[quote:21agc2dt]Catholics make more out of this then what it actually is, Catholics have twisted to such a distortion which is totally miss-representing the role Mary played.[/quote:21agc2dt]
I suppose your comment could be considered true if the only thing we had was the Bible, but Christianity came before the New Testament Scriptures so what we have is the faith that was passed on from the first believers and the Scriptures.

Arguably the Catholic view of Mary is based more on what was handed down than the Scriptures exclusively. So you could say that Catholics make it out to more than what it actually is, but that’s a highly contentious point.

[quote:21agc2dt]If we are to pay tribute to Mary, the way Catholics do, we are basically saying she had some part to play in the salvation of the world which God would not have been able to achieve without the special acceptance of a Mary herself.[/quote:21agc2dt]
Mary, undoubtedly, played a special role to Christians. In John 19:26-27 Mary’s motherhood is expanded beyond Jesus, to a disciple of Jesus.

It’s not that God couldn’t achieve the salvation of the world without Mary, but that God [b:21agc2dt]specifically chose[/b:21agc2dt] Mary to accomplish that task. We recognize God’s choosing of Mary as what makes her significant. Who else do you know was asked to bear the savior of the world into existence?

Mary’s acceptance of God’s calling for her is a model for all Christians to faithfully accept God’s will for themselves. God’s choice of Mary to accomplish this task says a lot about the person he chose and this is why Mary is so special, because God chose her.

This guy isn’t Ron (it’s the first thing I checked),

Which is why I mentioned he seems more literate than Ron. However his insistance that only he knows the Bible and that Catholics and the Catholic Church, and given time I suspect that he would tell us that we cannot trust histories or any commentaries written by Catholics. He has already shown himself to be beating the same post-Reformation drum as Ron used to here, ala “You guys think you know, but you don’t, and it is up to me to set you straight.”

I find some amount of humor that when behaviors and similarities are exposed those of this ilk attack supposing ruminations of others are held to be somehow facts that need to be attacked with a large amount of venom and overkill. While once again I’ll point out his writing style and literacy are superior to Ron’s (a compliment if he can stand that) his over reaction speaks more of his need to prove to himself that his opinions are correct than anything else.

One of the other things my former Calvinist Minister friend told me about his conversion from Protestant “Bible alone, and Faith alone” is everything ended up being based not on Christ, as in the Catholic Church, but ones self. The interpretation was based on ones own self, and the victory of the Cross was only applicable based on ones own acceptance. When he became convinced of the Catholic view and converted he told me that his life in Christ became more simple and deep. Not because someone told him what to believe, he got enough of that as a Protestant where everyone tried to correct his or her brother’s private interpretation of theology and the Bible, but because as Catholics, we trust that as Jesus told us we must submit to Baptism He meets us there. We present ourselves to Him and we trust that the Graces He won for us on the Cross are administered by Him in the waters of the sacrament. The waters and the minister of the sacrament being external signs and requirements that He established in order to effect His change on us. He works on us (ordinarily) through the means He established. Rather than making His work dependent only on our say so.

Hi James. In a short answer, I would say yes and no, as are most things with Mary. There is very little about Mary in the Scriptures and much of Mariology and Marian devotion is a development later in the Church which becomes a part of the living Tradition. However, we do see in the Scriptures that Mary was highly favored by God, Jesus turned her over to us as our mother too, etc.

I’m no expert in Marian doctrine so I am hesitant to answer in more detail, especially definitively, but what I wrote is the jist of it. Does this help at all?

Humans compose prayers all the time, most are not found in the Bible. Go to any Protestant Church and you will usually hear the words “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory…” Not in the Bible in connection with the Lord’s prayer, however most Protestants would be shocked to find out that the addition to the Lord’s prayer that they almost always include comes from an older Catholic Liturgical prayer that the priest would pray silently.

Along with private interpretation, (without the guidance of the Church that Jesus founded and commissioned to guard the teachings he gave the Apostles) the idea that nothing that is not mentioned or can be “proven” by the Bible leads many people into a warped understanding of the Faith.

[quote:3lsekxi6]True Mary didnt play a role in the salvation of the world, nor is she God; but to say she didnt play a significant role in Christian History and that she wasnt strong and brave is absurd and insulting.[/quote:3lsekxi6]
I would disagree that Mary did not play a role in the salvation of the world. I would agree that she is not God. However in the same way that we must not only accept the Grace of God into our lives or reject it, (God does not force us to be saved), but we must also cooperate with His grace, Mary was free to accept or reject her participation in God’s plan for the salvation of the World. She conformed perfectly with God’s grace. Any special graces she received from God had to do with that role she did play. It is true that any good we do is spiritually worthless if it is not done in union with Jesus, and His work of salvation.

Yes she is the greatest human model and example for us, and her role has been to point us to her son, Jesus, to lead us to her son Jesus, and to magnify her son Jesus.