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.