"Cult of Mary"

Quote: rxwine

If it happened today we could easily do a DNA test for Joseph.

There's a church in Europe which holds a relic they claim contains Jesus' blood. Allegedly it's still fluid. We could test that (and likely find out it's not real blood). Of course there'd be no DNA to compare it to...

Quote: rxwine

I am skeptical of a pregnant woman claiming virginity, giving birth to a child, not of the husband.

Quote: aceofspades

If Mary was indeed pregnant out of wedlock - would that not make Jesus a bastard?

Of course, and of course.There is a perfectly reasonable explanation which in all other cases of humanity would apply. That is why it is referred to as the "miracle of the virgin birth".

I think that the father started the thread not to defend the reality of the virgin birth, but if someone had questions about the Catholic dogma that Mary was born without original sin, which is not in the bible AFAIK, and is not a belief shared with Protestants. I don't know if it is an Orthodox belief.

My wife loves Mary. Who am I to tell her not to?

FrG, you started this thread, are you now
ignoring it?

I didn't think there were any open questions I needed to respond to.

You said there are other books on Mary
and this was my response. What's yours.

Quote: Evenbob

But they aren't in the Bible so are irrelevant to
Christianity. You can't use the Bible and any
other books you feel like using and call
it Christianity. .

Quote: FrGamble

I didn't think there were any open questions I needed to respond to.

Quote: Evenbob

But they aren't in the Bible so are irrelevant to
Christianity. You can't use the Bible and any
other books you feel like using and call
it Christianity. Unless you're the only game
in town, which the Church was for a thousand
years.

What in the world would make you think that the Bible is the only relevant book for Christianity? It is the inspired Word of God but does that mean we should ignore all other Christian writings? What about the Tradition of the Church that was around before the Bible and gave rise to it, shouldn't we see that as very relevant to Christianity as well?

Quote: FrGamble

What in the world would make you think that the Bible is the only relevant book for Christianity? It is the inspired Word of God but does that mean we should ignore all other Christian writings?

So the gospels that were not allowed in
the Bible are OK to read and include,
then? And who decides what's god's
word and what isn't if you get to include
whatever you like in your brand of the
religion.

You're making Catholicism sound more and
more like a cult, by the way. I've never heard
such a cavalier attitude about Christianity, no
wonder my wife asked me to ask you about
Mary. She said you wouldn't be able to explain
it because it's not in the Bible.

Bob one of the easiest ways to know what "gospels" or non-biblical texts should be looked at to help us understand Christianity is to compare them to the Bible itself. The Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God and it is inerrant in what it teaches us about the faith. If a writing or a teaching goes against something in the Bible you can know it is not legitimate. Maybe you can think about a way that the Church's teaching about Mary goes against the Bible in some way? That would show that the teaching is incorrect, not because Baptists are uncomfortable with a distorted view of what the Church teaches.

I am not being cavalier about Christianity. I am trying to move you to an adult understanding of it. You might feel frustrated because it is easy to poke holes into a rigid fundamentalist view. When you actually think about these things a little more maturely and deeply you find that it is reasonable and not such easy prey to your sometimes silly points.

Finally, you must remember Christianity is not based sola scriptura . The word Trinity is also not found in the Bible but because of the Tradition of the Church, through reflecting on the Bible, the sayings and actions of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit Christians everywhere know this to be true.