again final catholic question...?

Question

what about the virgin mary? why is christians so different from catholics? why did my brother change?

Answer 1

catholics do not worhip or pray to mary, they pray with her, because catholics just like other non-christian catholics, believe in one god.

only your brother could answer that.

Answer 2

Actually, Catholics are Christians. You must mean Protestants. I'm Catholic, too. YAH! Whatever. Now, about your big Q, Protestants developed this crazy idea, somewhere along the line, that Catholics apparently "WORSHIP" the Virgin Mary. Ok, WE DON'T!!!



We, Catholics, actually pray "through" or "with" Mary by asking her to pray to God for us. WE DON'T HAVE TO PRAY IN THIS MANNER, BUT IT HELPS, AND IS A WAY OF HONORING THE SAINTS!! DON'T LISTEN TO (THE FIRST GUY WHO ANSWERED THIS QUESTION!!!) It's called divine intervention, look it up. Like, I could ask you to pray for me, ok. But, (no offense) Mary was WAY more holy than thou (closer to God). Me, too, though. And everybody else (aside from Jesus) on this good green earth! Why? Because... SHE NEVER SINNED!!! That's another thing that Protestants just don't get. They don't see how, since Mary was a human, she NEVER sinned. Well, next time they ask you this, tell them: "Why would God, himself, enter the world through somebody who was impure and filthy in Sin" It just doesn't make any sense. The same thing goes for why Purgatory exists: "If God's Kingdom was always (and always will be) totally and completely 100% free of sin, then why would God allow impure souls into Heaven!?! They don't even get CONFESSION, so have no hope in being forgiven of their sins here on Earth! So, if their beliefs turn out to be true, they would all go to Hell? lol. Sorry for rambling on like that. lol. That doesn't make sense to us Catholics, and their really nothing you can do about it. Sorry, just pray to St. Monica & St. Augustine like I told you to! ALSO!!!! PRAY TO THE VIRGIN MARY, HERSELF!!! AND DON'T FORGET JESUS (OBVIOUSLY!), SAY THE ROSARY FOR HIM. I will do that to if I get a chance. So, God bless you, and Godspeed (whatever the hell that means).

Answer 3

Us Catholics are Christians. Christian protestants separated from the Catholic church a long time ago.

Some fundamentalists say that we worship Mary... that we're satanic... that we're going to hell...etc...

As far as I'm concerned we see the same God but understand him differently. At the end of the day, if we do what we're supposed to (To love each other), then we're on the same track.

I don't condemn anybody. We all have our own conscience.

Answer 4

This is in answer to one of the respondants who answered your question earlier. Could not find his reply so here are the refutes:

The Catholic Church has been a tool of Satan since 250 A.D.

Ans. Yes, the Catholic Church has been infiltrated (for how long I don't know). Since the Devil hates God and anything to do with Him he of course hates the Catholic Church, which was founded by His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore the Catholic Church has been his main target.

It is Pagan at its core. It is full of idolatry. It has been proven to be a liar and murderer for centuries. The Catholic Church not only does not deny this, they seek to justify their behavior.

Ans. Yes there were some very dire periods in the Catholic Church where the Devil had the upper hand, but the Church is not pagan.

They are anti-Jesus Christ & anti-Bible. The only authority they acknowledge is their own. It is the God-complex.

Ans. The Catholic Church is not anti Jesus Christ nor anti Bible. Catholics are encouraged to read the Bible. Passages are read from the Bible at every Mass. And every parish church worldwide has usually at least one Mass every day, unless there is a priest shortage in that area. The Mass is the remembrance of the last day of Jesus Christ on earth. It is the commemoration which Jesus asked for when He spoke the words, "do this in remembrance of Me".Lk. 22-19

So, yeak, if you ever do an in-depth Bible study, then look at the Catholic Church, you will be shocked at how evil it is.

Ans. Where in the Bible do you find reference to the Catholic Church being evil.
Yes, there are many infiltrators, who have done many bad things, but the doctrine of the Church has never wavered since the time of Jesus and as He taught it. (Organizations can have bad members but it doesn't mean the whole organization is rotten.)

People get really mad on Yahoo for us pointing out these facts, but the truth needs to be told no matter what.

Ans. Yes, please do tell the truth, but be sure you have your facts straight.

Catholic people are benevolent and loving. But they are sinners trapped in an evil system that will lead them to Hell. They just need to repent like all sinners, and humble themselves under the true God of Heaven. Salvation is for anyone who will call upon the name of the Lord God of Heaven.

Ans. There is no one on earth who is not a sinner. The only Just One was Jesus. And those that are not lax Catholics do humble themselves and go to Confession and ask pardon of their sins.

As far as the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the mother of Jesus Who, as we know, was God and man. He had, and still does, two natures. One divine and the other human. She was preserved from Original Sin when she was conceived, by an act of God, since it would not have been fitting for Jesus to be born from a womb that had had sin, since no sin has ever touched God.
Catholics do not worship Mary, as some claim, but Catholics do hold Mary in very high veneration (veneration (Latin veneratio, Greek δουλια dulia), is a special act of honoring a saint). Catholics do pray to Mary and the Saints as special friends of God.
If I knew you had a very good friend and I wanted to ask this friend of yours a favor, I would probably go to you first to put in a good word for me so that this special friend of yours would look kindly on my request.
That is a sort of an analogy. Also Catholics love Mary and the Saints simply because they were so faithful to obeying all that God commanded (the Commandments) while on earth and because they are so close to Him. This is not to say that the Saints did not have their trials and tribulations as we do, while they were alive, but it is because they never gave up and picked themselves up and kept plodding along and kept faithful to God above all.

Answer 5

Catholics call her the virgin Mary Why? she did marry Joseph and have James, Joseph, Simon and Judas (not Iscariot) plus three sisters which names are not mentioned in the bible. Catholics also pray to Mary believing that she can answer prayers and that she is the mediator between man and God, the bible says Jesus is, that no man cometh to the Father only through him. Christians know that it was Christ who died on the cross and not Mary. Jesus ascended into heaven after he rose from the dead, nowhere in the bible is it mentioned that Mary ascended into heaven. Your brother has chosen to study the bible and not a religious doctrine and now his eyes have been opened to the spiritual things of God, and you can share with him in this new found Love also by studying along with him.

Answer 6

"why did my brother change?"

That's a question for him. I'd suggest you study Catholicism so that you'll be prepared to help him as its obvious he got turned around by non-Catholics who don't know what they're talking about.

Answer 7

There has always been a ture church and the catholic church who opposed the true church throughout the ages. During the dark ages Rome persecuted the Christians and killed many for their faith. Rome like to do things the bible does not teach so Christians were persecuted.

About the virgin Mary the bible says in
Isaiah 42:8
"I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

Answer 8

Hi ..I have looked at all of your questions ,,and instead of answering them individually I will group my response here. -- its easier to follow then.

I can not answer for your brother , no one can but I can tell you what the Bible says about certain things.

First off . Mary.
Mary's father was Heli .
Heli's wife, the mother of Mary, was Anna, whose sister had a daughter named Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer.
This is clearly explained in the Bible and there is no doubt.
So what could your brother mean when he says there is NO virgin Mary.,and that its not in the Bible.?
Most likely he is referring that the TEACHING of "Immaculate Conception"

This is what the Bible says of this -
Matthew 1:23. . ."Look! The virgin will become pregnant and will give birth to a son. . .''

Matthew 1:25 . . .''But he had no intercourse with her until she gave birth to a son; and he called his name Jesus.''

So Mary did produce a Child by the power of the holy spirit from God without having intercourse with a man.
This according to the Bible is also in no doubt.

But the Catholic church goes beyond the scriptures here with their "Immaculate Conception," doctrine.

The doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception," which claims that Mary was exempted from original sin from the first moment of her conception, did not become an article of Catholic faith until 1854.
A Catholic reference work says that controversy over this doctrine had been raging within the Catholic Church since the 12th century and that some "bishops of great eminence" felt that this dogma had insufficient support in "Scripture or Tradition to be made an article of faith."

Devotion to Mary received another boost as recently as 1950, when Pope Pius XII defined the "Corporal Assumption of the Blessed Virgin" (that her body was not allowed to decay, but was taken to heaven) as an article of faith, that is, as an obligatory belief for Catholics.

However , these things are NOT supported in the Bible., and the first century Christians did NOT worship Mary.
Mary was an imperfect sinner , just like the rest of us.
The Bible says this in Romans 3:23 . . .''For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ''

All the other parts of this belief are absolutely not found in the Bible , which means that they are NOT the teachings of God.

1 Timothy 4:1 . . .''However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, ''

Yes - by following things that are not found in the Bible people are lead away from truth.
If we worship God , not based on truth , but instead based on Lies , it is a very bad situation that will cost us our lives.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 . . .'But the lawless one's presence is according to the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and portents and with every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth that they might be saved.'

Satan ., who is Jehovah Gods enemy attempts to deceive all people and trick them into following lies about God.

That is why we MUST follow ONLY what is in the Bible.
If our church teaches something that is not backed by Gods word in the Bible . then we must reject it.

Our very lives depend on it. !!

For more info about what the Bible really teaches please feel free to email me.

Answer 9

Did the apostles of christians in the book of Acts ever pray to Mary, or go to her for intercession? Does Paul in all 14 books on what a church should do ever tell us to do this? Do any of the other writers of the New Testament ever once tell us to ask anything or pray to anyone other than God, in the name of Jesus Christ?

No.

So if people today pray to Mary or Saints or whatever, then they have DEPARTED from the TRADITIONS OF THE APOSTLES.

Not trying to shout, just trying to emphasize, that if a person wants to be a true christian, then that person needs to understand what the Bible says very clearly.

None of us can trust another person to tell us what God wants for us in our lives. We must weigh everything that is said against the scriptures.

Answer 10

When it comes to the Virgin Mary and the other Saints, non-Catholic Christians see honor and/or veneration of anything other than God as a form of worship, of something other than God. From this point of view, Catholics are committing idolatry.

In reality, there is nothing wrong with the honor and/or veneration of saints. Indeed, God wills it:

God Desires and Responds to Our Subordinate Mediation / Intercessory Prayer
1 Tim 2:1-2 - because Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5), many Protestants deny the Catholic belief that the saints on earth and in heaven can mediate on our behalf. But before Paul's teaching about Jesus as the "one mediator," Paul urges supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. Paul is thus appealing for mediation from others besides Christ, the one mediator. Why?

1 Tim 2:3 - because this subordinate mediation is good and acceptable to God our Savior. Because God is our Father and we are His children, God invites us to participate in Christ's role as mediator.

1 Tim. 2:5 - therefore, although Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and man, there are many intercessors (subordinate mediators).

1 Cor. 3:9 - God invites us to participate in Christ's work because we are God's "fellow workers" and one family in the body of Christ. God wants His children to participate. The phrase used to describe "fellow workers" is "sunergoi," which literally means synergists, or cooperators with God in salvific matters. Does God need fellow workers? Of course not, but this shows how much He, as Father, loves His children. God wants us to work with Him.

Mark 16:20 - this is another example of how the Lord "worked with them" ("sunergountos"). God cooperates with us. Out of His eternal love, He invites our participation.

Rom. 8:28 - God "works for good with" (the Greek is "sunergei eis agathon") those who love Him. We work as subordinate mediators.

2 Cor. 6:1 - "working together" (the Greek is "sunergountes") with him, don't accept His grace in vain. God allows us to participate in His work, not because He needs our help, but because He loves us and wants to exalt us in His Son. It is like the father who lets his child join him in carrying the groceries in the house. The father does not need help, but he invites the child to assist to raise up the child in dignity and love.

Heb. 12:1 - the “cloud of witnesses” (nephos marturon) that we are surrounded by is a great amphitheatre of witnesses to the earthly race, and they actively participate and cheer us (the runners) on, in our race to salvation.

1 Peter 2:5 - we are a holy priesthood, instructed to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. We are therefore subordinate priests to the Head Priest, but we are still priests who participate in Christ's work of redemption.

Rev. 1:6, 5:10 - Jesus made us a kingdom of priests for God. Priests intercede through Christ on behalf of God's people.

James 5:16; Proverbs 15:8, 29 - the prayers of the righteous (the saints) have powerful effects. This is why we ask for their prayers. How much more powerful are the saints’ prayers in heaven, in whom righteousness has been perfected.

1 Tim 2:5-6 - therefore, it is because Jesus Christ is the one mediator before God that we can be subordinate mediators. Jesus is the reason. The Catholic position thus gives Jesus the most glory. He does it all but loves us so much He desires our participation.

Most of the non-Catholic Christians who make a big deal about this do not understand Catholicism - AT ALL. This bogus claim is just on of several garden-variety anti-Catholic claims they dish out ad nausium.

Your brother changed because, for whatever reason, he was smitten with a bad religious ideology. I say "bad", not because it's non-Catholic but because any religion that has to prop itself up by knocking others down is a religion that leaves a lot to be desired.