assumption as being outside the Bible.
It is outside the Bible, at least explicitly, but the belief that she is with Christ is accepted amongst (many ) Lutherans. How this happened is not known. What we reject is a dogmatic statement that binds the conscience of the believer.
They also reject the idea of praying to Mary or any of the other saints.
this si true, but that does not exclude the acknowledgement that the Saints and Blessed Virgin do pray for the Church Militant, in a general way.
So, they believe Mary was a good woman given to a unique role, but one who lived and died and will be resurrected along with the rest of us at the end of the age.
Now, compare this with the Catholic view of Mary who sits at the right hand of Christ as Queen of Heaven, and who makes constant intercessions for us, and you see the two groups are talking about two different people. Protestants love and respect what they regard as the Mary of the Bible, but they do have considerable hostility toward the Catholic Mary who they believe is either a goddess of something so close to being a goddess that honoring her would be sinful. Sort of like honoring the pagan Minerva or Diana. Those Protestants who hate Mary regard the Catholic Mary as equally pagan.
Yes, it is sadly true, but I reject this POV based in ignorance of Catholic teaching.
Of course many Protestants just ignore Mary and never think about her except at Christmas.
Sad indeed.
Jon
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You are amazing!! You have really taken alot of time to learn your faith, and I think thats awesome.