Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: MMJ
Program Code: MMJ000007
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00:37 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
00:39 Our Father and Our God, we're so thankful for the opportunity 00:43 of opening Your Word, and we ask for the guidance 00:47 our Your Holy Spirit. 00:48 I ask, Father, that those who are viewing this programming 00:54 might have open hearts, and open minds to the voice 00:58 of Your Holy Spirit. 00:59 And we thank You, Father, for hearing our prayer 01:02 for we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, Amen. 01:05 In our study today we are going to deal with the final dogma. 01:13 And in order to understand the final dogma 01:16 we need to understand, first of all, the first four dogmas 01:20 that the Roman Catholic Church entertains about Mary, 01:25 the mother of Jesus. 01:26 I would like to begin by reading a statement that was found 01:31 in the Fresno Bee, our local newspaper, on August 30, 1997. 01:38 Basically, this is what the article in the newspaper said: 01:43 The Catholic Church holds four dogmas about Mary. 01:49 The word dogma means doctrine, or teaching. 01:52 Four dogmas. By the way, they can't be changed. 01:55 Mary is believed to be the mother of God. 01:58 That's number one. 02:00 And her virginity is said to be perpetual. 02:04 That's number two. 02:05 In the nineteenth century the church declared the immaculate 02:11 conception of Mary, meaning she was free from the stain of sin 02:16 from the moment of her conception. 02:18 This is number three. 02:19 And forty-seven years ago the assumption was declared. 02:24 That dogma, celebrated with a fast day, Friday, 02:29 says that after her earthly life 02:32 Mary was assumed into heaven. 02:35 That's number four. 02:37 So the four dogmas which have been proclaimed infallibly 02:42 in the Roman Catholic Church are Mary, the mother of God, 02:46 the perpetual virginity of Mary, and the third place, 02:50 the immaculate conception of Mary, 02:52 and finally, the assumption of Mary. 02:55 Now I would like to deal with each one of these separately, 03:00 and then I would like to speak about a fifth dogma 03:04 which is being discussed very vividly within the communion 03:09 of the Roman Catholic scholarly world. 03:12 Let's deal, first of all, with the idea that Mary 03:16 is the mother of God. 03:17 This, basically, was adopted in two early church councils: 03:22 One was the Council of Ephesus, in the year 431, 03:26 and the second was in the Council of Chalcedon, 03:30 in the year 451. Basically, the word which was adopted was 03:36 that Mary is Theotokos. 03:39 That is a Greek word that means that she gave birth to God. 03:45 Now we need to understand in what sense this was adopted 03:49 into the Roman Catholic Church. 03:52 Because this has been greatly misunderstood by many people. 03:55 You see, there was a heretic that arose at that time. 03:58 His name was Nestorius. 04:00 And he taught that when Jesus was born from Mary, 04:04 it was only the human Jesus who was born from Mary, 04:10 not the divine human Jesus, just the human Jesus. 04:17 And the purpose of the Council of Ephesus and Chalcedon 04:21 was the emphasize that when Mary brought Jesus into the 04:24 world, He was both God and man. 04:27 Now Chalcedon was not trying to teach that Mary was the mother 04:32 of the divinity of Jesus. 04:33 They were simply trying to teach that Mary brought Jesus 04:38 into the world, and Jesus had two natures: His divine nature, 04:42 which existed before His incarnation, 04:44 and His human nature, which was being born at the moment 04:48 of the birth of Jesus. 04:51 Let me read you the key words in the declaration 04:55 that was made at Chalcedon. 04:57 This is what the church council said: Born of the virgin Mary, 05:03 the mother of God, according to His manhood. 05:08 So clearly, Chalcedon said that Mary was the mother of God 05:15 with respect to the manhood of Jesus, not His divinity. 05:19 In fact, in Roman Catholic circles scholars recognize 05:24 very clearly that Mary was not the mother of God 05:28 in the strictest sense of the word. 05:29 Allow me to read you this statement. 05:31 It's in a pamphlet published by the Knights of Columbus. 05:34 The Mother of Jesus, page 9. 05:37 This is what the writer of this document says: 06:04 Having said that, however, what theologians teach, 06:08 and what the common people believe, 06:10 many times are two different things. 06:12 You see, the theologians make these distinctions between 06:16 well, you know, Mary was not the mother of God 06:18 in the strictest sense. 06:19 She was the mother of the divine human, Jesus. 06:22 In other words, when Jesus came into the world from Mary, 06:25 He was human, and He was also divine. 06:27 But, of course, His divinity existed before 06:29 He came into the world. 06:30 Theologians make those distinctions, 06:32 but the common populous do not. 06:35 And so most Catholics that I have come into contact with 06:38 in Latin America, when you say that Mary was the mother of God, 06:42 they understand it to mean that Mary was the mother of God 06:46 in the strictest sense. 06:48 They don't think of Mary simply as the mother 06:51 of the human nature of Jesus. 06:53 By the way, the Bible never calls Mary the mother of God. 06:58 The Bible consistently calls Mary the mother of Jesus. 07:04 And furthermore, the Bible makes it very clear that Jesus 07:09 was the Creator of Mary. 07:10 Because we're told in Colossians 1 that Jesus created all things. 07:15 And so the first dogma is acceptable as long as we realize 07:22 that the emphasis is that Mary brought the divine human child 07:28 into the world, but Mary is not the mother of the divine 07:32 nature of Jesus Christ. 07:35 Now the second dogma that the Roman Catholic Church has 07:39 adopted concerning Mary, is the idea of the perpetual 07:43 virginity of Mary. 07:45 Basically this teaches that Mary was a virgin when Jesus 07:50 was conceived in her womb. 07:51 She was also a virgin after Jesus was born. 07:55 And furthermore, she remained a virgin the rest of her life. 08:00 In other words, Joseph never had sexual relations with Mary ever 08:05 in the times that they were married. 08:07 So, basically, three ideas: 1. When Jesus was 08:13 conceived she was a virgin. 08:15 2. When Jesus was born she remained a virgin. 08:17 3. And all the rest of her life she also was a virgin. 08:21 Now why would the Roman Catholic Church teach such an idea? 08:24 You see, as you examine Roman Catholic theology, 08:28 you discover that sexual relations in Roman Catholicism 08:33 are looked upon as something negative. 08:37 Primarily from the times of Saint Augustine, 08:39 who had problems with sex himself, 08:42 with his sexual desires. 08:45 He came up with the idea that original sin was sexual sin. 08:49 And, therefore, from that time on sexual relations, 08:54 even within marriage, are looked upon as something 08:58 somewhat negative. 08:59 In fact the idea is that sexual relations within marriage 09:04 should exist primarily for the purpose of procreation. 09:09 And that's why artificial contraceptives are forbidden 09:13 even within the marriage relation. 09:15 Because the idea is that if you use contraceptives, 09:18 you're having sex for pleasure. 09:20 And sex only exists for procreation. 09:22 Furthermore, the idea of celibacy in the priesthood 09:26 comes from this idea that sexual relations is something to be 09:31 looked down upon, something negative, something defiling. 09:35 And so the idea is how can a spiritual leader actually defile 09:40 himself by having sexual relations with a woman? 09:44 So basically there's this negative view of sexuality, 09:48 except for the purpose of procreation. 09:50 And as a result, the idea is that Mary could not have had 09:55 sexual relations with Joseph, even after the moment 09:58 that Jesus was born. 10:00 Therefore the Council of Trent said, If anyone should say that 10:06 the marriage state is better than celibacy, 10:09 let him be accursed. 10:11 So in Roman Catholicism the idea is that celibacy is much better 10:16 than the state of marriage. 10:18 I'd like to read you a statement that's written by 10:22 a Roman Catholic scholar in the book, Mary in the Bible, 10:25 Questions and Answers, page 26. 10:27 Notice the rationale that he gives for Mary never having had 10:32 sexual relations after Jesus was brought into the world. 10:37 He says this: 11:06 Now it's true that the womb of Mary had not known a child 11:10 before the birth of Jesus, but there's no Biblical evidence 11:13 that the womb of Mary did not know a child after 11:17 the birth of Jesus. 11:18 In the same book we find this statement: 11:54 He cited eight texts where tradition is used, 11:58 but it's dealing with the tradition which was held by the 12:01 apostles; the written tradition of Scripture. 12:03 It's not talking about oral tradition. 12:06 So, basically, this scholar is saying that the Bible does not 12:10 prove or disprove the perpetual virginity of Mary. 12:13 And when it's not clear in the Bible, then the Roman Catholic 12:16 Church simply uses tradition to define exactly 12:21 what was it that took place. 12:23 Now the Bible's very clear that God created marriage. 12:28 Jesus created marriage. 12:29 Marriage is good. Jesus created human beings with sexual organs 12:34 which means that there's nothing wrong with having sexual 12:37 relations within the state of marriage. 12:39 Jesus honored marriage by attending a wedding at Cana. 12:44 And He performed His first miracle at this wedding. 12:48 Furthermore, we're told in Scripture that Joseph did not 12:51 know Mary until Jesus had been born, which gives the impression 12:57 that Joseph did know Mary after this. 13:00 Furthermore Scripture tells us that Jesus was the firstborn 13:03 of Mary, which would seem to indicate that if He was the 13:06 firstborn, there probably were other children as a result of 13:10 this marriage relationship. 13:12 Now lets move on to the third dogma of the 13:14 Roman Catholic Church: the idea of the immaculate 13:18 conception of Mary. 13:19 Basically, this was proclaimed by Pious IX in his 13:25 encyclical, Ineffabilis Deus. 13:28 And basically what he says in this encyclical is that Mary 13:33 did not suffer the result of Adam's sin. 13:36 In other words, she came with the nature of 13:39 Adam before the fall. 13:40 She came with Adam's unfallen nature, in other words. 13:46 Allow me to read you the statement from the encyclical, 13:51 the key statement where Pope Pius IX proclaims this dogma. 13:56 He says this: 14:33 Now it's very interesting, as you look at the early tradition 14:39 of the Roman Catholic Church, there were many of the early 14:41 fathers that did not believe in the doctrine of 14:44 the immaculate conception. 14:45 You know, the Roman Catholic Church speaks about the uniform 14:51 tradition of the fathers in defining a dogma. 14:55 But a certain theologian says this: Even tradition, 14:58 the usual refuge of Roman Catholics, 15:01 contradicts this Papal dogma. 15:03 Augustine, Ambrose, Krisitom, Eusebius, Anselm, 15:10 Cardinal Khaitan, Saint Antoninus, St. Thomas Aquinas, 15:15 Pope Gregory the Great, Pope Innocent III, 15:18 and many other fathers, doctors, saints, and pope's 15:23 of the Roman Church clearly deny that Mary was conceived 15:27 without original sin. 15:29 So even the Roman Catholic Church has a series of very 15:33 famous scholars, and very famous doctors of the church, 15:36 and very famous early fathers, who did not believe in the 15:41 immaculate conception of Mary. 15:44 In fact, not only in the immaculate conception of Mary, 15:48 but the fact that Mary actually never committed 15:52 any sin in her life. 15:54 Now it's interesting to notice that the Bible tells us 15:58 that Jesus was born that holy thing, and that Jesus 16:03 was tempted in all things such as we are, but He never sinned. 16:07 But the fact is that the Bible never says that Mary was 16:11 actually immaculate during the whole period of her life; 16:15 that she did not inherit the sinful nature of Adam, 16:19 and that she never actually committed any sin, 16:22 whether it be venial or whether it be mortal sin. 16:25 The Bible is silent about any of these things concerning Mary. 16:29 In fact the Bible tells us very clearly that all have sinned 16:34 and come short of the glory of God. 16:36 There is none righteous, no not one. 16:40 And so what the Bible says about Jesus, the Roman Catholic Church 16:45 attributes to Mary without any Biblical 16:48 justification whatsoever. 16:50 Now the fourth dogma of the Roman Catholic Church is the 16:54 idea of the assumption of Mary into heaven after her death. 16:59 In fact this dogma was proclaimed in an encyclical 17:04 by Pope Pius XII, November 1, 1950. 17:08 And the name of the encyclical is Munificentissimus Deus. 17:13 And this is what he said in this encyclical: 17:49 Now it's interesting to notice in the book that we spoke about 17:54 in a previous lecture, The Glories of Mary, 17:57 actually a compilation of the Roman Catholic, 18:00 Wisdom Concerning Mary, up until the 17th century. 18:03 St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote this book. 18:06 It's interesting to notice the sequence of events that he 18:10 presents concerning Mary as she neared her death, 18:14 after her death, and what happened after her resurrection. 18:18 Allow me to go through this very quickly, and you tell me 18:23 if any of this is actually found anywhere in Holy Scripture. 18:28 None of it is. Basically the idea is that after Jesus 18:32 ascended to heaven, Mary stayed on earth assisting the apostles 18:37 in their work of evangelism. 18:39 In fact, according to Liguori, she solved their doubts, 18:44 comforted them in their persecutions, 18:47 and encouraged them to labor for the divine glory, 18:50 and the salvation of redeemed souls. 18:53 Also Liguori says that she consoled her loving heart, 18:58 because she missed Jesus so much, that she visited the holy 19:02 sites in Palestine that had been made famous by Jesus. 19:07 Supposedly, according to Liguori, a few days before 19:11 her death, the Lord sent the archangel Gabriel, 19:15 who said to her the following words: Come then to take 19:19 possession of thy kingdom for I, and all its holy inhabitants 19:25 await and desire thee. 19:27 She then shared this information with the apostle John. 19:32 And then, according to Liguori, she once again did a tour of 19:36 all of the holy sites that had been made famous by her Son. 19:40 During this period, according to Liguori, Mary was accompanied 19:46 constantly by the angels. 19:48 Liguori continues saying, that shortly before her death, 19:53 all of the disciples, even though some of them, 19:55 at this point, had already died. 19:57 All of the disciples were miraculously gathered or 20:01 assembled in Mary's room. 20:03 And she informed them that she was going to leave, 20:06 and she was going to go to Paradise to intercede 20:09 and to pray for them. 20:10 In fact Liguori says that the disciples complained 20:16 when she said this. 20:17 These are the words: We have already lost on earth Jesus, 20:21 our Master and Father, who has ascended into heaven. 20:25 Until now we have found conciliation in thee... 20:28 They're speaking to Mary. 20:29 ...our Mother, and now how canst thou also leave us orphans? 20:35 It's interesting. Jesus says, I'm not going to 20:38 leave you orphans. 20:39 But He didn't say, I'm not going to leave you orphans because 20:42 I'm going to leave you Mary. 20:43 He said, I'm not going to leave you orphans, 20:45 because I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. 20:47 He uses that very word. 20:49 And then she responds to the disciples by saying, 20:52 I do not leave you to abandon you, but to help you still more 20:58 in heaven by my intercession with God. 21:01 And then she told the disciples to bury her body 21:05 after she had died. 21:06 And she gave two of her gowns to two virgins who had helped 21:11 her throughout her life. 21:13 Then she called the apostle Peter and told him that he was 21:17 going to be the head of the church, and that he would be 21:19 in charge of the propagation of the faith. 21:22 Then she called John and thanked him for taking care of her 21:26 after Jesus went to heaven. 21:28 And then the angels finally came, along with Jesus, 21:33 and Jesus gave Mary her last communion. 21:36 And Jesus spoke these words to Mary: Receive, O My Mother, 21:40 from My hands that same body that thou gavest to Me. 21:46 And then as she was breathing her last, she said these words: 21:50 My Son, into Thy hands do I commend my spirit. 21:56 Then the angels bore Mary to heaven, according to this story. 22:00 It almost reads like a fairy tale, doesn't it? 22:02 And as they approached the city of God, the angels who 22:07 accompanied her cried out to those who were within the city, 22:11 Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up 22:17 O eternal gates, and the queen of glory shall enter in. 22:21 By the way, that's a variation of Psalm 24 which was sung when 22:26 Jesus entered the heavenly Jerusalem. 22:28 And then she arrives in heaven, and she's praised by a certain 22:35 group of individuals in their proper order. 22:37 Let me tell you what the order is. 22:39 First she's praised by angels, then by saints, 22:41 then by confessors, then by martyrs, then by Saint James, 22:45 then by the prophets, then the patriarchs, then Adam and Eve, 22:48 then Saint Simeon, then Saint Zachary, Saint Elizabeth, 22:51 Saint John the Baptist, Saint Joachim, Saint Anne, and finally 22:56 she is greeted by her very own husband, Saint Joseph. 23:00 But that's not all. 23:03 Finally, this is what Liguori says is the capstone 23:08 of this experience: The Father crowned her by 23:12 imparting His power to her, and the Son His wisdom, 23:17 the Holy Ghost His love. 23:19 And the three divine persons, placing her throne at the right 23:24 hand of that of Jesus, declared her sovereign 23:29 of heaven and earth, and commanded the angels, 23:32 and all creatures to acknowledge her as their queen, 23:37 and as such to serve and to obey her. 23:41 Now you tell me where in Scripture do 23:43 you find any of that? 23:44 You don't find that anywhere. 23:47 You can find it in Apocryphal Gospels way back in the second 23:52 and the third century, but you look in vain in Scripture 23:55 for even any reference to the death of Mary. 23:58 The last reference that we find in Scripture is Acts 1:14 where 24:04 we're told that Mary was in the upper room with the apostles. 24:07 By the way, do you know that Pope Gelasius I, who lived in 24:12 the fifth century, condemned the idea of 24:16 the assumption of Mary? 24:17 He was a Pope of the Roman Catholic Church 24:20 in the fifth century: Gelasius I. 24:22 He condemned the idea of the assumption of Mary. 24:24 But, interestingly enough, Pius XII, another Pope, 24:28 said that Gelasius was wrong, and that Mary 24:32 was assumed to heaven. 24:33 And he said this in the year 1950. 24:36 Now listen to what Karl Keating, a Roman Catholic theologian 24:39 has to say about the assumption of Mary. 24:42 He's criticizing fundamentalist Protestant theologians, 24:44 and he says this: 24:51 That is for the assumption. 24:55 Says Karl Keating. 25:16 So just because the church teaches it, and the church says 25:20 it's true, therefore it is true. 25:22 That's some kind of circular reasoning. 25:25 As I mentioned, the last mention of Mary in the 25:30 Bible is in Acts 1:14. 25:32 And when you ask the Roman Catholic Church, Why would God 25:35 assume Mary to heaven? 25:36 They say, Well, He assumed Elijah, and He assumed Enoch 25:41 to heaven, and Mary was much more immanent than they. 25:45 And as you read the sources you find expressions such as this: 25:48 It was imminently fitting. 25:50 It was most appropriate. 25:53 There is a long tradition. 25:56 But never do you find a single reference from Scripture 26:01 to support any idea about the assumption of Mary to heaven. 26:05 Now we know that Mary, in recent years, and I put Mary in 26:10 quotation marks, has been appearing in different 26:13 parts of the earth. 26:14 Now if this is not Mary, the question is who is it? 26:19 I'm going to throw out that question for now because we're 26:22 going to deal with that in our last lecture. 26:23 You know, if Mary really is in the tomb awaiting the call 26:28 of Jesus, who will descend from heaven with a shout, 26:31 with the voice of the arch angel, and the trump of God, 26:33 there's someone who's appearing all over the earth; 26:36 purportedly she says she's Mary. 26:39 The question is if it's not Mary, who would it be? 26:42 We'll deal with that a little bit later. 26:46 The Roman Catholic Church uses Revelation 12:1 to say that 26:50 Mary is in heaven. 26:51 You know, it speaks about this woman who is clothed 26:53 with the sun, and moon is under her feet, and on her head 26:55 she has a crown of twelve stars. 26:57 They say, See, this is Mary. 26:58 Because she's with child, and the child's about to be born. 27:01 What they don't realize is that Mary is standing on the moon, 27:06 and she's clothed with the sun, and she has the crown of twelve 27:09 stars on her head before Jesus is born. 27:12 They use this scene to say that this is after Mary has been 27:15 enthroned in heaven and she's been crowned, that she has this 27:18 crown of twelve stars. 27:19 But the fact is she's depicted that way. 27:21 This woman is depicted that way before Jesus even is born. 27:24 So this is not talking about the glorification of Mary. 27:27 Furthermore, the Bible says that for 1,260 years the woman, 27:33 this woman, fled to the wilderness. 27:35 Well, how could the woman flee into the 27:38 wilderness if this was Mary? 27:39 I thought she would be heaven, not in the wilderness. 27:41 Furthermore, in the Bible a day is equal to a year. 27:46 This would mean 1, 260 years. 27:48 The fact is that according to Roman Catholic theology, 27:52 all during this church period Mary was not on earth at all. 27:56 Mary was interceding with her Son, and through the Son, 28:02 with the Father in heaven. 28:04 By the way, Scripture makes it very clear that this woman 28:07 represents the saints. 28:09 This woman represents the church. 28:11 Because the little horn it says persecutes the saints 28:16 of the Most High, for time, times, and the dividing of time. 28:20 Revelation 12 says that the woman is persecuted 28:23 for the same period of time: time, times, 28:26 and the dividing of time. 28:27 So you compare those two. 28:28 The saints in Daniel 7 are the same as the 28:31 woman in Revelation 12. 28:34 Now we need to dedicate some time to talk about a final dogma 28:39 which has been discussed within the Roman Catholic Church. 28:43 It has not been proclaimed as a dogma yet, but there is a 28:47 great amount of discussion concerning this. 28:50 And it is the idea that Mary is 1. Coredemptrix with Jesus. 28:57 2. Advocate with the Father. 29:02 3. Mediatrix of all graces between the Father 29:07 and the human race. 29:08 Allow me to read you a couple of statements here. 29:12 These are from Saint Alphonsus Liguori where he explains 29:17 how Mary actually is coredemptrix along with Jesus. 29:24 This is found on page 397 of his book, The Glories of Mary. 29:29 Speaking about the early years of Mary, when she actually took 29:34 Jesus to the temple to dedicate Him when He was 8 years old, 29:37 we find this statement: She, that is Mary, fully understood 29:41 from the prophets that He was to be betrayed 29:44 by one of His disciples. 29:45 There's no indication in the Bible that she fully believed 29:49 that He was going to be betrayed by one of His disciples. 29:52 He goes on to say that Mary knew that the disciples would forsake 29:57 Jesus, that He would be treated with contempt, that He would be 30:01 spit upon and derided by the people. 30:03 She knew that at the end of His life His flesh would be torn 30:07 and mangled by scourges. 30:08 She knew that He was to be pierced by nails. 30:11 And yet knowing all of this... 30:37 Here's another statement that we find on page 40 of Liguori. 30:41 And this is a particularly significant statement. 30:44 He quotes words by Andrew of Crete, 30:48 and these are the words: The wills of Christ, and of Mary, 30:54 were then united so that both offered the same holocaust. 31:02 Holocaust means sacrifice. 31:04 So their hearts were united. 31:06 They offered the same sacrifice. 31:08 She therefore producing with Him the one effect: 31:14 the salvation of the world. 31:16 In other words, they both became Saviors of the world, 31:19 because their wills were merged, and they offered 31:22 the one sacrifice. 31:23 He continues saying: At the death of Jesus, Mary united her 31:28 will to that of her Son. 31:30 So much so that both offered one and the same sacrifice. 31:37 And therefore the holy abbot says that both the Son, 31:42 and the mother effected human redemption, 31:46 and obtained salvation for men. 31:49 Jesus, by satisfying for our sins, Mary by obtaining the 31:56 application of this satisfaction to us. 32:00 In other words, Jesus paid for the satisfaction of sin, 32:03 but then Mary is able to be our advocate before the Father, 32:08 because she participated in the sacrifice, and she's able to 32:11 mediate all of the graces that come from God to us. 32:16 In other words Jesus paid the sacrifice portion, 32:20 and she does the advocacy, and the mediatorial function. 32:25 Because they both participated, according to this view, 32:28 in the redemption of the human race. 32:31 He continues saying: Hence Denis the Carthusian also 32:37 asserts that the Devine Mother can be called 32:41 the Savior of the world, since by the pain that she endured 32:45 in commiserating her Son, willingly sacrificed by her 32:51 to divine justice, she merited that through her prayers 32:55 the merits of the passion of the Redeemer should be 32:58 communicated to men. 33:00 In other words, Jesus offered the sacrifice, 33:02 but Mary is the one who can distribute the benefits 33:06 of the sacrifice of Jesus, because her will was merged 33:10 with the will of Jesus, and they offered the 33:12 same sacrifice to God. 33:15 Now it's probably well known that John Paul II, who was Pope 33:20 until recently, was very devoted to Mary. 33:23 In fact he greatly admired the Virgin Mary. 33:28 On his coat of arms he had the inscription, 33:31 Totus tuus sum, Maria, in other words, I'm all yours, Mary. 33:37 In fact inside his pontifical robes he had written, 33:41 Totus tuus, all yours; referring to Mary. 33:44 In fact he consecrated Russia to the Virgin Mary. 33:48 And shortly thereafter the communist block 33:52 in Eastern Europe, and in the former Soviet Union failed. 33:56 He believed that his life had been spared by 34:00 the Virgin Mary when he was shot. 34:02 In fact John Paul II visited almost every single Marian 34:06 shrine in the whole world. 34:08 On March 25, 1987 he published a very important encyclical. 34:14 The name of it was Redemptoris Mater, Mother the Redeemer. 34:19 And basically in this encyclical he splashed a whole bunch of 34:23 Scripture that has absolutely nothing to do with Mary. 34:27 Texts drawn out of context with the purpose of trying to 34:30 convince people that the idea of Mary as the coredemptrix 34:35 actually has a Biblical foundation. 34:38 In fact John Paul II six times in his writings referred to Mary 34:45 directly as coredemptrix. 34:49 This is more times than any Pope in the history of 34:52 the Roman Catholic Church. 34:54 In fact allow me to read you some statements from 34:57 John Paul II to this effect. 34:59 He quotes Philippians 2:5-8 and then he says this: 35:11 Because it talks about Jesus emptying Himself. 35:17 Which means emptying. 35:31 So she shares in the death of her Son in His redeeming death, 35:39 according to John Paul II. 35:41 In another statement we find John Paul II saying this: 35:45 In this way Mary's motherhood continues unceasingly 35:51 in the church as the mediation which intercedes. 35:55 And the church expresses her faith in this truth by invoking 36:01 May under the titles of Advocate, Augxiliatrix, 36:07 that is helper, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix. 36:11 In an address that he gave in Nagasaki in Japan, 36:15 John Paul II says this: 36:21 In a speech that he gave in Argentina he said these words: 36:42 In other words Mary, because she is coredemptrix, 36:46 she is also our advocate before her Son, so that her Son then 36:51 can be the Advocate before His Father. 36:55 We also notice in the encyclical, Salvifici Doloris, 37:01 that John Paul II says this: 37:06 That is Mary's ascent of Calvary. 37:23 You know, there's a theologian, I believe he's a Spanish 37:26 theologian, Mark Miravalle, who before the death of John Paul II 37:31 did a signature gathering campaign to try to get as many 37:37 Catholics as possible to write to John Paul II so that he would 37:40 proclaim this last dogma. 37:43 By the way, the dogma would be that Mary is coredemptrix 37:47 of humanity, mediatrix of all graces, 37:51 and advocate for the people of God. 37:54 He gathered millions of signatures that were sent to 37:58 John Paul II so that he would proclaim this final dogma 38:02 that Mary is coredemptrix, advocate, 38:06 and also mediatrix of all graces. 38:09 In fact in the same article that I referred to earlier 38:14 in the Fresno Bee, we find this very revealing statement: 38:21 Speculation centers on the possibility that 38:25 Pope John Paul II may declare as dogma that Mary is 38:30 coredemptrix of humanity, mediatrix of all graces, 38:34 and advocate for the people of God. 38:38 Now we know that it didn't happen. 38:39 But the subject is still being agitated far-and-wide within the 38:44 Roman Catholic Church. 38:45 And there are millions of Catholics, both among the clergy 38:50 and the laity, who are pushing for the Pope Benedict XVI 38:56 to proclaim a fifth dogma, which would be that Mary is 39:00 coredemptrix, advocate, and mediatrix of all graces. 39:04 Notice what Mark Miravalle has to say about the reason why Mary 39:10 should be looked at as the coredemptrix. He says this: 39:33 Coredemptrix means that she's co-redeemer. 39:35 In fact he goes so far as to say that if Mary had said no to God, 39:41 if she had said, No, I don't want to have Jesus, 39:44 there would have been no plan of salvation. 39:46 And, therefore, the whole human race would have been lost. 39:50 So when Mary consented to be the mother of Jesus, 39:53 she should be looked upon as coredemptrix of the human race. 39:58 Now because she's coredemptrix, according to Roman Catholic 40:02 theology, she also is the advocate for the people of God. 40:06 Allow me to read a statement from the declaration which was 40:11 given at Vatican Lumen Gentium, it's paragraph 62, 40:16 The Light of the World. 40:18 This is what it says: 40:44 So she not only is coredemptrix, she also is our advocate 40:49 with Jesus, and then Jesus is the advocate with the Father. 40:53 But not only does she represent us before Jesus, 40:57 according to this new dogma, but also all of the graces that 41:01 come from Jesus to us must come from the Father, to Jesus, 41:05 through Mary, to the human race. 41:07 In fact allow me to quote from Pope Leo XIII: 41:30 A few years ago in an article in Newsweek magazine 41:33 Kenneth Woodward, writing about this dogma, had this very 41:40 interesting statement to make, speaking about the drive to have 41:45 the Roman Catholic Church proclaim this dogma: 42:26 And he continues saying this... and by the way, Woodward 42:30 is a Roman Catholic. He says: 42:49 By the way, this petition was examined, 42:53 the possibility of this dogma was examined in June of 1997 42:59 by 23 theologians of the Roman Catholic Church; 43:02 expert merilogists. 43:04 And they voted 23 to nothing to table it and to not 43:08 proclaim this dogma. 43:10 So you say, It's a dead issue. 43:12 Do you want to know the reason why they said that this dogma 43:17 should not be proclaimed at this time? 43:19 They said out of ecumenical considerations. 43:23 In other words, it would not be beneficial at this time 43:26 to proclaim this dogma. 43:28 Because Protestants would not want to have a union 43:32 of the churches, because they're already exasperated 43:35 by other dogmas that have been proclaimed by the 43:37 Roman Catholic Church. 43:38 But as Protestants cast aside more and more of the shield of 43:42 truth, which is the Bible, and more and more they adopt the 43:45 Roman Catholic view of Mary, the question is, 43:47 Is the time coming when Protestants will be ready to 43:51 accept even this idea? particularly in times of 43:55 national calamities, in times when you have to have somebody 43:59 who is going to save the human race from annihilation. 44:03 Which is the picture, by the way, that is presented not only 44:06 in the book, The Great Controversy, but which is 44:08 presented in the book as we we'll notice in our next lecture, 44:11 The Thunder of Justice, by two Roman Catholics. 44:14 They say that because of the wickedness of the world 44:16 Mary is going to send a message that God is sending calamities 44:19 upon the world until everybody shapes up. 44:22 You know, in times of calamities and huge world disasters 44:27 people will do strange things, and people will come together. 44:30 If you don't think so, just remember what happened in 2001. 44:35 At least for a short period after this everybody 44:37 started going to church. 44:38 And everybody said, We're all brothers. 44:40 And everybody helped one another in the streets. 44:42 And people bought out Bibles in the Christian bookstores. 44:46 In other words, there was this spirit during this time after 44:50 the disaster on September 11, 2001. 44:53 That's the same scenario that Scripture portrays. 44:56 By the way, if you want to know where to find the best 45:00 contemporary description of this dogma, the best place would be 45:04 in Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ. 45:08 You say, Now how is this? 45:10 Well, the fact is that if you carefully look at 45:13 The Passion of the Christ, you're going to notice that it 45:16 really is not the story of Jesus. 45:19 It's the story of Jesus looked at through the eyes of Mary. 45:23 If you look carefully, you're going to find that in this movie 45:28 Mary is a partner in the sufferings of Jesus. 45:32 In fact, she's the one who comforts Him. 45:35 She's the one who encourages Him seven times 45:39 when He falls on the via Dolorosa. 45:41 She is the one who wipes up the blood that is left 45:44 after Jesus is flogged. 45:46 She is the one who takes the body of Jesus 45:48 down from the cross. 45:50 She is the one who holds Jesus in her arms when He's 45:53 at the foot of the cross. 45:54 In other words, from the cradle to the grave, 45:57 Mary is participating in the sufferings, 46:02 and in the redemption of Jesus. 46:04 She's not actually sacrificed herself, but she is offering 46:09 her son in sacrifice, and she's empathizing, and sympathizing. 46:13 Her will is welded and blended with that of her son. 46:16 Therefore she can intercede with her son with us because she went 46:20 through the experience. 46:21 And she can give the graces from Jesus Christ to us, 46:25 because she has participated in the experience. 46:28 Her will and her feelings are blended, and they are welded 46:32 with those of Jesus. 46:34 It's interesting to notice what Mel Gibson said about his movie. 46:38 You know, you talk about Protestants and Catholics 46:41 joining together in the idea of Mary. 46:45 You know, Mel Gibson himself expressed it in a very 46:47 interesting way in an interview in Christianity Today in 2004. 46:52 He says this: I have been actually amazed at the way 46:57 I would say the evangelical audience has hands down 47:02 responded to this film more than any other Christian group. 47:07 He's surprised, in other words. 47:09 He says: What makes it so amazing is that 47:13 the film is so Marian. 47:15 So he's surprised how Protestants have 47:18 responded to this movie. 47:20 In fact Rick Warren, who is pastor of the Saddleback Church 47:25 in Arizona; a huge church, actually I think it's in 47:29 Southern California. 47:30 He said this about the movie: The film is brilliant, 47:34 Biblical; a masterpiece. 47:37 And as you look at the film you notice that there's all sorts 47:41 of information that has nothing to do whatsoever with Scripture. 47:45 Billy Graham said this about the movie: Every time I preach, 47:49 or speak about the cross, the things I saw on the screen 47:54 will be on my heart, and in my mind. 47:57 Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of 48:01 Evangelicals said this about Gibson's movie: 48:05 This film is probably the most accurate film historically 48:10 than anything that has ever been made in English. 48:14 So we have no hesitations. 48:16 We were watching it for Biblical accuracy and we thought it 48:20 was as close as you can get. 48:23 So are you saying that Protestants are not on the road 48:27 to accepting the Roman Catholic view of Mary? Absolutely. 48:31 Casting aside the shield of truth, step by step, 48:35 little by little, they've grown closer and closer to 48:38 the Roman Catholic view. 48:40 Now what kind of Biblical response can we give to this 48:44 idea that Mary is coredemptrix, that Mary is the advocate for 48:49 the people of God, and that Mary is the mediatrix of all graces. 48:54 Well, first of all, allow me to say that there are about 48:58 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. 49:01 How can Mary simultaneously hear the prayers of 49:08 1.2 billion Roman Catholics? 49:11 Well, you say, they're not all praying at the same time. 49:13 That's true. But you would have to say that there are at least 49:16 millions of them praying simultaneously. 49:19 So how can Mary hear the prayers of all of these people 49:22 at the same time, and present their prayers before her Son? 49:26 How can she understand all of the languages of the world? 49:31 She would have to be what? she would have to be omniscient. 49:35 She would have to know all things. 49:37 Furthermore, she's appearing all over the world, which means that 49:40 she would have to be omnipresent. 49:42 And to provide answers to every prayer she would have to 49:46 practically be what? omnipotent. 49:49 In other words, the prerogatives of God are attributed to her. 49:54 The Bible never says that Mary was full of grace. 49:58 The Bible says that Jesus is full of grace; 50:02 that the dispenser of grace is actually Jesus Christ. 50:06 Scripture clearly says that Jesus alone is the Redeemer. 50:11 Jesus alone is the Advocate. 50:13 Jesus alone is the One who mediates all graces 50:18 from heaven to earth. 50:19 Allow me to read you some statements from 50:23 Scripture to this effect. 50:44 Who is the Advocate according to Scripture? 50:47 Jesus Christ is the Advocate. 50:51 Notice Romans 8:34, Romans 8:34. 51:12 Who is it that makes intercession for us, 51:14 who is alive at the right hand of God? 51:16 It is Jesus Christ. 51:18 Notice Hebrews 7:25, 26. 51:21 The Bible's clear on this point. 51:37 Who lives to make intercession for them? Jesus. 51:51 Everything which is attributed to Mary, 51:53 in Roman Catholic theology. 51:56 Who does not need daily, as those high priests, 52:00 to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, 52:04 and then for the people's. 52:05 For this He did once and for all when He offered up Himself; 52:12 nothing about Mary offering Him. 52:15 The Bible says that He offered Himself. 52:19 He is the intercessor. 52:20 He is the Advocate before the Father. 52:23 And, by the way, He's loving, benevolent, and kind. 52:26 You don't have to think of Him as being harsh, and mean, 52:30 and needing to be appeased. 52:32 Because the Jesus in heaven is the same Jesus that healed 52:35 diseases, and cast out devils, and showed love for the 52:39 multitudes, and fed thousands of people. 52:42 He's the same Jesus in heaven today. 52:44 And, therefore, we can go directly to Jesus, 52:47 and through Jesus to the Father without any intermediary. 52:51 Now notice this very clear text in 1 Timothy 2:5, 6. 53:06 Now what part of one don't you understand? 53:08 What does one mean? this: 53:26 You know the theologian, James R. White, has made 53:30 a very good remark, and I'd like to read it at this point, 53:34 because it's so appropriate. 53:35 You see, everything that the Bible attributes to Jesus, 53:38 the Roman Catholic Church attributes to Mary. 53:40 And what he's going to show is that really is idolatry. 53:44 Notice this statement: 54:07 In other words, by creating Mary in the image of Jesus, 54:12 and having people render her homage, they are actually 54:16 creating an image of Jesus, which many people worship. 54:20 Now I know that some people in the Catholic Church say, 54:24 Well, we don't rend her latria. 54:26 We don't render her absolute worship. 54:29 We render her hyperdulia, which is better than the duliah, 54:34 which is offered to the saints, to the common ordinary saints. 54:37 The fact is the Bible does not make such distinctions. 54:41 You know, one of my favorite past times when I'm on vacation 54:44 in Colombia, is to visit the cathedrals 54:47 in the city of Median. 54:48 And do you know what I've discovered as I've examined? 54:51 I like to examine the statues, and the icons, and the artwork. 54:54 I've discovered that Mary is always presented 54:59 as the vibrant mother. 55:00 She's always surrounded by children. 55:04 She's always full of life: the benevolent mother, 55:12 the generous mother. 55:13 She's always presented with Jesus in her arms. 55:18 Even after her glorification in heaven, 55:19 according to Roman Catholic theology, 55:21 she still has the baby Jesus in her arms. 55:23 And I'm asking, After her glorification in heaven, 55:26 did Jesus never grow up? 55:27 She's the protector. 55:30 Or else Jesus is presented in her arms dead, 55:34 just taken off the cross; the famous Pieta by Michael Angelo. 55:39 You see, Jesus is the defenseless child. 55:43 Jesus is the dead Savior. 55:47 Mary is the living mother, the benevolent, 55:51 loving, beautiful mother. 55:53 You know, in my examination of these cathedrals, I discovered 55:57 that the images of Mary outnumber those of 56:00 Jesus five to one. 56:02 And, by the way, those of you who were of a Roman Catholic 56:06 background, you know that in the Hail Mary, 56:08 for every Our Father which art in heaven, 56:11 there are ten Hail Mary's. 56:13 Is that correct? those of you who have been Roman Catholics? 56:17 Absolutely! You know Mary is usually presented with a 56:20 scepter in her hand, and a crown on her head. 56:23 In other words, she is the ruler of the human race. 56:26 And, in fact, you know, the Hail Mary says, 56:30 Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. 56:32 Blessed art thou among women. 56:34 And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 56:36 Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now, 56:39 and at the hour of our death, Amen. 56:42 The tragic thing is that so many people are praying 56:47 and kneeling before images of Mary, asking her to intercede 56:51 before her Son, when Mary turns a deaf ear. 56:54 Because Scripture says that she is dead; she can't hear. 56:58 One time I went to a cathedral in Median, 57:00 and there was this old lady. 57:02 She was grabbing onto the feet of this image of Mary. 57:05 And with tears in her eyes she was crying out to Mary asking 57:09 her for a favor to intercede before her Son Jesus. 57:13 And I felt like screaming out, She can't hear you! 57:18 Jesus can hear you. 57:20 Because the center of the plan of salvation is Jesus. 57:24 It is not Mary. |
Revised 2015-04-15