Results 1 - 7 of 7
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | When did the catholic church go wrong? | Bible general Archive 1 | CDBJ | 26281 | ||
If that is the case, am I wrong in thinking that you pray to Mary and if you do, what confidence do you have, or faith or whatever it is that you want to call it, that she hears you and where in the Bible do you get this assurance? Any time that I pray to the Lord I have faith that He hears my prayer and I have faith in Him that He has the power to execute my petition, as He is the one seated on the throne of grace. If I pray to any other then the Lord I would be in direct disobedience to the command of His Word. Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. I can have confidence that my prayers are heard because God has given me the record of such. 1 John 5:11-15 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. I can personally say that this assurance did not come to me until I put all my undivided trust in Jesus. Oh yes I had hopes of heaven and eternal life but that wasn't the same as the assurance that I have now. The funny part was that I didn't know that people could have such a confidence on this side of the grave. One never misses something that they have never had! The part I like best is that it doesn't depend on me. God revealed to me that, I didn't do anything to get it and I can't do anything to loose it. Praise the Lord, it's all Him with out others assistance or help!! He's my daddy and I love Him!! Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. I lost my dad in Dec. of 1965 when I was 27 years old and it was just several Month's before that in Oct. that my heavenly Father revealed the truth of His Precious Son to me through Scripture and it came alive! I have never needed a go between for my earthly father and my heavenly Father loves me much more then my earthly father ever could. Any time I need to speak with Him He says that I can come personally right up to His throne when I need help. I can honestly tell you friend that I don't have religion at all but I sure have a great relationship with a living loving Lord. Anyone that hasn't found this relationship, and I am not saying that you haven't, sure is missing the greatest thing in life and it's even going to get better. I am in perfect health and couldn't feel better but I can honestly say, as did Paul. Philip. 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Don't get me wrong I'm not looking forward to dying but I am looking forward to death because I know what will follow in the next second!! CDBJ |
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2 | "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to | Bible general Archive 1 | Emmaus | 26328 | ||
You ask: "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to Mary and if you do, what confidence do you have, or faith or whatever it is that you want to call it, that she hears you and where in the Bible do you get this assurance? Catholics pray "to" Mary and the saints only in the same sense that we would ask a friend or family member to pray for us or with us about any matter. Catholics believe in the "communion of saints." That is we believe that God is the God of the living (Matt 22:32), and that all those who are in Christ are alive in him even after physical death. In a sense after they die they are with Him in an even deeper and intimate sense than we are here on earth. But still Jesus, is the vine and we are all the branches on earth heaven that trust in Him and obey (John 15:1-10). St. Paul in his epistles often asks for the prayers of his congregations and assures them of his prayers for them. He also speaks of being physically absent from them but with them in the spirit (1 Cor. 5:3, Col. 2:5). Although he was alive on the earth at the time he wrote, the same principle applies after death if God is the God of the living, not of the dead. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead in the physical sense, but counted among the living by Jesus in Matt 22:32. And so to live in Christ is to transcend the separation of death by faith, hope and charity (1 Cor. 13:13). In the Book of Revelation we see the Church in heaven praising God (Rev 4) and praying before God for the Church on earth (Rev 6:9-11 and 7:9-8:5). See also Hebrews 11 especially 11:40 through 12-4 that speaks of how those who have gone before us are bound together with us in salvation and are a great cloud of witnesses as we continue in our struggle against sin. So we ask them to pray with us and for us before the throne of God, starting with Mary, God's own chosen vessel, and all the saints throughout the ages as well as those struggling here with us. |
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3 | "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to | Bible general Archive 1 | Emmaus | 26330 | ||
So the answer depends on what you mean when you say pray "to" Mary. It is more like asking Mary or the saints to pray with me in Jesus. We are united in Him as the body of Christ whether in the flesh or in the spirit. "What can separate from the love of God.." Romans 5:35 | ||||||
4 | "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 26365 | ||
Emmaus, I'm confused about this business of praying "to" Mary, or "with" Mary. In the "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria) Mary is clearly the addressee, isn't she? And it IS a prayer, isn't it? Moreover, since Jesus himself is our advocate (1 John 2:1 and intercessor (Hebrews 7:25) with the Father, why do we need Mary? Isn't Jesus good enough? --Hank | ||||||
5 | "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to | Bible general Archive 1 | Emmaus | 26505 | ||
Hank, We do pray "to" Mary in the old sense of the word in this case. Such as Elizabethean english, i.e. "I pray you Sir, hear me out and join me in prayer to the Lord on this matter." It is a pleading to the person of dignity being addressed. In the case of the Hail Mary the prayer says "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus! Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." You see that we are first "praying the scriptures" Luke 1:28, 42, 48, 43, and then we are asking Mary to pray for us to the Lord even as I might ask you to do the same. For "the prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16. I might add that Catholics are not required to pray to Mary. But then we are not required to ask anyone else to pray with or for us either. It is simply the natural and scriptural thing to do. Family members and friend pray with and for one another. We are the family of God. |
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6 | "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to | Bible general Archive 1 | Hank | 26509 | ||
Emmaus, I'm distressed by the use of the term Holy Mary, Mother of God. Why is she called "holy?" Can you also enlighten us on why Catholics put far more emphasis on Mary than the Scriptures do? (They do, you know.) Explain also the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. How can that be justified by Scripture? And, finally, how is it that the pope came to be considered infallible?...... By the way, I'm Baptist and am far more convinced that John was a Baptist than that Peter was the first pope :-) ::::P.S. Emmaus, let me say this: I disagree strongly with you on some points of the Catholic faith, but I want you to know that I am grateful for and applaud your kindness, patience, and polite manner in your dealings with our differences. Thank you. --Hank | ||||||
7 | "am I wrong in thinking that you pray to | Bible general Archive 1 | Emmaus | 26738 | ||
Hank, I will have to answer your questions in a series of responses due to space limitations and the nature of your questions and my time limitations due to other responsibilities. The brief answer to why we call Mary holy is because she is the Mother of God Incarnate, Emmanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ, who by his very presence in her womb sanctified her and made her holy, even as his presence in us sanctifies us and makes us holy. Luke 1:28, 43, Matt 1:23. The angel calls Mary "Full of grace," or highly favored" depending on your translation. It is God who sanctified and made her holy. We fulfill the scripture when we call her "the Blessed Mother" Luke 1:48. We wonder why other Christians who focus so intently on scripture seem afraid to fulfill the same passage and call her blessed as we do with natural ease. To love and honor Mary is not to reduce our love for Jesus. No one could honor her more than God who chose her and Jesus who surely perfectly fulfilled the commandment to honor father and mother. We imitate Jesus in honoring her. But it is not the worship we give to Jesus. The reason it may seem to you that Catholics place more emphasis on Mary than the scripture do, I believe is because we may approach scripture some what differently and in a different context. Paticularly in how we view the communion of saints in the broad sense of all the faithful here and in heaven. Mary of course because she was chosen by God to bear Jesus, the Lord, holds a higher status than any other saint. She is also considered the perfect model of humble discipleship and obedience to God and symbolizes the whole Church and its mission to carry Christ and the gospel into the world as obedient disciples. |
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