Why does the Catholic church want people looking to Mary instead of Jesus for salvation?

Question

Does Mary, the mother of Jesus, play a role in the salvation of mankind?:
These are taken out of the Catechism ot the Catholic church
"Taken up to heaven she (Mary) did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation..." Pg. 252, #969
"Being obedient she (Mary) became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race." Pg. 125, #494


Is this doctrine scriptural? According to God's Word, Mary has never had anything to do with the salvation process. Scripture reveals that Jesus is the ONLY One who can provide salvation:

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12

Understanding Roman Catholicism
by Rick Jones

http://www.chick.com/reading/books/160/160cont.asp

Answer 1

No its not Biblical.

The Documents of Vatican II and the Catechsim refer to Mary as the co-mediator with Christ, co-redemtrix.

Which to me is pretty much the same as making her the 4th member of the Trinity and that is wrong.

Pastor Art

Answer 2

It is a common misconception that Catholics worship Mary, although it is true that Catholics pray to her, and place a great deal (perhaps too much) of emphasis on her.

She is supposed to act as a go-between for humanity and Jesus... like if Jesus does not want to do something that a human prays for, she is supposed to plead with him to have mercy.

But that brings up a problem: if Jesus is understood to be one of the Trinity, and thus God, he must necessarily be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent. That means that if he didn't want to do something, he'd have a perfect reason not to, and she -- a special saint but certainly not a deity -- should not and would indeed have no power to make him do anything.

She is said to be the cause of salvation in that she is a passive tool, not in that she actually saved people. Being obedient is a passive thing, and basically God just used her to bring about Jesus. So she is the cause of salvation kind of like a bottle is the cure for your thirst... it holds what you needed but didn't have any value by itself.

The doctrine is not scriptural in the least. There are three ways that the Catholic Church comes about its doctrines: "Holy Scripture", "Holy Tradition", and "Divine Guidance". So some of the Church's teachings are derived from the Bible, and some (including the role of Mary) are the way they are simply because that's how it's been done for ages. Some other things are done because Rome says that is what God instructed them to do, be it through visions or prayer or miracles.

In short, yours is a very good point, and I am strongly inclined to believe that this is one of the Catholic Church's grievous doctrinal errors. Thank you for pointing it out.

Answer 3

I don't know why so many people get hung up on Mary. First, she is not a diving being, she is flesh and blood just as we are. She is not God or equal with God. She is not worshipped by catholics and the church does NOT teach worship of her. I spent 14 years in catholic school to include 2.5 years of college and have attended Mass more times than I care to count and, at NO time, have I ever heard a priest or a teacher or anyone say that we should worship Mary.

That being said, there would be no salvation without Mary. She is the vessel by which God brought the Savior into this world. She even calls herself the "handmaid of the Lord." That does not sound like she expects to be worshipped.

She is also the mother of the Savior and that, if for no other reason, does make her very special, even, "blessed among women." You cannot deny that. That very title, Mother of God, demands a respect and honor above others, but not worship. For crying out loud, people get so stoked and excited over rock singers and dignitaries and people openly scream and holler when these types come around. But, Jesus' own mother enters the room (figuratively speaking) and everyone seems a bit distraught at the attention that catholics give her. How sad.

Finally, and you have to take this up with Jesus Himself, He made her the spiritual mother of His church. From the cross, he looked down upon Mary, His mother and John, "the beloved" disciple. Who is His beloved disciple? We are, all Christians are. And He said to Mary, "Woman, behold your son." And to John, "Behold your mother." He was passing His mother off to the beloved disciple (us) and telling Mary to be his (John's--our) mother.

Keep in mind that He has just been falsely accused, abandoned by His friends, unjustly found guilty, tortured, mocked, spat at, made to carry a heavy cross up the hill, bleeding the whole way. He was stripped of His clothes, had spikes driven through His body and was hanging in front of the crowd and suffering. Other that the one thief, He spoke to no other people from the Cross. And, in His agonizing, dying moments, He took the time to make sure He spoke to John and Mary. Why? He usually didn't speak unless He had something important to say. This had to be important, especially given the circumstances.

So, please quit telling us that we worship Mary. We do not. And please, instead of knocking her and saying that she was/is no one special, just thank her for her obedient response to the call of God in her life.

Answer 4

Chick is a notorious Anti-Catholic who uses Scripture and our Catechism to distort the truth. We do not worship Mary. We ask her to pray for us. Mary is a Co-Redeemer in the same that we are ALL Co-Redeemers! We can pray and help each other to that glorious state of salvation. Right?

This what Catholics believe in response to your question.

Redeemed by Christ's Merits (492-493)
By Christ's merits, Mary "is redeemed in a more exalted fashion" (Second Vatican Council). The Father blessed Mary "in Christ with every spiritual blessing" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless" (Eph 1:3-4).

The Eastern Church calls Mary "the All-Holy" and says that she is "free from any stain of sin... formed as a new creature." By God's grace, Mary remained free of personal sin throughout her life.

Total Gift of Self (494)
Mary responded with the obedience of faith. "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word" (Lk 1:28-38). She gave herself entirely to the person and work of her Son. Church writers call Mary "the Mother of the living." "Death came through Eve, but life through Mary (St. Jerome)."

Truly - The Mother of God (495)
She is seen as "the mother of Jesus." However, Elizabeth, moved by the Spirit, rightly calls Mary "the mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43) because she conceived the second person of the Holy Trinity. The Church proclaimed that Mary is truly Mother of God, "Theotokos" (Council of Ephesus).

May the Lord's peace be with you!

Edit: Why don't you tell us about your faith instead?

Answer 5

I’ve seen Rick Jone’s book and he’s a twit. He plays the scripture plucking game (taking scripture out of context) to confuse people and distort Catholic teaching. Go here if you want to know what the Church teaches: www.catholic.com and www.scripturecatholic.com.

God bless.

Answer 6

If you are going to quote the Catechism to see who the catholic Church looks to for salvation, you should read the following:

125 The Gospels are the heart of all the Scriptures "because they are our principal source for the life and teaching of the Incarnate Word, our Savior".

457 The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins": "the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world", and "he was revealed to take away sins":

2096 Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love.

1181 A church, "a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior,

437 To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

389 The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the "reverse side" of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all need salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ.

2812 Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice.

594 Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Savior God himself

1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood.

528 The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world.


From these and many other quotes, it is clear that teh Catholic Church teaches that Jesus, not Mary is the savior of teh world

Answer 7

>>"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12<<

Yes, this is what the Catholic Church teaches:

"The name Jesus means 'God saves'. the child born of the Virgin Mary is called Jesus, 'for he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21): 'there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved' (Acts 4:12)." -- CCC #452
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1I.HTM

Answer 8

I don't think that Mary plays any role in salvation. It's all Jesus!! I have no idea why the Catholic church wants people looking to Mary, It makes 0 sense to me.

Answer 9

The Catholic Church teaches that salvation is through the suffering and death of Jesus only. As other people say to the people they know "will you pray for me", we say this to The Blessed Virgin Mary who , as a part of the Body of Christ, is in Heaven with all the angels and Saints. We do not worship idols and we do not worship Mary or the Pope or the Saints. It is people like you who call themselves Christians that stir up trouble and belittle the teachings of loving one another. I would like to say concerning Mary, "You will know them by their fruits" Her fruit was Jesus. Does that tell you anything?

Pastor Art, please show us in the documents of Vatican II where Mary is called the Co-mediatrix? and how about when people ask you to pray for them wouldn't you be a co-redemer by doing that so does that make you the 5th person of the Trinity. You should be ashamed of yourself for the way you drum up such hatred for the brothers and sisters of Christ. Oh he is going to be so glad to speak with you face to face because you sure aren't listening to him now.

Answer 10

One of the things that many protestants do not understand about Catholicism is that Catholics do not believe in the protestant doctrine of soloscriptura. In the Catholic Church, the teachings and traditions of the church are equal in authority to scripture. Please understand that I am not being critical of the Catholic Church here, I am just pointing out the difference.

Answer 11

No. Mary was the blessed mother of Jesus, but not divine. She plays no role in salvation.