"Cult of Mary"

Quote: Evenbob

Quote:

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.

Quote: FrGamble

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.

Wow, I totally understand why my wife's
family thinks your church is a cult now.
You write what you want, have it approved
as making sense biblically, and declare it
to be the truth. You want Mary elevated
to heavenly status, you make it so. You want
people to be able to buy indulgences, you
make it so. You want to run 600 years of
Inquistions and have it be biblically sound,
you make it so.

And when you're the only game in town and
wield enormous power, you can get away with
it. But nothing lasts forever, the breaking up
of the Church was inevitable. Absolute power
corrupts absolutely.

Wow, Bob I have no idea where you are getting this crazy stuff from. I just mentioned that you can't just write whatever you want because it all has to be Biblically solid. The Bible is the measure upon which things have to be judged. The Church was not the only game in town it was constantly being reformed and challenged by the holiness of its saints who used the Bible to hold the Church accountable and to call it to repentance. In the other thread I wrote about how from Genesis through Revelation and still today - the constant refrain of human history is: man's sin, repentance and penance, and God's merciful and healing love. Rinse and repeat. Their was no absolute power, that resides with God and God alone. The Church at its best is a servant to the Word of God.

By the way your statement about someone writing something and trying to make it biblically correct sounds a lot more like the individualistic interpretations of the Bible stemming from the protestant reformation.

Maybe you can get us back on track by mentioning something you think Catholics believe about Mary that is against Scripture?

Petro, let's not get it twisted the Catholic Church is by leaps and bounds the largest and most generous charitable institution on the planet. They provide services that the government could not, will not, or cannot do as well for some of the most materially poor, emotionally and physically disabled people throughout the world.

I had to laugh a little bit when you mentioned I am wondering. I am always wondering because long ago I found that was the surest way to grow in faith. If you don't keep an open mind and heart how will you ever learn and gain knowledge.

In this thread I am still kind of waiting for something to defend my position against, I sure do love doing so - even though I apparently stink at it. It is good for me and I am also glad you find this thread rewarding.

Quote: FrGamble

Maybe you can get us back on track by mentioning something you think Catholics believe about Mary that is against Scripture?

Nice try. How about mentioning something Catholics
believe about Mary that ISN'T in the Bible. That
would be most of what you believe, wouldn't it.

You bend and twist and invent, then with the sweep
of a pope's infallible hand, declare it all to be truth. That's
what cults do, padre. They do whatever they want, just
like the Church did.

Oh Bob, let me say again that neither the Pope nor even you can declare anything that goes against the Bible. However you do know that the Bible itself never says that everything is found in its pages. In fact St. Paul writes that Timothy should teach what is written and what he has orally taught him. I don't think this is really hard to understand. Again you would have an argument if there was something the Catholic Church teaches that goes against the Bible.

Quote: FrGamble

Again you would have an argument if there was something the Catholic Church teaches that goes against the Bible.

In order for the Church to survive, it has to
get back to the Bible and forget a lot of
the stuff it made up in the name of gaining
more power for itself.

In case you haven't noticed, the Church is
going broke. Parishes and schools are closing
everywhere because enrollment is down and
there is no money to run them. Just a month
ago Chicago announced 9 more Catholic schools
were closing. In the last 10 years almost 2000
schools were closed. Priests and nuns are avoiding
the profession in droves. The Church is in deep
trouble, while the Protestants flourish.

Quote: FrGamble

Quote:

Petro, let's not get it twisted the Catholic Church is by leaps and bounds the largest and most generous charitable institution on the planet.

Quote:

In this thread I am still kind of waiting for something to defend my position against,

"The Churches pseudo-gospels of the Virgin demonstrate a vigorous and uncompromising feminization of the Christian story. It was quite possible to read a complete cycle of the Virgin that took virtually everything attributed to Christ and transferred it to this mighty and godly woman. In devotional practice, Mary for well over a thousand years became the second Christ, a co-Christ. If the church officially drew a strict distinction between the worship due to Christ and the veneration due his Mother, that division collapsed in practice."

The church is guilty of compromising its beliefs
in the face of a deeply imbedded older pagan
belief that the deity was female. They bowed to
political pressure in order to get converts. You
want a woman goddess? Look here, we have the
mother of Jesus, she's almost equal to him in every
way. Worked like a charm.

Except for the fact that the Church never even comes close to making Mary equal to the Incarnate Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity Jesus Christ. She is a human being uniquely graced by God for her role as the Mother of Jesus, but she is NOT a goddess in fact in her own words:

Quote: Mary

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. Yes from now onwards all gnerations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me." (Luke 1:46-49)