In Revelation 12:17 the Woman is NOT Mary. The Woman is the nation of Israel.
Hi Paul.
So the woman gives birth to a male child who everyone will agree is Jesus (a person).
A dragon tries to get Him and ruin everything. Everyone agrees that is Satan (a person).
But the woman who birthed the male child....that can't be Mary (a person). That has to be a nation.
I'll grant you that imagery in Revelation can have multiple meanings. But the most straightforward reading would be that the woman is Mary. There can be more than one meaning. That is just the most obvious one. Since Jesus and Satan are both there and she is the woman who birthed the male child.
The Catholics have replaced every woman in the Scriptures with Mary. This is false Theology.
That isn't true. Actually, that is quite a ridiculous statement.
The Catholics basically has rewritten the Scriptures, tossing out the Nation of Israel and replacing her with their corrupted Mary.
Nope. Let's be honest. Catholics haven't rewritten anything. That is another false statement.
What you are really saying, I believe, is that
your interpretation is different from the
Catholic Church's interpretation of the Scriptures. Nobody has rewritten anything.
But what makes
your interpretation better? Or the correct one? I wonder.
Luke 11:27,28
[SUP]27 [/SUP]While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” [SUP]28 [/SUP]But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
In this passage Jesus is telling the people its not Mary that is blessed, that its the True Christians who are blessed.
Nope. I don't agree with your interpretation again. Well, I take that back. I agree with the second part. Just not the first. Jesus is telling the people that it is better to belong to Jesus' in a spiritual family than our earthly blood relatives. Mary is blessed in both ways, though. She is Jesus blood relative, His Mother, AND she submitted to God in an incredible way and is part of His spiritual family, too. She is the only human being who will ever be able to say that!
By not observing the Word of God the Catholics are not blessed by God like us True Christians are.
You mean by not observing the Word of God
as you interpret it.
If you don't like the Catholic Church's interpretation that is fine. But I wonder by what authority do you claim that it's interpretations are wrong? That's what I don't get about Protestantism....it seems like everybody professes this freedom to read the Bible and interpret it for themselves, but whoever interprets it differently is wrong. I don't get it.
I think your only fallback would be to say, "My authority is the Bible itself." But that solves nothing. Everybody else who disagrees with your interpretation can say the exact same thing.
Most Catholics believe since they have been born into the Catholic Church and have been Baptized as babies that they therefore have received Salvation and do not need to repent and accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Sadly, some probably do. I wouldn't say most, though. Us Catholics have a pretty deep sense of the need for repentance for sins (confession and all that, you know
), and we do know Christ personally especially (but not exclusively, mind you) through the Holy Eucharist.
Repent Bestil_Andno, reject Mary, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior before its to late.
I try to repent of all my sins.
Jesus loves Mary. So I love Mary. Why would I reject somebody He loves? No rejection of her is necessary.
"Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior" sometimes put "Accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior"....is that phrase found in the Bible? I'm not saying I reject it....I don't. I'm just wondering where it is found in the Bible.
God bless.