Why do Catholics think they are not worshipping Mary?

Question

A picture is worth a thousand words:

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/fig_leaf_religion.htm

If they kneel down before the Mary statue or pray to it, then it is worship!

Catholicism is rooted in the sin of IDOLATRY! Catholics commit the horrible sin of IDOLATRY when they bow before a statue of Mary. Exodus 20:4-5a commands, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them...”

Jesus Christ in John 14:6 that He alone is the only way to Heaven. Praying the Rosary to Mary is a road to Hell. Mary cannot help you in even the slightest way to enter Heaven

So why do Catholics pray to Mary??

Answer 1

The catholics do know they are praying to mary, that is not the problem. The problem is the heart of the catholic is far from God. They believe mary can get them into heaven because they believe Jesus HAS to obey mary.



You will never be able to convince a catholic of the truth in the Bible for they believe only the catholic church has the truth and all born again Christians are headed for hell. You have to view catholics in the same way as the other cults in the world. I have talked to catholics on here who actually believe God has sinned. Catholics really do not know God. They are taught from birth to follow mary instead.



The Roman catholic church is a cult. They have put their oral traditions above the Word of God.

Answer 2

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Really? Says who? Kneeling is a sign of honor and respect, not always worship.



For centuries people knelt before their king, but it was not worship. And people worship things they never kneel in front of...so your logic is flawed. If kneeling is always worship, then when you worship God you must always been kneeling...and if you're not...they you aren't worshiping him.



I've seen the cute picture many times of a child kneeling next to the bed praying. Is the child worshiping the bed? Why kneel then?



Because you see something, and you make an assumption and then draw a conclusion, does not make your right. It only makes you right in your own mind....but what does that have to do with Catholics?



I think we all agree that many people worship things that have no statue...money, sex, fame, self...how is it that they worship these things without a statue to kneel in front of? It must be that worship comes from the heart. And if worship comes from the heart...you cannot know what a person is doing when they are kneeling right? Unless you believe you are God.



God knows who I worship, and I'm not worried what you think. God cannot be fooled. The Catholic Church has consistently taught for 2000 years that worship of false gods is a sin. Worship of Mary and/or saints is just as grave a sin.



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To ask her to pray for us and with us. Why is that wrong? Prayer is not the same thing as worship. The actual literal meaning of the word "pray" is to ask or petition. So we ask, and petition, Mary to pray for us. Get it?

Answer 3

No one is praying to a statue in a Catholic church. And no prayer and worship are not the same thing. Catholics honor Mary because she's the only person whose always said yes to Christ. She had unshaken faith in the Lord. Mary is the first Christian and the mother of Christ! If one really studies the Holy Family then one begins to understand this concept of just why Mary is held so high and how it is often confused with worshiping her.

Answer 4

Catholics Worship God alone, we vererate the Blessed Virgin Mary.



Romans 13:7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.



Tradition aside, Protestants should be venerating The Blessed Virgin according to scripture since they say they listen to the bible alone.



1st they need to call her blessed.



Luke 1:48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;



2nd if Jesus is our Brother, by default that makes Mary our Mother and what does God tell us about our Parents?



Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.



3rd the blessed Virgin Mary was at every single milestone of Jesus.



Before his conception (Angel announces she will carry Jesus in her womb)

His Birth

His Circumcision (Presentation at the Temple)

His first Miracle(Water to Wine)

Sermon on the Mount

His trial

His scourging

His Crucifixion

His Death

His burial

His Resurrection

His Ascension

and at the Birth of the Church at Pentecost.



No other person in the bible comes close to being that involved with Christ, so I think she deserves the veneration that Catholics show her. Why Non Catholics do not is the real mystery? Good lord, even the Muslims venerate the Blessed Mother nearly as much as Catholics.



Peace be with you



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Answer 5

"If they kneel down before the Mary statue or pray to it, then it is worship!" ---- Wrong. When I was a child, I knelt down next to my bed and prayed. I did not worship my bed... Your assumptions fail, and fall flat on it's face...



"Catholics commit the horrible sin of IDOLATRY when they bow before a statue of Mary." --- Japanese bow to one another when they greet each other as an act of respect. I guess if this is the case, they are worshiping one another? Again, your point breaks apart at the seams.



"Exodus 20:4-5a commands, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them...” ---- Yet GOD commands Moses to build Cherubim to surround the Holy of Holies... Commands him to construct a staff with a snake draped upon it? Hmmm... Are you saying that GOD contradicts HIMSELF? This would be impossible, and thus, you are wrenching scripture out of context.



"Jesus Christ in John 14:6 that He alone is the only way to Heaven. Praying the Rosary to Mary is a road to Hell. Mary cannot help you in even the slightest way to enter Heaven" ---- Just like Mary was able to intercede when Jesus turned water into wine? Just as Jesus and his Apostles went to the top of the mountain and was offering prayer up to GOD the Father, Elijah, and Moses? Just like how the Angels approach the altar in Revelations bearing prayers of the Saints? Hmmmm... sounds like intercessory prayer to me...Again... your views are quite distorted... You fail again.

Answer 6

WOW you are a mind reader??? i thought witch craft was forbidden in the Christian faith? i refuse to go to your biased hate filled website but find your ignorance overwhelming.





Statues are simply a reminder a visual aid to the hero’s of God, the Christian faith. If they were not why in Rev 6:9-10 are they under the altar of God asking how long it will be before the will be avenged on earth? They are there, it tells us, watching and waiting. Scripture back up – 1 Per 2:17, Rom 12:10, Heb 12:22-23, Heb 11, 2 Cor 3:18

BTW, I have many pictures of family, friends, the Last Supper, Crucifix, Nativity scene etc in my home. They could all be destroyed tomorrow (& some were in my flood) it did not diminish my love for the person or my strength in my faith.



why did God give people artistic talents?

why do you have pictures in your home?

when you kneel in pray beside your bed - are you worshipping your mattress?



when you are praying beside a loved one who is ill or dying - are you worshipping them?



the statues are there because of someone's talent. they are there to remind us that -- mere humans CAN dedicate their lives fully to God's plan.



Catholics are smart enough and mature enough to be able to comprehend -- the statues mean nothing, they are only beautiful things to remind us that we too can be Christ like in our every action, thought & deed.



do you have any clue how many people have stood at the vietnam wall and cried or the WWII monument????

how sad and ugly a heart that can not feel.

Answer 7

So, if I watch you kneel in front of the TV to put a DVD into the player, does that mean you are worshiping your TV?



If you kneel in front of your Christmas tree to put presents around it, does that mean you are a druid who worships trees?



If a man kneels down in front of his girlfriend and asks her to marry him, does that mean he worships her?



If you kneel beside your bed to say prayers, are you worshiping your bed?



If your preacher has an altar call and people rush forward and kneel down in front of him, are they worshiping your preacher?



Catholics don't worship Mary because Mary isn't God. We may kneel NEAR a statue of Mary (just like you might kneel NEAR your preacher or NEAR your bed), but we don't worship the statue and we don't worship Mary.



Worship comes from the heart, not the body. God judges our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7), not outward appearances like you do.



Catholics know that Jesus is the only way to heaven.



The Rosary is a devotional about the life & works of Christ!



Mary helps *everybody* to heaven in that she gave birth to Jesus and helped Him come into this world so that He could die for our sins.



Catholics look to Mary as an intercessor because Jesus established her as our intercessor in John 2.

Answer 8

Hell will be full of good people who thought any act of their own goodness would be enough that a Merciful God would certainly accept them into Heaven. Denying the necessity of judgment will not satisfy it. God is not your servant, and He won’t be bought-off on Judgment Day with your good works. Your sins will all be judged, past and present. Sadly, many will discover too late, His mercy was already shown in giving them time to respond to His only acceptable way to have eternal life:

In an astonishing act of mercy, God provided His one and only way for all your sins to be completely forgiven; for you to know without doubt you will receive eternal life. Fully God and fully human, Jesus’ sacrifice was big enough to completely cleanse as many as will confess their sins, truly sorry and turn from them. Then trust that justice was totally satisfied in Jesus’ death on the cross taking the punishment your sins deserved…something you must do, right now.

Answer 9

It is a shame that you don't understand that Worship is a state of mind. Kneeling and bowing do not mean that one is worshiping anything, it can be done to show veneration to the person in which the object represents.



When you pray, do you kneel next to your bed? or an object to help support yourself? Are you worshiping that object then if you do so?



In Japan it is honorable and out of courtesy to bow to one another to show respect, is that worship?



Oremus pro Invicem.



@Timmy, Pray means to humbly ask or petitions. You need to strengthen your vocabulary, otherwise you make yourself sound very ignorant.





It's interesting, with the Ark of the Old Covenant, reverencing it did not subtract from the Worship (Cultus Latriæ) of God, though irreverence was considered an insult to God. Blessed Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, and people show such disrespect towards her. It is truly a Shame.

Answer 10

Catholics kneel before sacred images of Jesus to adore our God made man,this same Jesus is divine in case you forgot, as for Mary She is the holy Mother of the divine One and as such is rightly honoured,so whenever people kneel to pray at Her statue they kneel down in humble recognition that She is above all others on earth and has a powerful intercession before Her divine Son.

Because Mary is not divine we do not give Her worship but profound honour,you should try prayer to Mary for She has never failed to help us as She did for the young couple at the wedding feast at Cana.IT is strange is it not that when anti-Catholic evangelists/Fundamentalists etc convert to the true church they are amazed that they were so bigoted and blinded and got the whole Mary thing so wrong.

Answer 11

Catholics are praying to God through Mary (and the saints). They are not worshiping Mary, they are praying to God using Mary as a sort of "mediator".



I don't believe Catholics worship anyone but God, but the only mystery I never understood is why there needs to be any mediation between God and worshipers. If God is all knowing and all loving, then why not pray directly to him? Perhaps a better Catholic than I ever was could answer that question.

Answer 12

Bigots seeking validation from other hypocritical bigots are the saddest kind of bigot of all. Their own beliefs are so shaky that they actually have to resort to displaying their ignorance to the world AND asking for that ignorance to be 'verified' only by other people who are equally ignorant and hypocritical.



Thinking for yourself... doing un-biased, objective research... that's just too much to ask, after all. God forbid you actually have any of your misconceptions *challenged*. Oh, noes!



Here's a better question:



If you're going to ignore any honest answers from people whom you are pretending to direct your questions to (in this case, Catholics), why waste their time and everyone else's time? You could at least be honest and drop the pretense. You're not actually interested in the truth at all: all you want is your mistaken opinions verified by a small group of bigots who think exactly like you do.



Perhaps you should try coming back and asking honest questions when you've grown up, and have developed an interest in engaging in open-minded, considerate civil discourse, like a real adult.

Answer 13

Kneeling is not worship. It is a sign of love and prayer.



It just became associated with worship, because medieval Kings made it that way.



Catholics, like myself, know that Mary is not God. She, however, is a fantastic mediator. Like a great teacher recommendation, if you will.



Neither myself nor any other Catholic worships Mary, Saints, or statues. Those statues merely represent what we love and respect. Surely, you don't worship the picture of a deceased loved one, do you? No! You recognize that picture REPRESENTS that person.

Answer 14

Thank you for opening my eyes. I now know when a evangelical minister kneels and prays with a bible in front of him that he is worshiping the BIBLE. Thank you so much...

Answer 15

We say we don't worship or pray to Mary because we know we don't. You can not say we do because you do not know our hearts, and when you deny what we tell you, you attempt to place yourself on equal footing with God by claiming to know what is in our hearts, minds and intentions.



The only person being blasphemous and fancying mere mortals as gods, and the ones who claim that Catholics worship Mary, when we clearly do not.

Answer 16

When you kneel at your bedside, are you praying to the bed? If you have a Bible on the table when you sit and pray, are you praying to the Bible? Of course not. Neither are Catholics worshiping Mary.



They (and we) *do pray *to the saints, but that is not worship. To "pray to" means to "make requests of", as in "Pray, tell. The most common prayer by Roman Catholics, the Rosary, contains this "Holy Mary, Mother of God (that is, the God-man Jesus), PRAY FOR us sinners now, and at the hour of our death." Notice that it is a request that Mary pray for us.



The Orthodox have a similar prayer, "Most Holy Theotokos ("the one who gave birth to God", that is, to the God-man Jesus) intercede for us."



Christians who hold the ancient faith believe that the bond of love between believers is not broken by death. As they prayed for one another (James 5) in this life, so they continue to pray; we ask them for their prayers like we do our pastor or a prayer partner. No different, really, except that the departed are already among the "great cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1) urging us on in our struggles.



Hey, I'll get whoever I can to pray for my salvation.



Blessings.

/Orthodox

Answer 17

We don't worship or pray to THAT statue, we pray to what it represents. WE do not pray to just a crisscross stick or piece of wood cross, we pray to what THAT symbol represents. GET THE PICTURE??!!!

Answer 18

You shouldn't trust non-Catholic websites for things Catholic.



Images and Statues

Deut. 4:15 - from this verse, Protestants say that since we saw "no form" of the Lord, we should not make graven images of Him.



Deut. 4:16 - of course, in early history Israel was forbidden to make images of God because God didn't yet reveal himself visibly "in the form of any figure."



Deut. 4:17-19 - hence, had the Israelites depicted God not yet revealed, they might be tempted to worship Him in the form of a beast, bird, reptile or fish, which was a common error of the times.



Exodus 3:2-3; Dan 7:9; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32; Acts 2:3- later on, however, we see that God did reveal himself in visible form (as a dove, fire, etc).



Deut. 5:8 - God's commandment "thou shall not make a graven image" is entirely connected to the worship of false gods. God does not prohibit images to be used in worship, but He prohibits the images themselves to be worshiped.



Exodus 25:18-22; 26:1,31 - for example, God commands the making of the image of a golden cherubim. This heavenly image, of course, is not worshiped by the Israelites. Instead, the image disposes their minds to the supernatural and draws them to God.



Num. 21:8-9 - God also commands the making of the bronze serpent. The image of the bronze serpent is not an idol to be worshiped, but an article that lifts the mind to the supernatural.



I Kings 6:23-36; 7:27-39; 8:6-67 - Solomon's temple contains statues of cherubim and images of cherubim, oxen and lions. God did not condemn these images that were used in worship.



2 Kings 18:4 - it was only when the people began to worship the statue did they incur God's wrath, and the king destroyed it. The command prohibiting the use of graven images deals exclusively with the false worship of those images.



1 Chron. 28:18-19 - David gives Solomon the plan for the altar made of refined gold with a golden cherubim images. These images were used in the Jews' most solemn place of worship.



2 Chron. 3:7-14 - the house was lined with gold with elaborate cherubim carved in wood and overlaid with gold.



Ezek. 41:15 - Ezekiel describes graven images in the temple consisting of carved likenesses of cherubim. These are similar to the images of the angels and saints in many Catholic churches.



Col. 1:15 - the only image of God that Catholics worship is Jesus Christ, who is the "image" (Greek "eikon") of the invisible God.

Answer 19

Why do protestants worship a pair of crossed sticks on the wall? A picture is worth a thousand words; if they are writhing on the ground in religious ecstasy, spouting gibberish because of those sticks, they are worshiping the sticks.

Answer 20

Well I think before you judge good decent catholics everywhere for their love of and reverence for Mary, the Mother of CHrist - let me just point out that IDOLATRY is a sin that affects ALL Of us in one way or another. WHAT DO YOU put lst in your life other than GOD.... sports, boating on Sunday, golfing instead of being with your family, your job maybe, how about MONEY, material things, we ALL have idols in this world that we worship whether we wish to recognize them for what they are OR NOT! SO I think maybe one should consider the MOTE in thy own eye before you start looking at the BEAM YOU see in any "Catholics" eye - don't ya think?



I'm just saying.... Someone else's FAITH is something to respect and they are free to believe, see, perceive and understand their truth & faith as they wish. WHO are we to judge?

Answer 21

So using your logic, a child who kneels next to his bed at night to say his prayers is praying to the bed.



And a family who bows over their food before saying grace is worshipping their food.



You fail. Boy, and what a colossal one, too.



By the way, I think it makes you look really bad when you tell people what they believe. Why don't you ask them instead, you might learn something and come across less arrogant at the same time.

Answer 22

Oh, THAT's not a biased website at ALL, is it?



Going to jesus-is-savior.com for info on Catholics is like reading Mein Kampf to get information on Jews.

Answer 23

If you say so. You obviously don't want to think that they are kneeling before God and praying to Him, so no matter how many times anyone would try to tell you different, you would not believe it.

It is just as easy for Catholics to say Protestantism is rooted in the sin of pride.

Answer 24

For the same reason that despite this image (see link below) Protestants think they are not worshiping the cross.

Answer 25

I will tell you this - when I pray, I know EXACTLY who I am praying to. You do not. You are not there, nor have you ever been there.



You want to tell me whom I worship? Go ahead - it doesn't change the truth. Silly child.

Answer 26

We know who we are praying to. I wonder how you think you know who we are praying to.

if you desire information about Catholics and their practices I would suggest you attend RCIA classes. You might even want to join us

Answer 27

While it is true catholics do worship Mary have almost as many feast days for her as they do jesu.

The rest of xtianity is no better, as jesu is an idol, the origin of the trinity is ancient Babylon, just as catholicism.

G*D teaches if you keep these 7 laws you will have an equal share in the world to come.



* To behave justly in all relationships, and to establish courts of justice.

* To refrain from blaspheming Gods name.

* To refrain from practicing idolatry.

* To avoid immoral practices, specifically incest and adultery.

* To avoid shedding the blood of ones fellow man.

* To refrain from robbing ones fellow man.

* To refrain from eating a limb torn from a live animal.



G*D denies jesu :

Scripture says the Creator has no son but the Nation of Israel.

Shemot-Exodus 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, 'So said the Lord, "My firstborn son is Israel." '

Scripture says the Creator is 1

Devarim - Deuteronomy - Chapter 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one.

Yeshayahu- Isaiah - Chapter 45:7. Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates evil; I am the Lord, Who makes all these.



The Creator alone is the only savior

Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.



The Creator alone is the only Redeemer

Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.



Scripture says the Creator said none share his glory

Yeshayahu- Isaiah - Chapter 42:8. I am the Lord, that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to the graven images.



Scripture says the Creator said none sit beside him

Yeshayahu- Isaiah - Chapter 45: 5. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God: I will strengthen you although you have not known Me.

6. In order that they know from the shining of the sun and from the west that there is no one besides Me; I am the Lord and there is no other.



Scripture says the Creator will not come as a man

Answer 28

I'd like someone to show me a verse in the Bible where it says that Mary was resurrected.



Even if she was, then how come we can't pray to Moses, or Elijah, or Enoch, people that the Bible DOES say were taken to heaven?



Wait...correction. Why don't we "ask" Moses or Elijah to pray for us? I'm still trying to figure out how to ask them if it's not praying. The definition of prayer is an effort to communicate with a God, or to some deity or deities, either to offer praise to the deity, to make a request of the deity, or simply to express one's thoughts ...



Hmm, make a request. Make a request. Is that the same as asking? Prayer an effort to make a request, or to ASK something of the deity. Kay, back to square one here. How is it NOT prayer again?

Answer 29

Catholic Christians only worship God Almighty. Would you say a child who is kneeling at his bedisde saying his nighttime prayers is worshiping the bed? Would you say that a person who bows to a king or queen of a country is worshiping that king or queen? We ASK The Blessed Virgin to pray for us just as you would ask a friend or family member to pray for you We do not worship idols or false gods, as stated above we only worship God Almighty.



The Rosary (aka the Gospel of Jesus Christ) is all biblical.



In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost

(Matt 28:19; cf. John 14:13-14; Acts 2:21)



I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Lev 5:5; Neh 1:5-9; Dan 9:3-19; James 5:16)





Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

(Matt 6:9-13; cf. Luke 11:2-4; Mark 14:36; Gal 4:6)





Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. (Luke 2:14; cf. Rev 4:11; 5:11-14)







O my Jesus, forgive us of our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.





Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. (Luke 1:28)

Blessed art thou among women (Luke 1:41-42a,Luke 1:48),

Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus (Luke 1:42b)

Holy Mary, Mother of God (Luke 1:43)

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen (Luke 2:35, John 2:3-5)





The Joyful Mysteries

(Mondays and Saturdays)

1. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) [Spiritual fruit - Humility]

2. The Visitation (Luke 1: 39-56) [Spiritual fruit - Love of Neighbor]

3. The Nativity (Luke 2:1-20) [Spiritual fruit - Poverty of Spirit]

4. The Presentation (Luke 2:21-38) [Spiritual fruit - Purity of mind & body]

5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52) [Spiritual fruit - Obedience ]



The Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light

(Thursdays) see Rosarium Virginis Mariae

1. Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan (II Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 3:17 and parallels) [Spiritual fruit - Gratitude for the gift of Faith]

2. Jesus' self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana (John 2:1- 12) [Spiritual fruit - Fidelity]

3. Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with His call to conversion (Mark 1:15, Mark 2:3-13; Luke 7:47- 48, John 20:22-23) [Spiritual fruit - Desire for Holiness]

4. Jesus' Transfiguration (Luke 9:35 and parallels) [Spiritual fruit - Spiritual Courage]

5. Jesus' institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery. (Luke 24:13-35 and parallels, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) [Spiritual fruit - Love of our Eucharistic Lord]



The Sorrowful Mysteries

(Tuesdays and Fridays)

1. The Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46) [Spiritual fruit - God's will be done]

2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1) [Spiritual fruit - Mortification of the senses]

3. The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:2) [Spiritual fruit - Reign of Christ in our heart]

4. The Carrying of the Cross (Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:17) [Spiritual fruit - Patient bearing of trials]

5. The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-39, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:17-37) [Spiritual fruit - Pardoning of Injuries]



The Glorious Mysteries

(Wednesdays and Sundays)

1.The Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:1-18, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29) [Spiritual fruit - Faith]

2. The Ascension (Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:6-11) [Spiritual fruit - Christian Hope]

3. The Descent of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-13) [Spiritual fruit - Gifts of the Holy Spirit]

4. The Assumption [Spiritual fruit - To Jesus through Mary]

5. The Coronation [Spiritual fruit - Grace of Final Perseverance]

Answer 30

You are imposing a biased interpretation on the image, presuming to know the thoughts of those worshippers. They worship God, and they are inspired to worship God by the image of Mary. In addition, they are asking a resurrected saint to pray for them.



Sometimes words are worth a thousand pictures--see the link. Quoting:



The fact that someone kneels before a statue to pray does not mean that he is praying to the statue, just as the fact that someone kneels with a Bible in his hands to pray does not mean that he is worshiping the Bible. Statues or paintings or other artistic devices are used to recall to the mind the person or thing depicted. Just as it is easier to remember one’s mother by looking at her photograph, so it is easier to recall the lives of the saints by looking at representations of them.



The use of statues and icons for liturgical purposes (as opposed to idols) also had a place in the Old Testament. In Exodus 25:18–20, God commanded: "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."



In Numbers 21:8–9, he told Moses: "‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." This shows the actual ceremonial use of a statue (looking to it) in order to receive a blessing from God (healing from snakebite). In John 3:14, Jesus tells us that he himself is what the bronze serpent represented, so it was a symbolic representation of Jesus. There was no problem with this statue—God had commanded it to be made—so long as people did not worship it. When they did, the righteous king Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kgs. 18:4). This clearly shows the difference between the proper religious use of statues and idolatry.



Cheers,

Bruce

Answer 31

We Don't the end

Answer 32

Correct..We are instructed that with no doubt that worshiping idols is enmity with God. But some religious don't instruct against it.They worship more then just mary.They worship all idols that and they are not instructed not too..Hypocrites is what I call any religions who do this and is not acceptable to God. Even saluting of the flag is a form of idol worship.

John 4:23,24 'True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: That is the kind of worshiper the father wants. God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth." (those who ely on images as aids to d devotion are not worshiping God in spirit" but they depend on what they can see with their physical eyes.)

Answer 33

I was told by a catholic that they pray thru mary, they use her instead of the holy spirit, whom they don't acknowledge at all. but i asked how can u pray through someone who is dead? God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are very much alive, but mary isn't. i didn't get an answer back. so maybe he doesn't pray to mary, but i know other catholics who do pray to her, and they also pray to the apostle paul and the other "saints". But my bible teaches me to pray to God, in Jesus' name.

Answer 34

They obviously pray to Mary, but then they deny it. It's all part of the deranged state of mind that allows people to be religious in the first place. Recognizing this fact is a big step towards becoming an atheist.

Answer 35

The world staggered under the oppression of the Roman Church during the dark ages that followed. In her thirst for ever greater power and domination, she absorbed all other religions into herself and adulterated the pure doctrine of Christ with an amalgam of superstitions and heresies. This characteristic itself was typical of all the pagan nations, which by conquest perpetually added to their list of deities. Says Durant in The Story of Civilization: "There were gods who presided over every moment of a man's life, gods of the house and garden, of food and drink, of health and sickness. The Roman Church gathered these gods into her bosom and gave them saints' names. Prayers for the dead, instead of to Cybele were now offered up to the Virgin Mary. The use of idols and amulets was preserved, as were offerings of appeasement (penance and indulgences). The pagan kings were believed to be incarnations of the sun-god, and the Roman Church had its counterpart in the pope as the vicar of Christ.



The earliest Christians had denied all compromise with false doctrine and had gladly suffered horrible martyrdoms for refusing even to place a pinch of incense at the feet of pagan altars. Yet in just a few generations of time, a curtain of moral blackness shrouded the church. Ever anxious to assimilate and conquer, she integrated virtually every feature of sun worship into her own rites. To spite the Jews whom they hated and to accommodate the legions of sun worshipers that were entering the "faith through conquest, church leaders very early presumed to transfer the sanctity of the Sabbath to the first day of the week. Sunday was proclaimed...

holiday in honor of Jesus' resurrection, a cunning perversion that eventually brought scorn upon God's great moral law, the Ten Commandments. In time this master stroke also effectively obliterated the worship of God as the literal Creator of the universe, which in turn prepared a wide path for the emergence of evolutionary philosophy, centuries later.

Answer 36

All gods are make-believe. Who are you to say that one person's fiction is not as good as your fiction? When you have proof that ANY of it is real, then maybe you can criticize.

Answer 37

not just Mary but saints as well

Answer 38

idk dude. they make excuse after excuse saying "we are not bowing we are kneeling" and "we don;t pray to marry we ask her to pray for us" blah blah blah