Who is greater, Elizabeth or Jesus? What did Jesus say? Guess what, He spoke against honoring Mary as special simply because she bore Him in her womb and gave birth to Him.
Luke 11:27-28 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
Furthermore, when Mary and Jesus' siblings intentionally tried to interfere with Jesus' ministry, this is what Jesus had to say:
Matthew 12:46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
In other words, Jesus did not elevate Mary as the Roman Catholics do.
Moreover, Jesus called many people blessed. Let us take a look at some:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.[SIZE=+2]
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Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
[/SIZE]God several times throughout Scripture says He will not share His glory,
while Catholics glorify, venerate, and adore Mary. Jesus did not once in
Scripture address Mary as His mother, but Catholics call her the mother
of humanity, and as if that were not enough, the queen of heaven.
Jesus said that anyone who did the will of God was His mother, His brother,
His sister. Jesus never elevated Mary above others, but Roman Catholics
feel a need to not just elevate Mary above others, but they put her on a par
with Jesus in terms of His sinlessness, (do you really think that she needed
to be sinless so that Jesus Christ could be sinless?). They are forced by
so-called infallible papal decree to accept the Marian dogmas of her bodily
assumption and immaculate conception, neither of which have any basis
whatsoever in Scripture.
Jesus told us to pray to our Father in heaven, yet they pray to Mary.
Scripture clearly states that there is one intercessor between God and
man, yet they will tell you to pray to Mary, and other dead people,
for intercession. They fault those who do as Jesus instructed, while
they disobey Him to follow someone else instead.
We see nothing in Scripture to endorse her bodily assumption, her perpetual virginity
(Jesus had siblings after all, two of whom have books in the Bible!), her immaculate
conception. We see no need to pray to her, or any ability on her part, as dead as she is
believed to be, to intercede on our behalf against the explicit words of Jesus in Scripture.
Within Catholicism, there is a drive to define a new Marian dogma in which
Catholics, as a matter of faith, would be obliged to accept: 1) Mary participates
in redemption with Jesus Christ; 2) grace is granted by Jesus only through the
intercession of Mary; and 3) all prayers from the faithful must flow through
Mary, who brings them to the attention of her Son. Scripture also tells us not
to call anyone Father but God, while they call many men "father" and blindly
follow them.
Roman Catholics believe that a fallible man is the Rock that Jesus is building
His Church on, not a confession of faith divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit of God,
despite a plethora of Scriptures that attest to the fact that God is the sole Rock
of our salvation. They teach purgatory, and many other things neither the apostles
nor Jesus ever taught. For instance, they claim priests must be celibate, when they
were not in the early church. Another example would be infant baptism, nowhere
promoted in Scripture. They burned people at the stake for daring to read the Bible,
which is what Scripture tells us to do. Despite all this, and more, the Catholic Church
considers herself the only valid expression of the community of God.
Of course, many believe the RCC are wrong on these and other matters.
