Apologetics 2
Explaining And Defending The Catholic Faith
1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. yet with gentleness and reverence.
By: David Hipple
Mary, Mother of God
The defined Mary dogmas
Mother of God
Perpetual Virginity
Immaculate conception
Assumption
The First defined Dogma: Mary is the Mother of God
We say this about Mary because of what this statement says about Jesus.
CCC 487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.
CCC 509 Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself..
What the title Mary Mother of God says about the nature of Jesus: Martin Luther: "In this work whereby she was made the Mother of God, so many and such good things were given her that no one can grasp them. Not only was Mary the mother of Him who is born (in Bethlehem), but of Him who, before the world, was eternally born of the Father, from a Mother in time and at the same time man and God. "
Mary's title Mother of God is inseparable from Christ's two essential titles: Son of God and Son of Man: to deny Mary her title is to deny Christ his title.
Jesus has two natures: divine and human. He is one divine person. This one person was born of Mary, she is the mother of the One Divine Person: the Mother of God. (a mother gives birth to a person, not a nature.)
This is the incarnation: God made man. He would not be human without a mother, and he was/is at the same time fully God: this person she gave birth to is God, so she is the mother of God.
Correct belief about Mary preserves correct belief about Jesus.
Luke 1:26-33-49 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in , he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you". But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the Angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom will have no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most Hight will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. "For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Now at this time Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice, and said, "Blessed among women are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb"! "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? "For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." And Mary said: "My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my savior. For he has had regard for the humble state of his bondslave; for behold from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear him. He has done might deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel his servant, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever."
CCC 495 Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord". In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).
What the title: Mary Mother of God: says about the physical-ness of the incarnation:
People who object to the title: Mary, Mother of God: have not mediated on the implications of the incarnation very much.
Christ took on a human body: therefore, the human body is good.
Christ ministered grace to us by physical means (mud, touch, water): He continues to do so: physical signs of the sacraments are means by which Jesus grants grace to us.
If a person thinks that the physical realm, or the human body, is somehow tainted or dirty: he will think that God does NOT use the physical to interact with us spiritually. This is a prejudice against the physical.
Mary anchors the person of Christ firmly in the physical realm in which we live. She provides the physical, the human nature to Jesus.
Mary, Queen of Heaven
This is in fulfillment of the Davidic Kingdom
Remember the Queen Mother in the Davidic Kingdom? She was the wisdom counselor to the King: (Remember Lady Wisdom in the book of Proverbs.)
From Catholic Answers http://.catholic.com
In the monarchy of King David, as well as in other ancient kingdoms of the Near East, t
The great pre-eminence of the king's mother may seem odd from our modern Western perspective, in which we think of a queen as being the wife of a king. However, recall that most ancient Near-Eastern kings practiced polygamy. King Solomon had seven hundred wives 1 Kgs. 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away”imagine the chaos in the royal court if all seven hundred were awarded the queenship (or just one)! But since each king had only one mother, one can see the practical wisdom in bestowing the queenship upon her.
Probably the clearest example of the queen mother's role is that of Bathsheba, wife of David and mother of Solomon. Scholars have noted the excellence of Bathsheba's position in the kingdom once she became queen mother during Solomon's rule. Compare the humble attitude of Bathsheba as spouse of King David 1 Kgs. 1:16:17 Then Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself before the King. And the King said What do you wish? And she said to him, My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the Lord your God, saying, Surely your son Solomon shall be king after me and he shall sit on my throne., 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, and prostrated herself before the king and said, "May my lord King David live forever." with her majestic dignity as mother of the next king, Solomon 1 Kgs. 2:19-20 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for adonijah. And the king arose to meet her, bowed before her, and sat on his throne; then he had a throne set for the King's mother, and she sat on his right. Then she said, "I am making one small request of you; do not refuse me." and the king said to her, "ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you.". As spouse of the king, Bathsheba bows with her face to the ground and does obeisance to her husband, David, upon entering his royal chamber. In striking contrast, after her son Solomon assumed the throne and she became queen mother, Bathsheba receives a glorious reception upon meeting with her royal son:
and I am amazed at all the times a new king of Judah is introduced in I and II Kings in this manner: ... "and his mother's name was" This is how the King was identified. The queen mother was a very important person.
The stories about the queen mothers show that they are not all good people: but they do, in a certain way, parallel the stories of the Kings of David. Some good people, lots of sinners, and getting worse as time goes by.
So how can Jesus fulfill the Line of David? Look at all the un-holy Kings there were in that line.
How can Mary fulfill the line of the Queen Mothers of the Davidic Kings? Look at all the un-holy women there were in that line.
These questions, I think, have the same answer. Jesus (and Mary) are the perfect fulfillment of the (flawed) types of the Old Covenant.
Mary: Ark of the (New) Covenant
Luke 1: 28-32, 35 And coming in , he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you". But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the Angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most Hight; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom will have no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most Hight will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.
The early church taught that Mary was the Ark of the New Covenant.
Mary is the Bearer of Christ: God bearer, Mother of God. These titles are intended to make a statement about who Jesus is and about the incarnation.
The Ark of the Old Covenant bore the presence of God and thus foreshadowed Mary's bearing of Christ as Theotokos, or Mother of God
St. Luke parallels his account of the Visitation (Mary going to see Elizabeth) with the scene in 2 Sam 6 to demonstrate that Mary is the new ark of the covenant.
2 Samuel 6 | Luke 1 |
David arose and went back to | Mary arose and went to the hill country of |
How can the ark of the Lord come to me v9 | And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? v43 |
House of Obed-edom v10 | House of Zechariah v40 |
Mary stays three months with | |
David rejoices v12 | Mary's spirit rejoices v47 |
shouting v15 | loud cry v42 |
leaping and dancing v16 | the babe leaps in |
What was the old testament ark?
Hebrews 9: 4 "the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. (see also Duet 10:5) "Than I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me."
Contents of The Ark of the Old Covenant | Contents of The Ark of the New Covenant |
The word of God written on two stone tablets | The Word of God made flesh |
The manna that came down to feed the people of God | The living Bread which came down from heaven to feed the people of God |
The rod of Aaron, the eternal hight priest | The eternal high priest, Jesus |
Luke 1:35 And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
Ex 40: 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it (same word in Greek), and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Could it be that Joseph believed Mary all along? Could that be why he was afraid to touch her because God Himself has overshadowed this woman? Could he have recalled what happened to people who touched the OT Ark in an unworthy manner see 2 Sam :6-7 and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God. Matt 1: 18-20 21 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Revelation 11: 19-12:1 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. 12: 1 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
(Recall Joseph's dream)
The Next defined Mary dogma: Ever virgin: perpetual Virginity
Isaiah 7: 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman (alt reading: virgin) shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
New Testament interpretation of this:
Matt 1: 22-23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).
I think all Christians believe that Mary was virgin when Jesus was born: it's the perpetual virginity part that some Christians don't believe.
CCC 496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed". The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says:
You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.
The usual objection to the perpetual virginity of Mary: she had other children. Doesn't the Bible mention the Brothers of Jesus?
CCC 500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary". Matt 28:1Now after the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. They are close relations of Jesus, according to an old testament expression.
Matt 13:55 "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas
Meaning of the word brother's in biblical languages: could mean cousin, nephew, uncle. Aramaic and Hebrew do not have a word for cousin, nephew, etc: all were called brother's (Currie p 157)
Example: Gen 13: 8 So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. (NIV) But they were not brothers: Abram was Lot's Uncle.
To see that some of the men called brothers to Jesus were actually sons of another Mary, look at the women who were present at the foot of the cross:
John 19:25 But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Matt 27: 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Mark 15: 40 There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome,
Luke 24: 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Jo-anna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told this to the apostles;
So James and Joseph, called brothers in Matt 13:55 are actually sons of another Mary according to these scriptures. This supports the contention that the meaning of the word a brother included a close male relative.
Another objection: Jesus was Mary's Firstborn son, so does that mean there were other children? This objection is based on a misunderstanding. First Born is a legal term of privilege or rank. In OT, all first born males were to be redeemed 40 days after birth with a certain offering Ex 34:20 and you shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the first-born of your sons. And none shall appear before me empty-handed. even though the woman could not know if she would have other children. If First Born means there are other children, then why would the Law require the First Born to be redeemed before other children were born, ie, before you knew if he was the First Born or merely the Only Born?
The Next defined Mary dogma: Immaculate conception
Mary: The Woman in the first promise of the messiah (the Protoevangelium)
Gen 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
CCC 411 The Christian tradition sees in this passage (Gen 3:15) an announcement of the "New Adam" who, because he "became obedient unto death, even death on a cross", makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of Adam. Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Protoevangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the "new Eve". Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ's victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life
CCC 490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
CCC 491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.
Luke 1:28 "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"
Full of Grace her title, her name. How full is full?
This doctrine says that Mary was saved by Jesus, her Lord, before she sinned. Being saved from falling into a pit is just as much being saved as is being pulled out of the pit after one has fallen into it. Jesus kept Mary from falling into the pit: the rest of us, He pulls out, since we have already fallen in.
The Last defined Mary dogma: Bodily Assumption of Mary
Nov 1, 1950 Pope Pius XII defined the Dogma in these words
Mary, the immaculate perpetually Virgin Mother of God, after the completion of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven.
"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christian's.
Note: Christ's Ascension is very different from Mary's Assumption.
Christ: rose by His own power.
Mary: drawn up into heaven by God, NOT by her own power.
Enoch was also taken into heaven without dying
Gen 5:24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found, because God had taken him.
Elijah: assumed into heaven with his body:
2 Kings 2:11-12 behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more.
Prayer to Mary
This is an example of the Communion of Saints
We are all a part of the body of Christ (the church) and are all branches on the one vine Jesus, whether we are living here (the Church militant) or in heaven(the Church victorious) We are all called to pray for one another.
Rom 8: 38-39 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches.
I Cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
James 5: 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.
the martyrs in heaven know what is going on on earth, and ask God to intervene. From this we see that the saints in heaven are praying about things that happen on earth.
Rev 6:9,10 and when he broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the sould of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Worship and adoration vs devotion
Luke 1: 48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;
Do you speak highly of a pastor or other person who has affected you greatly for Good? Even after he had died? Why is it wrong to do the same with Mary?
Did Jesus honor Mary? We trust that He perfectly obeyed the 4 th commandment (honor your Father and your Mother)
Are we called to imitate Christ? Do what He did: honor His Father and Mother.
We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus Romans 8:29 for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren; that means (among other things) His Father is our Father and His Mother is our Mother.
Gal 4: 6-7 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Mary, Mother of the Church
John 19 26-27 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
We take this to mean that John is standing in for all of us: he is the type of all of us here, and that when he took Mary as mother and she took him as son, she took all of us as children. This is the way John saw it when he wrote the book of Revelation:
Rev 12: 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus.
CCC 501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love
CCC 968 Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. "In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace."
References:
Beginning Apologetics: How to explain and Defend the Catholic Faith Chacon and Burnham
Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, David B Currie
CCC: Catechism of the Catholic Church