Believer wrote:Peace Aineo,
Mary was sinless? How can that be reality if she was born with original sin? The concept of Mary being sinless (the immaculate conception) is a Gnostic concept as is the assumption. Gnosticism believes that nothing divine can touch anything mortal.
She was a pure and innocent girl, and remember she was probably only 15 when she concieved Jesus.
Would you state that
all 15-year-olds are pure and innocent, or just Mary? Did Mary remain sinless until her death?
But do they seriously contradict the message of the Gospels?
Tradition becomes an issue if it impedes the message of tne Gospels: that Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, never sinned, was pure and chaste, and He died for our sins on the cross, was buried, and on the third day rose again, and ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
If Tradition is found to teach against this, then come back to me.
Some of the RCC doctrines do seriously contradict the message of the Gospel. Purgatory, justification by works, falling in and out of grace, and a long list of others are not Biblical doctrines.
I find this ridiculous.
Again, do you not see that Mary loved baby Jesus and probably held him.
Is this really such a crime?
Yes, it is really a crime when the promotion of images lead to this:
a “saint” of last resort
If you don't accept the perpetual virginity of Mary you are taking a stance against the official teachings of the Roman Catholic Church
Well, the Gospels did reveal that Jesus's earthly family was extended, He did have brothers and sisters.
The RCC official position on the brethren of Jesus is they were cousins or other close kinsmen not the biological children of Mary and Joseph.
You don't suppose the Ottoman invasion of Europe and the reformation had anything to do with the RCC cleaning up the corruption do you?
The Reformation...okay, Ottoman invasion???????
The Ottoman invasion of Europe were slowed and stopped in the late 1400’s after the conquest and destruction of the Byzantine Empire and the conquest of Constantinople. The fall of the capitol of Orthodoxy would have been a real eye opener to the Roman west.
What are the chances you would find an ossuary inscribed Simon Bar Jona in a 1st century Christian burial chamber that did not mean Simon Peter?
That's where faith steps in.
And that Believer, is the rub. Catholics put their faith in a systematic theology and not God’s truth. I have been debating some Catholics who get more upset in discussions of the 4 Marian doctrines than any other issue. Elevating human beings to sainthood by attributing miracles to the person and not the divine and sovereign power of the Holy Spirit is tantamount to idol worship.
Rom 1:21-23
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. NAS
I understand the RCC does not use the term “worship” in regard to saints, the RCC uses the term “venerate”; however, when you get something like “a ‘saint’ of last resort” as the result of the catechism you get idolatry and traditions that contradict the Gospel.