Mary’s Cooperation in the Work of Redemption
Written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod (Written: June 2005)
Mary as Mediatrix. “A title of the Blessed Virgin as mediator of grace. There are two aspects of this mediation. It is certain in Catholic theology that, since Mary gave birth to the Redeemer, who is the source of all grace, she is in this way the channel of all graces to mankind…On the second stage of mediation, Mary cooperates by her maternal intercession in applying Christ’s redemptive grace to human beings, called the subjective redemption.” (Hardon, pp. 254-255).
I. The Teaching of the Church
“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" (CCC 968).
"This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix" (CCC 969).
"Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it." "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source" (CCC 970).
Wholly united with her Son
“Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it. "This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death"; it is made manifest above all at the hour of his Passion:
Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross. There she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, joining herself with his sacrifice in her mother's heart, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim, born of her: to be given, by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross, as a mother to his disciple, with these words: "Woman, behold your son”(CCC 964).
After her Son's Ascension, Mary "aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers." In her association with the apostles and several women, "we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation" (CCC 965).
“By pronouncing her ‘fiat’ at the Annunciation and giving her consent to the Incarnation, Mary was already collaborating with the whole work her Son was to accomplish. She is mother wherever he is Savior and head of the Mystical Body” (CCC 973).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
Abraham and Moses: Mediators of the Covenant
In the Old Testament, God used human beings to be mediators of his covenant of salvation for His people. Even though God is the sole Savior, “It is I, I the Lord; there is no savior but me” (Isa. 43:11), yet He willed to make people participate in that salvation. In the New Testament, even though Jesus is the sole Mediator of God’s salvation (1 Tim.2:5), yet the Christians also participate in that work of mediation or intercession (1Tim.2:1-3). The passage below show how Abraham mediated for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and how God heard him. Yet, since the required number of ten righteous people that Abraham asked from God was not reached, these cities were destroyed nonetheless.
"Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? ... And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes" (Genesis 18:22-24, 26).
Just as Abraham mediated, for the sake of the salvation of many people, Moses also interceded and pleaded for the salvation of the Israelites for their sins.
"Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin -; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou has written" (Exodus 32:30-32).
III. New Testament Fulfillment
Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces by her cooperation in the Incarnation (Universal Mediation).
“But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law” (Gal.4:4). In this passage, Mary cooperates in giving birth to the Savior of the world.
Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces by her intercession in Heaven (Special Mediation).
During the wedding at Cana, Jesus’ mother was there and through her intercession Jesus performed the first miracle; thus, began His public ministry. “When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you" (Jn.2:3–5).
In the Book of Acts of the Apostles, Mary is specially mentioned as praying together with the gathered disciples. “All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14).
Mediation of Saints
All baptized Christians are called saints in the New Testament (Eph.1:1;Phil.1:1; Col.1:1), meaning, they have been separated and consecrated by God among all people to glorify Him. While Christ is the sole Mediator between God and man (1 Tim.2:5) as Savior of the world, Christians who are united with Christ in baptism (Gal.3:14), participate in this mediation and intercession. St. Paul wrote to the Christians asking that “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Tim.2:1-3).
The following passages show that fellow Christians are allowed by God to be mediators of the salvation brought about by Christ, but in such a way that does not undermine Christ’s Mediatorship. "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the Church" (Colossians 1:24).
"For we are laborers together with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9). "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:20). "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (1 Timothy 4:16).
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). We Christians participate in the universal priesthood which primary function is to offer sacrifices in behalf of the people of God.
“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” (James 5:16). While any Christian can mediate or intercede for another, the prayer or intercession of the righteous person is powerful. This is the whole rationale of the Apostolic Tradition that Virgin Mary, foremost of all saints, is sought for her powerful maternal intercession for all.
Two passages in the Book of Revelation show that saints and martyrs who are now in heaven constantly pray for us Christians here on earth. First, “And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev.5:8-9). Another one is, “And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne” (Rev.8:3).
Fundamentalist Erroneous View: Jesus "rebuking" Mary
There are some verses in the New Testament that seem to appear to Bible Christians that Jesus was rebuking Mary. However, in the light of proper Biblical exegesis or interpretation, in these verses Jesus truly exalted His beloved mother. It is only when the anti-Marian theological lens is taken away, like scales that fell off from the anti-Christian Saul’s eyes, will a person truly see that looking down on Mary is actually downgrading God who made her His masterpiece of all creation.
The following passage is thrice mentioned in the Gospels. “But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brethren! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matt. 12:48-50). Mark also gives the parallel passage, “And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brethren?" And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Mark 3:33-35). Luke renders it, “And he was told, "Your mother and your brethren are standing outside, desiring to see you." But he said to them, "My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it" (Luke 8:20-21).
The context shows that Virgin Mary enjoys a double mother hood to Jesus: physically because she gave birth to Him, and, spiritually because she does the will of the Father perfectly more than anyone else. The same interpretation applies to this next passage. “As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!" But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:27-28).
“And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" (John 19:26). These citations may seem repugnant to Filipino ears to call one’s dear mother as “woman” (Greek, “gune”). Even the standard Protestant reference book has this to say: “Gune” – in the vocative case, used in addressing as woman, it is a term not of reproof or severity, but of endearment or respect, Matt.15;28; Jn.2:4, where the Lord’s words to His mother at the wedding in Cana, are neither rebuff nor rebuke. The question is, literally, ‘What to me and to thee?’ and the word “woman”, the term of endearment, follows this. The meaning is, ‘There is no obligation on Me or you, but love will supply the need.’ She confides in Him, He responds to her faith. There was lovingkindness in both hearts. His next words about’ His hour’ suit this; they were not unfamiliar to her. Cana is the path to Calvary; Calvary was not yet, but it made the beginning signs possible” (Vine, p.1239).
“When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me" (Luke 8:28). The demons actually were not rebuking Jesus because God would not allow it, but they were acknowledging the power of Jesus over them.
IV. Protestant Reformers Denied Mary as Mediatrix
The Protestant Reformers denied the role of Mary as Mediatrix because for them that would equate her to Christ. However that is not the Catholic viewpoint. The Catholic Church teaches that she is Mediatrix or Coredemptrix in the sense that she is a cooperator in Jesus’ work of redemption, just as man is a cooperator in God’s plan, yet that does not elevate him to the status equal with God.
Instead of quoting the Protestant Reformers, let me rather quote one Protestant scholar today who represents the modern trend among Evangelicals today who agree with what the Catholic Church teaches. Anglican theologian John MacQuarrie writes:
“In the glimpses of Mary that we have in the Gospels, her standing at the cross beside her Son, and her prayers and intercessions with the apostles, are particularly striking ways in which Mary shared and supported the work of Christ – and even these are ways in which the Church as a whole can have a share in co-redemption. But it is Mary who has come to symbolize that perfect harmony between the divine will and the human response, so that it is she who gives meaning to the expression Corredemptrix” (MacQuarrie, pp.113-114).
V. Objections Against the Doctrine of the Intercession of Mary
a. “Mary is not a goddess, and there is nothing to justify praying to her. In Scripture, there is absolutely no example of anyone praying to a dead saint. There is good reason for this: the human being who dies and goes with the Lord is still human. Mary is not omniscient, omnipresent, nor omnipotent. She cannot hear and answer prayer” (Pezzotta, p. 139).
b. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim.2:5).
c. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me” (Jn.14:6).
d. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Concerning the abovementioned objections, the following are advanced as answers:
a. Nobody in his right mind thinks Mary is a goddess, else Trinitarian faith is lost in favor of polytheism. No verse in the entire Bible prohibits a Christian to ask another Christian to pray for him or her to God. Fundamentalists have committed a grave error when they equate prayer with worship. Worship is given to God alone as Jesus Christ said: “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone” (Matt.4:10). But prayer does not mean worship as the dictionary defines: “Pray – to make a fervent request for something; to beseech; to implore (from Latin precari – to entreat)” (The American Heritage Dictionary, 1989, p. 539). The rich man even prayed to Abraham but Abraham did not rebuke him from praying to him by equating it to worshipping him, “I pray thee, therefore, father, that thou wouldst send him to my father’s house, for I have five brethren…” (Lk.16:27-28, KJV).
Furthermore, a saint who is in heaven is not dead, but fully alive. To believe otherwise is to embrace the faith of the Sadducees. Jesus said to these Sadducees (also applicable to modern Sadduceean belief today), “God is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matt.22:32). The saints in heaven are not limited anymore with place and time unlike human beings here on earth, but “Neither can they die anymore: for they are equal unto the angels” (Lk.20:36, KJV). As angels are pure spirits who can see and hear us and even rejoices when a sinner repents, the saints in heaven, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, see our plight and hear our pleas to God, so that our prayers to her do not go unheeded but are surely presented powerfully to God. Missing to ask for her motherly care and powerful intercessions surely is a great loss to our Protestant friends.
b. Virgin Mary and the saints do not usurp Christ’s sole mediatorship but they participate in it. It is not the usual Fundamentalist unnecessary pitting of Christ against the saints, or the Evangelical either-Christ-or-the-Saints futile dilemma, but it is the Catholic spirituality of Christ-together-with-His-saints which is the answer to all confusions of our separated brethren. There should be no willful human asunder what God has joined together as one.
c. Virgin Mary as our ever loving and faithful spiritual mother always points us to her Son Jesus and leads us closer to Him as she is to Him.
d. The objection is inappropriate since Catholic theology never claims that there is salvation through the name of Mary. Salvation is only accomplished in the name of Jesus our Savior and the Blessed Virgin Mary is God’s powerful pointer to Jesus her Son.
V. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
The early Church Fathers like Origen, St. Epiphanius and St. Augustine expounded on the spiritual Motherhood of Mary of the whole redeemed humanity through her powerful intercession for salvation of all. Explicit testimonies, however, on her role as Mediatrix began in the eighth century.
St. Germanus of Constantinople (+733): Nobody can achieve salvation except thorough thee… O Most Holy One…nobody can receive a gift of grace except through thee…O Most Chaste One” (Or.9,5. Lesson of the Office of the Feast).
St. Bernard of Clairvaux (+1153): “God wished that we have nothing, except by the hands of Mary” (In Vig. Nativit. Domini serm.3,10).
St. Albert the Great. “The universal dispenser of all riches” (omnium bonitatum universlitier distributa; Super Missus est q.29).
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Bodily Assumption of Mary into Heaven
The Bodily Assumption of Mary into Heaven
written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila (written: June 2005)
CFD - Bacolod
Virgin Mary’s Bodily Assumption. This doctrine states that Mary, after her life on earth was over, entered heaven with both body and soul, through God’s sovereign power.
I. The Teaching of the Church
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
"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" (Pope Pius XII, August 15, 1950). The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:
In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death” (CCC 966).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary differs from the Ascension of Jesus Christ in that in the Assumption, Mary was taken to heaven by God’s power, whereas in the Ascension, Jesus went up to heaven by his own divine power.
“Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” Gn.5:24 (Hb11:5). Enoch was taken to heaven without dying.
“And as they still went on and talked, 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” (2Kg 2:11-12).
Elijah assumed into heaven in fiery chariot. In Catholic theology, both Enoch and Elijah entered the Limbus Patrum (Place of the Fathers or Sheol of the Righteous), which is also called Abraham’s bosom (Lk.16:22) or Paradise cf. Lk.23:43, not heaven because heaven (or paradise) was closed after Adam and Eve sinned. In Ephesians 4:48-9 Jesus emptied limbus patrum when he finally brought the Old Testament saints to heaven.
If Enoch and Elijah did not die because God willed it so, how much more with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of His Son, since she was more privileged than all the prophets and apostles by giving (not just preaching) to the world the Redeemer? “Elijah because of great zeal for the law was taken up into heaven” (1 Mac 2:58). A prophecy in the Psalms is traditionally attributed to Mary: “Arise, O LORD, and go to thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy might” (Psalm 132:8).
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. Synoptics
“The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Mt 27:52-53). Many saints who had fallen asleep were raised (picture of victory over death; the curtain in the temple was rent into two from top to bottom, God’s doing, not man’s) to signify that there is no more division for Jews and gentiles – all have access to God. These resurrected Old Testament saints were brought by Jesus to heaven during His Ascension (cf. Eph.4:8-9).
b. John
“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. 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” (Rev.11:19-12:1). The description of the
ark in heaven and the woman clothed with the sun depicts that the Blessed Virgin Mary is already in heaven. She is the ark of the covenant in the new Testament. As the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant was lost when the Babylonians seiged Judah during the time of Jeremiah, it could not be found anymore. Some Jewish scholars say it is under the Muslim Dome of the Rock or in Ethiopia, but the Bible says, it’s already in heaven in the person of Mary.
Since the Book of Revelation is written in highly symbolic language, St. John pictured Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant. While the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant contained the staff of Aaron that budded flowers, manna and the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, The Blessed Virgin Mary contained in her womb Jesus, the Word of God, the real Manna from heaven and the one who holds the iron rod as king of all nations. Just as the Ark was made of pure gold and cannot be profaned by any mortal man, Mary was all-pure , virgin and holy, described as being clothed with the sun.
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (Rev. 6:9); “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev.20:4). While John saw only the souls of the martyrs and saints in heaven, in Rev. 12:1 he saw Mary in heaven united in both body and soul.
c. Paul
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord”(1 Thess 4:16-17). Baptists and Born-gain Christians believe that believers shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air when He comes again in glory. This they call as Rapture. If they believe that Christians will be raptured, how can they make it impossible for Mary to be raptured when God willed it so?
No tomb or remains can ever be pointed to about the Mary. The tombs of Jesus, Peter, Paul and apostles are located but never with Virgin Mary. The constant belief of the Church since the beginning of Christianity is that Mary assumed both body and soul to heaven (whether she died or not, it is not defined authoritatively by the church).
The discrepancy among non-Catholic Christians is that their belief has no historical continuity, but has only a sudden and jihadic jump from 1st century to 16th cent, gaining only total amnesia of what happened in the intervening years. No oral tradition also when the bible clearly tells that there is oral tradition passed on from generation to generation (cf.2Thess.2:15).
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1Cor 15:52). At the resurrection Christians shall be changed from having the corruptible body to an incorruptible one which is the glorified body. Since flesh and bones cannot inherit heaven, we must all be changed. However, the unrighteous ones will suffer from unglorified bodies in contrast to the righteous ones. In the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary, however, she received the privilege of taking on her glorified body in heaven, experiencing ahead what all Christians will experience in the future resurrection.
It might be questioned that since Mary died, as admitted by many Catholic theologians today, then she must have been contaminated by original sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). The word sin here is singular, referring to original sin. Death here refers both to physical and spiritual death. It can be answered that Virgin Mary did not suffer spiritual death which is separation from God. Just like Jesus here Son, Blessed Mary’s death was not caused by original or actual sin, but a natural consequence to the human physical body that is not designed by God for immortality.
As St. Paul himself was caught up in heaven when he wrote, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows” (2 Cor. 12:2), even so the Blessed Mother was assumed to heaven in both body and soul. We know this by certainty, aside from the experiences of the Old and New Testament personages who were taken to heaven, but also because of the Apostolic Tradition which the Holy Catholic Church received from the Apostles themselves. “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess. 2:15).
IV. Martin Luther on the Assumption of Mary
Contrary to myriads of Evangelical and Fundamentalist preachers today, the dean of the Reformation held the belief that Mary is now in heaven. Christian denominations like Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Iglesia ni Cristo (Manalo) Iglesia ng Diyos (Eli Soriano), and Pentecostal churches that believe in soul sleep, naturally place Mary not in heaven now, but still sleeping like all the rest of the dead, in her tomb. No one, however, can read explicitly or implicitly from the Bible the unbiblical idea “soul sleep”. The teaching of Jesus on the poor man Lazarus who went to Abraham’s bosom after death and the rich man tormented in hell after his physical death, completely negates their “soul sleep” idea. Martin Luther himself, the Patriarch of all Protestant thinkers, never doubts Mary’s assumption to heaven by stating:
"There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know." [Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther's Works (Translation by William J. Cole) 10, p. 268.
V. Objections Against the Doctrine of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption to Heaven
a. “The dogma (Assumption of Mary to Heaven) is based neither on the Word of God nor on tradition, but simply, it seems, on the consensus of contemporary church opinion and theological ‘suitability’”. (Armstrong, p. 124.)
b. We still await for the resurrection day before our bodies are united with our souls, and after that, enter heaven.
c. The dead are still asleep until the Final Coming of Jesus at the last day. (SDA, JW, Pentecostals, etc)
The abovementioned objections by the Fundamentalists can be answered respectively:
a. It was already shown how the Patriarch Enoch was taken by God to heaven and how the fiery Prophet Elijah was caught by God’s fiery chariot to heaven. How can bodily assumption be not Biblical? In the New Testament, the Old Testament saints resurrected from the dead, their body and soul reunited, and entered God’s glory. How can God’s mother be denied of such a great privilege that even Old Testament men and women enjoyed? The doctrine of the bodily assumption is biblical and the Church’s teaching is neither a contemporary opinion nor theological suitability since the Church Fathers even asserted it. Much more, the dean of Protestantism, Luther, upheld it.
b. The Bible says that after death, there is Particular Judgement, which is a judgment rendered to each person (cf. Heb.9:27). After both the rich man and the poor Lazarus died, they both received their just judgement: the greedy rich entered Hades and the poor Lazarus entered the blessedness of eternal life (Lk.16:22-36?). John the Revelator saw the souls already in heaven facing God and praying to Him (Rev.6:9-10). The Blessed Mother, at the end of her sinless life, enjoyed the beatific vision of God in heaven.
c. The recent man-made doctrine of Soul sleep is neither found in the Bible nor the idea of it. The bible tells us that after death, there is judgment (Heb.9:27) and the person does not sleep but goes to the eternal bliss in heaven, or to temporary purification or to eternal damnation in hell. The Blessed Mother went straight to heaven after her life on earth was over.
VI. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Epiphanius. "If the Holy Virgin had died and was buried, her falling asleep would have been surrounded with honour, death would have found her pure, and her crown would have been a virginal one...Had she been martyred according to what is written: 'Thine own soul a sword shall pierce', then she would shine gloriously among the martyrs, and her holy body would have been declared blessed; for by her, did light come to the world" (Panarion,78:23 (A.D. 377).
Gregory of Tours. "[T]he Apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb; and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; and the holy body having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise: where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary] rejoices with the Lord's chosen ones..." (Eight Books of Miracles,1:4 (inter A.D. 575-593).
Modestus of Jerusalem. "As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him." (Encomium in dormitionnem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae(PG 86-II,3306),(ante A.D. 634) from Munificentissimus Deus).
Theoteknos of Livias. "It was fitting ... that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinized, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory ... should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God" (Homily on the Assumption(ante A.D. 650).
Germanus of Constantinople. "You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life." (Sermon I(PG 98,346),(ante A.D. 733),from (Munificentissimus Deus).
John Damascene. "It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God" (Dormition of Mary(PG 96,741),(ante A.D. 749) from (Munificentissimus Deus).
John Damascene. "'St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven' (PG(96:1)(A.D. 747-751).
Gregorian Sacramentary. "Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten Thy Son our Lord incarnate from herself" (Veneranda(ante A.D. 795), from Munificentissimus Deus.).
Byzantine Liturgy. "God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you virgin in childbirth, thus he kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb.", from Munificentissimus Deus).
Timotheus of Jerusalem. "[T]he virgin is up to now immortal, as He who lived, translated her into the place of reception" (6th-8th century).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks on Mary the eschatological icon of the Church:
“After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own "pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity," "in the communion of all the saints," the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.
‘In the meantime the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God’” (CCC 972).
The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (CCC 974).
"We believe that the Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ" (Paul VI)(CCC 975).
written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila (written: June 2005)
CFD - Bacolod
Virgin Mary’s Bodily Assumption. This doctrine states that Mary, after her life on earth was over, entered heaven with both body and soul, through God’s sovereign power.
I. The Teaching of the Church
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
"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" (Pope Pius XII, August 15, 1950). The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians:
In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death” (CCC 966).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary differs from the Ascension of Jesus Christ in that in the Assumption, Mary was taken to heaven by God’s power, whereas in the Ascension, Jesus went up to heaven by his own divine power.
“Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” Gn.5:24 (Hb11:5). Enoch was taken to heaven without dying.
“And as they still went on and talked, 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” (2Kg 2:11-12).
Elijah assumed into heaven in fiery chariot. In Catholic theology, both Enoch and Elijah entered the Limbus Patrum (Place of the Fathers or Sheol of the Righteous), which is also called Abraham’s bosom (Lk.16:22) or Paradise cf. Lk.23:43, not heaven because heaven (or paradise) was closed after Adam and Eve sinned. In Ephesians 4:48-9 Jesus emptied limbus patrum when he finally brought the Old Testament saints to heaven.
If Enoch and Elijah did not die because God willed it so, how much more with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of His Son, since she was more privileged than all the prophets and apostles by giving (not just preaching) to the world the Redeemer? “Elijah because of great zeal for the law was taken up into heaven” (1 Mac 2:58). A prophecy in the Psalms is traditionally attributed to Mary: “Arise, O LORD, and go to thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy might” (Psalm 132:8).
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. Synoptics
“The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many” (Mt 27:52-53). Many saints who had fallen asleep were raised (picture of victory over death; the curtain in the temple was rent into two from top to bottom, God’s doing, not man’s) to signify that there is no more division for Jews and gentiles – all have access to God. These resurrected Old Testament saints were brought by Jesus to heaven during His Ascension (cf. Eph.4:8-9).
b. John
“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. 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” (Rev.11:19-12:1). The description of the
ark in heaven and the woman clothed with the sun depicts that the Blessed Virgin Mary is already in heaven. She is the ark of the covenant in the new Testament. As the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant was lost when the Babylonians seiged Judah during the time of Jeremiah, it could not be found anymore. Some Jewish scholars say it is under the Muslim Dome of the Rock or in Ethiopia, but the Bible says, it’s already in heaven in the person of Mary.
Since the Book of Revelation is written in highly symbolic language, St. John pictured Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant. While the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant contained the staff of Aaron that budded flowers, manna and the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, The Blessed Virgin Mary contained in her womb Jesus, the Word of God, the real Manna from heaven and the one who holds the iron rod as king of all nations. Just as the Ark was made of pure gold and cannot be profaned by any mortal man, Mary was all-pure , virgin and holy, described as being clothed with the sun.
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne” (Rev. 6:9); “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev.20:4). While John saw only the souls of the martyrs and saints in heaven, in Rev. 12:1 he saw Mary in heaven united in both body and soul.
c. Paul
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord”(1 Thess 4:16-17). Baptists and Born-gain Christians believe that believers shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air when He comes again in glory. This they call as Rapture. If they believe that Christians will be raptured, how can they make it impossible for Mary to be raptured when God willed it so?
No tomb or remains can ever be pointed to about the Mary. The tombs of Jesus, Peter, Paul and apostles are located but never with Virgin Mary. The constant belief of the Church since the beginning of Christianity is that Mary assumed both body and soul to heaven (whether she died or not, it is not defined authoritatively by the church).
The discrepancy among non-Catholic Christians is that their belief has no historical continuity, but has only a sudden and jihadic jump from 1st century to 16th cent, gaining only total amnesia of what happened in the intervening years. No oral tradition also when the bible clearly tells that there is oral tradition passed on from generation to generation (cf.2Thess.2:15).
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1Cor 15:52). At the resurrection Christians shall be changed from having the corruptible body to an incorruptible one which is the glorified body. Since flesh and bones cannot inherit heaven, we must all be changed. However, the unrighteous ones will suffer from unglorified bodies in contrast to the righteous ones. In the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary, however, she received the privilege of taking on her glorified body in heaven, experiencing ahead what all Christians will experience in the future resurrection.
It might be questioned that since Mary died, as admitted by many Catholic theologians today, then she must have been contaminated by original sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). The word sin here is singular, referring to original sin. Death here refers both to physical and spiritual death. It can be answered that Virgin Mary did not suffer spiritual death which is separation from God. Just like Jesus here Son, Blessed Mary’s death was not caused by original or actual sin, but a natural consequence to the human physical body that is not designed by God for immortality.
As St. Paul himself was caught up in heaven when he wrote, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows” (2 Cor. 12:2), even so the Blessed Mother was assumed to heaven in both body and soul. We know this by certainty, aside from the experiences of the Old and New Testament personages who were taken to heaven, but also because of the Apostolic Tradition which the Holy Catholic Church received from the Apostles themselves. “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess. 2:15).
IV. Martin Luther on the Assumption of Mary
Contrary to myriads of Evangelical and Fundamentalist preachers today, the dean of the Reformation held the belief that Mary is now in heaven. Christian denominations like Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Iglesia ni Cristo (Manalo) Iglesia ng Diyos (Eli Soriano), and Pentecostal churches that believe in soul sleep, naturally place Mary not in heaven now, but still sleeping like all the rest of the dead, in her tomb. No one, however, can read explicitly or implicitly from the Bible the unbiblical idea “soul sleep”. The teaching of Jesus on the poor man Lazarus who went to Abraham’s bosom after death and the rich man tormented in hell after his physical death, completely negates their “soul sleep” idea. Martin Luther himself, the Patriarch of all Protestant thinkers, never doubts Mary’s assumption to heaven by stating:
"There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know." [Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther's Works (Translation by William J. Cole) 10, p. 268.
V. Objections Against the Doctrine of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption to Heaven
a. “The dogma (Assumption of Mary to Heaven) is based neither on the Word of God nor on tradition, but simply, it seems, on the consensus of contemporary church opinion and theological ‘suitability’”. (Armstrong, p. 124.)
b. We still await for the resurrection day before our bodies are united with our souls, and after that, enter heaven.
c. The dead are still asleep until the Final Coming of Jesus at the last day. (SDA, JW, Pentecostals, etc)
The abovementioned objections by the Fundamentalists can be answered respectively:
a. It was already shown how the Patriarch Enoch was taken by God to heaven and how the fiery Prophet Elijah was caught by God’s fiery chariot to heaven. How can bodily assumption be not Biblical? In the New Testament, the Old Testament saints resurrected from the dead, their body and soul reunited, and entered God’s glory. How can God’s mother be denied of such a great privilege that even Old Testament men and women enjoyed? The doctrine of the bodily assumption is biblical and the Church’s teaching is neither a contemporary opinion nor theological suitability since the Church Fathers even asserted it. Much more, the dean of Protestantism, Luther, upheld it.
b. The Bible says that after death, there is Particular Judgement, which is a judgment rendered to each person (cf. Heb.9:27). After both the rich man and the poor Lazarus died, they both received their just judgement: the greedy rich entered Hades and the poor Lazarus entered the blessedness of eternal life (Lk.16:22-36?). John the Revelator saw the souls already in heaven facing God and praying to Him (Rev.6:9-10). The Blessed Mother, at the end of her sinless life, enjoyed the beatific vision of God in heaven.
c. The recent man-made doctrine of Soul sleep is neither found in the Bible nor the idea of it. The bible tells us that after death, there is judgment (Heb.9:27) and the person does not sleep but goes to the eternal bliss in heaven, or to temporary purification or to eternal damnation in hell. The Blessed Mother went straight to heaven after her life on earth was over.
VI. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Epiphanius. "If the Holy Virgin had died and was buried, her falling asleep would have been surrounded with honour, death would have found her pure, and her crown would have been a virginal one...Had she been martyred according to what is written: 'Thine own soul a sword shall pierce', then she would shine gloriously among the martyrs, and her holy body would have been declared blessed; for by her, did light come to the world" (Panarion,78:23 (A.D. 377).
Gregory of Tours. "[T]he Apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb; and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; and the holy body having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise: where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary] rejoices with the Lord's chosen ones..." (Eight Books of Miracles,1:4 (inter A.D. 575-593).
Modestus of Jerusalem. "As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him." (Encomium in dormitionnem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae(PG 86-II,3306),(ante A.D. 634) from Munificentissimus Deus).
Theoteknos of Livias. "It was fitting ... that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinized, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory ... should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God" (Homily on the Assumption(ante A.D. 650).
Germanus of Constantinople. "You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life." (Sermon I(PG 98,346),(ante A.D. 733),from (Munificentissimus Deus).
John Damascene. "It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God" (Dormition of Mary(PG 96,741),(ante A.D. 749) from (Munificentissimus Deus).
John Damascene. "'St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven' (PG(96:1)(A.D. 747-751).
Gregorian Sacramentary. "Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten Thy Son our Lord incarnate from herself" (Veneranda(ante A.D. 795), from Munificentissimus Deus.).
Byzantine Liturgy. "God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you virgin in childbirth, thus he kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb.", from Munificentissimus Deus).
Timotheus of Jerusalem. "[T]he virgin is up to now immortal, as He who lived, translated her into the place of reception" (6th-8th century).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks on Mary the eschatological icon of the Church:
“After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary. In her we contemplate what the Church already is in her mystery on her own "pilgrimage of faith," and what she will be in the homeland at the end of her journey. There, "in the glory of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity," "in the communion of all the saints," the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.
‘In the meantime the Mother of Jesus, in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God’” (CCC 972).
The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven, where she already shares in the glory of her Son's Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (CCC 974).
"We believe that the Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ" (Paul VI)(CCC 975).
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Mary Crowned as Queen of HMeaven and Earth
Mary Crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth
Written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod (Written: June 2005)
Mary is Queen of Heaven and Earth. Since Mary gave birth to Jesus her son who is the King of heaven and earth, Mary is also honored by the Church as the Queen of heaven and earth.
I. The Teaching of the Church
Lumen Gentium 59, Vatican II states: “She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of all in order that she might be more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Apoc.19:16) and the conqueror of sin and death.” Elsewhere, the Council calls Mary “Queen of the Apostles”. (Abbott, p. 90).
Pope Pius XII: “The Blessed Virgin has not only been given the highest degree of excellence and perfection after Christ, but also she shares in the power which her Son and our Redeemer exercises over the minds and wills of men. For if the Word of God, through the human nature assumed by him, works miracles and gives grace, if he uses the Sacraments and uses his saints as instruments for the salvation of souls, why should he not use his Blessed Mother’s office and activity to bring us the fruits of the Redemption” (O’Carroll, p.302).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The crowning
The Old Testament describes the destiny of the faithful who lived exemplary lives for God’s glory. God Himself will given them a glorious crown. “Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he will cover them, and with his arm he will shield them” (Wis. 5:16).
They will eternally shine like stars in the heavens. “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Dan.12:3). Mary, in her bodily assumption to heaven has been crowned and glorified among God’s elect.
Queenship
The inspired writer of Psalms describes the important role of the Queen in the Kingdom. Mary as Queen stands at the right hand of of Jesus the King. “daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir” (Psalm 45:9).
“And he said, "Pray ask King Solomon--he will not refuse you--to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife." Bathsheba said, "Very well; I will speak for you to the king." So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king's mother; and she sat on his right. Then she said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your request, my mother; for I will not refuse you" (1 Kings 2:17-20). In the great tradition of Israel, it is the King’s mother who is the Queen, not one of his wives, so that his subjects will not be confused who is the real queen. She is called in Hebrew as “Gebirah” (great lady). In the case of King Solomon, the Queen was not one of his 1000 wives, but his mother Bathsheba. Solomon honored her by bowing in her presence as she sits enthroned beside his throne. Note King Solomon’s twice repeated words to his mother “he (the King) will not refuse you.” The Queen’s intercession is powerful to move the King.
The following verses show that the King’s mother is the Queen of the Kingdom. “He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had an abominable image made for Asherah; and Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron” (1 Kings 15:13).
She is not just a weak symbolic figure, but she shows might and strength. “Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of house of Judah” (2 Chron. 22:10).
The king sent the royal queen and asks for her return, of which she gives him the allotted time, signifying the respect and consultation of the king to his queen. “And the king said to me, "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time” (Neh. 2:6).
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. John
Jesus promised the crown of life to his faithful disciples. Note that his condition in giving the crown is “faithfulness until death” which is a day-to-day obedience to God’s holy will and not a kind of popular evangelistic crusade of once-and-for-all acceptance of Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
The beloved Apostle John was given the privilege to behold “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” (Rev. 12:1). Combining the Old Testament imagery of crown (Wis.5:16) and stars (Dan.12:3), the singular woman is portrayed as the heavenly Queen whose brilliance is not caused by precious stones and diadems but by the heavenly luminaries. That is the Virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus her only Son.
Queenly Mother of the New Davidic Kingdom
Jesus the King of the New Israel of God gave his queenly mother to his beloved disciple to be the spiritual mother and queen. The beloved disciple represents all of us Christians as beloved disciples. Therefore, in the new dispensation, mary is both our mother and queen. “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" (John 19:26).
The dragon Satan, has enmity (war) against the woman who is Mary. But not only that, Satan is also angry with the rest of the woman’s spiritual offsprings who are the Christians. “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. And he stood on the sand of the sea” (Rev. 12:17).
Jewish traditions tell us that the good visitors will be the one who will serve the hosts of the house and other visitors too. Mary, who had the heart of the servant and sensitive to the needs of humanity, pleaded to Jesus for help. “When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine" (John 2:3).
Jesus, like King Solomon who could not refuse his beloved queen mother, responded as an obedient son. “Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:7). Even though it was not yet time for Jesus to reveal His glory, because of His mother’s intercession, he in His all-knowing nature, hastened to reveal His hour of the revelation of His identity and mission.
b. Paul, James and Peter
Consistent with the Old Testament and Gospel accounts, the pillars of the Apostles Peter and James (and also John, cf.Gal.2:9) and Paul reiterated the crowning of Christians as their just rewards after their life on earth is over. Paul describes the Crown of righteousness, James, the crown of life, and Peter, the crown of glory. “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).
“Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
“And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). Just as “eternal life”, “life”, “fullness of life”, and “life everlasting” do not describe quantities of life but the quality of life, these crowns do not necessarily mean that there will be different crowns, as fundamentalists today assert, but these are descriptions of honor and glory that a Christian will obtain in heaven during the judgment day.
IV. Fundamentalist Objections Vs. the Queenship of Mary
“And the title, ‘Queen of Heaven,’ is equally false, or even worse. Heaven has no ‘queen’. The only references in Scriptures to prayers to the ‘queen of heaven’ are found in Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19,25, where it is severely condemned as a heathen custom practiced by some apostate Jews. This so-called ‘queen of heaven’ was a Canaanitish goddess of fertility, Astarte, (plural, Ashtaroth) (Judges 2:13). How shameful to impose a heathen title on Mary, and then to venerate her as another deity!” (Boettner, p.142.)
The direct answer to the abovementioned objection is that the title of Mary as “Queen of Heaven” necessarily follows the title given to Jesus her Son as King of kings. As one cannot deny that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev.19:16; Jn.18:36-37), one cannot also deny the fact that the theocratic kingdom of Israel proclaims as Queen the mother of the King. In Rev.12:1-2, the woman who gave birth to the child who was destined to be king, was crowned with twelve stars, thus a royal queen.
If there are pagan queens in the Bible like Astarte, and pagan queens in the neighboring countries of Israel, there are also real queens in the kingdom, like for example, Bathsheba the queen mother of Solomon, and queen Athaliah. To deduce that since ancient pagans have similarities with the true and Catholic religion, then Catholicism must be pagan, is a non-sequitor argument or it does not follow. Hindus have the trinity called Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu but this does not make the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity pagan and false. In the same way, the Roman god Mithra resurrected from the dead, does not mean that Christ’s resurrection is a pagan myth. The fact is, Mary is portrayed by the Bible as Queen and the whole history of Christianity attests to this apostolic tradition since the first century onwards. In fact, the opposite is true: Nowhere in the Bible can one find a verse that explicitly or implicitly states that Mary is not Queen and never can be queen. In the same vein, nowhere in the whole of Christian antiquity does any Church Father deny the queenship of Mary.
V. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
John Damascene or John of Damascus(ca.675-749/753) was the last and one of the greatest Church Father of the East. He did scholarly work on the Incarnation and was the champion of the church against the Iconoclast heresy. He also wrote about the Blessed Virgin Mary in his wonderful work De Fide Orthodoxa.
“And it can likewise be said that the first one who with heavenly voice announced Mary’s royal office was Gabriel the Archangel himself” (St. John of Damascus).
The angelic greeting “Hail!” to Mary is used to address royalties as in “Hail, Caesar!” “Hail! King of the Jews”, the angel thereby had shown that Mary is of the royal family of God. The archangel Gabriel who is above all other angels, just as angels are above human beings (Ps.8:5), saluted Mary, instead of she saluting her. In Joshua 5:24, Joshua the successor of Moses bowed down to the ground when he was face to face with the archangel, but in the case of Mary, it was the reverse. This shows the royal dignity of Mary, above all men and angels of God. Truthfully, she is called in the whole Christian history as “Queen of heaven and earth”, “Queen of the Apostles”.
Written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod (Written: June 2005)
Mary is Queen of Heaven and Earth. Since Mary gave birth to Jesus her son who is the King of heaven and earth, Mary is also honored by the Church as the Queen of heaven and earth.
I. The Teaching of the Church
Lumen Gentium 59, Vatican II states: “She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of all in order that she might be more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Apoc.19:16) and the conqueror of sin and death.” Elsewhere, the Council calls Mary “Queen of the Apostles”. (Abbott, p. 90).
Pope Pius XII: “The Blessed Virgin has not only been given the highest degree of excellence and perfection after Christ, but also she shares in the power which her Son and our Redeemer exercises over the minds and wills of men. For if the Word of God, through the human nature assumed by him, works miracles and gives grace, if he uses the Sacraments and uses his saints as instruments for the salvation of souls, why should he not use his Blessed Mother’s office and activity to bring us the fruits of the Redemption” (O’Carroll, p.302).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The crowning
The Old Testament describes the destiny of the faithful who lived exemplary lives for God’s glory. God Himself will given them a glorious crown. “Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he will cover them, and with his arm he will shield them” (Wis. 5:16).
They will eternally shine like stars in the heavens. “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever” (Dan.12:3). Mary, in her bodily assumption to heaven has been crowned and glorified among God’s elect.
Queenship
The inspired writer of Psalms describes the important role of the Queen in the Kingdom. Mary as Queen stands at the right hand of of Jesus the King. “daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir” (Psalm 45:9).
“And he said, "Pray ask King Solomon--he will not refuse you--to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife." Bathsheba said, "Very well; I will speak for you to the king." So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king's mother; and she sat on his right. Then she said, "I have one small request to make of you; do not refuse me." And the king said to her, "Make your request, my mother; for I will not refuse you" (1 Kings 2:17-20). In the great tradition of Israel, it is the King’s mother who is the Queen, not one of his wives, so that his subjects will not be confused who is the real queen. She is called in Hebrew as “Gebirah” (great lady). In the case of King Solomon, the Queen was not one of his 1000 wives, but his mother Bathsheba. Solomon honored her by bowing in her presence as she sits enthroned beside his throne. Note King Solomon’s twice repeated words to his mother “he (the King) will not refuse you.” The Queen’s intercession is powerful to move the King.
The following verses show that the King’s mother is the Queen of the Kingdom. “He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother because she had an abominable image made for Asherah; and Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron” (1 Kings 15:13).
She is not just a weak symbolic figure, but she shows might and strength. “Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of house of Judah” (2 Chron. 22:10).
The king sent the royal queen and asks for her return, of which she gives him the allotted time, signifying the respect and consultation of the king to his queen. “And the king said to me, "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time” (Neh. 2:6).
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. John
Jesus promised the crown of life to his faithful disciples. Note that his condition in giving the crown is “faithfulness until death” which is a day-to-day obedience to God’s holy will and not a kind of popular evangelistic crusade of once-and-for-all acceptance of Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).
The beloved Apostle John was given the privilege to behold “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” (Rev. 12:1). Combining the Old Testament imagery of crown (Wis.5:16) and stars (Dan.12:3), the singular woman is portrayed as the heavenly Queen whose brilliance is not caused by precious stones and diadems but by the heavenly luminaries. That is the Virgin Mary who gave birth to Jesus her only Son.
Queenly Mother of the New Davidic Kingdom
Jesus the King of the New Israel of God gave his queenly mother to his beloved disciple to be the spiritual mother and queen. The beloved disciple represents all of us Christians as beloved disciples. Therefore, in the new dispensation, mary is both our mother and queen. “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" (John 19:26).
The dragon Satan, has enmity (war) against the woman who is Mary. But not only that, Satan is also angry with the rest of the woman’s spiritual offsprings who are the Christians. “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. And he stood on the sand of the sea” (Rev. 12:17).
Jewish traditions tell us that the good visitors will be the one who will serve the hosts of the house and other visitors too. Mary, who had the heart of the servant and sensitive to the needs of humanity, pleaded to Jesus for help. “When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine" (John 2:3).
Jesus, like King Solomon who could not refuse his beloved queen mother, responded as an obedient son. “Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim” (John 2:7). Even though it was not yet time for Jesus to reveal His glory, because of His mother’s intercession, he in His all-knowing nature, hastened to reveal His hour of the revelation of His identity and mission.
b. Paul, James and Peter
Consistent with the Old Testament and Gospel accounts, the pillars of the Apostles Peter and James (and also John, cf.Gal.2:9) and Paul reiterated the crowning of Christians as their just rewards after their life on earth is over. Paul describes the Crown of righteousness, James, the crown of life, and Peter, the crown of glory. “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim 4:8).
“Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).
“And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). Just as “eternal life”, “life”, “fullness of life”, and “life everlasting” do not describe quantities of life but the quality of life, these crowns do not necessarily mean that there will be different crowns, as fundamentalists today assert, but these are descriptions of honor and glory that a Christian will obtain in heaven during the judgment day.
IV. Fundamentalist Objections Vs. the Queenship of Mary
“And the title, ‘Queen of Heaven,’ is equally false, or even worse. Heaven has no ‘queen’. The only references in Scriptures to prayers to the ‘queen of heaven’ are found in Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19,25, where it is severely condemned as a heathen custom practiced by some apostate Jews. This so-called ‘queen of heaven’ was a Canaanitish goddess of fertility, Astarte, (plural, Ashtaroth) (Judges 2:13). How shameful to impose a heathen title on Mary, and then to venerate her as another deity!” (Boettner, p.142.)
The direct answer to the abovementioned objection is that the title of Mary as “Queen of Heaven” necessarily follows the title given to Jesus her Son as King of kings. As one cannot deny that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev.19:16; Jn.18:36-37), one cannot also deny the fact that the theocratic kingdom of Israel proclaims as Queen the mother of the King. In Rev.12:1-2, the woman who gave birth to the child who was destined to be king, was crowned with twelve stars, thus a royal queen.
If there are pagan queens in the Bible like Astarte, and pagan queens in the neighboring countries of Israel, there are also real queens in the kingdom, like for example, Bathsheba the queen mother of Solomon, and queen Athaliah. To deduce that since ancient pagans have similarities with the true and Catholic religion, then Catholicism must be pagan, is a non-sequitor argument or it does not follow. Hindus have the trinity called Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu but this does not make the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity pagan and false. In the same way, the Roman god Mithra resurrected from the dead, does not mean that Christ’s resurrection is a pagan myth. The fact is, Mary is portrayed by the Bible as Queen and the whole history of Christianity attests to this apostolic tradition since the first century onwards. In fact, the opposite is true: Nowhere in the Bible can one find a verse that explicitly or implicitly states that Mary is not Queen and never can be queen. In the same vein, nowhere in the whole of Christian antiquity does any Church Father deny the queenship of Mary.
V. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
John Damascene or John of Damascus(ca.675-749/753) was the last and one of the greatest Church Father of the East. He did scholarly work on the Incarnation and was the champion of the church against the Iconoclast heresy. He also wrote about the Blessed Virgin Mary in his wonderful work De Fide Orthodoxa.
“And it can likewise be said that the first one who with heavenly voice announced Mary’s royal office was Gabriel the Archangel himself” (St. John of Damascus).
The angelic greeting “Hail!” to Mary is used to address royalties as in “Hail, Caesar!” “Hail! King of the Jews”, the angel thereby had shown that Mary is of the royal family of God. The archangel Gabriel who is above all other angels, just as angels are above human beings (Ps.8:5), saluted Mary, instead of she saluting her. In Joshua 5:24, Joshua the successor of Moses bowed down to the ground when he was face to face with the archangel, but in the case of Mary, it was the reverse. This shows the royal dignity of Mary, above all men and angels of God. Truthfully, she is called in the whole Christian history as “Queen of heaven and earth”, “Queen of the Apostles”.
The Immaculate Conception of Mary
The Immaculate Conception of Mary
Written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
Immaculate Conception is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as sinless at the moment her mother (St. Anne) conceived her in the womb. She enjoyed both freedom from concupiscence or human nature’s tendencies towards sin, and freedom from actual sin.
I. The Teaching of the Church
“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 490). “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’” (CCC 491).
“The ‘splendor of an entirely unique holiness’ by which Mary is ‘enriched from the first instant of her conception’ comes wholly from Christ: she is ‘redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son’. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person ‘in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ and chose her ‘in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love’” (CCC 492).
“The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God ‘the All-Holy’ (Panagia), and celebrate her as ‘free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature’. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long” (CCC 493).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not explicitly revealed in Scripture, but is contained implicitly in the following passages.
“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" (Gen. 3:15).
The proper context was that God was talking about the enmity between the serpent (the devil) and the woman (Eve). But since Eve was tempted and overpowered by the devil, the early Church Fathers read God’s word as the Protoevangelion (lit. “first good news”) predicting the war between the devil and the woman (Mary), and between the offspring of the devil and the offspring of the woman, Jesus. In contrast to the First Eve who was deceived and stained by sin, the Second Eve who is Mary is never deceived nor stained by sin. Just as the First Adam fell and all humanity fell, the Second Adam who is Jesus never shared in the downfall of man to sin, but overpowered both the serpent and sin to give new life to the fallen humanity. Thus the historic Church in her 2000 years of existence has always believed and therefore taught that Mary is conceived without sin.
The Old Testament Ark of New Covenant Foreshadowed Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant
Just as God commanded Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant made of purest gold to contain the Decalogue (literally, “Ten Words”), Virgin Mary was preserved by God from all stain of sin so that she will be the purest vessel to hold the sinless Word of God in her womb. “And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it, and you shall make upon it a molding of gold round about. And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark by them… And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Ex 25:11-21).
God’s Ark of the Covenant cannot be defiled by mortal man for God punishes the transgressor with immediate death. Virgin Mary was more than the inanimate golden Ark for aside from being made in the image and likeness of God, she was made to be the immaculate container of the all-holy Son of God. Just as God created Adam and Eve immaculate who later succumbed to sin by disobedience, Mary who is the Second Eve was also given the grace of God to be immaculately created. But unlike Eve, she will never lose that grace by pride and disobedence. “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God” (2 Sam. 6:7). The book of Chronicles repeats what terrible thing that happened to Uzzah, despite Uzzah’s good intention to save the ark from falling into the ground. God’s holiness is mysterious and beyond comprehension. “And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and he smote him because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there before God” (1 Chron. 13:9-10).
David himself, the greatest king of Old Testament Israel, honored (venerated) the Ark as an example to all God’s holy people. The Ark was venerated just as Mary is venerated above all God’s creatures, but adoration is given to God alone. The Catholic Church had through her 2000 years of existence, zealously guarded this great Scriptural and holy tradition of the chosen people of God. “David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him for ever."… And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God” (1 Chron. 15:1-2; 16:1).
The Old Ark of the Covenant and Mary the New Ark of the Covenant
Old Testament Ark of the Covenant Mary as New Ark of the Covenant
1.“And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.” (2 Sam. 6:2)
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah” (Luke 1:39).
2.“As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.” (2 Sam. 6:16)
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
3. “And David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" (2 Sam. 6:9).
“And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
(Luke 1:43).
4. “And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of O'bed-e'dom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed O'bed-e'dom and all his household.”(2 Sam.6:11/ 1 Chron.13:14) “And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.” (Lk. 1:56)
There is a striking parallelism in the way the Ark of the Covenant of Old Testament was described and how Mary was described by Luke. First, David arose and the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem as Mary arose and went up to a hill country. Second, As David was in the presence of the Ark that contained God’s Word, he leaped and danced for joy, just as when the baby John the Baptist was in the presence of Mary the new Ark who conceived the Word of God, he leaped for joy. Third, just as David inquired how privileged he is that the Ark should come to him, Elizabeth who was filled by the Holy Spirit, expressed her deep gratitude how the mother (the Ark) of the Lord should come to her. Fourth, the Ark/ Virgin Mary stayed in the house for three months. These are not just mere accidental parallelism, but God’s Providence working in the inspired author of the Gospel.
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. Synoptics
“And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"…And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God… For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:28,30, 37). In both Old and New Testaments, it is always the human being who is made lower than the angels (Ps.8:5) who will salute/ greet the angel as a sign of reverence. But in the case of Mary, the archangel Gabriel saluted her with the royal greeting “Hail!”, signifying her greater dignity than him. Next, the angel addressed her with a proper name “full of grace”, an apositive given also to Jesus (Jn.1:14). This signifies her perfection given to her as grace by God, an immaculate perfection not only intensively but also extensively, that is, it will extend throughout her life.
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” ( Luk 1:41-42). Elizabeth who was filled with God’s Spirit proclaimed Mary’s blessedness side by side with the blessedness of her Son. According to theologian Ludwig Ott (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p.201), “This parallelism suggests that Mary, just like Christ, was from the beginning of her existence, free from all sin.”
b. The Book of Revelation by St. John
The book of Revelation written by St. John depicts what he saw in heaven through the visions given to him by God. God’s temple symbolizes the new people of God and the Ark of the Covenant inside the temple is the new Ark who is the Blessed Virgin Mary. “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” (Rev 11:19).
Since the original book of Revelation had not chapters and verses, John’s vision tells us that after seeing the Ark, he then describes the woman about to give birth to a son who will rule the world. This is undoubtedly Mary. “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; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery” (Rev 12:1-2).
Explanation of The Birth Pains of Mary as Spiritual, not Physical
Fundamentalist churches today, in stark contrast to their 16th century fathers and reformers, are skeptical of the teaching authority of the historic Catholic church and the teachings of their Protestant fathers. They are baffled by the verse in Rev. 12:2 which states “she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.”
Did Virgin Mary experience pangs in delivering the child Jesus? This question might satisfy the confused minds of Fundamentalists, but the Church’s answer is “No, she did not.” First, Isaiah predicted the day when the woman will not physically labor in childbirth. Just as many predictions of Isaiah referred to Jesus, this prediction specifically and traditionally referred to Mary. "Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she was delivered of a son” (Isaiah 66:7).
Second, a survey of the verses below that what was described in the highly symbolic book of Revelation is not literal physical pain of childbirth, but an anguish for spiritual rebirth of spiritual children.
“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. And he stood on the sand of the sea.” (Rev. 12:17) The offspring described here are not physical ones but spiritual children, the thousands of Christians who followed the commandments of God and who resisted the devil. Therefore, the pangs of childbirth above is also spiritual. The Virgin Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but she has thousands upon thousands of spiritual children throughout the world. This is why the Church has always called her mother of all Christians.
St. Paul describes his suffering for Christians “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” (Gal 4:19). Creation waits for its final restoration for having been marred by sin “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now” (Rom. 8:22).
The Old Testament describes the birth pangs used metaphorically for “What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you, like those of a woman in travail?” (Jer. 13:21). “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is kept in store. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for now he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb” (Hos. 13:12-13). “Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pangs have seized you like a woman in travail? Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you shall go forth from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies” (Micah 4:9-10).
IV. The Protestant Reformers on the Immaculate Conception
As with their strong belief that Mary is the Mother of God, the same Protestant Fathers (Luther, Calvin and Zwingli) also adhered to the Catholic faith that Mary was Immaculately conceived, free from the stain of original sin.
Martin Luther
"But the other conception, namely the infusion of the soul, it is piously and suitably believed, was without any sin, so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the same time be cleansed from original sin and adorned with the gifts of God to receive the holy soul thus infused. And thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was without all sin..." (Luther, Volume 4, 694.)
John Calvin
Although John Calvin was not as devoted as Luther to Mary, he called Mary the Holy Virgin.
"It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor." (John Calvin, p. 348.)
Ulrich Zwingli
"I esteem immensely the Mother of God, the ever chaste, immaculate Virgin Mary." (Stakemeier, p.456.)
"Christ ... was born of a most undefiled Virgin" (ibid.)
"It was fitting that such a holy Son should have a holy Mother." (ibid.)
V. Objections from Fundamentalist Protestants and Other Sects Against the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception
“There is no scriptural basis for the doctrine (Immaculate Conception), and the earlier Catholic church fathers differed over the matter. Anselm held that Mary was born with original sin. Bernard of Clairvaux contended that she was conceived with original sin, but purified before birth. Thomas Aquinas and the Dominicans held this view, but Duns Scotus popularized the view that Mary was conceived without original sin, and his view eventually prevailed, although Pope Sixtus IV in 1845 and the Council of Trent in 1546 left the issue unresolved.” (Armstrong, p.121).
As to the objection above, it could be answered that, just like the doctrines of Trinity, Incarnation, the two natures of Christ or the hypostatic union which Protestants believe to be true even without the specific word written on the Bible, unknown to many Bible-believing Christians, it was the Catholic Church that coined these words in her centuries of struggles against different heretics in the history of the Church. In the same way, it was the Catholic Church that discerned and proclaimed from both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition the doctrine of Immaculate Conception and the other Marian doctrines.
It is the whole Church, the “pillar and the ground of truth” (1 Tim.3:15), guided “into all truth” by the Holy Spirit (Jn.14:26) and not the individual theologians in their own private opinions on contested matters that can define what is the official doctrine of the Church. St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Thomas Aquinas, great theologians they were, differed in their opinions about Mary. Yet, both of them were faithful and obedient children of the Church who would certainly succumb to the Pope when he officially proclaims the Immaculate Conception. If previous Popes and previous Church ecumenical councils did not define the Immaculate Conception, it doesn’t mean that the Church did not believe in it, in the same way that we cannot say that the Church only began believing in the Divinity of Christ and the Trinity only when these doctrines were officially proclaimed in 325 AD in the Council of Nicea. It was only in 1854 that the Pope officially proclaimed the dogma of Immaculate Conception, faithful and true to the teachings of both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition.
Fundamentalist Objections Based on the Erroneous Interpretation of Romans 3:23 ("All have sinned")
The verse that is often quoted out of context by Fundamentalists is “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) to demolish the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, stating that Mary was also subject to sin.
First, the Church agrees that she could have been had not for the “prevenient grace” of God that freed her from original sin before she was born. All other human beings are born with original sin but are saved by God later with his “restorative grace”. It is like that God washes through baptism the mudstains of sin all human beings but He specially prevented Mary from being stained by the mudstains before she comes into this world.
Second, the term “all have sinned” which indicates actual sin done in the past does not include everyone because the infants, the mentally retarded and severely senile could not commit sin since they have not reached or have lost mental discretion for knowing what is good or bad.
Third, this does not include Mary or Jesus either, because the former was graced by God to be free from original and actual sin, and the latter is the sinless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn.1:29).
Fourth, the word “all” (Gk. “pantes”) does not mean all without exception. The same Apostle writes, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22). Yet, the Bible tells us that there were two men of God who did not die but were taken by God to heaven, Enoch and Elijah (Gen.5:24; 2 Kgs.2:11).
Fifth, the word “all” (“pantes”) is interchanged by Paul in the same chapter with the word “many” (Greek “polloi”). “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Since many and not all are made sinners through the disobedience of Adam, the Church is correct in her belief and practice that Mary is an exception by the power of the grace of God as the angel said to Mary for with God nothing is impossible.
The next verse that Fundamentalists “prove” in futility against the exception of Mary from sin is: “…as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one." (Rom. 3:10-12)
The verse above was taken by St. Paul from Ps.14:1-3/Ps.53:1-3 where the Psalmist laments “The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one.” Note that proper exegesis tells us that we need to consider the proper context of the verse before interpreting or applying it correctly. This is the point when Fundamentalists commit a fatal flaw because the context does not talk about good and obedient people of God but “fools”, atheists, corrupt ones, not the righteous ones.
The Jews have the common figurative language which is called hyperbole or exaggeration to drive their point home. It should not be interpreted literally but as a figure of speech or literary style. Even Jesus who is well familiar of the Jewish customs employed hyperbole in his teachings. One example is when he said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19). Yet in another passage he said “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Mt.12:35). Moreover he said, “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matt.23:9). Yet few chapters before he said, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt.19:19).
VI. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
The early Fathers of the Church bravely held on to the constant Apostolic Tradition that the Mother of Jesus was specially graced by God from all men and women to be the pure vessel of His dearly beloved Son. As such, Mary was saved by God by prevention from sin and from committing sin, whereas all other men and women are saved by restoration from original sin to original sanctifying grace.
Immaculate Conception
Hippolytus. "He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle was exempt from putridity and corruption" (Orat. Inillud, Dominus pascit me(ante A.D. 235).
Origen. "This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God, is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one" (Homily 1(A.D. 244).
Ambrose. "Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin" (Sermon 22:30(A.D. 388).
Augustine. "We must except the Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin" Nature and Grace,42[36](A.D.415).
John of Damascus. "O most blessed loins of Joachim from which came forth a spotless seed! O glorious womb of Anne in which a most holy offspring grew" Homily I in Nativ.(ante A.D. 749).
St. Thomas Aquinas on Mary's state of grace
"I answer that, God so prepares and endows those, whom He chooses for some particular office, that they are rendered capable of fulfilling it, according to 2 Cor. 3:6: '(Who) has made us fit ministers of the New Testament.' Now the Blessed Virgin was chosen by God to be His Mother. Therefore there can be no doubt that God, by His grace, made her worthy of that office, according to the words spoken to her by the angel (Lk. 1:30,31): 'Thou has found grace with God: behold thou shall conceive,' etc. But she would not have been worthy to be the Mother of God, if she had ever sinned. First, because the honor of the parents reflects on the child, according to Prov. 17:6: 'The glory of children are their fathers': and consequently, on the other hand, the Mother's shame would have reflected on her Son. Secondly, because of the singular affinity between her and Christ, who took flesh from her: and it is written (2 Cor. 6:15): 'What concord has Christ with Belial?' Thirdly, because of the singular manner in which the Son of God, who is the 'Divine Wisdom' (1 Cor. 1:24) dwelt in her, not only in her soul but in her womb. And it is written (Wis. 1:4): 'Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins.'
"We must therefore confess simply that the Blessed Virgin committed no actual sin, neither mortal nor venial; so that what is written (Cant 4:7) is fulfilled: 'Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee,' etc" (Summa Theologiae III:27:4).
Written by: Bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
Immaculate Conception is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as sinless at the moment her mother (St. Anne) conceived her in the womb. She enjoyed both freedom from concupiscence or human nature’s tendencies towards sin, and freedom from actual sin.
I. The Teaching of the Church
“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 490). “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’” (CCC 491).
“The ‘splendor of an entirely unique holiness’ by which Mary is ‘enriched from the first instant of her conception’ comes wholly from Christ: she is ‘redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son’. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person ‘in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ and chose her ‘in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love’” (CCC 492).
“The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God ‘the All-Holy’ (Panagia), and celebrate her as ‘free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature’. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long” (CCC 493).
II. Old Testament Prefigurement
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is not explicitly revealed in Scripture, but is contained implicitly in the following passages.
“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" (Gen. 3:15).
The proper context was that God was talking about the enmity between the serpent (the devil) and the woman (Eve). But since Eve was tempted and overpowered by the devil, the early Church Fathers read God’s word as the Protoevangelion (lit. “first good news”) predicting the war between the devil and the woman (Mary), and between the offspring of the devil and the offspring of the woman, Jesus. In contrast to the First Eve who was deceived and stained by sin, the Second Eve who is Mary is never deceived nor stained by sin. Just as the First Adam fell and all humanity fell, the Second Adam who is Jesus never shared in the downfall of man to sin, but overpowered both the serpent and sin to give new life to the fallen humanity. Thus the historic Church in her 2000 years of existence has always believed and therefore taught that Mary is conceived without sin.
The Old Testament Ark of New Covenant Foreshadowed Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant
Just as God commanded Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant made of purest gold to contain the Decalogue (literally, “Ten Words”), Virgin Mary was preserved by God from all stain of sin so that she will be the purest vessel to hold the sinless Word of God in her womb. “And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall you overlay it, and you shall make upon it a molding of gold round about. And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark by them… And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be” (Ex 25:11-21).
God’s Ark of the Covenant cannot be defiled by mortal man for God punishes the transgressor with immediate death. Virgin Mary was more than the inanimate golden Ark for aside from being made in the image and likeness of God, she was made to be the immaculate container of the all-holy Son of God. Just as God created Adam and Eve immaculate who later succumbed to sin by disobedience, Mary who is the Second Eve was also given the grace of God to be immaculately created. But unlike Eve, she will never lose that grace by pride and disobedence. “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God” (2 Sam. 6:7). The book of Chronicles repeats what terrible thing that happened to Uzzah, despite Uzzah’s good intention to save the ark from falling into the ground. God’s holiness is mysterious and beyond comprehension. “And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and he smote him because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died there before God” (1 Chron. 13:9-10).
David himself, the greatest king of Old Testament Israel, honored (venerated) the Ark as an example to all God’s holy people. The Ark was venerated just as Mary is venerated above all God’s creatures, but adoration is given to God alone. The Catholic Church had through her 2000 years of existence, zealously guarded this great Scriptural and holy tradition of the chosen people of God. “David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him for ever."… And they brought the ark of God, and set it inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God” (1 Chron. 15:1-2; 16:1).
The Old Ark of the Covenant and Mary the New Ark of the Covenant
Old Testament Ark of the Covenant Mary as New Ark of the Covenant
1.“And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.” (2 Sam. 6:2)
“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah” (Luke 1:39).
2.“As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.” (2 Sam. 6:16)
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” (Luke 1:41).
3. “And David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" (2 Sam. 6:9).
“And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
(Luke 1:43).
4. “And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of O'bed-e'dom the Gittite three months; and the LORD blessed O'bed-e'dom and all his household.”(2 Sam.6:11/ 1 Chron.13:14) “And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.” (Lk. 1:56)
There is a striking parallelism in the way the Ark of the Covenant of Old Testament was described and how Mary was described by Luke. First, David arose and the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem as Mary arose and went up to a hill country. Second, As David was in the presence of the Ark that contained God’s Word, he leaped and danced for joy, just as when the baby John the Baptist was in the presence of Mary the new Ark who conceived the Word of God, he leaped for joy. Third, just as David inquired how privileged he is that the Ark should come to him, Elizabeth who was filled by the Holy Spirit, expressed her deep gratitude how the mother (the Ark) of the Lord should come to her. Fourth, the Ark/ Virgin Mary stayed in the house for three months. These are not just mere accidental parallelism, but God’s Providence working in the inspired author of the Gospel.
III. New Testament Fulfillment
a. Synoptics
“And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"…And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God… For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:28,30, 37). In both Old and New Testaments, it is always the human being who is made lower than the angels (Ps.8:5) who will salute/ greet the angel as a sign of reverence. But in the case of Mary, the archangel Gabriel saluted her with the royal greeting “Hail!”, signifying her greater dignity than him. Next, the angel addressed her with a proper name “full of grace”, an apositive given also to Jesus (Jn.1:14). This signifies her perfection given to her as grace by God, an immaculate perfection not only intensively but also extensively, that is, it will extend throughout her life.
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” ( Luk 1:41-42). Elizabeth who was filled with God’s Spirit proclaimed Mary’s blessedness side by side with the blessedness of her Son. According to theologian Ludwig Ott (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, p.201), “This parallelism suggests that Mary, just like Christ, was from the beginning of her existence, free from all sin.”
b. The Book of Revelation by St. John
The book of Revelation written by St. John depicts what he saw in heaven through the visions given to him by God. God’s temple symbolizes the new people of God and the Ark of the Covenant inside the temple is the new Ark who is the Blessed Virgin Mary. “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” (Rev 11:19).
Since the original book of Revelation had not chapters and verses, John’s vision tells us that after seeing the Ark, he then describes the woman about to give birth to a son who will rule the world. This is undoubtedly Mary. “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; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery” (Rev 12:1-2).
Explanation of The Birth Pains of Mary as Spiritual, not Physical
Fundamentalist churches today, in stark contrast to their 16th century fathers and reformers, are skeptical of the teaching authority of the historic Catholic church and the teachings of their Protestant fathers. They are baffled by the verse in Rev. 12:2 which states “she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.”
Did Virgin Mary experience pangs in delivering the child Jesus? This question might satisfy the confused minds of Fundamentalists, but the Church’s answer is “No, she did not.” First, Isaiah predicted the day when the woman will not physically labor in childbirth. Just as many predictions of Isaiah referred to Jesus, this prediction specifically and traditionally referred to Mary. "Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she was delivered of a son” (Isaiah 66:7).
Second, a survey of the verses below that what was described in the highly symbolic book of Revelation is not literal physical pain of childbirth, but an anguish for spiritual rebirth of spiritual children.
“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. And he stood on the sand of the sea.” (Rev. 12:17) The offspring described here are not physical ones but spiritual children, the thousands of Christians who followed the commandments of God and who resisted the devil. Therefore, the pangs of childbirth above is also spiritual. The Virgin Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but she has thousands upon thousands of spiritual children throughout the world. This is why the Church has always called her mother of all Christians.
St. Paul describes his suffering for Christians “My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!” (Gal 4:19). Creation waits for its final restoration for having been marred by sin “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now” (Rom. 8:22).
The Old Testament describes the birth pangs used metaphorically for “What will you say when they set as head over you those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you? Will not pangs take hold of you, like those of a woman in travail?” (Jer. 13:21). “The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, his sin is kept in store. The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son; for now he does not present himself at the mouth of the womb” (Hos. 13:12-13). “Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished, that pangs have seized you like a woman in travail? Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you shall go forth from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies” (Micah 4:9-10).
IV. The Protestant Reformers on the Immaculate Conception
As with their strong belief that Mary is the Mother of God, the same Protestant Fathers (Luther, Calvin and Zwingli) also adhered to the Catholic faith that Mary was Immaculately conceived, free from the stain of original sin.
Martin Luther
"But the other conception, namely the infusion of the soul, it is piously and suitably believed, was without any sin, so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the same time be cleansed from original sin and adorned with the gifts of God to receive the holy soul thus infused. And thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was without all sin..." (Luther, Volume 4, 694.)
John Calvin
Although John Calvin was not as devoted as Luther to Mary, he called Mary the Holy Virgin.
"It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor." (John Calvin, p. 348.)
Ulrich Zwingli
"I esteem immensely the Mother of God, the ever chaste, immaculate Virgin Mary." (Stakemeier, p.456.)
"Christ ... was born of a most undefiled Virgin" (ibid.)
"It was fitting that such a holy Son should have a holy Mother." (ibid.)
V. Objections from Fundamentalist Protestants and Other Sects Against the Doctrine of Immaculate Conception
“There is no scriptural basis for the doctrine (Immaculate Conception), and the earlier Catholic church fathers differed over the matter. Anselm held that Mary was born with original sin. Bernard of Clairvaux contended that she was conceived with original sin, but purified before birth. Thomas Aquinas and the Dominicans held this view, but Duns Scotus popularized the view that Mary was conceived without original sin, and his view eventually prevailed, although Pope Sixtus IV in 1845 and the Council of Trent in 1546 left the issue unresolved.” (Armstrong, p.121).
As to the objection above, it could be answered that, just like the doctrines of Trinity, Incarnation, the two natures of Christ or the hypostatic union which Protestants believe to be true even without the specific word written on the Bible, unknown to many Bible-believing Christians, it was the Catholic Church that coined these words in her centuries of struggles against different heretics in the history of the Church. In the same way, it was the Catholic Church that discerned and proclaimed from both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition the doctrine of Immaculate Conception and the other Marian doctrines.
It is the whole Church, the “pillar and the ground of truth” (1 Tim.3:15), guided “into all truth” by the Holy Spirit (Jn.14:26) and not the individual theologians in their own private opinions on contested matters that can define what is the official doctrine of the Church. St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Thomas Aquinas, great theologians they were, differed in their opinions about Mary. Yet, both of them were faithful and obedient children of the Church who would certainly succumb to the Pope when he officially proclaims the Immaculate Conception. If previous Popes and previous Church ecumenical councils did not define the Immaculate Conception, it doesn’t mean that the Church did not believe in it, in the same way that we cannot say that the Church only began believing in the Divinity of Christ and the Trinity only when these doctrines were officially proclaimed in 325 AD in the Council of Nicea. It was only in 1854 that the Pope officially proclaimed the dogma of Immaculate Conception, faithful and true to the teachings of both the Bible and Apostolic Tradition.
Fundamentalist Objections Based on the Erroneous Interpretation of Romans 3:23 ("All have sinned")
The verse that is often quoted out of context by Fundamentalists is “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) to demolish the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, stating that Mary was also subject to sin.
First, the Church agrees that she could have been had not for the “prevenient grace” of God that freed her from original sin before she was born. All other human beings are born with original sin but are saved by God later with his “restorative grace”. It is like that God washes through baptism the mudstains of sin all human beings but He specially prevented Mary from being stained by the mudstains before she comes into this world.
Second, the term “all have sinned” which indicates actual sin done in the past does not include everyone because the infants, the mentally retarded and severely senile could not commit sin since they have not reached or have lost mental discretion for knowing what is good or bad.
Third, this does not include Mary or Jesus either, because the former was graced by God to be free from original and actual sin, and the latter is the sinless lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn.1:29).
Fourth, the word “all” (Gk. “pantes”) does not mean all without exception. The same Apostle writes, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22). Yet, the Bible tells us that there were two men of God who did not die but were taken by God to heaven, Enoch and Elijah (Gen.5:24; 2 Kgs.2:11).
Fifth, the word “all” (“pantes”) is interchanged by Paul in the same chapter with the word “many” (Greek “polloi”). “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). Since many and not all are made sinners through the disobedience of Adam, the Church is correct in her belief and practice that Mary is an exception by the power of the grace of God as the angel said to Mary for with God nothing is impossible.
The next verse that Fundamentalists “prove” in futility against the exception of Mary from sin is: “…as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one." (Rom. 3:10-12)
The verse above was taken by St. Paul from Ps.14:1-3/Ps.53:1-3 where the Psalmist laments “The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one.” Note that proper exegesis tells us that we need to consider the proper context of the verse before interpreting or applying it correctly. This is the point when Fundamentalists commit a fatal flaw because the context does not talk about good and obedient people of God but “fools”, atheists, corrupt ones, not the righteous ones.
The Jews have the common figurative language which is called hyperbole or exaggeration to drive their point home. It should not be interpreted literally but as a figure of speech or literary style. Even Jesus who is well familiar of the Jewish customs employed hyperbole in his teachings. One example is when he said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19). Yet in another passage he said “The good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil” (Mt.12:35). Moreover he said, “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Matt.23:9). Yet few chapters before he said, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt.19:19).
VI. The Testimony of the Early Church Fathers
The early Fathers of the Church bravely held on to the constant Apostolic Tradition that the Mother of Jesus was specially graced by God from all men and women to be the pure vessel of His dearly beloved Son. As such, Mary was saved by God by prevention from sin and from committing sin, whereas all other men and women are saved by restoration from original sin to original sanctifying grace.
Immaculate Conception
Hippolytus. "He was the ark formed of incorruptible wood. For by this is signified that His tabernacle was exempt from putridity and corruption" (Orat. Inillud, Dominus pascit me(ante A.D. 235).
Origen. "This Virgin Mother of the Only-begotten of God, is called Mary, worthy of God, immaculate of the immaculate, one of the one" (Homily 1(A.D. 244).
Ambrose. "Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin" (Sermon 22:30(A.D. 388).
Augustine. "We must except the Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin" Nature and Grace,42[36](A.D.415).
John of Damascus. "O most blessed loins of Joachim from which came forth a spotless seed! O glorious womb of Anne in which a most holy offspring grew" Homily I in Nativ.(ante A.D. 749).
St. Thomas Aquinas on Mary's state of grace
"I answer that, God so prepares and endows those, whom He chooses for some particular office, that they are rendered capable of fulfilling it, according to 2 Cor. 3:6: '(Who) has made us fit ministers of the New Testament.' Now the Blessed Virgin was chosen by God to be His Mother. Therefore there can be no doubt that God, by His grace, made her worthy of that office, according to the words spoken to her by the angel (Lk. 1:30,31): 'Thou has found grace with God: behold thou shall conceive,' etc. But she would not have been worthy to be the Mother of God, if she had ever sinned. First, because the honor of the parents reflects on the child, according to Prov. 17:6: 'The glory of children are their fathers': and consequently, on the other hand, the Mother's shame would have reflected on her Son. Secondly, because of the singular affinity between her and Christ, who took flesh from her: and it is written (2 Cor. 6:15): 'What concord has Christ with Belial?' Thirdly, because of the singular manner in which the Son of God, who is the 'Divine Wisdom' (1 Cor. 1:24) dwelt in her, not only in her soul but in her womb. And it is written (Wis. 1:4): 'Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins.'
"We must therefore confess simply that the Blessed Virgin committed no actual sin, neither mortal nor venial; so that what is written (Cant 4:7) is fulfilled: 'Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee,' etc" (Summa Theologiae III:27:4).
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT ROCKS
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT ROCKS
written by: bro. Rey V. Entila (written: May 2006)
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
One of the persistent objections concerning Peter’s role as the foundation-rock of God’s new people is that only God and Christ are called in the Bible as Rock. There is a presumption that this title could not be given to any human being for that would be a usurpation of the divine title. An objective reading of the whole Bible would easily clear up this problem, because the Bible shows that a Patriarch in the Old Testament was called Rock, as well as Peter, patriarch of New People of God, was also called as such.
A. In the Old Testament
a. God the Father as Rock
The Hebrew word “Shur” was used of God. Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines Rock as:
“(Heb. tsur), employed as a symbol of God in the Old Testament (1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 22:3; Isa. 17:10; Ps. 28:1; 31:2,3; 89:26; 95:1); also in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4). In Dan. 2:45 the Chaldaic form of the Hebrew word is translated ‘mountain.’ It ought to be translated ‘rock,’ as in Hab. 1:12 in the Revised Version. The ‘rock’ from which the stone is cut here signifies the divine origin of Christ”.
According to Augustus Strong, “The rock (or mountain) serves as a figure of security (Ps.61:2), firmness (Job 14:18), and something that endures” (Job 19:24) (Strong, p.765).
The book of Deuteronomy called God the Rock. "The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faith-fulness and without iniquity, just and right is He” (Deut. 32:4).
The Psalmist repeatedly called God the Rock. “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2); “For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?” (Psalm 18:31); “The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation” (Psalm 18:46); “Yea, thou art my rock and my fortress; for thy name's sake lead me and guide me, 4 take me out of the net which is hidden for me, for thou art my refuge” (Psalm 31:3-4).
God is Israel’s Rock. “You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel” (Isa.30:29).
b. Abraham as Rock
Concerning the Patriarch Abraham, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "Hearken to me, you who pursue deliverance, you who seek the LORD; look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were digged. 2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him and made him many” (Isa. 51:1-2).
Even though the term Rock, which in Hebrew language is Sur, is oftentimes a metaphor for God the Father, this does not imply that throughout the Old Testament, God alone was called that way in the Bible. This passage in Isa. 51:1-2 applies the metaphor to Abraham when it says “look to the rock from which you were hewn” (made or shaped) as it applies to Sarah the “quarry from which you were digged”. As Hebrew poetry is lavished by repetition and parallelism, verse 2 specifies Abraham and Sarah as the one referred in verse 1. So there is no truth in the common non-Catholic statement “God alone is referred to as rock in the whole bible, never to any human being.”
Stanley L. Jaki quoted Two prominent Jewish scholars Strack and Billerbeck, impartial to both Catholics and Protestants alike, who pointed Abraham as rock (Heb. Sur):
‘“When God looked on Abraham, who was to appear, he said: Behold I have found a rock on which I can build and base the world. Therefore he called Abraham a rock’…The earliest parts of Jalkut, a compilation by Simeon Kara (12th century) of Midrash fragments, are from the 5th century!Actually, the earliest of half a dozen other Talmudic texts describing Abtraham as rock, mentioned by Strack and Billerbeck, are from the middle of the second century A.D.” Midrash Jalqut (1,766), as cited in S.L.Jaki, And On This Rock, 2nd ed.,(Manassas, VA:Trinity, 1987), 89.
The Protestant scholar Donald Guthrie also affirms Abraham as rock. “Abraham is spoken of as ‘the Rock from which you were hewn.’(Is.51:1)” (Guthrie, p.837).
Furthermore, The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words, a renowned standard reference among English-speaking Protestants, (2001) gave in #6697 the no. 8 meaning of rock (tsuwr/ tsoor) (8) Abraham is the source (rock) from which Israel was hewn (Is.51:1). (Strong, p. 765).
As Abraham was the patriarch of the people of God in the Old Testament whose name God Himself changed from Abram to Abraham, later in the New Testament, God in the person of Jesus, changed the name of Simon to Peter the Rock to be the foundation of the New People of God. As Abraham was in his person, the foundation of God’s people, Peter in person will be the foundation of God’s new people. But as Abraham was not given the name “rock”, Simon was the first person in the whole Bible to be called “Rock”.
B. In the New Testament
In the New Dispensation, Christ who was called by St. Paul as Rock, Simon was called by Jesus a rock. Just as Abraham was given by God the Father to share in His rockness, Jesus who is the perfect image of the Father (Col.1:15) shared his rockness to Simon the fisherman.
a. Jesus
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians concerning the event when the Israelites, after crossing the Red Sea went to Mount Sinai. After giving them quail and manna to eat, God gave them water from the rock that followed them (Ex.17:1-7). “I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor.10:1-4).
b. Peter
Christ brought His Twelve Apostles in Caesaria Philippi and asked who He really was. No one but Simon was given the revelation by the Father to declare the true identity of Jesus. In Mt 16:13-17 “When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter said in reply, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.’”
Christ then gives Simon son of Jonah a new name. "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). Concerning the place where this event happened, Steve Ray writes: “this fact is too often ignored. Jesus, standing in front of a massive rock in Caesaria Philippi upon which stands the “false church”, the temple of the “divine” Caesar Augustus, says to Peter, “You are Rock”, making a correlation. Then, after the correlation has been made, he looks at Peter and (sic) the massive rock and says, “And upon this Rock I will build my Church” (Ray, Upon This Rock, p.36).
Finally, Jesus gave to Peter the divine commission, "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'' (Matt.16:19). This echoes the commission made by God to Eliakim to become the prime Minister of Israel (Isa.22:21-22). Therefore, Peter was just declared to be the Prime Minister of the Church, that is, God’s people.
written by: bro. Rey V. Entila (written: May 2006)
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
One of the persistent objections concerning Peter’s role as the foundation-rock of God’s new people is that only God and Christ are called in the Bible as Rock. There is a presumption that this title could not be given to any human being for that would be a usurpation of the divine title. An objective reading of the whole Bible would easily clear up this problem, because the Bible shows that a Patriarch in the Old Testament was called Rock, as well as Peter, patriarch of New People of God, was also called as such.
A. In the Old Testament
a. God the Father as Rock
The Hebrew word “Shur” was used of God. Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines Rock as:
“(Heb. tsur), employed as a symbol of God in the Old Testament (1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 22:3; Isa. 17:10; Ps. 28:1; 31:2,3; 89:26; 95:1); also in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4). In Dan. 2:45 the Chaldaic form of the Hebrew word is translated ‘mountain.’ It ought to be translated ‘rock,’ as in Hab. 1:12 in the Revised Version. The ‘rock’ from which the stone is cut here signifies the divine origin of Christ”.
According to Augustus Strong, “The rock (or mountain) serves as a figure of security (Ps.61:2), firmness (Job 14:18), and something that endures” (Job 19:24) (Strong, p.765).
The book of Deuteronomy called God the Rock. "The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faith-fulness and without iniquity, just and right is He” (Deut. 32:4).
The Psalmist repeatedly called God the Rock. “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2); “For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?” (Psalm 18:31); “The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation” (Psalm 18:46); “Yea, thou art my rock and my fortress; for thy name's sake lead me and guide me, 4 take me out of the net which is hidden for me, for thou art my refuge” (Psalm 31:3-4).
God is Israel’s Rock. “You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel” (Isa.30:29).
b. Abraham as Rock
Concerning the Patriarch Abraham, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "Hearken to me, you who pursue deliverance, you who seek the LORD; look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were digged. 2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him and made him many” (Isa. 51:1-2).
Even though the term Rock, which in Hebrew language is Sur, is oftentimes a metaphor for God the Father, this does not imply that throughout the Old Testament, God alone was called that way in the Bible. This passage in Isa. 51:1-2 applies the metaphor to Abraham when it says “look to the rock from which you were hewn” (made or shaped) as it applies to Sarah the “quarry from which you were digged”. As Hebrew poetry is lavished by repetition and parallelism, verse 2 specifies Abraham and Sarah as the one referred in verse 1. So there is no truth in the common non-Catholic statement “God alone is referred to as rock in the whole bible, never to any human being.”
Stanley L. Jaki quoted Two prominent Jewish scholars Strack and Billerbeck, impartial to both Catholics and Protestants alike, who pointed Abraham as rock (Heb. Sur):
‘“When God looked on Abraham, who was to appear, he said: Behold I have found a rock on which I can build and base the world. Therefore he called Abraham a rock’…The earliest parts of Jalkut, a compilation by Simeon Kara (12th century) of Midrash fragments, are from the 5th century!Actually, the earliest of half a dozen other Talmudic texts describing Abtraham as rock, mentioned by Strack and Billerbeck, are from the middle of the second century A.D.” Midrash Jalqut (1,766), as cited in S.L.Jaki, And On This Rock, 2nd ed.,(Manassas, VA:Trinity, 1987), 89.
The Protestant scholar Donald Guthrie also affirms Abraham as rock. “Abraham is spoken of as ‘the Rock from which you were hewn.’(Is.51:1)” (Guthrie, p.837).
Furthermore, The New Strong’s Expanded Dictionary of Bible Words, a renowned standard reference among English-speaking Protestants, (2001) gave in #6697 the no. 8 meaning of rock (tsuwr/ tsoor) (8) Abraham is the source (rock) from which Israel was hewn (Is.51:1). (Strong, p. 765).
As Abraham was the patriarch of the people of God in the Old Testament whose name God Himself changed from Abram to Abraham, later in the New Testament, God in the person of Jesus, changed the name of Simon to Peter the Rock to be the foundation of the New People of God. As Abraham was in his person, the foundation of God’s people, Peter in person will be the foundation of God’s new people. But as Abraham was not given the name “rock”, Simon was the first person in the whole Bible to be called “Rock”.
B. In the New Testament
In the New Dispensation, Christ who was called by St. Paul as Rock, Simon was called by Jesus a rock. Just as Abraham was given by God the Father to share in His rockness, Jesus who is the perfect image of the Father (Col.1:15) shared his rockness to Simon the fisherman.
a. Jesus
St. Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians concerning the event when the Israelites, after crossing the Red Sea went to Mount Sinai. After giving them quail and manna to eat, God gave them water from the rock that followed them (Ex.17:1-7). “I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (1 Cor.10:1-4).
b. Peter
Christ brought His Twelve Apostles in Caesaria Philippi and asked who He really was. No one but Simon was given the revelation by the Father to declare the true identity of Jesus. In Mt 16:13-17 “When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter said in reply, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.’”
Christ then gives Simon son of Jonah a new name. "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). Concerning the place where this event happened, Steve Ray writes: “this fact is too often ignored. Jesus, standing in front of a massive rock in Caesaria Philippi upon which stands the “false church”, the temple of the “divine” Caesar Augustus, says to Peter, “You are Rock”, making a correlation. Then, after the correlation has been made, he looks at Peter and (sic) the massive rock and says, “And upon this Rock I will build my Church” (Ray, Upon This Rock, p.36).
Finally, Jesus gave to Peter the divine commission, "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'' (Matt.16:19). This echoes the commission made by God to Eliakim to become the prime Minister of Israel (Isa.22:21-22). Therefore, Peter was just declared to be the Prime Minister of the Church, that is, God’s people.
OLD TESTAMENT TYPES OF ST. PETER
OLD TESTAMENT TYPES OF ST. PETER: “PRIME MINISTER” “OVER THE HOUSE”, “STEWARD”, “MAJORDOMO”, “VIZIER”
by: bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
A. Joseph the prime Minister
Since the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament, and the New is understood by studying the Old, some of the important personages who foreshadowed the role of St. Peter in the New Testament will be considered. The first one is Joseph, one of the twelve sons of the Patriarch Jacob, and in fact Jacob’s favorite one since he was born of his beloved Rachel. Just as there were 12 apostles of our Lord whom Peter was chosen to be their leader, among Jacob’s sons, God’s chosen leader and liberator was Joseph.
He was endowed with the gift of predictive dreams and correct interpretation of dreams. He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and bowed down to my sheaf." His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me” (Gen.37:6-9, emphasis added). It means that not only his eleven brothers shall obey him because of his authority, but also their parents. Clearly, it was God’s will that one should lead and the others should follow despite initial resistance.
The realization of Joseph’s prediction came through his God-given ability to interpret anyone’s dreams, including that of Pharaoh’s of Egypt. In Gen.41:38-46, Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?" 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; 40 you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you." This is indeed the Pharaoh’s appointment that Joseph became the Prime Minister of the whole of Egypt.
Furthermore, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "‘Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, ‘Bow the knee!’ Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.’ And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 41:41-46, emphasis mine).
Joseph, in the presence of his brothers who cruelly sold him to the Ishmaelites, pointed out to God’s providential design. “So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen.45:8).
Like him, St. Peter in the New Testament was appointed by God through His Son Jesus Christ, to be the leader of the New Israel or the spiritual twelve tribes of Jacob to save His people not anymore to save them from famine, but to give them food that comes from the mouth of God (Mt. 4:4) and the manna from heaven that is flesh, the true food that leads to eternal life (Jn.6:51).
B. Moses and His Teaching Authority over the Hebrew People
The second among the prototypes of Simon Peter is the prophet Moses, who came from among the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, privileged to be educated in the palace, and became God’s mighty instrument of liberation of Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Through him, God spoke infallible words to rule His people in their wanderings in the desert of Sinai. Through the written and the oral Torah or Law, God’s chosen people knew what was God’s will for them to live holy lives, until the grace of God in Christ superseded it (Gal.3:24).
According to the accounts in Exodus, “Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand about you from morning till evening?’ And Moses said to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and his decisions’" (Ex.18:13,15-16). Here, Moses was the judge, another term for the leader, from whose mouth came God’s infallible decisions for God’s whole people. Since it was too exhausting to listen to everyone’s concerns, his concerned father-in-law, upon knowing Moses’ predicament suggested that Moses put up 70 minor judges to decide on minor issues while he (Moses) decide on the major ones. Therefore, Moses was clearly the supreme judge among the judges, just as in the New Testament, Peter was appointed the supreme leader among all the apostles.
Surprisingly, in Luke 10:1-2, Jesus also appointed 70 (in some versions, 72) disciples aside from the twelve apostles. Peter’s exercise of powerful leadership is found immediately after Christ’s Ascension (Acts 1) until Acts 15:7-11 when through his own mouth, God has decreed that the gentiles shall hear the gospel and believe. He infallibly decided that the gentiles are saved not by following the law of Moses but by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as God made a covenant with the Israelites to become his chosen people (Exodus 19 and 20) in the huge rock, Mount Sinai, and wrote the law upon two tablets of stone, in the New Testament Jesus brought the 12 disciples in Caesaria Philipi, with the background of the massive rock mountain called Petra. It was in that place that Jesus proclaimed Simon to be the rock-foundation upon which the New People of God shall be built (Mt.16:18-19). This time, God’s law is not anymore written in tables of stone, but “on tablets that are hearts of flesh” (2 Cor.3:3; Jer.31;31-34; Heb.10:16).
In the book of Matthew, Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice” (Mt.23:1-3). What this implies is that Moses sat as a supreme judge during his time. The New Testament teachers of the law and Pharisees succeded in the line of Moses; therefore, they have authority. Even Jesus recognized their teaching authority and urged people to follow what they say but not what they do. Peter, however, was installed by Jesus to be His duly appointed Prime Minister, a figure of Moses in the New Testament, who will judge or rule God’s people. Therefore, the Church recognizes this divinely instituted authority until today.
C. Eliakim - Vizier/ Prime Minister/ the one who was “over the house”
The third Old Testament to be considered as foreshadowing St. Peter’s role is Eliakim. Isaiah 22:20-22 reads, “In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, says the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a sure place will give way; and it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken" (important words are italicized for emphasis).
Some observations need to be spelled out here. First, it is God who calls the person to the office and the person responds. Eliakim was called by God just as Peter was called by Christ. Secondly, the office is that of servanthood. Eliakim was God’s servant, as Peter was in the New Testament, and as the Pope today is called the “servus servorum Dei” (servant of the servants of God). Thirdly, when Eliakim took the office of the King’s Prime Minister, taking the place of Shebna, that office is continuing, just as the office of the papacy existed from the first century onwards until Jesus comes again in glory. Fourthly, the authority God gave to Eliakim made him the “father” of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, St. Peter became a “father” (Greek Pappas, Pope) to St. Mark (1 Pet.5:13) and to all Christians. The Pope today continues that privilege. Fifthly, just as Eliakim was given the Key of the house of King David, Peter was given the Keys (plural) of the Kingdom of God by Christ the King (Matt.16:19), signifying that he was given authority by the King who himself holds the key or keys of his kingdom (Rev.1:18 – (keys); Rev.3:7 – (keys) Greek “kleis”; Rev.9:1 – (key); Rev.20:1 – (keys).
Sixthly, God Himself fastened Eliakim as an immovable peg in a sure place, Peter was pronounced by Jesus as Kephas (Aramaic, immovable rock) in John 1:42. Lastly, the whole glory (weight) of the house of Eliakim’s family will be upon him. If ever he becomes unfaithful to God, he and his family will suffer disaster. If ever Peter and his successor the Popes, will anger God, the whole Church will suffer disaster. This last characteristic suggests nothing against the infallibility of the Pope in pronouncing officially on faith and morals, but on his peccability, as a man tempted to commit sin. Yet, God promised through His divine grace, “I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place.” Jesus said to Peter, “And when you are converted, strengthen your brethren” (Lk.22:32).
D. The Prime Ministers of the Palace and their Succession of Office
The Prime Minister is called in the Sacred Scriptures by different titles: “over the house” (Heb.’al bayith/ beyth); “steward”; “majordomo”; “Master of the Palace” (according to the New Amercian bible); “vizier”. “And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, clothed with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz” (Isa.37:2). “And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land” (2 Chron. 26:21).
Aside from Joseph, Moses and Eliakim, the succession of the different Prime Ministers in the Kingdom of Israel and Judah prefigure the office of Peter as the Prime Minister of Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of lords, in God’s Kingdom on earth, the Church. Just as today, Prime Ministers serve the Kingdom in behalf of the King, and the office does not end with his death or expulsion, God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments, have the unbroken succession of office. The following are:
1. (Ahishar during the reign of Solomon). “Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor” (1 Kgs.4:6).
2. (Azra during the reign of King Elah). “His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him” (1 Kgs.16:9-10).
3. (Obadiah during the reign of King Ahab). “Obadiah, who was over the household” (1 Kgs.18:3).
4. “And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land” (2 Kgs 15:5).
5. “And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder” (2 kgs 18:18).
It seems that the former Prime Minister Shebna was demoted to being a secretary.
E. The Old Testament High Priest and his permanent Office
Just as there was a divinely ordained High Priest in the Old Testament to ensure purity of doctrine and morals, the New Testament which is the perfection of the Old Testament, there was a divinely ordained High Priest in the Person of Christ (Heb.5:10). However, since Christ ascended into heaven, Christ appointed in the Church His visible leader and ambassador in the Person of Peter. Cardinal Gibbons wrote a lucid explanation on this topic of which the researcher wishes to add nothing more:
“…in the Old Law the High Priest appointed by the Almighty God filled an office analogous to that of the Pope in the New Law. In the Jewish Church there were Priests and Levites ordained to minister in the altar; and there was, also, a supreme ecclesiastical tribunal, with the High Priest at its head. All matters of religious controversy were referred to this tribunal and in the last resort to the High priest, whose decision was enforced under the pain of death. ‘if there be a hard matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy…thou shalt come to the Priests of the Levitical race and to the judge….but he that…will refuse to obey the commandment of the priest, who ministereth at the time…that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the evil from Israel’”(Deut 17:8-12).
From the passage above it is evident that in the Hebrew Church the High Priest had the highest jurisdiction in religious matters. By this means unity of faith and worship was preserved among the people of God….Now the Jewish synagogue, as St. Paul testifies, was the type and figure of the Christian Church; for ‘all these things happen to them (the Jews) in figure’ (1 Cor.10:2). We must, therefore, find in the Church of Christ a spiritual judge, exercising the same supreme authority as the High Priest wielded in the Old Law. For if a supreme Pontiff was necessary in the Mosaic dispensation to maintain purity and uniformity of worship, the same dignitary is equally necessary now to preserve the unity of faith. (The Faith of our Fathers, pp.78-79).
by: bro. Rey V. Entila
CFD - Diocese of Bacolod
A. Joseph the prime Minister
Since the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament, and the New is understood by studying the Old, some of the important personages who foreshadowed the role of St. Peter in the New Testament will be considered. The first one is Joseph, one of the twelve sons of the Patriarch Jacob, and in fact Jacob’s favorite one since he was born of his beloved Rachel. Just as there were 12 apostles of our Lord whom Peter was chosen to be their leader, among Jacob’s sons, God’s chosen leader and liberator was Joseph.
He was endowed with the gift of predictive dreams and correct interpretation of dreams. He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and bowed down to my sheaf." His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words. Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me” (Gen.37:6-9, emphasis added). It means that not only his eleven brothers shall obey him because of his authority, but also their parents. Clearly, it was God’s will that one should lead and the others should follow despite initial resistance.
The realization of Joseph’s prediction came through his God-given ability to interpret anyone’s dreams, including that of Pharaoh’s of Egypt. In Gen.41:38-46, Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?" 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; 40 you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you." This is indeed the Pharaoh’s appointment that Joseph became the Prime Minister of the whole of Egypt.
Furthermore, Pharaoh said to Joseph, "‘Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, ‘Bow the knee!’ Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.’ And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 41:41-46, emphasis mine).
Joseph, in the presence of his brothers who cruelly sold him to the Ishmaelites, pointed out to God’s providential design. “So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt” (Gen.45:8).
Like him, St. Peter in the New Testament was appointed by God through His Son Jesus Christ, to be the leader of the New Israel or the spiritual twelve tribes of Jacob to save His people not anymore to save them from famine, but to give them food that comes from the mouth of God (Mt. 4:4) and the manna from heaven that is flesh, the true food that leads to eternal life (Jn.6:51).
B. Moses and His Teaching Authority over the Hebrew People
The second among the prototypes of Simon Peter is the prophet Moses, who came from among the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, privileged to be educated in the palace, and became God’s mighty instrument of liberation of Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Through him, God spoke infallible words to rule His people in their wanderings in the desert of Sinai. Through the written and the oral Torah or Law, God’s chosen people knew what was God’s will for them to live holy lives, until the grace of God in Christ superseded it (Gal.3:24).
According to the accounts in Exodus, “Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, ‘What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand about you from morning till evening?’ And Moses said to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and his decisions’" (Ex.18:13,15-16). Here, Moses was the judge, another term for the leader, from whose mouth came God’s infallible decisions for God’s whole people. Since it was too exhausting to listen to everyone’s concerns, his concerned father-in-law, upon knowing Moses’ predicament suggested that Moses put up 70 minor judges to decide on minor issues while he (Moses) decide on the major ones. Therefore, Moses was clearly the supreme judge among the judges, just as in the New Testament, Peter was appointed the supreme leader among all the apostles.
Surprisingly, in Luke 10:1-2, Jesus also appointed 70 (in some versions, 72) disciples aside from the twelve apostles. Peter’s exercise of powerful leadership is found immediately after Christ’s Ascension (Acts 1) until Acts 15:7-11 when through his own mouth, God has decreed that the gentiles shall hear the gospel and believe. He infallibly decided that the gentiles are saved not by following the law of Moses but by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as God made a covenant with the Israelites to become his chosen people (Exodus 19 and 20) in the huge rock, Mount Sinai, and wrote the law upon two tablets of stone, in the New Testament Jesus brought the 12 disciples in Caesaria Philipi, with the background of the massive rock mountain called Petra. It was in that place that Jesus proclaimed Simon to be the rock-foundation upon which the New People of God shall be built (Mt.16:18-19). This time, God’s law is not anymore written in tables of stone, but “on tablets that are hearts of flesh” (2 Cor.3:3; Jer.31;31-34; Heb.10:16).
In the book of Matthew, Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice” (Mt.23:1-3). What this implies is that Moses sat as a supreme judge during his time. The New Testament teachers of the law and Pharisees succeded in the line of Moses; therefore, they have authority. Even Jesus recognized their teaching authority and urged people to follow what they say but not what they do. Peter, however, was installed by Jesus to be His duly appointed Prime Minister, a figure of Moses in the New Testament, who will judge or rule God’s people. Therefore, the Church recognizes this divinely instituted authority until today.
C. Eliakim - Vizier/ Prime Minister/ the one who was “over the house”
The third Old Testament to be considered as foreshadowing St. Peter’s role is Eliakim. Isaiah 22:20-22 reads, “In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, says the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a sure place will give way; and it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken" (important words are italicized for emphasis).
Some observations need to be spelled out here. First, it is God who calls the person to the office and the person responds. Eliakim was called by God just as Peter was called by Christ. Secondly, the office is that of servanthood. Eliakim was God’s servant, as Peter was in the New Testament, and as the Pope today is called the “servus servorum Dei” (servant of the servants of God). Thirdly, when Eliakim took the office of the King’s Prime Minister, taking the place of Shebna, that office is continuing, just as the office of the papacy existed from the first century onwards until Jesus comes again in glory. Fourthly, the authority God gave to Eliakim made him the “father” of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, St. Peter became a “father” (Greek Pappas, Pope) to St. Mark (1 Pet.5:13) and to all Christians. The Pope today continues that privilege. Fifthly, just as Eliakim was given the Key of the house of King David, Peter was given the Keys (plural) of the Kingdom of God by Christ the King (Matt.16:19), signifying that he was given authority by the King who himself holds the key or keys of his kingdom (Rev.1:18 – (keys); Rev.3:7 – (keys) Greek “kleis”; Rev.9:1 – (key); Rev.20:1 – (keys).
Sixthly, God Himself fastened Eliakim as an immovable peg in a sure place, Peter was pronounced by Jesus as Kephas (Aramaic, immovable rock) in John 1:42. Lastly, the whole glory (weight) of the house of Eliakim’s family will be upon him. If ever he becomes unfaithful to God, he and his family will suffer disaster. If ever Peter and his successor the Popes, will anger God, the whole Church will suffer disaster. This last characteristic suggests nothing against the infallibility of the Pope in pronouncing officially on faith and morals, but on his peccability, as a man tempted to commit sin. Yet, God promised through His divine grace, “I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place.” Jesus said to Peter, “And when you are converted, strengthen your brethren” (Lk.22:32).
D. The Prime Ministers of the Palace and their Succession of Office
The Prime Minister is called in the Sacred Scriptures by different titles: “over the house” (Heb.’al bayith/ beyth); “steward”; “majordomo”; “Master of the Palace” (according to the New Amercian bible); “vizier”. “And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, clothed with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz” (Isa.37:2). “And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land” (2 Chron. 26:21).
Aside from Joseph, Moses and Eliakim, the succession of the different Prime Ministers in the Kingdom of Israel and Judah prefigure the office of Peter as the Prime Minister of Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of lords, in God’s Kingdom on earth, the Church. Just as today, Prime Ministers serve the Kingdom in behalf of the King, and the office does not end with his death or expulsion, God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments, have the unbroken succession of office. The following are:
1. (Ahishar during the reign of Solomon). “Ahishar was in charge of the palace; and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor” (1 Kgs.4:6).
2. (Azra during the reign of King Elah). “His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him” (1 Kgs.16:9-10).
3. (Obadiah during the reign of King Ahab). “Obadiah, who was over the household” (1 Kgs.18:3).
4. “And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land” (2 Kgs 15:5).
5. “And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder” (2 kgs 18:18).
It seems that the former Prime Minister Shebna was demoted to being a secretary.
E. The Old Testament High Priest and his permanent Office
Just as there was a divinely ordained High Priest in the Old Testament to ensure purity of doctrine and morals, the New Testament which is the perfection of the Old Testament, there was a divinely ordained High Priest in the Person of Christ (Heb.5:10). However, since Christ ascended into heaven, Christ appointed in the Church His visible leader and ambassador in the Person of Peter. Cardinal Gibbons wrote a lucid explanation on this topic of which the researcher wishes to add nothing more:
“…in the Old Law the High Priest appointed by the Almighty God filled an office analogous to that of the Pope in the New Law. In the Jewish Church there were Priests and Levites ordained to minister in the altar; and there was, also, a supreme ecclesiastical tribunal, with the High Priest at its head. All matters of religious controversy were referred to this tribunal and in the last resort to the High priest, whose decision was enforced under the pain of death. ‘if there be a hard matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy…thou shalt come to the Priests of the Levitical race and to the judge….but he that…will refuse to obey the commandment of the priest, who ministereth at the time…that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the evil from Israel’”(Deut 17:8-12).
From the passage above it is evident that in the Hebrew Church the High Priest had the highest jurisdiction in religious matters. By this means unity of faith and worship was preserved among the people of God….Now the Jewish synagogue, as St. Paul testifies, was the type and figure of the Christian Church; for ‘all these things happen to them (the Jews) in figure’ (1 Cor.10:2). We must, therefore, find in the Church of Christ a spiritual judge, exercising the same supreme authority as the High Priest wielded in the Old Law. For if a supreme Pontiff was necessary in the Mosaic dispensation to maintain purity and uniformity of worship, the same dignitary is equally necessary now to preserve the unity of faith. (The Faith of our Fathers, pp.78-79).
Friday, August 21, 2009
Mga Kamalian ni Soriano sa 1 Juan 4
SORIANO'S ERROR IN 1 JOHN 4
1 John 4:1-3 – 1 Mga minamahal, huwag kayong magsipaniwala sa bawa’t espiritu, kundi inyong subukin ang mga espiritu, kung sily’a sa Dios; sapagka’t maraming nagsilitaw na mga bulaang propeta sa sanglibutan.
2 Ditoy’ nakikilala ninyo ang Espiritu ng Dios: ang bawa’t espiritung nagpapahayag na si Jesucristo ay naparitong nasa laman ay sa Dios:
3 At ang bawa’t espiritung hindi ipinahahayag si Jesus, ay hindi sa Dios: at ito ang sa anticristo, na inyong narinig na darating; at ngayo’y nasa sanglibutan na.
6 Tayo nga’y sa Dios: ang nakakakilala sa Dios ay dumirinig sa atin; ang hindi sa Dios ay hindi dumirinig sa atin. Dito’y ating nakikilala ang espiritu ng katotohanan, at ang espitiu ng kamalian.
Komentaryo: Si Soriano pala ang tatamaan dito e. Una, kasi itinuturo niya na si Kristo “ay PARANG tao, pero hindi talaga tao”. Yan ang maling katuruan ng mga Gnostico ng 1st-3rd century sa early Church. Kaya binabalaan ni San Juan na huwag padadala sa Gnostikong katuruan na si Kristo ay esparto lamang, di-nagkatawang-tao. Yun nga ang itinuturo ni Soriano! Kasi hindi nagbabasa ng history yan, gusto nya ang history ay mag-ayon sa kanya. Pwede ba yun?
Pangalawa, sa talatang 6, sabi ni San Juan, ang nakakilala sa Dios ay nakikinig sa ATIN. Sinong ATIN YAN? Yan ang mga unang Kristyano na kasama ng mga Apostoles at ng kanilang mga tagsunod century after century till the end of time. Aside from Titus, Timothy, Barnabas, Mark, who were the 2nd generation Christians after the Apostles, sinong mga 3rd generation Christians and all those after them? TOTAL BLACK OUT NA dito si Soriano at mga Protestante! Wala kasi silang Church history kasi bagong salta lang ang kanilang iglesia! Pero ito assignment ko sa inyo: basahin nyo mga standard references like encyclopedia and world history at alamin kung sino sila St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Ireneus, St. Polycarp na direct disciple of John the Beloved, mga early Church Fathers. O medyo marami na yan, baka di kaya ng mga utak nyo at magka-LBM kayo, ako pa ang may kasalanan nyan. Pero for the sake of the truth naman yan e, at added pa sa ating kaalaman para sa ating kaligtasan, mga pare ko.
O sige na, dito lang muna tayo magpaalam, kasi magpahinga na muna ako. Pasalamat tayo sa Dios sa ating hero na si Ninoy, at walang classes ako ngayon, kaya mabigyan ko naman kayo ng time ko, especially mga taga-Dating Daan.
May God bless us all. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
(Next na mga Paksa ko, abangan nyo, mga kaibigan).
2 Tim.3:16-17 – Ang lahat ng mga kasulatan na kinasihan ng Dios ay mapapakinabangan din naman sa pagtuturo, sa pagsansala, sa pagsaway, sa ikatututo na nasa katuwiran:
Upang ang mga tao ng Dios ay maging sakdal, tinuruang lubos sa lahat ng mga gawang mabuti.
Santiago 1:4 – At inyong pabayaan na ang pagtitits ay magkaroon ng sakdal na gawa, upang kayo’y maging sakdal at ganap, na walang anoman kakulangan.
1. Acts 20:28 – Jesus who is God bought the church. For INC, Christ is only man.
2. Acts 20:28–30 some (not all) will introduce heresies – that’s Manalo! Total apostasy is a heresy concocted by Manalo, Mormons, SDA and the Protestants
Examination of the claims of Anti-Catholic Churches
a. Examination of INC’s claim for Rom.16:16 & Acts 20:28
3. Churches, not church (iglesia)
4. Cristo, not Filipino (Kristo) but Spanish
5. Roman Christians are Catholics
6. 1st cent. Christians ang tinutukoy, not 20th cent. Christians na dito lang nagsimula sa Pilipinas noong 1914. Kahit ano pang twist ni Manalo sa talata ng Isaaiah 46:11 na "Far East" daw.
7. INC is not Church of Christ because Christ did not establish it, but the Church of Manalo as evidenced by the SEC
8. Church, nagtalikod/ apostasized & be erected by Manalo? Where in that verse & the entire Bible? Mt. 16:18 – the powers of hell shall not overcome it. It’s either Jesus or Manalo was telling lies. Since Jesus could not tell lies, then it is Manalo who is telling lies!
9. Acts 20:28 – flock of God, not just Church of God as its name
10. Acts 20:28 – bishops – who has bishops but the Catholic Churc
1 John 4:1-3 – 1 Mga minamahal, huwag kayong magsipaniwala sa bawa’t espiritu, kundi inyong subukin ang mga espiritu, kung sily’a sa Dios; sapagka’t maraming nagsilitaw na mga bulaang propeta sa sanglibutan.
2 Ditoy’ nakikilala ninyo ang Espiritu ng Dios: ang bawa’t espiritung nagpapahayag na si Jesucristo ay naparitong nasa laman ay sa Dios:
3 At ang bawa’t espiritung hindi ipinahahayag si Jesus, ay hindi sa Dios: at ito ang sa anticristo, na inyong narinig na darating; at ngayo’y nasa sanglibutan na.
6 Tayo nga’y sa Dios: ang nakakakilala sa Dios ay dumirinig sa atin; ang hindi sa Dios ay hindi dumirinig sa atin. Dito’y ating nakikilala ang espiritu ng katotohanan, at ang espitiu ng kamalian.
Komentaryo: Si Soriano pala ang tatamaan dito e. Una, kasi itinuturo niya na si Kristo “ay PARANG tao, pero hindi talaga tao”. Yan ang maling katuruan ng mga Gnostico ng 1st-3rd century sa early Church. Kaya binabalaan ni San Juan na huwag padadala sa Gnostikong katuruan na si Kristo ay esparto lamang, di-nagkatawang-tao. Yun nga ang itinuturo ni Soriano! Kasi hindi nagbabasa ng history yan, gusto nya ang history ay mag-ayon sa kanya. Pwede ba yun?
Pangalawa, sa talatang 6, sabi ni San Juan, ang nakakilala sa Dios ay nakikinig sa ATIN. Sinong ATIN YAN? Yan ang mga unang Kristyano na kasama ng mga Apostoles at ng kanilang mga tagsunod century after century till the end of time. Aside from Titus, Timothy, Barnabas, Mark, who were the 2nd generation Christians after the Apostles, sinong mga 3rd generation Christians and all those after them? TOTAL BLACK OUT NA dito si Soriano at mga Protestante! Wala kasi silang Church history kasi bagong salta lang ang kanilang iglesia! Pero ito assignment ko sa inyo: basahin nyo mga standard references like encyclopedia and world history at alamin kung sino sila St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Ireneus, St. Polycarp na direct disciple of John the Beloved, mga early Church Fathers. O medyo marami na yan, baka di kaya ng mga utak nyo at magka-LBM kayo, ako pa ang may kasalanan nyan. Pero for the sake of the truth naman yan e, at added pa sa ating kaalaman para sa ating kaligtasan, mga pare ko.
O sige na, dito lang muna tayo magpaalam, kasi magpahinga na muna ako. Pasalamat tayo sa Dios sa ating hero na si Ninoy, at walang classes ako ngayon, kaya mabigyan ko naman kayo ng time ko, especially mga taga-Dating Daan.
May God bless us all. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
(Next na mga Paksa ko, abangan nyo, mga kaibigan).
2 Tim.3:16-17 – Ang lahat ng mga kasulatan na kinasihan ng Dios ay mapapakinabangan din naman sa pagtuturo, sa pagsansala, sa pagsaway, sa ikatututo na nasa katuwiran:
Upang ang mga tao ng Dios ay maging sakdal, tinuruang lubos sa lahat ng mga gawang mabuti.
Santiago 1:4 – At inyong pabayaan na ang pagtitits ay magkaroon ng sakdal na gawa, upang kayo’y maging sakdal at ganap, na walang anoman kakulangan.
1. Acts 20:28 – Jesus who is God bought the church. For INC, Christ is only man.
2. Acts 20:28–30 some (not all) will introduce heresies – that’s Manalo! Total apostasy is a heresy concocted by Manalo, Mormons, SDA and the Protestants
Examination of the claims of Anti-Catholic Churches
a. Examination of INC’s claim for Rom.16:16 & Acts 20:28
3. Churches, not church (iglesia)
4. Cristo, not Filipino (Kristo) but Spanish
5. Roman Christians are Catholics
6. 1st cent. Christians ang tinutukoy, not 20th cent. Christians na dito lang nagsimula sa Pilipinas noong 1914. Kahit ano pang twist ni Manalo sa talata ng Isaaiah 46:11 na "Far East" daw.
7. INC is not Church of Christ because Christ did not establish it, but the Church of Manalo as evidenced by the SEC
8. Church, nagtalikod/ apostasized & be erected by Manalo? Where in that verse & the entire Bible? Mt. 16:18 – the powers of hell shall not overcome it. It’s either Jesus or Manalo was telling lies. Since Jesus could not tell lies, then it is Manalo who is telling lies!
9. Acts 20:28 – flock of God, not just Church of God as its name
10. Acts 20:28 – bishops – who has bishops but the Catholic Churc
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