Friday, December 11, 2020

The Veneration of Mary

While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed." But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." Luke 11:27-28

Not only does Mary's magnificat condemn the Catholic's veneration of her, acknowledging that she was just as in need of a Saviour as every other human being on this planet (Luke 1:47), but this passage absolutely condemns the Catholic's veneration of Mary. How, you ask? A woman in the crowd shouted, "Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed!" Catholics would agree with this sentiment, and argue for Mary's veneration from it. But pay very close attention to Jesus' response.

"On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
The phrase "on the contrary" has the sense of "Yes, but rather..." Jesus did not admit as possible any tendency to elevate Mary as an object of veneration. The only person who deserves reverence is Almighty God. Reverence belongs to Him alone, and not to preachers who falsely apply the title "Reverend" to themselves. Mary's relationship to Jesus as His physical mother did not bestow upon her any great honour than the blessedness of those who hear and obey the Word of God!

The heresy of Mary's immaculate conception falls apart at the seems, for those who understand the basic use of logic. If Mary had to be perfect in order to bear the Saviour, as Catholics argue, then so, too, did her mother have to be perfect in order to bear her. So, too, did Mary's grandmother have to be perfect in order to bear Mary's mother. Likewise for her great-grandmother. This argument must logically be followed all the way back to Eve, who was deceived by the serpent and ate of the forbidden tree. In other words, Eve would have to have been perfect, too. Mary was not sinless. She merely found favour in God's eyes, as did others before her who also were clearly not sinless. Noah. Moses. Samuel.

Mary is not a co- anything with Jesus. She does not participate in the act of redemption in the least. Catholics call her the "Queen of Heaven" and have turned her into a goddess that they worship because Catholicism is a cult that contains many idols. It does not matter what Church fathers said. They are not God. They are not inspired. They do not have the same inspiration as the biblical authors or the Word of God itself. Much of what they said and did brought error into the Church. If it is not said in Scripture, then what they said carries very little value.

Jesus did not afford veneration to His mother, and neither should we.