General Comments On Roman Catholic Mariology

• What Is Mariology?:

          -The study or doctrine relating to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Every professing Christian, whether he be Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant, has some form of this theology.

          -Roman Catholic Mariology has a bizarre developmental history, with there being various shrines and feasts established in the name of Mary during the Middle Ages. In fact, many bishops who had attended the First Vatican Council wanted "Immaculate Virgin" added to the "Hail Mary" prayer. Other attendees even wanted to add the immaculate conception of Mary to the creed. This reveals a gradual increase in Marian devotion throughout the centuries.

• Roman Catholic Mariology Presents A Distorted View Of Mary:

          -The New Testament epistles were written to give spiritual guidance and instruction to the Christian churches. They have a great deal to say about constructing the appropriate doctrines that develop a foundational understanding for worship. However, Mary is completely absent from the New Testament letters (with the exception being Acts 1:14 and Galatians 4:4).

          -Even in the four gospels, her alleged "spiritual power and authority" seems as if it does not exist. Jesus and the apostles never gave Mary any place of authority or devotion that the Roman Catholic Church has given to her.
          -Why did Jesus address another woman by the same name, "woman," as He called His mother Mary (Matthew 15:28; John 2:4)?

• The Example Of John The Baptist:

          -Jesus Christ said that the greatest human ever born was John the Baptist and that he was the LEAST in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 11:11-13). Even the "least" in the kingdom of God is "greater" than John the Baptist. So Mary is no better than anyone else, either in heaven or earth.

• Contradicts Biblical Teaching:

          -Jesus publicly refuted a woman who attempted to exalt Mary on the basis that she gave birth to Him (Luke 11:27-28). Instead, He placed an emphasis on hearing and obeying the Word of God.

          -Jesus stated that all of His disciples are His mother and family (Matthew 12:46-50). He elevated all of His disciples to the same level as His earthly mother and family. The emphasis is on faithfulness to God rather than to ancestral lineage.

• Was Mary Truly A Special Woman?:

          -God did not have to use Mary as the means of bringing His Son into the world so that He could make atonement for our sins. In other words, He could have found favor with another virgin woman who was just as faithful to His will, if He so chose. In fact, He did not have to save us (but He did as a result of His love and mercy). It is not as though Mary was the only option available to God or that He owed her something.

• Delusions Of Grandeur:

          -One can find numerous statements exalting Mary in writings by Roman Catholic "saints" and officials that far exceed the teachings of Scripture. Consider the following three examples: 

          -"Let us in all confidence choose as advocate before God the Immaculate and Most Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. She has destroyed all the heresies of the world...In heaven as Queen at the right hand of her only Son, clothed in golden raiment and all manner of jewels, there is nothing that she cannot obtain from him." (Pope Pius IX, Quanta cura, December 8, 1864)

           *If Mary had really accomplished what the pope claimed regarding the abolishment of all heresy, then why are we still encountering atheists, other world religions, and pseudo-Christian cults?

          -"...we cannot doubt that she greatly grieved in soul in the most harsh anguishes and torments of her Son. Further, that divine sacrifice had to be completed with her present and looking on, for which she had generously nourished the victim from herself. Finally this is more tearfully observed in the same mysteries: There stood by the Cross of Jesus, Mary His Mother...of her own accord she offered her Son to the divine justice, dying with Him in her heart, transfixed with the sword of sorrow." (Leo XIII, Iucunda Semper, September 8, 1884)
           *Scripture states that Jesus Christ offered Himself to God as atonement for our sin (Hebrews 9:14). Mary played no role in our redemption except in the sense of giving birth to Him. Mary could not have offered her son to God as an atonement sacrifice, even if she had wanted to.
           *Mary would have been in agony and distress to see her Son nailed to a crucifix. Such reactions are only natural of normal mothers when they see their children suffer. However, there is no valid reason to suggest that Mary's grief had some sort of a unique or redemptive value.

          -“Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is "the dwelling of God...with men." (CCC #2676)

           *If Mary automatically inherits the title "Ark of the Covenant" for the reason that she once bore our Lord Jesus Christ in her womb, then would it not logically follow that all Christians can rightly be given the same title, since our bodies are also God's dwelling place (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20)?