Where in the Bible does it say that Mary, or a Pope has divine status?

Question

I'm a Lutheran, and some of my issues with Catholocism are

*wide spread idolotry- Every catholic church is filled with stautes and idols that people pray to, which is a grave sin.

*They worship a member of their clergy- the Pope.

WHERE in the Bible does it say to worship a pope?


*They have turned Mary into a goddess.

Where in the Bible does it say to worship Mary?

By elevating the Pope and Mary to divine staus, they are in fact worshipping Stan.

If Catholics want to avoid going to Hell, they need to stop worshipping the Pope and mary (guises of Satan), and start worshipping Jesus...

sorry, had a typo- Satan, not Stan

J.P you're clueless- The pope is revered as Catholics as soime divine being, when in reality he's just a man.
I've seen festivals in Italy where a staue of Mary is carried through a village, covered in currency it happens in many parts of America...How about the 'hail mary' prayer? Praying to mary?
Um, bowing before a statue and praying IS praying TO the statue- that is idolotry. many catholic churches have statues of members of thier past clergy-Thats idolotry in its purest form...a grave sin

Answer 1

Show us your sources/references. Where does the Catechism of the Catholic Church say that Mary is a goddess? Where does it say that the pope is divine or that he is to be worshiped?

You must show us where Catholics teach that, from their own sources. Otherwise, your question has no foundation.

And which Bible verse was it exactly that told Martin Luther to remove seven whole books which came from the Jewish canon of scripture?

Answer 2

Sigh. Must we go through this again??

There is a prohibition against idolatry in the Ten Commandments. Catholics are not stupid; we know this prohibition exists. This is why we DO NOT worship objects, nor any other person or thing, living or dead, besides God Himself. The statues, paintings, and stained glass you see in our Churches are religious art. They represent people whose holy example we aspire to follow; they show people and events from Scripture that are important to remember; they are the legacy of over a thousand years of a Faith based on the Word of God that had to be communicated to people who couldn't read and couldn't afford a hand-written copy of the Bible. There is no worship in any of that.

Where does it say the Pope should be worshipped? Nowhere. That's why we DON'T worhsip the Pope. He is our global pastor. We respect him as you respect your own pastor. He is also a unifying symbol for the 1.1 billion Catholics worldwide, which is part of the reason popes are generally so popular. Pastor or not, he is only human. Why do we respect him? Because Jesus left Peter in charge of the Church, and the Pope is Peter's successor. (See Matthew, chapter 16).

Where does it say that we should worship Mary, or that Mary is a goddess? Nowhere! That's why we DON'T worship Mary or think she is a goddess. Scripture DOES say that Mary is "full of Grace" and that all generations shall call her blessed. (See Luke, chapter 1). Therefore, in keeping with the respect accorded to Mary by an Archangel of Heaven, we honor her for the unique role she played in Christianity.

So, we don't elevate either the Pope or Mary to divine status, ergo we are not, in fact, worshipping Satan. Have you ever been to a Catholic Mass? It's all about God, and it's all about Jesus. You should go sometime and *see* what you are so violently protesting against. I think you would not find so very much objectionable after all.

Answer 3

It doesn't say so in the Bible.
Nor do Catholics preach such nonsense.

As for "All catholic churches" being "filled with statues and idols that people pray to", you are simply mistaken.

To see a statue, and to pray does not imply that a person is praying to a statue. If you have a picture of a dead relative, and have feelings of love, are you loving a photograph? No, you are loving the person that the photograph represents.

As to praying to saints, please look at the definition of prayer. Prayer and worship are two completely different things. Prayer is a request. If I ask you to pray for me, I have, in essence just prayed to you. Catholics don't expect saints to do things for them, but merely to intercede ... to pray to god on their behalf. It is called intercessory prayer. That is what one Christian does for another.

The only question is whether or not intercessory prayer is condemned by the Bible. Is it right for a person to ask another person to pray for them, or not? The next question is whether or not it is possible for someone who has already died to pray for one who is living. If you find a place where that is condemned in the Bible, I'd be interested in seeing it.

As for worship of Mary, that is condemned by the Catholic Church. It is heresy.

The Catholic Church does NOT elevate the Pope or Mary to divine status. You'll find that nowhere in any Catholic teachings.

"By elevating the Pope and Mary to divine status, they are in fact worshipping Stan."

I'm not sure who the heck Stan is, and I don't think Catholics worship him. By the way, it's "worshiping", not "worshipping". The Pope and Mary were people, not Satan.

Catholics worship God, as the Trinity. Not Satan, not the Pope, not Mary, nor any saints. You really need to get your facts straight and get over your anger and ignorance issues. Do some reading from Catholic teaching to find out what Catholics teach. If you are reading what others say about Catholics, you are just propagating ignorance and lies. You are bearing false witness against other Christians.

If you want to find out what Catholics teach about the Pope, or Mary, then go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and not the garbage you find in a Chick Tract or other anti-Catholic trash.

Answer 4

*Shaking head, long sigh*

Okay (God grant me patience), we do not believe any of the things you stated. The pope is a fallible human sinner just like we are. He goes to confession about once a week. We do not worship him. Stop listening the anti-Catholic nonsense.

Mary is not divine. The Church has never taught or believed that. She is not worshiped either.

We do not worship statues. The act of kneeling in front of them is not worship. Look up the definition - reverence and adoration due only to God. For the statue to be worshiped, we would have to be adoring the stone material itself, and/or the person it represents. That is not the case. A prayer to a saint, be it Mary or someone else, is a request for intercession - help. It’s no different than if you asked a friend nearby the pray for you. The statue is simply a physical 3-D reminder of them, like the photos of your family in your wallet.

Hope this helps. God bless.

Answer 5

The Bible *does* say that Mary has received the fullness of grace (Luke 1:28), which is total and complete sanctification, but that's not the same thing as divinity. Catholics do NOT believe that Mary is a goddess. She is a saved Christian, but she is not divine. Whomever taught you this was very mistaken.

Catholics do not believe that the Pope "has divine status." He is a man, same as any other man, and he is a sinner, same as you or I. He goes to confession -- he wouldn't do that if he wasn't a sinner. All Catholics are well aware of the fact that the pope is NOT divine, so again, whomever taught you this was very mistaken.

Catholic Churches are filled with statues and other forms of religious art, but NO Catholic prays TO any of these objects. They are there to inspire us to pray to God. Again, somebody taught you a LIE about Catholicism. Why would you want to believe a lie? Catholics are forbidden from idolatry, same as Lutherans. It's in our catechism. You can read it here:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7F.HTM

We do NOT worship the Pope. That's ridiculous. Oh, people do treat him like a celebrity and are anxious to see him and hear him speak, but that's not worship. It's admiration. Admiration for godly people is NOT forbidden in Scripture.

You've been taught a lot of LIES about Catholicism. Keep in mind who the father of lies is and try to learn what is true. Read our Catechism for starters. Or the Compendium, which is a shorter version of our catechism in Q&A format, which you can read here:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

Truth is a good thing. It sets you free.

EDITED TO ADD:

Do you even know what the Hail Mary is? It quotes Scripture! Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42, to be exact. Are you seriously condemning Catholics for quoting Scripture? That's precious -- complain that we don't read the Bible enough and then condemn us for memorizing and quoting two Bible verse. Make up your mind, please.

As for your ridiculous assumption that bowing and kneeling in front of statue means praying TO the statue, that's just silly. This morning, I knelt in front of the toilet bowl and treated it to a good scrubbing while I sang a hymn to Jesus (because that's the best way to get through nasty household chores -- offer it up and pray!). Do you think that means I was praying to the toilet bowl?

Or supposing I spied you through your window, kneeling in front of your television set and placing DVDs on the shelf beneath. Should I assume that you worship your TV because you offered gifts (DVDs) to your television god?

And you think having a statue of somebody who died is a grave sin -- so if you have a photo of your dead great-grandparents, you are guilty of the same sin? Or if there is an image of George Washington at your kids' public school, that's a grave sin? And don't get me started about the Lincoln Memorial -- clearly an idol, right?

Well, at least I can take comfort in the fact that "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." That's in the Bible, btw -- 1 Samuel 16:7

Answer 6

It doesnt say that mary had divine status, though she did. of all of his deciples jesus' favorite was MARY. Mary new the word and believed and professed the teachings all over, just as jesus did.

In that day and time women were never given the just amount of respect and honor that they deserved.

If you read closely you will find that Mary was always at the right hand of jesus, she was his other half. Mary also was disliked and looked down upon by the male disciples becasue of it.

Answer 7

Catholics do not worship Mary or the Pope. The statues in a church are merely statues that remind us of holy men and women of God.

If you cannot accept the truth that Catholics tell you, then it is you who are worshipping Satan.

Answer 8

You are so right. The bible never states mary or any statue holy. Mary was only an instrument that God used to bring his son (Jesus) into the world

GOD BLESS

Answer 9

Credentials: ex-Roman Catholic (RC), still a Christian

1) "wide spread idolotry- Every catholic church is filled with stautes and idols that people pray to, which is a grave sin"
Your assessment is true, but incomplete. RC doctrine forbids praying *to statues*, but this still occurs.

2) "They worship a member of their clergy- the Pope"
This is untrue - unless you are speaking of "hero worship", but even this doesn't really apply. Not many people try to be "like the pope" because of his popularity, the way they do sports stars or, in my day, astronauts. And, indeed, he is not worshiped religiously in any sense.

3) "They have turned Mary into a goddess"
This is a subjective opinion, of course. More correct would be to say that they have allowed Mary to be worshiped *like* a goddess in those cultures which previously had a strong goddess-based religion. However, they have not turned Mary into a goddess, and forbid worship of her or even prayer for anything other than her *intercession*. In other words, this is another case where practice by certain members of the RC church is not in line with church doctrine. Surely, you know of members of your own church who are not obedient to the entirety of Lutheran doctrine?

4) "sorry, had a typo- Satan, not Stan"
Actually, I like Stan better. Seriously - your assessment of who those individuals who treat Mary as divine may be correct. However, as previously stated, such behavior is forbidden by RC doctrine. I have never known any RC to treat the Pope in such a manner.

5) I've seen festivals in Italy where a staue of Mary is carried through a village, covered in currency it happens in many parts of America.
This is accurate. However, many American RCs have never witnessed this. It is also prevalent in many other countries.

6) "How about the 'hail mary' prayer? Praying to mary?"
As mentioned, praying to Mary - it is only permissible (according to RC doctrine) to pray to Mary for her intercession with God. It is forbidden to pray to Mary for her direct aid, and the "Hali Mary" is actually an excellent example of this. This is the request made (of Mary) in the "Hail Mary": "Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death". The only thing that the "Hail Mary" prays to Mary for is (her) prayer to God!

7) "Um, bowing before a statue and praying IS praying TO the statue- that is idolotry."
Not necessarily. Praying *where* there is a statue, to keep a person *in mind* of the deeds of that person while praying to that person for intercession with God, is not (strictly speaking) praying to a statue, no more than praying in a church with a priest in front of you is praying to your priest. Just because something is in front of you, encouraging you to pray, does not mean that you are praying to that thing - even when you are kneeling with that thing (whatever it may be) in front of you.

8) "many catholic churches have statues of members of thier past clergy"
I was unaware of this. I have never seen statues to any other than saints, though I suppose that the saints had to worship somewhere.

9) "Thats idolotry in its purest form...a grave sin"
No, idolatry in its purest form is
a) A statue of a god is created
b) Believers have faith that there is power within the statue itself, or that the statue itself is a god
c) Believers pray to the statue, assuming that the statue will hear their prayers and act, with supernatural powers, on their behalf

Conclusion: make no mistake, there are individual members of the RC church who regularly participate in idolatry such as you describe. However, you should be aware that all the types of idolatry that you have mentioned are forbidden by the RC church. The fact that individual officials *within* the RC church permit such things (by not preaching against them, without fail, when discovered) is one of the reasons I am no longer a member of that church. However, you are mistaken about the actual doctrine of the RC church in this matter. As mentioned before, there are members in every sect which will act in a manner forbidden by the teachings of their sect. This is the case here.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 10

I am not Catholic,therefore I do not worship the Pope.I call no
man father,but God.In their defense I will say much was omitted from the Bible,Mary is only mentioned a few times and after the death of Jesus She is not mentioned again,perhaps they know more than the rest of us.