I have often been accused of being “against Catholics” yet nothing could be farther from the truth. I love Catholics dearly. I’m not against the homosexual simply because I believe his lifestyle is sinful. In fact I have had many good friends who were gay and we got along just fine. In the same way I have catholic friends and we get along fine.
I’m not against the person simply because I’m against the Roman superstition. In fact I love them dearly and want them to find the truth. I have faced the question what is my “Mariology.” I intend in this lesson to search it out for myself and find the answer. I don’t want to stop at mine however since my catholic friends always claim they don’t rely on the uninspired writings of the church fathers more than the Scriptures and they claim not only that their beliefs are in Scripture but that Peter the apostle was the first pope of the catholic church, I want to find out Scripture’s Mariology as well as the Mariology of Peter, Paul, and Jesus.
My Mariology is based entirely on Scripture, not on tradition or by making stretches in interpretation of Scripture but it rests in the clear meaning of Scripture. The story of Mary is told primarily in Luke 1:26-56. She was a young woman who was faithful to God, and God chose her to be the vessel by which His Son would enter the world. I believe she married and had other children as Scripture teaches (Psalm 69:8, Matthew 12:46, 13:54-56, John 2:12, 7:2-10, Acts 1:12-14) Scripture teaches and I believe that she did not remain a perpetual virgin (Matthew 1:25) I do believe she was blessed by God and is to be honored, as are many people in Scripture.
In short my Mariology I suppose is that Mary like many others in Scripture was faithful to God and blessed by God in being allowed to have a part in God’s redemptive plan just as others before her had. She remained faithful to the Lord and is in Heaven today as part of the great assembly of the firstborn.
My next question is, what is Scriptures Mariology? Well Catholics often try to make connections to the Old Testament that are simply a stretch in interpretation(see my lesson on Rome’s Marian Errors) As far as the New Testament goes she is not mentioned at all beyond Acts 2. We see no mention of her in Peter’s books, or in all the writings of Paul. You can hardly listen to a catholic speak or a catholic mass take place without hearing Mary’s name dozens of times and yet in all the New Testament writings that describe the church, it’s offices, and instructions to believers there is no mention whatsoever of Mary. If emphasis was to be placed on her surely the sacred text would have done so. Catholics rely on the uninspired writings of church fathers not on Scripture since Mary is absent beyond Acts 2 which shows her with the apostles at Pentecost and that’s it.
Moving on I would like to see the Mariology of Jesus. Surely if she is His Queen, the new Eve, who helped Him redeem mankind, and who today intercedes with Him for mankind then surely He in all of His teachings must have had many good things to say about her. Well let’s look at the first instance which is when He was 12 years old and she scolded Him for wandering off after they found Him teaching in the Temple. He responded by saying, “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.”(Luke 2:49-50) He pointed out to her that His Father’s business was the priority and even though He did submit himself to them as parents they clearly had to understand that He had a mission. It also points out that she didn’t understand what He meant which is interesting since Catholics insist she was fully a part of redemption yet here she seems oblivious to His mission.
The next point is when she and His brothers come to talk to Him. “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!” (Matthew 12:48-49) Here He has an opportunity to glorify and magnify her in the sight of all present and yet He says that those who do the will of His Father are His mother and brothers or basically those who obey are His family. He actually shines attention away from her and says all who obey are to Him as His mother. Wow! What a different picture than Rome paints of Mary’s position.
The next point comes from the famous wedding in Cana. His mother comes to Him and asks Him to help since the wedding party is out of wine. He does help with the wine but His response to her is less than glorifying, “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.” (John 2:4) at no time in any passage of Scripture does Jesus glorify Mary or encourage us to do so. Rome says pray to Mary and Christ will answer your prayer better than if you pray directly to Him but Jesus said, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14) When He taught His disciples to pray He did not tell them to call on Mary or some other saint, or angel. He told them to call on the Father. (Matthew 6:9) Christ’s intention is not to glorify His earthly mother but His Heavenly Father (John 17:1).
What is the Mariology of Peter? According to Rome Peter was the first pope(although he did not claim this title, was married, did not write most of the New Testament including rules for Christian conduct, church offices, church ordinances etc.) You can hardly hear the pope speak without him referencing Mary in fact most popes speak often about Mary. How many times did Peter reference Mary in his 2 Epistles? The answer is a big fat 0!!!! He mentions Jesus 9 times in just the first chapter of the first epistle.
What is the Mariology of Paul? Paul wrote most of the New Testaments 14 out of 27 books, he wrote and outlined rules of conduct for believers, offices of the church and the mystery of God. In all his writings he fails to mention Mary even once! That’s right not even once. You can’t listen to a catholic teach today without hearing of Mary more than of Christ and yet Paul did not mention her once. He did write in Colossians 1:18 that in all things Christ was to have the preeminence. That is surely not true of the Roman church today. One person said “we Catholics always get accused of worshiping Mary.” Well if the accusation is there then something must be there to warrant it.
The Gospel Beacon 