By Paul Chong Sunday, 13 December 2009
Christianity, for all good purposes & intent, is governed by the Holy Bible – the Word of God. All religious practices as such must be in full accord of the Bible, not manmade, conceived & concocted to suit man’s ideology & convenience.
With one billion people all over the globe adoring & praying to Mary,
does that signified it’s biblical?
I had both my primary & secondary schooling at St. George’s Institution, Taiping, Malaysia, where we were much indoctrinated with the Catholic concept of religion. I had a rosary blessed by Pope Paul & it was a great thing . . . lots of Holy pictures, Catholic tracts just some of my memorabilia. Without sounding audacious, even today I can ratter off “Hail Mary” without effort. Saying the rosary was kind of a ritual & permanent habit. I never really gave much thought about what I was saying or to whom I was addressing.
During my college days in UK, I made it a point not to miss out visiting Fatima in Portugal & Lourdes in France. These were the two places that Mary made her physical appearances & which have become great tourist attractions & places of pilgrimage.
When young you learn & accept things without much questioning. If millions & millions of people are practising what’s been taught & advocated, it must be the right thing, so you think.
With due respect, we must really have the opportunity to question (no Bibles were made available for our use or recommended for reference), study & research for proofs & evidences before acceptance. Man after all is fallible! But to be guided by the Bible (the Word of God), needless to say, is the sure thing!
Because of time & space restriction here, we shall concentrate on the salient parts & the essence of the Bible pertaining to the position of Mary. That Mary was “blessed among women & blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus” is undisputed. But “Holy Mary” (which implies sinless or not subject to the pull of humankind) & “Mother of God” are nowhere to be found mentioned as such in the Holy Bible. It is thus ironic that a billion of the world’s population pray & adore her as an “intercessor”, “Holy Mary” & “Mother of God.”
Mary is depicted in various ways, standing alone with a halo on her head, holding baby Jesus, or as a family with Joseph & Jesus. Shrines were erected in Lourdes & Fatima with claims of her appearing in visions. All chapels & catholic churches have statues of Mary.
Who is this Mary? Is she Mary, the mother of Jesus, spoken of in the Bible? Does God’s Word support praying to her? Does she intercede on behalf of Christians? Is this the “queen of heaven” mentioned in the Bible?
Mary was a young Jewish girl engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. Like any young woman, she probably had her life planned: marriage, bearing children, raising a family, growing old with Joseph . . . totally unprepared that she was selected to experience a monumental life-changing event – a major step that would be part of the overarching Plan of God affecting all peoples . . . past, present & future.
Suffice for me to end here. There’s absolutely no evidences in the Bible that support her Godly status, other than what she was. I am not dissuading you from your belief, but to tell you not to accept all things blindly. I have given you sufficient food for thought.
Think about it . . . if Christ’s mother was “holy” or “sinless,” surely Jesus would have mentioned it, yet He did not. Jesus had at least three other brothers & two sisters – seldom highlighted. Please check your Bible.
Paul Chong's Blog 
Some more food for thought…
If Jesus is the New Adam then where is the New Eve? Mary is the New Eve, the mother of all the living. (See John 19:26-27)
The Ark of the Old Covenant was made of gold plated wood and so holy that no man could touch it. It contained the word of God, the miraculously blooming staff of Aaron, and the manna bread from heaven. Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, a most-gloried creature. (Compare 2 Samuel 6:9 and Luke 1:43)
The mother of the Davidic king held the title of queen. Mary is the queen in Christ’s kingdom and can intercede with her Son for us , just like she did so effectively at the wedding feast of Cana. (See 1 Kings 2:19-20)
In Sacred Scripture Mary proclaims, “From this day all generations will call me blessed.” Every time the “Hail Mary” is said this prophecy stands fulfilled. (All citations taken from Old Testament Books).
Father Victor – what is the connection between 2 Samuel 6:9 to Mary as being the Ark of the New Covenant? I hope you don’t mind clarifying, am curious to know because I don’t see the connection.
Thank you.
David’s exclaimation about the old ark parallels Elizabeth’s exclaimation about the New Ark. David says, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” While Elizabeth says, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” What’s more, David puts the ark up in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite near Jerusalem for three months. Mary goes to the “hill country of Judea” and stays with Elizabeth for three months. (see Luke 1:56)
This old ark/New Ark connection is intentionally drawn by Luke. As special, important, and central (though secondary) as the Ark of the Covenant was for the Hebrews’ worship of God, so Mary is to be for us as Chrisitians.
Thank you Father Victor for your explanation. I believe and agree that Mary is a very special woman for God to have chosen her to bear His Son, Jesus. She is considered blessed amongst women and Jesus too gives her great respect and He honours her as His earthly mother.
However, if I may say, if I am to follow the word of God according to the holy scriptures, praying and adoring Mary would not be right because Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”
Would I be doing the right thing, will God approve that I pray through the saints and Mary to intercede for us if we are given the privilege to pray to Jesus who is God’s purpose and reason for sending him to earth and being the ransom sacrifice – would his death be in vain if we do not follow the word of God, the bible.
Tina, your fears that intercessory prayers displace Christ are misplaced.
Have you ever asked another person to pray for you? Of course you have, and rightly so. The Bible tells us to “pray for one another” because “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” (James 5:16) Since the saints in heaven are alive in Christ they can offer prayers with us and for us, as seen in Revelation 5:8.
Every single prayer which comes to the Father is prayed through Jesus Christ; it’s unavoidable, since “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Thus, if St. Mary prays for me, or if I pray for you, it is Christ’s spirit acting within us, making it possible and giving it power.
Christ, the one mediator between God and man, glorifies us by allowing us (His Body) the incredible priviledge of sharing in His saving work. As he told His disciples as He appointed them to preach His Gospel, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” (Luke 10:16)
I submit to you that of our two Christian worldviews this more beautiful one is true.
Thank you Fr Victor for your explanation. Would you allow me to communicate with you by email instead of using Paul’s blog. Thanks once again.
I’ve been following both your perspectives re Mary’s position with great caution, without interfering. For the benefits of other readers, I certainly wouldn’t mind your carrying on. In fact, this is a good platform for the ongoing forum. I’ve invited my old classmate, Fr. Marshall Fernandez, a Catholic priest from Taiping, Malaysia to join in the discussion. Truth must prevail! Thank you Fr. Victor & Tina. God Bless.
I am a believer in the Mary worldview, because I have experienced her power. Just as you ask your mother to pray on your behalf, as a believer in the Blessed Virgin, I make intercessions to her to pray on my behalf. Earlier someone quoted the ref. from James 5:16.
Also note that Mary was the only woman that was called and ever will be called. Luke 1:37 the Hail Mary is Bibilica. The Hail Mary was first prayed by The Archangel Gabriel
He proclaimed “Hail Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!”, you need only to flip over to Luke 1:37 and then he verified his proclamation “Blessed are you amongst women” just another line later.
One of the things that Catholic priests and the Ligori press need to correct is the part of the “Haily Mary that states “…blessed are you among women.” This is incorrect, earthly women are incomparable with the Holy Virgin.
The real problem that we need to tackle is Why is Jesus portrayed like a blue eyed European when he is not. That will be my term paper. Who is the real Jesus, a Jew from the descendants of Hebrews from Ur? A Gallalean who lived in Palestine? If any of the above is true how can an entire church organization such as the Catholic misrepresent the God-man Jesus. The Hebrew people had roots in Sumer, Ur Mesopotamia-are these people Europeans? No! The very much resemble the Iraqis who are modern day Mesopotamians. So why is Jesus portraiture not Middle Eastern in features, dark and woolly haired as his line of people what is the true features of the God-man who walked this earth?
Tina, I would be happy communicate with you wherever you would be most comfortable. My email: victorfeltes (at) gmail . com
Paul, if there are any points you would like to raise please feel welcome to jump in.
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Mr Chong,
Kindly type the word ‘Biblical Evidence of Mary’ in google and see my article in ForumCatholic. I think there is AMPLE evidence of Mary, Saints, Tradition, etc in the Bible.
I thank you for your tolerance.
Best Wishes,
Victor Marcus Christianus
AMEN.
How about putting this in the “can’t hurt, might help” category (i.e. prayer and Pascal’s Wager)? And/or if it is a comfort to you.
Whosoever believeth in Christ shall be saved. John 3:16. Mary does not save you!
Paul,
Some way along the road you listened to the wrong conversation and lost your faith. I shall intercede to the blessed Mother on your behalf. To gift you with that special gift of faith. Once more would you take on the hot topic about Jesus who really is he. European as he is portrayed in dominant Western Culture or Gallalean /Palestinian Hebrew-Jew. I would like to read what you advance on this topic. Thanks
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If we really think about it guys, one of our greatest faults is that we judge everyone by our standards and the way WE live. Also we do this for God sometimes…always remember His ways are above ours and His thought are higher than ours. We cannot simply still think that MAry was just an ordinary woman…DEF NOT…she was predestined by God…and we all agree that God does not make mistakes…He must have created Her, Formed Her for this Special purpose, filled Her with His graces and purity, graciousness..etc…in order for Her to be the vessel that was CONCEIVED by the Holy Spirit AND as the MOTHER OF GOD. Please ppl be cautious how you regard MAry as it is a dishonor of God’s work and a disrespect to his perfectness. Also remember His last dying words to us: Son behold your Mother …and Mother behold your son..(it is meant for us all)….she is our Blessed Mother.
Additionally, we ask her to intercede for us because we believe that she is very close to God (He regards Her in high favor) as well as it is shown (wedding feast at Cana) that whatever she asks of Him He grants Her (even though He said His hour had not yet reached), He still granted Her the request. In the same way we believe that whatever she asks on our behalf He will grant for us…jus like Fr said above (all of us at one time or the other has asked someone to pray for us). Have a blessed week and I will pray for all the unbelievers that Mary intercedes and begs for their forgiveness and softens their hearts towards Her.
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In John 19:25 we read, “Standing by the foot of the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala.” Cross reference this with Matthew 27:56: “Among them [at the cross] were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.” We see that at least two of the men mentioned in Matthew 13 were definitely not siblings of Jesus (although they’re called adelphoi); they were Jesus’ cousins–sons of their mother’s sister.
The Bible is simply silent on the exact relationship between Jesus and the other two men, Simon and Jude, mentioned in Matthew 13. This proves two important things. First, it proves that the Greek word for brother is sometimes used to mean something other than sibling, and it proves that Matthew 13:55-56 in no way demonstrates that Mary had other children.
Please understand that in ancient languages one word “brothers” have used interchangeably for own brothers and cousin-brothers.