After all in the bible Mary is called "the mother of God" I just looked at a Yahoo questions thing where someone was saying how relitively unimportant Mary is, besides the fact she gave birth to Jesus. After all, she had the choice not to...
2007-01-29 07:57:20 · 14 answers · asked by Person 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Protestant churches have traditionally downplayed the role of Mary to keep the focus on worshiping Jesus. This is an old ideology that has lost its purpose long ago, if it ever was a legitimate one. Many mainline churches are now reintroducing the importance of Mary, not only as mother of Jesus, but as a big part of his ministry, as being present at his crucifixion and a part of his resurrection. LEFTY
2007-01-29 08:11:09 · answer #1 · answered by Left Libby 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mary is very important, after all, God chose her to be Jesus' mother here on earth. She should be respected, but not worshipped. The Bible states that, after the birth of Jesus,she had a normal husband and wife relationship with Joseph.So why do we call Mary, Virgin Mary? And why pray to Mary, ask her to forgive our sins, and worship her, when God tells us in His Law (commandment II) To worship Him and only Him. Exodus 20:3 says:" Do not make idols of any kind. You must never worship, or bow down to them for I am your God, a jealous God who will not share you with any other God" And where is Mary now? Mary is dead. and what does the bible say about death and dying? "The dead know nothing, they sleep" and if Mary sleeps, why do we worship her?
2007-01-29 08:46:12 · answer #2 · answered by delmar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off, you will not find anywhere in Scripture where Mary is called the "mother of God", if you can find it, please quote chapter and verse. Was she important, sure, she was the mother of Jesus in the flesh, but she was also a sinner, with a sin nature.
Luk 1:46 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord,
Luk 1:47 and my spirit exulted in God My Savior.
Obviously, if she was not a sinner, she wouldn't need a savior.
Secondly, she was not given the choice to bear Christ, I don't recall God asking her if she wanted this or not. The truth is, she had other children, Scripture bears this out, was there when Christ was crucified, John was given the charge to take care of her, and she died. She is never mentioned in Acts as an important component of the early Church. So while we honor her for what she did, we do not venerate her as anything more than a chosen vessel of God to carry out His purposes.
2007-01-29 08:07:25 · answer #3 · answered by BrotherMichael 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think it is all a matter of understanding.
My mother, a good Christian woman did not in her mind acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God. I do, God gave her the Blessing of being the one He chose to give birth to God the Son.
I do not believe in praying to anyone other than God the Trinity.
I do however believe in asking Mary or others to interceed for us by their own prayers to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.
2007-01-29 08:24:37 · answer #4 · answered by June smiles 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Personally, I think that Mary would be incredibly sad if she were looking down from heaven at those who pray to her. She was chosen as the mother for Jesus because of her incredibly love for God, and her humility. She knew she was powerless, and she also knew she was no one compared to Jesus. If Mary was as great a believer in God as the bible says she is, then the last thing she would have wanted is for people to put her on a pedastal and make her into something she was not.
No where in the bible does it say that Mary will help your prayers get to God. Mary is a regular normal human being that God used to make a miracle happen.
2007-01-29 08:03:44 · answer #5 · answered by Soon2BMommy 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
A significant difference comes from the difference between respecting/honoring Mary and worshipping Mary. Just as one can ask the mother of the King for something without the decision coming from her regarding 'X'. (See mother of King (Bathsheba) and King Solomon).
2007-01-29 09:23:55 · answer #6 · answered by jefferyspringer57@sbcglobal.net 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they have been taught wrong by so called "ministers" who have never been to school. And because they have misinformation about what showing respect for the mother of Jesus means. They foolishly think that we 'worship' her. And that we pray TO her instead of God. They need to be educated. If it were not for Mary and her obedience, Jesus would never have been here at all.
2007-01-29 08:05:28 · answer #7 · answered by tonks_op 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Mary was the mother of Jesus, she was chosen by God to carry His son.
We are not commanded to worship her though. We are commanded to worship the Lord our God, not Mary.
After Jesus' death, very little is said of Mary. She served her purpose but that does not make her a saint nor a god. She should not be held higher than any other disciple of Christ.
We can respect her but no more. Praying to the "Holy Mother" is a waste of time and contrary to Bible teachings.
2007-01-29 08:03:17 · answer #8 · answered by TG 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Mary is referred to as the mother of the Lord a few times in the Bible, but not mother of God. To call her the mother of God is to suggest that she was before God, which is untrue. She was the earthly mother of Jesus. I agree that she should be respected by all Christians, just as she was highly respected by members of the early Church, but Roman Catholics have taken matters too far in praying to her and seeing her as an intercessor between man and God. There is not only no justification for this view, but it is contrary to Scripture. "For there is one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1Ti 2:5)
Mediator is translated from the Greek, mesites, which means a go between, intercessor, a reconciler, a mediator. Basically, one who intervenes between two parties. To be effective, a mediator must understand both sides that he is intervening between. Only Jesus, God Incarnate, who also was the Man, Jesus, is capable of acting as a mediator between Divine nature and human nature. Only Jesus has the ability to reconcile man to God. Only Jesus can act as the intercessor between man & God. No one else is capable to fulfill, or aid in the fulfillment, of the responsibilities of the Office of Mediator.
That is why it is wrong and anti-Biblical to venerate Mary and to pray to her. But let us indeed respect her as someone who was specially chosen by God for the role of bearing God's son, a person who was prepared to submit to God's will without demur and who therefore must have been an exceptional human being.
2007-01-29 08:09:49 · answer #9 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because they disregard their mother.
The mother of Jesus is our mother too, you cannot have God as your Father if you do not have Mary as your mother.
The faithful disciple under the cross of Jesus took care of her and brought her into his home, that's what all Christians should do too.
2007-01-29 08:14:42 · answer #10 · answered by carl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋