Is Mary Co Mediator?

Question

The Catholic Church does not teach this .

Check out theCatechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 970 which quotes Vat II Lumen Gentium which emphazises that Christ is the One Mediator and that our and Mary's role as intercessors and channels of grace to others is completely dependent on Christ's being the One Mediator.
Mary is called Mediatrix (but not of all graces) in LG 60 and CCC969 but this means just any woman( but of greater proximity to Jesus) in the Body of Christ who is an intercessor-in-the-oneIntercessor or mediators-in-the -one mediator. and one who helps bring folk to Christ.

Anyone who prays for another person is a mediator-in-the one -Mediator.
I've looked all over for any Catholic use of Pastor Art's term "Mary as Co-Mediator" and I've found no use of it. We all as believers who live in grace and who pray for ourselves and others are all mediators in, with,by for and to Jesus

Good Pastor Art misses this fact.,IMHO.


God bless and thank you.

Dear Br Andrew,
I certainly will tell you that Catholicism does not teach that Mary is Co-Mediator along with Jesus to the Father.
There is only one Mediator.Mary is not a necessary way toJesus for one can develop a saving relationship without a conscious relationship with His Mother(unlike a relationship with the Holy Spirit) and the rest of the Body,the Church. One is much the poorer and one is connected to the Church and Mary if one is in Christ -whether he likes or is aware of this or not.
Mary of Nazareth bears no real resemblance in any way to Ishtar or Tammuz or any Mesopotamian goddess nor is her role in the Body like that of any "goddess-at-court".

Those who accuse Christians of borrowing from Mithraism appeal tothe "Christ Story",not Mary's, as the"theft" from Mithraism

We pray to God ,not statues. We ask the Heavenly Members of the Body of Christ to pray for us and with us to Christ as well as the earthly membersto do so.

DearPastor Art,
All that your quote from JP II shows is that we believe that Mary and all the sainted OT forebearers and prophets of Christ prpared the way for Christ and that all Mary and all the members of the Body are channels of this grace to others and each other.

You have not produced the Vatican use of the term or concept of Co-Mediator for Mary or anybody.

Please then stop libeling us. Thank you.

Anyone with free will can collaborate in obtaining the grace of salvation for others. That is what one does when one prays for the salvation of others. Jesus is the obtainer and creator of salvation by His perfect and unrepeatable sacrifice of Himself as God made Man.

Mary cannot save us,we cannot save ourselves but we need to accept and cooperate with Grace.

Do you believe in free will or is God responsible for the reality and maintainance of sin?

The Mary typology as New Eve has her as the model of the believer as obedidient not rebellious. This in no way competes with Christ as the New Adam.
Mary is also the New Deborah,New Rahab,New Judith, New Esther. She is the Ark of the New Covenant because she carried Christ, The New COvenant, into the world and into our midst.

Pastor Art,
Why did you stop at quoting 969(out of context) and not quote 970 CCC which refutes your claims? Please be consistent. Thank you

Co Mediator or Co Mediatrix is not in the Vat II index or the Catechism because it is not there at all! Inever heard these terms before . Did you or other antiCatholics invent them, Pr Al,my brother in Christ?

Yes,indeed, Mary needs a savior.

Her Immaculate Conception was not through any merit of hers for did not even exist. The Eternal Word had to save her and everybody else

Answer 1

yes, he has said that it is in Vatican II documents which is an out and out lie. There is no doctrine that states she is co-redeemer. I know some that would like that to happen but, it has not happened and I don't know that it would because the Church has been downplaying the role of Mary in Salvation alot lately for the sake of ecumenism. I personally think it's a mistake as she is our Mother and I could never downplay her fiat which started it all rolling in the New Testament.

Answer 2

So Mary is just a second class Mediatrix? Still not in line with the Scripture. There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

Now let's cut the theology. Talk to any 'simple' Catholic and ask them how they interpret all this stuff that the "church doesn't teach."

The big boys that head the business know exactly what their teaching will produce. It puts Mary in power; because they see it just like I would; without revelation from God.

** Now here I go, pretending to be a Roman Catholic, and responding to the claims of Pastor Art. "Of course I don't make Mary the Co- Mediator. But, let me ask you this: If you want something from the son wouldn't you go ask his mother? After all, that's the way it works around here."

I hope anyone who reads this really catches what the result of this teaching really is.

I would also note that James O calls him "Good Pastor Art." Should we be reminded that there is none good save God and that we are to call no one but God, papa or father.

While Mary did believe the word of God and will always be known for that; she had to be converted at Pentecost just like everyone else. On this earthly level she not only did not provide the egg, which produced the body called Jesus, but the Lord pronounced her the mother of John at the cross. Woman behold your son; son behold your mother.

Answer 3

To RW I say, examine your Bible. Mankind does have a mediator. At a million Tim. 2:5, it tells us who the mediator is between God and adult adult males; it relatively is Jesus Christ. people who bring up Mary to mediator are going against what the Bible says. Jesus informed his followers that no person comprises the father different than by him--no longer Mary.

Answer 4

Roman Catholics do generally believe Mary, the mother of Jesus was born without sin (the immaculate conception) and that she was sinless. They teach she is a co-redeemer with Christ. These teachings are very evident on their TV channel, EWTN. You might like to watch this channel. Protestants know that Mary was born a sinner like the rest of us. At her Son's crucifixion she said 'My Lord and My God' about Her Son. And in the upper room on the day of Pentecost Mary was there, and she, like the others, received the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Mary is to be honored and reverenced since she was faithful to do God's will, but she too needed a Saviour.

Answer 5

This subject was just covered on an EWTN broadcast not too long ago. The problem is that people think the only meaning of the prefix "co" is "equal to." That was not the intent when the doctrines of Co-Mediatrix and Co-Redemptress were first proposed.

In this case, "Co" means "with," in the sense that Mary cooperates with Christ in the great plan of Redemption through her prayers and intercession. She is not considered Christ's equal by any means since He is God and she is a created being. But because of her Fiat, she occupies a unique place in that creation.

She prays for us in union with Christ so that the Father's plan of salvation may be carried out in our lives. That's why she's called Co-Medatrix -- in the sense of one who intercedes with (but who is not equal to) Christ.

I hope that clears up the misunderstanding.

Edit:

I see we have the usual group who give thumbs-down to a factual discussion of the issue. Just because *you* don't believe in this particular idea doesn't mean that my explanation of it is faulty.

Do us all a favor and try to learn the difference between opinions and facts, OK? You may not agree with the facts, but that doesn't change them.

Answer 6

That notion is uniquely Roman Catholic. It is not found anywhere in scripture.

The ancient Babylonians appealed to the Queen of Heaven to intercede with Taamuz. This is just an adaptation of that old heathen belief.

The idea that Mary is in any way any kind of a mediatrix is directly contradicted in Scripture:

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1 Tim 2:5

Let me elaborate on my answer. I came across a channel called EWTN, and for half an hour they showed a bunch of nuns reciting the same words over and over while they counted beads. After this they had some discussion show with a Roman Catholic theologian who was bent on Mary being the way to Jesus, they were calling Mary the second Eve, the new Ark of the Covenant, and claiming that Mary opened and closed the Word of God.

Don't tell me they don't teach this. I know perfectly well that they do. They even think Mary is sinless and ascended unto heaven, and did not share her body with her husband, even though Scripture names the Lord's [half] siblings.

Answer 7

No not yet, there is work going on to establish her as that in the Roman Catholic church. She will never be co mediator, Jesus is the only mediator

http://zenit.org/article-17236?l=english

Answer 8

Catholics argue that praying to Mary and the saints is no different than asking someone here on earth to pray for you. Let us examine that claim. (1) The Apostle Paul asks other Christians to pray for him in Ephesians 6:19. Many Scriptures describe believers praying for one another (2 Corinthians 1:11; Ephesians 1:16; Philippians 1:19; 2 Timothy 1:3). The Bible nowhere mentions anyone asking for someone in Heaven to pray for them. The Bible nowhere describes anyone in Heaven praying for anyone on earth. (2) The Bible gives absolutely no indication that Mary or the saints can hear our prayers. Mary and the saints are not omniscient. Even glorified in Heaven, they are still finite beings with limitations. How could they possibly hear the prayers of millions of people? Whenever the Bible mentions praying to or speaking with the dead, it is in the context of sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy, and divination - activities the Bible strongly condemns (Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:10-13). The one instance when a "saint" is spoken to, Samuel in 1 Samuel 28:7-19, Samuel was not exactly happy to be disturbed. It is plainly clear that praying to Mary or the saints is completely different from asking someone here on earth to pray for you. One has a strong Biblical basis, the other has no Biblical basis whatsoever.

God does not answer prayers based on who is praying. God answers prayers based on whether they are asked according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). There is absolutely no basis or need to pray to anyone other than God alone. There is no basis for asking those who are in Heaven to pray for us. Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. No one in Heaven has any greater access to God's throne that we do through prayer (Hebrews 4:16).

Recommended Resource: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and The Word of God by James McCarthy.

Answer 9

We are all Co-Mediators and Co-Redeemers including the angels and saints in heaven but there is only one mediator between God and man - Jesus Christ.

Anti-Catholics just can't seem to accept this no matter how many times you say it.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 10

No, she is not.

However, the term "Mediatrix" was taught in the Catholic School I attended.