Queen of All by Jim TETLOW, Roger OAKLAND, Brad MYERS
http://www.eternal-productions.org/PDFS/Queen.pdf
My thoughts:
The be-all end-all purpose of true, Godly, apparitions is to cause people to become closer to God, to help them, ultimately, to get to heaven. But not as an alternative to Jesus... it's an additional measure God is taking to draw people to Himself. This is also the prime purpose of the Church Jesus built on the foundation of the Apostles. (The difference is that the Church is necessary, in that it is the planned construct of God to spread His Gospel to draw people to Himself. The fellowship of earthly Christians and the heavenly Christians is just one feature of that Church. If a Christian chooses not to spend any time or effort honoring or praying to Mary, they can still get to heaven. God knows the heart.) Satan and demons can easily appear as an apparition of Mary or an angel. For this reason all apparitions should be met with scepticism and treated as false until proven true and of God. The best way for us average Christians to know whether or not any given apparition is of God is to compare it to the teachings of the Church Jesus founded. That means looking at Scripture and the doctrinal statements of His Church. The Church Jesus founded is not just a spiritual association of believers. (Nor is it a mere fellowship of people following the Bible "alone"). It is also a visible society with a recognizable hierarchical leadership structure. The Church is the fulfillment/transformation/renewal of the Abrahamic/Davidic Kingdom covenants. That kingdom had ministers and a vicar of the king (Isaiah22:20ff). Jesus empowered the Apostles as the visible leaders (Luke22:29-32) with Peter as His vicar (Matt16:19,note the keys as in Isaiah. Precedents of a King giving plenary ruling authority to a man include Joseph/Pharoah and Daniel/Nebuchadnezzar. The king in question first recognizes divine revelation through the man, then gives him vicarious ruling power. This is just what happened with Jesus & Peter). Since King Jesus is not on earth, His vicar, guided by the Spirit, shepherds/teaches/guards the earthly flock (John21:15-17, Jer3:15). A few centuries after the Apostles had all gone to heaven that same Church provided the world with the authenticating verdict of what composes sacred Scripture, so that we can know with certainty that the Bible alone is the written Word of God. That same Church is also the final arbiter when it comes to resolving disputes of interpretation of the written Word.
All visions or apparitions are private revelations and, as such, other folks are not required to accept them. (We are only required to believe the public revelation of the Gospel, which came to a close with the death of the last Apostle, that's what is called the "Deposit of the Faith" http://www.catholic.com/tracts/private-revelation). While there are many visions, not all are authenticated & endorsed by the Church leadership. The Church leadership investigates to determine legitimacy (ie, based on the message's compliance to established doctrine and miraculous events associated with it) and informs the world. If it is authentic, we can safely accept the message. Logically, the teachings of a non-authenticated message cannot be used against Catholicism. Even an authenticated vision is not required to be accepted by other folks, because it is a private revelation. While accepting these messages can be beneficial to one's spiritual growth, a believer will not be condemned for not accepting them. They don't teach new doctrines, they express aspects of Apostolic doctrines which many people hadn't seen before. That's why it might appear to be "new" doctrine. No new doctrines have ever been promulgated by the Church leadership based on an approved apparition's message. (And, in fact, no NEW doctrine has ever been promulgated by the Church leadership at all since the death of the last Apostle.)
Some folks feel all these apparitions are definitely not of God. As far as I can tell, there are two reasons for this view:
1) because they believe the messages contradict Scripture. But, concerning the authenticated apparitions, the contradiction is only with that person's interpretation of Scripture and/or their interpretation of the message. Scripture rightly interpreted is supportive of those approved messages, and vice versa.
2) Another error is thinking that it is flatly contra-biblical for any one to ever accept any communications from a person (besides God) not living on earth or an angel. This is false. What is proscribed is the act of calling on other-worldly souls to get supernatural information, going around God to do it (ie Saul and the witch of Endor). God's family exists in heaven (the "Church Triumphant") and on earth (the "Church Militant"). Sometimes God empowers and directs an angel or a soul in heaven, especially His greatest creature, Mary, to give messages to us on earth, for the purposes of His salvation plan or to enhance the spiritual growth of believers. All the approved messages ultimately point us to Jesus, not away from Him.
This association between the earth-side part of the family and the heaven-side part of the family is called the Communion of Saints and is quite Biblical. Here's a good description of it: http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/sts.html
Seeking aid, help, or "entrusting our needs to" Mary, is not saying she has divine power. It is not usurping the role of Jesus as sole Mediator. I manifests God's designs in His Salvation Plan. Jesus is the sole Mediator to whom we all go when we pray for ourselves or other people. We entrust our needs to others when we ask them to pray for us. That doesn't take away from Jesus' sole mediatorship. Of course, we primarily pray directly to God ourselves. Mary, also, can pray for us. That is how she gives aid to us, not by any power she possesses in and of herself (which is nil).
I don't pay attention to apparitions which have not been authenticated by the Vatican (ie Medjugorje). (There's too much canonical material out there to read, there's no time to waste on unproved apparitions). I also don't believe what New Age people say about their Mary's messages. If New Age Mary promotes contra-Scriptural things, it is not Jesus' mother, probably a demon, as I believe was the "angel" that gave Mohammad the Koran.
If Mary (Jesus' mother) appears to different people-groups in appearances tailored to those cultures, what's the problem with that? She's becoming "all things to all men", but not to the extent of compromising the Gospel (as Paul says in 1Cor9:22 "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some"), in order to gather as many people to her son, Jesus, as possible before the end of time. If Mary appears to some Muslims or Hindus and because of that they then come to know Jesus and follow His teachings, that's a good thing.
Then we come to the task of how to determine veracity of an apparition's message. The authors are right... We must compare the message of an apparition to the Word of God. The disagreement I have with the authors is their interpretation of Scripture and/or their interpretation of the message in question. One or the other, or both, are often misinterpreted by the authors. (I also disagree with their adherence to the doctrine that is Sola Scriptura, which I have found to be a self-contradicting concept that was not popular until the 1500's, but that's a whole nuther discussion in itself).
They present a lot of quotes, so instead of commenting on all of them here, I'd be glad to comment on any in particular that anyone wants.
The authors say the witnesses of the visions "worship" Mary. But kneeling & bowing is not defacto worship. To worship means one is giving credit to the target as the source of their blessings, love, salvation, etc. However, Mary is not treated as the source. (As the moon has no light of it's own but just reflects the light of the sun, so Mary only reflects the Light of the Son.) But she is greatly honored with respectful posturing and verbage. It's the same way Jacob honored Esau and how Israel's king was honored, even the queen (the king's mother) was honored this way.
Some prayers seem to use worshipful language toward Mary, but they are not really worship when they are considered in context and you compare them to a prayer said in the Catholic Mass called the Gloria. This is what it looks and sounds like when Catholics are worshiping God, as opposed to honoring a Saint...
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;
You take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
You are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
You alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Now that is worshipful and adoring of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit as the THE SOURCE of all power, grace and salvation! The Gloria exemplifies the worship and adoration Catholics give to God alone. No other being receives such worship and adoration from Catholics! Saints are venerated and angels are honored but none of them are worshiped as God is duly worshiped.
The legitimate Marian apparitions might seem to be saying she, herself, by her own inherent power, can save you, but this is definitely a misinterpretation. As with Scripture, quotes from an apparition should be considered in the context of the whole message, not in isolation. Mary is many things, by God's grace only. But she is the source of nothing and inherently is as powerless as any of us. But by the grace of God and for the purposes of His plans, she is in fact the Queen of Heaven... not a false pagan queen goddess but the true one of God's true Kingdom. (http://vivacatholic.wordpress.com/2007/11/09/hail-holy-queen/)
Mary has other titles as well... even though these exact phrases might not be applied to Mary in Scripture, her place in God's Salvation Plan and her actions fit the descriptions of these "titles" the Church has given her:
"Mother of God": Jesus is God. Jesus was conceived & born by Mary. She is hence His mother. Therefore, she is the mother of God. This doesn't give her divine status, it just recognizes the fact of the incarnation of God and emphasizes Jesus' true humanity and true divinity.
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/mother.htm
"New Eve": Mary is the mother of Jesus who is the firstborn son of God's family. All christians are brothers and sisters of Jesus, being adopted children of God, and in that sense Mary is their spiritual mother. The first Eve was mother of all the living. In the New Covenant, Christians are "all the living", as opposed to those outside God's family who are spiritually dead. so, Mary is the new mother of all the living, hence the title "New Eve".
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/KEY2MARY.HTM
"New Ark of the Covenant" or "Ark of the New Covenant": The Mosaic Ark was a container for three things... the Word of God (the decalogue or 10 commandments), a jar of manna (bread from heaven) and Arron's Rod (symbol of Priesthood). Eventually, Jesus personified all three... He is the Logos, the Word of God; He is the true bread from heaven; He is the true High Priest, the one Mediator. Mary carried Him in herself for 9 months. Therefore, she is the Ark of the New Covenant. More: http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/ma.html
"Co-Redeemer" or "Co-Redemptrix": This is another description which doesn't really give divine power to her. It just recognizes the fact that by her cooperation with God's grace she helped accomplish the redemption of the world. It's the same as the idea that my parents are co-creators of human life. This doesn't imply that they have divine creative power. It just says they did their God-empowered part (providing the two halves of my DNA) while God provided my soul. Humans and God become co-creators, together. In like fashion, Mary is the Co-Redemptrix.
"Mediatrix of all Graces": Again, this is another description which doesn't really give divine power to her. Her mediation is secondary to Jesus and entirely dependent on Him. Throughout salvation history God has chosen a mediator from among men (ie Abraham, Moses, David). Their mediatorship was entirely dependent on God. God chose Mary as a mediator of the New Covenant and this co-mediatorship depends entirely on Jesus' truly worthy mediatorship..
Another point of view: All the grace that is in the world came through Mary. That's not to say she caused this to happen. She can't. She's a mere human like us and without God she'd be nothing, just like us. But, all grace that is in the world is because of the incarnation of God which came through her. In that manner, she mediated the transmission of grace into the world. (A mere human as a mediator is not unprecedented... if you notice in Scripture, non-divine humans have served as mediators of the covenants which marked the progress of God's salvation plan: Adam, Noah, Abram, Moses, David. Jesus is the final and eternal mediator. With the incarnation & death & ressurection of Jesus the final and perfecting covenant was made & ratified.)
More: http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/MARYMEDI.htm
"Immaculate Conception": for her unique role in Salvation History Mary was given a unique gift: preservation from all stain of Original Sin. She needed a savior just like we did, the difference is that where we are pulled up out of the mire of Sin, she was prevented from falling into it in the first place.
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya2.htm
For more info:
Mary, Queen of Heaven. From catholicbridge.com, the website of a former
Evangelical Christian. (Not just Mary-issues, He also addresses all the
other differences he used have with Catholicism...)
http://catholicbridge.com/catholic/mary_queen_of_heaven_and_earth.php
Online Bible Study... Holy Queen: the Mother of God in the Word of God
http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online/holy_queen_the_mother_of_god_in_the_word_of_god
Mary, Holy Mother
http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/m.html
The Perpetual virginity of Mary (considering the cultural context)
http://www.ewtn.com/library/answers/talmud.htm
History of the idea of the Perpetual virginity of Mary (It goes back to the beginning. Historically, those who denied it were heretical in other (core) doctrines as well, such as the humanity or divinity of Jesus.)
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/maryc2.htm
The Woman clothed with the sun: ( Ap. 12) by Bernard J. Le Frois
Marian Typology in the Fathers and the Liturgy by Bernard Capelle
What is Scripture?... here is the Vatican II document "Dei Verbum". Describes how God revealed Himself to the world. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html
Online Bible Study Courses... learn how to make sense (or "senses") out of the seemingly convoluted and complex nature of God's Salvation Plan... hint: it's not so hard to grasp when certain basic principals are considered.
http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online
Karl Adam, The Spirit of Catholicism
http://www.ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/SPIRCATH.HTM#07
