Saturday, January 4, 2020

Does Old Testament Typology Point To Mary Being Queen Of Heaven?

  • Discussion:
          -Catholic apologist Tim Staples wrote an article attempting to substantiate from Scripture the notion of Mary being queen of heaven, resorting to Old Testament typology. Quite simply, the purpose of this article is to show that his claims are vacuous. Following are a handful of excerpts along with a critique:

          "It can be difficult for us in the modern Western world to understand ancient monarchical concepts. But first-century Jews understood the notion of the kingdom that Jesus preached because they lived it. They knew that a kingdom meant that there was a king. And, in ancient Israel as in many nearby cultures, if there was a king there was a queen mother."

          The above statements are true in and of themselves. However, the conclusion that there must be a queen mother in heaven does not follow or fit as a logical flow from the original premise of the argument. What has been argued has been assumed rather than proven. It is an instance of circular reasoning.

          "In the New Testament, the inspired author of Hebrews 1:8-9 quotes verses 6-7 of this very text [Psalm 45:1-9] as referring to Christ, his divinity, and his kingship. But immediately following those verses is another, lesser-known, prophecy that speaks of Mary. Who is this woman of whom the Lord said, “I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever”? Not one of Solomon’s wives fit the prophetic description."

          Texts such as Ephesians 5 and Revelation 20 employ imagery of a bride to a king when speaking of the church. Moreover, there are passages in the Old Testament offering the same description of the relationship of God to Israel (Ezekiel 16:8-21; Hosea 1:1-3). Mary is never given such a description in the Bible.

          "Most every Christian—indeed most of the world beyond Christendom—knows the name of the Mother of God—Mary—who in fulfillment of this prophetic text said, “All generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48)."

           We can agree that Mary is blessed among women for the reason of her being used by God in a unique fashion. However, this argument begs the question in that it is not specified as to how or in what manner she should be blessed.

          If the Roman Catholic Church is correct in proclaiming that Mary is the queen of heaven, then how come Scripture never mentions her as being exalted at the right hand of God as it does with Jesus Christ on multiple occasions (Luke 22:69; Acts 5:31; 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:10-13; 12:2)? How come Mary is nowhere mentioned as reigning next to God?

          The central theme of the Bible is devotion and adoration for God. We are constantly told to glorify His name. We are told to confess our sins before Him. Never is this said of Mary. We are never told or encouraged in Scripture to venerate His creations, nor even to sing hymnals about them. Paul does not even exhort the readers of his epistles to pray to members in a so-called communion of saints during times of trouble. That is just how unbiblical the concept of Mary being the queen of heaven is.

          A very detailed picture of heaven is given in chapters four and five of Revelation. God is seated on His throne and is surrounded by twenty-four elders and four living creatures (Revelation 4:4). Jesus Christ (the "lamb") is standing in the middle of the throne. Several thousand angels circle the throne worshiping and singing God's praises. However, there is no mention or any implication of Mary's presence. In fact, only Jesus was found to be worthy of breaking the seals and opening the scroll (Revelation 5:1-5). If Mary were the queen of heaven, then this would have been an ideal context to mention her position of exaltation. But that does not happen anywhere.

1 comment:

Glenn E. Chatfield said...

First, a heavenly "kingdom" is spiritual and an analogy. There is no need for a queen in an analogy.

The Psalm was not even hinting at the mother of Jesus -- talk about eisegesis!

Yep, Tim Staples' arguments are all fluff and nonsense.