EXAMINING
the TOUGH ISSUES
FACING
CHRISTIANS TODAY!
Issue #24 // March 9, 2006 (Updated: May 10, 2006) // Editor: Darryl Eberhart
(Updated through: July 26, 2007) (www.toughissues.org)
(The
“Mary of the Bible” versus the “Mary of Apparitions”
& the “Mary of Roman Catholic Tradition”)
(Plus Related Topic: “IMAGES & IDOLS – Are they good, or are
they bad?”)
NOTE: All “emphasis” throughout this newsletter, unless otherwise noted, is by the editor of “Examining the Tough Issues (ETI)”.
WARNING: This issue of the ETI newsletter
may seriously “disturb” some folks’ “comfort
zones”.
However, TRUTH
is far more important than any of our “comfort zones”.
DEDICATION: This issue of ETI is dedicated first and foremost to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; it is secondarily dedicated to all those who have fought, and to those who are currently fighting, against false doctrine, corruption, and tyranny – including ecclesiastical tyranny! (Please see Ephesians 5:11.)
DEFINITIONS
(hopefully in alphabetical order):
“Anti-Catholic” (See “Catholic Bashing”)
“Apparition”
(per Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition; 2006): “1.
Anything that appears unexpectedly or in an extraordinary way; especially, a
strange figure appearing suddenly and thought to be a ghost. 2. The act of
appearing and becoming visible.”
((Ed.
Comments to the preceding definition:
(1) “Marian Apparitions” – appearances by a “being” or “beings” claiming to be the Blessed Mary of the Holy Bible, the mother of Jesus Christ’s physical body – have grown exponentially, with numerous appearances being recorded during the second half of the 20th century. I have examined many of the messages delivered by this being or beings masquerading as the Blessed Mary, and found that most of them run counter to the Word of God, the Holy Bible.
(2) “Marian Apparitions” – and their messages – may well be used as a major means of deception in the near future as part of the Vatican-Jesuit-led New World Order agenda for one-world government and one-world religion.))
“Black
Pope” (per
Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI): “An Italian nickname for the Jesuit
Superior General: He is the commander-in-chief of the ‘Society of Jesus’
(i.e., the Jesuit Order). He is the real power ‘behind the throne’ of
the Papacy; and he is also the master of all these: his Jesuit order, the
Knights of Malta, and the highest levels of Freemasonry – and of all that he
controls through them.”
((Ed. Comment to the preceding definition: I placed this definition for the “Black Pope” in this particular newsletter because the Jesuit Order has been one of the biggest promoters of the elevation, exaltation, and enthronement of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic religious system, and also one of the biggest promoters of “Marian Apparitions”.))
“Catholic bashing”
(per Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI): “A ‘label’ [just
like ‘Anti-Catholic’] that, for the most part, is applied, usually by Roman
Catholics, to any and all who dare to point out any of the following:
(a.)
Errors in Roman Catholic doctrine;
(b.)
Papal Rome’s and the
Jesuit Order’s well-documented history of fomenting and orchestrating
bloody revolutions and wars;
(c.)
Papal Rome’s well-documented history (for centuries) of suppressing
the possession of, and the study of, the Holy Bible by the common people in
their own native language;
(d.)
Papal Rome’s well-documented history of torture, Inquisition,
‘holy’ wars, and ‘holy’ crusades against innocent
Bible-believing Christians (such as the Albigenses and Waldenses);
(e.)
Papal Rome’s well-documented history of hating and brutally
persecuting Jews, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians throughout the
centuries, (e.g., the Vatican’s religious genocide in the 1940s
against Serb Orthodox Christians in Fascist Croatia, where from 600,000 to 1
million men, women, elderly, and children were tortured and murdered
by Roman Catholic Ustashi military units that were frequently led by Roman
Catholic priests, friars, and monks);
(f.)
Papal Rome’s and the Jesuit Order’s well-documented history of assassinating
heads of State (e.g., President Abraham Lincoln, King Henry III and King Henry
IV of France, Czar Alexander I and Czar Alexander II of Russia, President Benito
Pablo Juarez of Mexico, etc.);
(g.)
The well-documented history of Papal Rome’s support of
totalitarian police states (such as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Fascist
Croatia) during World War II;
(h.)
The tremendous wealth (banks, stock holdings, property, gold,
etc.) of the Roman Catholic Church;
(i.)
The control of the top levels of Freemasonry by the Roman Catholic
Jesuit Order; and,
(j.)
The heavy-duty infiltration (and control) of the top
intelligence agencies in the world (e.g., CIA, Mossad, Russian KGB [now called
the FSB & SVR], and British Intelligence) by the Jesuits (through their
Knights of Malta, Jesuit ‘temporal coadjutors’, and high-level
Freemasons).”
“Co-redemptrix” – A female who assists in redemption.
“Dulia” – Roman Catholic theological term – (per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “An inferior kind of worship or adoration.”
“Dulia” (per Loraine Boettner, author of Roman Catholicism): “A lower form of devotion which is given to the saints, images, and relics.” (Page 282)
IMPORTANT NOTE (for the
terms “dulia”, “hyperdulia”, and “latria”
listed in this section of the newsletter): These three Roman Catholic
theological terms are used by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church to
“rationalize” and “justify” their use of images. Loraine Boettner, on page 282 of his book Roman
Catholicism (1962), tells us: “Roman Catholics attempt to justify
the use of images by making a distinction between what they term ‘latria’,
which is devotion given only to God, ‘hyperdulia’, which is given to
Mary, and ‘dulia’, a lower form of devotion which is given to the
saints, images, and relics. But in practice that distinction breaks
down. The people, particularly those who are illiterate, of whom the Roman
Catholic countries have so many, know nothing of the technical
distinctions made by theologians. They
worship the images of Mary and the saints in the same way and often with more
fervency than they worship those of Christ, or the ‘Blessed Sacrament’,
which they believe, is the actual body, soul, and divinity of Christ.
The only name for their practice is idolatry.
The Old Testament strictly forbade image worship…”
“Graven” –
Alternate past participle of the transitive verb “grave” (to
carve or engrave); thus the meaning of “graven” would be: “carved;
engraved”.
“Heretic” (per
Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “1. A
person under any religion, but particularly the Christian, who holds and teaches
opinions repugnant to the established faith, or that which is made the standard
of orthodoxy. In strictness, among
Christians, a person who holds and avows religious opinions contrary to the
doctrines of Scripture, the only rule of
faith and practice. 2.
Any one who maintains erroneous opinions.”
“Heretic” (per
Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI): “As concerns historical Roman Catholic
use of this term: A ‘label’ applied by the Papacy to anyone who dared in the
past, or who dares today, to question either (1) papal authority, or (2) any of
the unscriptural doctrines based solely upon ‘tradition’ that have been
promulgated by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, such as
‘transubstantiation’, ‘indulgences’, ‘papal infallibility’,
‘purgatory’, ‘worship of images’, ‘a celibate priesthood’,
‘auricular confession to a priest’, etc.”
“Hyperdulia”
– Roman Catholic theological term – (per Webster’s 1828 American
Dictionary of the English Language): “Super-service in the Romish
Church, performed to the virgin Mary.”
“Hyperdulia” (per Loraine Boettner, author of the book Roman Catholicism; 1962; Page 282): “[Devotion] given to Mary.” [Ed. Note: This is a higher type of veneration than that which is given to saints, relics, and images.]
“Icon” (per Webster’s
1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “An image or
representation.”
“Iconoclast”
(per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “A
breaker or destroyer of images; a name which [Roman] Catholics give to
those who reject the use of images in religious worship.”
“Idol” (per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): [noun] “1. An image, form or representation, usually of a man or other animal, consecrated as an object or worship; a pagan deity. Idols are usually statues or images, carved out of wood or stone, or formed of metals, particularly silver or gold. 2. An image. 3. A person loved and honored to adoration. 4. Any thing on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment… An idol is anything which usurps the place of God in the hearts of His rational creatures…”
“Idolatry”
(per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “1.
The worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or which is not
God. Idolatry is of two kinds:
the worship of images, statues, pictures, etc., made by hands; and the
worship of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars, or of demons, angels,
men and animals. 2. Excessive
attachment or veneration for any thing, or that which borders on adoration.”
“Image” (per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): [noun] “1. A representation or similitude of any person or thing, formed of a material substance; as an image wrought [i.e., formed; produced] out of stone, wood or wax. 2. A statue. 3. An idol; the representation of any person or thing, that is an object of worship. The second commandment forbids the worship of images. 4. The likeness of anything on canvas; a picture; a resemblance painted. 5. Any copy, representation or likeness…”
“Jesuit Order”
(per Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI): “The Jesuit Order is a religious
order of the Roman Catholic Church, officially approved by Pope Paul III in
1540. The primary goals of this order are (1) to roll back the Protestant
Reformation and the freedoms that it brought to many of the inhabitants of this
planet; (2) to enhance the power and prestige of the Papacy; and (3) to rule
despotically over the governments of the world through the Papacy. The head of the Jesuit Order is the Jesuit Superior General
– the ‘Black Pope’ – the real power behind the Papal throne. The
Jesuit Order is infamous for fomenting revolutions and wars, assassinating heads
of State, and subverting nations.”
“Jesuit Temporal
Coadjutor” (per Eric Jon Phelps, author of Vatican Assassins):
“Someone who performs service or duties for the Jesuit Order, but
who is not a Jesuit priest. This
person may be of any race, religion, or sex.”
“Latria” (per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “The highest kind of worship, or that paid to God; distinguished by the [Roman] Catholics from ‘dulia’, or the inferior worship paid to saints.”
“Latria” (per Loraine Boettner, author of the book Roman Catholicism; 1962; Page 282): “Devotion given only to God.”
“Marian Apparition” (See “Apparition”)
“Mediatrix” – A female mediator.
“Papal Rome” (per Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI): “The government of the Roman Catholic Church, whose headquarters is presently in Rome, Italy.”
“Prelate” (per
Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI): “A high-ranking clergyman, e.g., a
bishop.”
“Redemptrix” – A female redeemer. (A co-redemptrix would be a female aiding in redemption.)
“Roman Catholic”
(per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “Roman
Catholic, as an adjective, denoting the religion professed by the people of Rome
and of Italy, at the head of which is the pope or Bishop of Rome; as a noun, one
who adheres to the papal religion.”
“Shrine” (per Webster’s
1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “A case or box;
particularly applied to a case [Ed. Note: a container] in which sacred
things are deposited. Hence we hear
much of shrines for relics.”
“Shrine” (per Webster’s
New World Dictionary, Second College Edition; 1974): “1. A case or
other container holding sacred relics, [such] as the bones of a saint.
2. The tomb of a saint or other person held sacred.
3. A place of worship, usually one centered around some sacred scene or
object, as a religious image in a niche [‘a place or position
particularly suitable to the person or thing in it’], etc. 4. A place
or thing hallowed or honored because of its history or associations.”
“Worship” (per
Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language):
[A.] “(Verb transitive): [1.]
To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect
and veneration. 2. To respect; to
honor; to treat with civil reverence…”
[B.] “(Verb intransitive): [1.]
To perform acts of adoration. 2.
To perform religious service.”
[C.] “(Noun): 4. Chiefly and eminently, the act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; or the reverence and homage paid to Him in religious exercises, consisting in adoration, confession, prayer, thanksgiving and the like.”
IMPORTANT NOTE #1: Editor of ETI is not a Roman Catholic; he also is most definitely not anti-Roman Catholic as far as individual Roman Catholics go. His dad and 90% of his relatives are Roman Catholic; and the majority of his friends are Roman Catholic. Editor of ETI is, however, against the top levels of secret societies (from the hierarchy of the Jesuit Order to the hierarchy of Freemasonry). This is because these secret societies control the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church (through the Jesuit Order and P2 Masonry), and have often used this hierarchical system for evil purposes, such as “holy” Inquisition, “holy” crusades, “holy” wars, and religious genocide. The hierarchical system of the Roman Catholic Church is used quite efficiently by secret societies not only to keep over one billion Roman Catholics “in line”, but also to gather intelligence, and to infiltrate (through its Knights of Malta, Jesuit “temporal coadjutors”, etc.) governments and various Christian denominations. Editor of ETI is also against any hierarchy that tries to place itself equal to, or above, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God – or equal to, or above, God’s Holy Word and His Ten Commandments!
IMPORTANT NOTE #2: When I use the name “Mary” in this newsletter, the reference is to the Blessed Mary, mother of the physical body of Jesus Christ, and the wife of Joseph.
IMPORTANT NOTE #3: When I use the term “GOD” in this newsletter, the reference is LORD God Almighty of the Holy Bible that I have had the privilege to study over the years.
This editor of the ETI and TTT newsletters has been writing more on the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy, and especially the Jesuit Order, in recent newsletters because I keep uncovering more and more about the deep hatred that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has for independent Bible-believing Christians, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Jews. We Americans have, for the most part, been largely ignorant of the well-documented history of the Roman Catholic Church in conducting brutal religious genocide (via Inquisition, “holy” wars, and “holy” crusades) against all the afore-mentioned groups. Sadly, many Americans believe the “ecumenical rhetoric” of Roman Catholic prelates – i.e., that Papal Rome has “changed her ways” and now loves all the “separated brethren”. However, my study of the Papacy shows me that this is just a RUSE [i.e., a “stratagem” – per Webster’s Dictionary: “any trick or scheme for achieving some purpose”]. The “purpose” is to bring all Christian denominations under the “umbrella” [i.e., the control] of the Jesuit-controlled Papacy!
Yes, the Papacy
[i.e., Papal Rome], despite its “ecumenical rhetoric”,
has not changed a bit over the many centuries in the following
categories:
| Its deep hatred of Jews, all independent Bible-believing Christians, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians (as recently as the 1940s we find Roman Catholic Ustashi military units in Croatia, led and urged on by Franciscan priests, monks, and friars, slaughtering from 600,000 to one million innocent Serb Orthodox Christian men, women, elderly, and children – many of the victims being first brutally tortured); |
| Its long-held dream to bring all Christians under its monopolistic, totalitarian, ecclesiastical control; |
| Its long-held dream to head up a totalitarian one-world religious organization; and, |
| Its long-held dream to bring all world leaders – especially those in “Christian” countries – under the temporal power of the pope. (That is, the Jesuit-controlled Papacy would be the top player and “controller” in a one-world government – just like it was the top player and “controller” on the European continent for many centuries! Kings indeed bowed before popes.) |
Indeed, power – absolute power – has long been the pursuit of Papal Rome. History has recorded Papal Rome’s deep hatred for religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The U.S. Constitution, with its “Bill of Rights” guaranteeing such liberties, has long been hated by Papal Rome. (For a good example of this hatred, please read the Syllabus of Errors issued in 1864 by Pope Pius IX.) I have heard that there is an acronym in use by some Knights of Columbus in America. This acronym is “M.A.C.”: “Make America Catholic”. America is the last “roadblock” in the way of Papal Rome and her globalist rich and power elite lackeys in their quest for one-world government and one-world religion. Is America scheduled for a religious genocide – an Inquisition – as occurred in the 1940s in Croatia? I believe the danger is very real and possibly quite imminent – and that is why I have been writing more and more about the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy (i.e., Papal Rome), its long-held dreams of world domination, its love of Fascist regimes, and its well-documented history of torture and religious genocide!
Why am I writing about the Blessed Mary of the Holy Bible (the mother of the physical body of the Lord Jesus Christ), about images and idols, and about Marian apparitions? I am doing so for several reasons:
| (1) The Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchical system has elevated the Blessed Mary of the Holy Bible to “goddess” (and, “Mediatrix”) status within the Roman Catholic Church. If the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church (i.e., Papal Rome) is wrong on this issue, then it is stealing from GOD the honor and glory due only to HIM! (See Isaiah 42:8.) |
| (2) Images and idols were strongly condemned by both the Old Testament and the early Church; however, the Papacy has woven a pervasive system of images and idols throughout her “religious system”. If the Papacy is wrong, could it be putting millions upon millions of its adherents in great danger of offending the LORD God Almighty of the Holy Bible? |
| (3) Many of the numerous Marian apparition messages that this editor has examined have been contrary to the Holy Bible! (What is going on here with these apparitions? Could they be from the “dark side”?) |
| (4) There is a strong likelihood that Marian apparition messages will be used by powerful, evil men in these “last days” to lead many persons astray, and into the arms of the one-world government and one-world religious system! Thus the subject of Marian apparitions ought to be one that is openly and fully discussed. |
The “Real” Mary of the Holy Bible was indeed blessed, and she, in her obedience to God, is a role model for all Christians today! However, as we will see from the Bible passages and the quotations given in the next two sections of this newsletter, there exists a lot of evidence to refute this idea of a “Christian” goddess who rules in heaven, and who serves as a “Mediatrix”. Somebody must be very wrong on this issue, and somebody must be right.
Let’s now take a look at what the Holy Bible has to say about these subjects, as well as examining some very relevant quotations. We will also be looking at some interesting history.
II. SOME RELEVANT BIBLE VERSES (with some comments by this editor):
(The
LORD God Almighty is speaking): (Verse 4): “Thou shalt not
make unto thee ANY graven [i.e., carved; engraved] IMAGE,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the
earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (Verse 5): Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I
the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers unto the
third and fourth generation of them that hate me…”
(Exodus 20:4, 5)
((Ed. Comments to the preceding Bible passage:
(1) This is one of the TEN COMMANDMENTS (it’s the Second Commandment) that the LORD God Almighty gave to Moses on the Mount. These 10 Commandments (they are not 10 suggestions!) have NOT been done away with, and they are applicable to ALL God’s people everywhere and at ALL times!
(2) Years ago several major Roman Catholic Catechisms did a very deceitful and horrible thing: They omitted (from their catechisms) the Second Commandment (that is found in the Holy Bible); they then divided the Tenth Commandment into two separate parts to make them the 9th and 10th Commandments, respectively. Why would the Roman Catholic Church want to omit the Second Commandment (which condemns image worship) from a Roman Catholic Catechism?
(3) The Roman Catholic Church to this day still tries to rationalize her disobedience to God’s Holy Second Commandment by saying that Roman Catholics don’t really “worship” images or idols; however, this editor has seen video clips and photographs of many Roman Catholics bowing down to these images and idols (often in the form of statues) – which in and of itself is disobedience to Almighty God’s Second Commandment!))
((Ed. Comment to the following four Bible passages: So as to emphasize the critical importance of the Second Commandment’s prohibition against making images and bowing down to them, the LORD God Almighty repeats this Second Commandment several more times in the Holy Bible. Additionally, the entire Ten Commandments, first found in Exodus Chapter 20, are repeated in Deuteronomy Chapter 5. The following four passages of Holy Scripture expand on God’s commands forbidding the production and use of IMAGES.)):
(Verse
15): “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no
manner of similitude [i.e., form or likeness] on the day that the LORD
spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
(Verse 16): Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a
graven [i.e., carved; engraved] IMAGE, the similitude [i.e.,
form or likeness] of any figure, the likeness of male or female…”
(Deuteronomy 4:15, 16)
“I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise [i.e., the praise due to the LORD] to graven [i.e., carved; engraved] IMAGES.” (Isaiah 42:8)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding
Bible verse: The LORD God Almighty does not share the glory and praise due
only to Him with anyone else, nor does He share the glory and praise
due Him alone with “graven IMAGES”!))
“They feared the LORD, and served their own gods…” (II Kings 17:33 a.)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: These people “feared” the LORD; however, they continued to serve their “own gods” at the same time. The LORD God Almighty was just another one of their “gods”. If any of us think that we can worship the true GOD while combining that with our worship of “other gods” or “images”, we are deceiving ourselves.))
(The Apostle Paul wrote): (Verse 22): “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (Verse 23): And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an IMAGE made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” (Romans 1:22, 23)
(Verse 24): “For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for [the pagan goddess] Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; (Verse 25): Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, ‘Sirs, ye know that by this craft [i.e., an occupation requiring special skill] we have our wealth. (Verse 26): Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul [Ed. Note: the Apostle Paul] hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: (Verse 27): So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth’.” (Acts 19:24-27)
((Ed. Comments to the preceding Bible passage:
(1) Please read Acts 19:28-41 for “the rest of the story”. (A near riot breaks out as a result of shrine-maker Demetrius’ speech.)
(2) There was a lot of money to be made from the production and sale of images and idols of this pagan goddess named Diana! The Apostle Paul’s preaching against images and idols posed a big threat to the idol makers’ “profit line”.))
(The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking): “After [i.e., according to] this manner therefore pray ye: ‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name’…”
(Matthew 6:9) (Note: Please also see Luke 11:2)
(The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking): “And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified [i.e., honored] in the Son [of God].” (John 14:13) (Note: Please also see John 14:14; John 15:16; and, John 16:23, 24.)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding two Bible verses: The Lord Jesus Christ on numerous occasions gave to us in the gospel books of the New Testament the “formula for prayer”: that is, we are to pray to God the Father in the name of the Son of God, i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ! Nowhere in the gospels does Jesus Christ give us any other “prayer formula”, such as those later “invented” by the Roman Catholic Church – e.g., praying to Mary or to any other saint!))
(The LORD God Almighty is speaking) (Verse 20): “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven [i.e., carved; engraved] IMAGE, and pray unto a god [Ed.: See “important note” below] that cannot save. (Verse 21): Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the LORD? And there is no God else beside [i.e., except] Me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside Me. (Verse 22): Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: For I am God, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:20-22)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible passage: How much plainer can GOD make it? He alone is our GOD and Savior, and there is NO OTHER!))
((Important Note (to the above Bible passage): The term ‘god’ (small ‘g’) is defined by the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary as: “…A false god; a heathen deity; an idol; …any person or thing exalted too much in estimation, or deified and honored as the chief good.”))
“I,
even I, am the LORD; and beside Me
there is no savior.”
(Isaiah 43:11)
“Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but [i.e., except for] Me: for there is NO savior beside Me.” (Hosea 13:4)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding two Bible verses: “Beside Me” means “except for ME”! The LORD God Almighty says that He is the ONLY SAVIOR!))
(The angel of the Lord is speaking to Joseph): “And she [i.e., the Blessed Mary] shall bring forth a son, and thou [i.e., Joseph] shalt call His name JESUS: for HE shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: Please notice that it does NOT say “He [i.e., Jesus] and Mary” shall “save His people”. Indeed, absolutely NOWHERE in the Holy Bible is the Blessed Mary mentioned as a female co-Savior, co-Redeemer (co-redemptrix) or co-Mediator (Mediatrix)!))
“Jesus [Christ] saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by [i.e., except through] Me’.” (John 14:6)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: The Lord Jesus Christ said that no one gets to GOD the Father except through the Son of God (i.e., Jesus Christ). Nowhere in the Bible are we told to go through the Blessed Mary to get to God!))
(The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking): (Verse 1): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘He that entereth not by the ‘DOOR’ into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber’. …(Verse 7): Then said Jesus unto them again, ‘I am the DOOR of the sheep’. …(Verse 9): ‘I am the DOOR: by Me [i.e., through the Lord Jesus Christ] if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture’.” (John 10:1, 7, and 9)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible passage: There is only ONE “door” to eternal life, and that “door” is JESUS CHRIST, not the Blessed Mary.))
(The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking): “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
(The Apostle Peter said): “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name [i.e., than that of the Lord Jesus Christ –see verses 10 and 11] under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
(The Apostle John wrote): “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” (I John 4:14)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: The beloved Apostle John is testifying that GOD the Father sent the Son of God to be the Savior of the world! We have but ONE Savior! In John 10:30 we find Jesus Christ saying: “I and My Father are one.”))
(Verse 30): “And [the keeper of the prison – see Verse 27] brought them [i.e., the Apostle Paul and Silas – see Verse 29] out, and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ (Verse 31): And they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house’.” (Acts 16:30, 31)
(The Apostle Paul wrote): “For there is one God, and ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: There is only ONE mediator “between God and men” – i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ; there are not two, or three, or four, or five, etc.))
(The LORD God Almighty is speaking to His prophet Jeremiah): (Verse 17): “Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? (Verse 18): The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.”
(Jeremiah 7:17, 18)
((Ed. Comments to the preceding Bible passage:
(1) Please read the entire chapter 7 of the book of Jeremiah in the Bible for “the rest of the story”. The LORD God Almighty was very angry with His people in Judah and Jerusalem, because they were not only coming to worship Him at His temple in Jerusalem, but they were also worshipping the “queen of heaven” and other gods. Because of this “mixed” worship, the LORD God Almighty brought the Babylonian army into Judah to crush her!
(2) The “queen of heaven” is mentioned five times in the Holy Bible (Jeremiah 7:18; and Jeremiah 44:17, 18, 19 and 25) – all in a clearly “negative context”!))
(The Blessed Mary is speaking): (Verse 46): “And Mary said, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, (Verse 47): And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior’.” (Luke 1:46, 47)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible passage: The Blessed Mary clearly recognized that she had been born in sin, and that she needed a Savior. To claim that the Blessed Mary was born sinless is to DENY Holy Scripture, such as Romans 3:23, where the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of GOD, tells us: “For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” That word “all” would certainly include the Blessed Mary.))
“His [i.e., Jesus Christ’s] mother [i.e., the Blessed Mary] saith unto the servants, ‘Whatsoever He [i.e., Jesus Christ] saith unto you, do it’.” (John 2:5)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: Notice that the Blessed Mary did not tell the servants to do what she would say, but rather to do what Jesus Christ would say! That’s good advice for all of us.))
(Verse 24): “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden [i.e., told] him, and took unto him his wife [i.e., the Blessed Mary]: (Verse 25): And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called His name JESUS.” (Matthew 1:24, 25)
((Ed. Comments to the preceding Bible passage:
(1) The expression “knew her” in this context, and in similar contexts within Holy Scripture, means to have marital (conjugal) relations with one’s wife. Joseph waited “till” after Mary “had brought forth her firstborn son” before he “knew her”. (Please also notice the use of the expression “FIRST-born son” – it does not say “only son”.) For more examples of this use of “knowing” one’s wife (found in the Bible), please see the following verses: Genesis 4:1 (where Adam “knew” his wife Eve, and she [later] “conceived”); Genesis 4:17 (where Cain “knew” his wife, and she [later] “conceived”); Genesis 4:25 (where Adam “knew” his wife [Eve] again, and she “bare a son”); and I Samuel 1:19, 20 (where Elkanah “knew” his wife, and she “conceived…and bare a son”). The Blessed Mary went on to have other children who are mentioned in the gospel books of the Holy Bible; however, for some reason the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy tries to change Jesus’ brothers and sisters into “cousins”, and implies somehow that it would have been wrong for Joseph to have had normal marital relations with his wife Mary after the birth of Jesus. A lot of Roman Catholic doctrine has emanated from her “traditions” rather than from the Holy Bible!
(2) This “goddess cult” that has been created around the Blessed Mary was not found in the first three centuries of Church history. It gradually “evolved” over hundreds of years as Papal Rome moved farther away from simple Bible truths in order to appeal to the many pagans that were coming into the Roman Church – pagans who had worshipped a “goddess” in their pagan religions, and who needed a “goddess” within the Roman Catholic Church. Nowhere in the Holy Bible is Mary presented as a “goddess” who is female mediator, i.e., Mediatrix.))
“For neither [i.e., not even] did His [i.e., Jesus’] brethren [i.e., BROTHERS] believe in Him.” (John 7:5)
(Verse 55): “Is not this [i.e., Jesus] the carpenter’s [i.e., Joseph’s] son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren [i.e., BROTHERS]: James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? (Verse 56): And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” (Matthew 13:55, 56) (Note: Compare Mark 6:3.)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible passage: Matthew uses the Greek word for “brothers” in this Bible passage. There is a Greek word for “cousins”, but Matthew does NOT use that word! These were Jesus’ four brothers – NOT his four cousins as the Roman Catholic Church maintains! Dave Hunt, on page 436 of his book A Woman Rides the Beast, states the following about the issue of brothers and cousins: “Catholic apologists such as Karl Keating insist that these brothers and sisters were really Christ’s cousins and that Matthew and Mark had to use the word for ‘brother/sister’ because neither Hebrew nor Aramaic had a word for ‘cousin’. There is no basis for such an unbiblical supposition. Furthermore, [the gospels of] Matthew and Mark were written in Greek. Keating insists that although there was a word for ‘cousins’ (anepsios) in the Greek, it was common for Jews writing in Greek to continue the Hebrew practice of referring to all relatives as brothers/sisters (adelphos). He cites examples from the Septuagint, but none from the New Testament, because there are NONE. In fact, [the Greek word] ‘anepsios’ is used in Colossians 4:10 to refer to the cousin of Barnabas. Moreover, the brethren of Jesus are usually mentioned as being in the company of [the Blessed] Mary, indicating that they were her children in her care or, if grown, traveling with her as part of the immediate family.”))
(Verse 46): “While He [i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ] yet talked to the people, behold, His mother [i.e., the Blessed Mary] and His brethren [i.e., His BROTHERS] stood without [i.e., outside], desiring to speak with Him. (Verse 47): Then one said unto Him [i.e., Jesus Christ], ‘Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without [i.e., outside], desiring to speak with Thee’. (Verse 48): But He [i.e., Jesus Christ] answered and said unto him that told Him [about His mother and brothers standing outside]: ‘Who is My mother? And who are My brethren?’ (Verse 49): And He [i.e., Jesus Christ] stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, ‘Behold My mother and My brethren! (Verse 50): For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother’.” (Matthew 12:46-50)
(Verse 27): “And it came to pass, as He [i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ] spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps [i.e., breasts] which Thou hast sucked’. (Verse 28): But He [i.e., Jesus Christ] said, ‘Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep [i.e., obey] it’.” (Luke 11:27, 28)
((Ed. Comments to the preceding two Bible passages:
(1) We do not find the Lord Jesus Christ shining the spotlight on His mother for the benefit of the multitudes that He taught. Rather, He immediately stopped any attempts to focus on the Blessed Mary rather than on His Words. As concerns “family”, the Lord Jesus Christ chose rather to emphasize His spiritual family (i.e., those who love Him and keep His commandments)!
(2) God’s Holy Spirit always points to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Holy Bible. Jesus Christ is given the preeminence in the gospels, not Mary!))
((Ed. Comments to all the above Bible passages and verses:
(1) A careful examination of all the above Bible verses will clearly show WHY the Roman Catholic Church had for many centuries forbidden the distribution, reading, or possession of the Holy Bible by common folk in their own native languages. In fact, and thanks to the Papacy, mere possession of a Bible by a commoner in his native language for centuries brought the death sentence. The Roman Catholic Church for several centuries burned not only Bibles, but also those who possessed or distributed them (such as William Tyndale)! Why has the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy HATED the Holy Bible (despite their rhetoric to the contrary) so greatly? Answer: The Holy Bible, when studied carefully “from cover to cover”, holds many Roman Catholic doctrines (her “traditions”) up to the LIGHT of Holy Scripture, showing them to be fabrications invented by men – fabrications that are totally contrary to God’s Holy Word!
(2) Something is conspicuously absent from all of the above-listed Bible passages – or from any other Bible verses in those books of the Bible recognized as “canon” (i.e., officially accepted by the early Church fathers as being divinely inspired Holy Scripture). Here is what is missing:
| Not once does the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God), or the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, or anyone else in the Bible, tell us that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ’s physical body, was to be honored as a “Mediatrix” (i.e., a female mediator) or as the “Queen of Heaven”, or as the “mother of God”! |
| Not once does the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God), or the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, or anyone else in the Bible, tell us that we are to be saved through anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ! |
| Not once does the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God), or the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, or anyone else in the Bible, tell us that we are to ask Mary or any of the saints to intercede for us (via intercessory prayer) with GOD the Father or the Son of God! |
| Not once does the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God), or the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, or anyone else in the Bible, tell us that we have to go through a Roman Catholic priest or Mary to approach GOD the Father for the forgiveness of our sins! |
| Not once does the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God), or the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, or anyone else in the Bible, tell us that we are to erect shrines to, or make images of, Mary (the mother of Christ’s physical body), or of any other individuals (saints or otherwise)! |
Yes, isn’t it just a bit strange that the Lord Jesus Christ (the Son of God), the Apostles Peter, Paul, and John, and everyone else in the Holy Bible failed to mention any of those things?))
III. SOME RELEVANT QUOTATIONS (with some comments by this editor):
“The primitive Christians were possessed with an unconquerable repugnance to the use and abuse of IMAGES…”
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794; English historian; author of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)
“It is an injury [i.e., an offense; an insult] to God to make an IMAGE of Him in base [i.e., inferior; contemptible] wood or stone.” – Justin Martyr (? –165? A.D.; 2nd century defender of the Christian faith; martyred)
“In opposition to the authority of Scripture, there was a human IMAGE in the church of Jesus Christ.”
Epiphanius (4th century Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus)
“We Christians have nothing to do with IMAGES, on account of the second commandment. The first thing we teach those who come to us is: to despise IDOLS and all IMAGES; it being the peculiar character of the Christian religion to raise our minds above IMAGES, agreeably to the law which God Himself has given to mankind.”
Origen (185? -254? A.D.; Christian theologian & scholar)
“God ought to be worshipped without an IMAGE; IMAGES serving only to bring the Deity into contempt.” – Augustine (Known as Saint Augustine of Hippo; 354-430 A.D.)
“It would be impious [i.e., lacking reverence for God] in a Christian to set up a corporal [i.e., bodily; physical] IMAGE of God in a church; and that he would be thereby guilty of the sacrilege condemned by St. Paul, of turning the glory of the incorruptible God into an IMAGE made like to corruptible man.”
Augustine (Known as Saint Augustine of Hippo; 354-430 A.D.)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding quote: A “sacrilege” is the violation of something sacred. Please also see Romans 1:22, 23 for the Apostle Paul’s comment about making an image of the incorruptible God.))
“In India we discovered that the Catholic Catechism had changed the commandments from the way they are in the [Holy] Bible. In the Roman Catholic Catechism, the first commandment is as it is in Scripture. And the ‘second’ commandment in the catechism is: ‘You shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain’. Now this is a complete change from the Bible. The third commandment of the Bible has been moved up to the ‘second’ [in the catechism]. The original second commandment as it is found in Scripture has been dropped. Virtually all the [Roman Catholic] catechisms drop the [original] second commandment of the [Holy] Bible.”
Bob Bush (Ex-Jesuit; ex-Roman Catholic priest; quote from the book Far from Rome, Near to God)
“…In the fourth century, the worship of IMAGES was abominated [i.e., loathed; detested] by the Christian church; and that even their admission into places of worship, for whatever object, was regarded by the most eminent of bishops with abhorrence.”
John Dowling (The History of Romanism: From the Earliest Corruptions of Christianity to the Present Time; 1845; Page 154)
“Jesus Christ hath delivered us from IDOLATRY, and hath taught us to adore Him in spirit and in truth. But the devil, not being able to endure the beauty of the Church, hath insensibly brought back IDOLATRY, under the appearance of Christianity, persuading men to worship the creature, and to take for God a work which they gave the name of Jesus Christ.”
Council of Hiera (754 A.D.; 338 bishops attending)
“…Adhering to the word of God, to the definitions of the six preceding councils, to the doctrine of the approved fathers, and the practice of the Church in the earliest times, [we do] pronounce and declare, in the name of the Trinity, and with one heart and mind, that no IMAGES are to be worshipped; that to worship them or any other creature, is robbing God of the honor that is due to Him alone, and relapsing into IDOLATRY.”
Council of Hiera (754 A.D.; 338 bishops attending)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding two quotes: Despite papal denials to the
contrary, the Council of Hiera in 754 A.D. was the seventh general council held by the Church. Roman Catholic authorities have
relegated this council to a “deep memory hole”, since the pope later
succeeded in getting this Biblically sound decision of the Council of Hiera
(which condemned “image worship”) overturned by the Council of Nice
in 787 A.D. This papal success
against the wishes of many bishops was only made possible by (1) murdering
both Emperor Leo IV and his son Constantine VI (through the efforts of the
emperor’s wife Irene, who wanted to restore “image worship” in the
palace), and (2) “stacking the deck” at the Council of Nice in 787 A.D.
Emperor Leo IV’s father and grandfather had championed the cause of
removing “image worship” from the Church. Several popes (who obviously did
NOT know the truths in the Holy Bible, or who deliberately chose to ignore
those truths) opposed this challenge to their “authority” and their
“traditions”, and in 787 A.D. succeeded in overturning the condemnation of
“image worship” made by the Council of Hiera (754 A.D.))
“In Luke 1:46, 47, Mary had already admitted that she needed a Savior, so in obedience she brought her sin offering [see Leviticus 12:6-8] of two turtledoves to the temple, like all Jewish mothers [see Luke 2:21-24].”
Jack Chick (Author; publisher; from his tract “Why is Mary Crying?”)
“She [the Blessed Mary] saw her son crucified…but Jesus [Christ] came to this earth as the Lamb of God. He shed His precious blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world…including her own.”
Jack Chick (“Why is Mary Crying?”)
“[The
Blessed] Mary is embarrassed, because the people are bowing down to
statues of her. …[The
Blessed] Mary sheds tears because men call her ‘The Mother of God’.
…[The Blessed] Mary weeps because men teach that she was
really sinless. …[The Blessed] Mary is crying for the
deceived multitudes who look to her as a mediatrix…and pray to her.”
Jack Chick (“Why is Mary Crying?”)
“Satan knew [that] Jesus [Christ] would leave heaven
and be born of a virgin to become the Savior and mediator between
God and man…so he [i.e., Satan] devised a wicked plan to confuse
the people into putting their trust in a counterfeit virgin [i.e.,
Semiramis of Babylon] that Satan created.
After
Noah’s flood, the survivors multiplied and built the great city of Babylon.
Satan found his ‘virgin’ – a beautiful witch named Semiramis…and
he used her to put untold millions into hell.
Semiramis became the Queen of Babylon and married Nimrod. Historically he was called the husband of his mother.
Satan used them both to create a satanic cult so powerful that it spread
around the world and multitudes looked to Semiramis as their goddess mother.
Semiramis and Nimrod came up with the idea of confessionals, and celibacy for the priesthood.” – Jack Chick (“Why is Mary Crying?”)
She
[i.e., Semiramis] became a goddess with many names, such as
Baalti, (the Madonna), the Great Goddess Mother, Queen of Heaven,
The Mediatrix, The Mother of Mankind, Astarte, etc.
As time went on, monuments of the goddess and her child
appeared in many nations…because when the people of Babylon were
scattered to various parts of the earth, they took with them the worship of the divine
mother and child.
Satan had successfully set up his own deadly religion long before Jesus [Christ] was born.” – Jack Chick (“Why is Mary Crying?”)
“Worldwide,
the adoration [of this pagan “divine mother and child”] was so strong
among the pagans that they would not forsake their mother goddess.
When Roman Catholicism came into existence around 300 A.D., the [Roman
Catholic] leaders knew [that] if they could adopt the worship
of the goddess mother into their religious system…then
countless pagans would convert to [Roman] Catholicism.
But who could replace the Great Mother of paganism? Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the only logical person. Little by little the worship of the pagan goddess was transferred to Mary.” – Jack Chick (“Why is Mary Crying?”)
“The
ancient Babylonian religion depicted the goddess mother as the only
one who could control her son. And
so the same satanic idea was incorporated into [Roman] Catholicism…[i.e.,
that] Jesus [Christ] is angry and only Mary can appease Him…and
so [Roman] Catholics are afraid of the loving Savior…and they
believe only Mary can get them into heaven.
This ‘angry Jesus’ is not the Jesus [Christ] of the [Holy] Bible who said: ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28)… The ‘Mother of God’ that Catholics worship is not the Mary of the [Holy] Bible. Satan has successfully deceived them [i.e., many Roman Catholics] into worshipping the counterfeit goddess, ‘The Queen of Heaven’.”
Jack Chick (“Why is Mary Crying?”)
“In these last days, the key to pulling all the religions together
is the worship of the satanic mother goddess. Almost a billion
Muslims will join because the Virgin Mary was carefully placed in their holy
book, the Koran. Even the ‘New
Agers’ refer to a mother/father god. Satanic posers will impersonate
Mary in future apparitions of the ‘virgin’ worldwide, including
communist countries, to bring the world under Satan’s antichrist.”
– Jack Chick
((Ed. Comment to the preceding eight quotes: Jack Chick is “right on” in the information he put out in this tract entitled “Why is Mary Crying?” Alexander Hislop’s book, The Two Babylons, exposes in great detail how Roman Catholicism incorporated a whole lot of paganism into its religious system straight from the pagan Babylonian religion. Please see the “What Can We Do?” section of this newsletter for information on how to order Jack Chick’s tract “Why is Mary Crying?” and the book The Two Babylons by Hislop.))
“Under the name of the ‘Mother of the gods’, the goddess
queen of Babylon became an object of almost universal worship. ‘The Mother
of the gods’, says Clericus, ‘was worshipped by the Persians, the
Syrians, and all the kings of Europe and Asia, with the most profound religious
veneration’. Tacitus gives evidence that the Babylonian goddess was worshipped
in the heart of Germany, and Caesar, when he invaded Britain, found that the
priests of this same goddess, known by the name of Druids, had been there
before him. Herodotus, from personal knowledge, testifies, that in Egypt this
‘queen of heaven’ was ‘the greatest and most worshipped of all the
divinities’.”
Alexander
Hislop (The Two Babylons; Pages
80, 81)
“Instead, therefore, of the Babylonian goddess being cast out,
in too many cases her name only was changed.
She was called the Virgin Mary, and, with her child, was
worshipped with the same idolatrous feeling by professing
Christians, as formerly by open and avowed Pagans.”
Alexander
Hislop (The Two Babylons; Page 82)
“The Madonna of Rome
[i.e., the Roman Catholic Church], then, is just the Madonna
of Babylon. The ‘Queen
of Heaven’ in the one system is the same as the ‘Queen
of Heaven’ in the other. The goddess
worshipped in Babylon and Egypt as the ‘Tabernacle’ or ‘Habitation of
God’, is identical with her who, under the name of Mary, is
called by [Papal] Rome ‘the House consecrated to God’, ‘the
awful [i.e., awe-inspiring] Dwelling
place’, ‘the Mansion of God’, the ‘Tabernacle of the Holy Ghost’, [and] the ‘Temple of the Trinity’.”
Alexander
Hislop (The Two Babylons; Page 83)
“The names of blasphemy bestowed by the Papacy on Mary have not one shadow of foundation in the [Holy] Bible, but are all to be found in the Babylonian idolatry. Yea, the very features and complexions of the Roman [Catholic] and Babylonian Madonnas are the same.”
Alexander Hislop (The Two Babylons; Page 85)
“When,
therefore, it is known that the most famed pictures of the Virgin Mother in
Italy represented her as of a fair complexion and with golden hair,
and when over all Ireland the Virgin is almost invariably represented at this
day in the very same manner, who can resist the conclusion that she must have
been thus represented, only because she had been copied from
the same prototype as the Pagan divinities?
Nor is this agreement in complexion only, but also in features. Jewish features are everywhere marked, and have a character peculiarly their own. But the original Madonnas have nothing at all of Jewish form or feature; but are declared by those who have personally compared both, entirely to agree in this respect [i.e., features], as well as in complexion, with the Babylonian Madonnas found by Robert Ker Porter among the ruins of Babylon.”
Alexander Hislop (The Two Babylons; Page 86)
“But when it is evident that the goddess enshrined in the Papal Church for the supreme worship of its votaries [i.e., devout worshippers], is that very Babylonian queen [i.e., Semiramis] who set up Nimrod, or Ninus ‘the Son’, as the rival of Christ, and who in her own person was the incarnation of every kind of licentiousness, how dark a character does that stamp on the Roman [Catholic] idolatry.” – Alexander Hislop (The Two Babylons; Page 88)
“[The
Blessed] Mary realized her own sin and recognized the fact that she needed a
Savior, and that God was her Savior.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Former Bishop of the Evangelical Catholic Church; author of Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 52)
“The Roman [Catholic] Church teaches that Mary is omnipotent in power and infinite in mercy and is to be prayed to as queen of Heaven and of angels. It calls her the refuge of sinners, gate of Heaven, mother of mercies. The Roman [Catholic] Church teaches that salvation is to be had through Mary, that Mary is the great mediator between God and man, and it practically puts Mary in the place of Jesus as the way and means of salvation.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 55)
((Ed. Comment to the preceding quote: Please see the references to the “queen of heaven” in the King James Bible: Jeremiah 7:18; and 44:17-19, and 25.))
“This idolatrous worship of Mary was unknown in the Church for the first four hundred years, and was a gradual development in the Roman [Catholic] Church, being bitterly contested for many years.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 55)
“The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was not officially proclaimed by Rome [i.e., the Roman Catholic Church] until the year 1854.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 55)
“Mary is the great goddess in the Roman [Catholic] Church. For many years Rome has been working to increase the worship of Mary, and decrease the worship of God.” – Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 56)
“The
Roman [Catholic] Church exhorts its members to pray to Mary as
their chief helper; she is said to be more powerful than any other to rescue and
save sinners; she is declared to be more loving and merciful than God Himself;
she is more worshipped than God; that she did not die, but was caught up bodily
into Heaven, and there reigns as queen, sitting on the throne of God,
with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that Mary is the only hope of
sinners; and that there is no salvation except through Mary.
Not one of these teachings can be found in the [Holy] Bible,
but all of them are contrary to God’s Holy Word; all
of them are sacrilegious, and should be rejected and repudiated
by all Christians.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Pages 55, 56)
“The people in the Roman [Catholic] Church are being gradually trained to worship Mary in place of God. The Roman Church has adopted a heathen idea and calls Mary the ‘Queen of Heaven’. This title is of heathen origin, and the offering of prayers to the supposed ‘Queen of Heaven’ is a sin. The [Holy] Bible distinctly mentions the ‘Queen of Heaven’ and condemns such idolatry. Read Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:17. There is no queen in Heaven; only a King.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 56)
“The
[Holy] Bible does not accord to Mary any attributes of
Deity, nor does it mention any superhuman power belonging to her.
She was as helpless as any other woman. The [Holy] Scriptures do not
tell us that anyone ever worshipped Mary or prayed to her.
The [Holy] Bible does not contain a single statement urging us to pray to Mary. God never commanded us to pray to Mary. Neither Jesus [Christ, the Son of God] nor any of His apostles ever told us to pray to Mary.”
Samuel D. Benedict (Catholic Doctrine in the Bible; Page 60)
“We saw that God said, ‘Come to me’, and in the Gospels we are told
to pray to our Father in Jesus’ name, never
to a saint or to Mary. The disciples did not pray to Stephen who died
very early in the Acts of the Apostles, or to James who was killed early on.”
Bob Bush (Ex-Jesuit; ex-Roman Catholic priest; quote from the book Far from Rome, Near to God)