IN DEFENSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

You are so beautiful, so humble, and you are the Mother of GOD...

Why is there so much controversy about Mary?

1. People will admit that she is the mother of Jesus Christ in His humanity, but could not be the mother of GOD.

2. They will say she could not have been immaculately conceived.

3. They will say she was not perpetually virgin and had other children.

4. They will say she could not have been assumed into Heaven body and soul.

Let us examine each one of these statements...

I. Is Mary the Mother of GOD?

A. The definition of 'PERSON' is, 'The center of attribution in a rational nature'. For a person the question is 'WHO'. Who is that person?

1. Each person has a body. Messages come to the body through the five senses.

2. Each person has a soul, the principal of life.

3. Each person has a spirit. It has the intellect and free will.

B. The definition of 'NATURE' is, 'That which makes a thing be what it is'. A dog has a dog nature, a fish has a fish nature. A dog cannot 'meow' because it doesn't have a cat nature. Everything has its own nature. A person possesses a nature. Nature does not possess a person. I cannot move your arm because my person does not possess your nature. For a nature the question is 'WHAT'. What kind of nature, human, fish, cat, dog?

C. Jesus Christ was (is) a person, as you are a person, and I am a person.

D. Jesus Christ has two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. He is unique in being the only person ever born with two distinct natures.

E. He can do everything that GOD can do, and at the same time do everything that a man can do except sin.

F. As GOD, He knew everything. As man, He had to learn everything, as you and I have to do. Lk 2:52

G. His foster father, St Joseph, taught the creator of the universe how to be a carpenter. Mk 6:3

H. It is a mystery as to how these two natures co-existed in His one person. It is known as the 'Hypostatic Union'.

I. Jesus Christ is but one person, with two natures.

J. He is not two persons, each with His own nature.

K. A son receives his nature from his father, male, human etc.

L. Jesus Christ received His nature from His father, a divine nature.

M. Since Jesus Christ is His Fathers Son, He is a divine person. He cannot be a human person also, as that would make Him two persons, each with a nature.

N. A woman gives birth to a 'PERSON' and that person possesses a nature, male, female etc. She does not give birth to a nature.

O. Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, a 'DIVINE PERSON'.

P. Since Mary gave birth to a divine person, that makes her the Mother of GOD.

II. Was Mary immaculately conceived?

A. This means she had no stain of sin at her conception, no 'Original Sin'.

B. GOD and sin are mutually excludable. God cannot co-exist with sin. Rev 21:27

C. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were thrown out of Eden and the gates of Heaven were closed (Gen 3:24). There was no salvation of mankind until Jesus Christ died on the cross, and the gates were reopened.

D. When GOD gave the plans of the Ark of the Covenant', to the people, he was very meticulous as to just how the 'container' of His 'WORD', the stone tablets of the 'Ten Commandments', was to be constructed. It had to be perfect and without blemish. Ex 25:8-40

E. The 'New Ark of the Covenant', the vessel that was to 'contain' the 'WORD', Jesus Christ Incarnate, had to be 'made' without blemish also.

F. The 'New Ark of the Covenant' is Mary. She was to give birth to the 'WORD', Jesus Christ. Jn 1:1,14

G. Read Luke 1:28, 'And when the Angel had come to her, he said, "Hail full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women'." Luke 1:30, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found Grace with GOD'. 'Full of Grace', and 'Grace with GOD', could only mean Mary was without sin. John the Baptist had not yet appeared to start the Sacrament of Baptism. If GOD created the entire universe out of nothing, don't you think the GOD who imposed Adam's Sin on mankind could make one little Jewish girl without original sin?

H. She had to be 'Immaculately Conceived' to satisfy the fact that GOD cannot coexist with sin.

III. Was Mary always a virgin? Did she have other children?

A. Mt 13:55-56 and MK 6:3 say, "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, the 'brother' of James, and Joseph, and of Jude and Simon? And are not His 'sisters' here with us?"

B. At first it looks like Jesus had brothers and sisters. These are the main two verses that some say 'prove' He did. Lets look at the definitions.

C. From four different dictionaries, the word 'brother' means, sons of the same parents, OR, friend, ally, kinsman, fellow man, member of the same clan, fellow member of a Church etc. Which definition fits the verses?

D. Compare Mt 10:2-4, Mk 15:40, Jn 19:25, and Acts 1:13 and you will find that James, Joseph, and Jude were sons of Cleophas (Alphaeus) and 'the other Mary', not Mary the Mother of GOD. Simon was the 'Canaanite' of Mk 3:18, and the 'Zealot'.

E. NONE of the four 'brothers' were sons of Mary, the Mother of GOD. They were 'fellow men'. This makes the word 'brother' a non-argument. Mt 12:50

IV. Was Mary Assumed into Heaven, body and soul?

A. Nay sayers point to 1Cor 15:50, "...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of GOD", therefore she could not possibly have been assumed body and soul. The verse means, 'the gulf between creatures and GOD is too wide to be bridged unless GOD Himself transforms us'.

B. Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven body and soul. Jn 20:17

C. The Bible points out that no less than two persons from the Old Testament were assumed into "heaven" bodily.
Gen 5:24, "And Enoch walked with GOD; and he was not; for GOD took him."
Heb 11:5, "...Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found because GOD had translated him." 2Kings 2:11, "And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven."

It is to be noted that the Bible does not mentioned that either died first. Also it is to be assumed that they were taken up to the "heavens", and not the heaven for which we are strive. Old Testament "heaven" had several meanings including the "heavens", everything above the surface of the earth. See 2Cor 12:2 where St. Paul mentions the third heaven, and St. Peter mentions "heavens" in 2Pet 3:5. See also John 3:13 where Jesus said that no man ascended to heaven except He that came down from heaven...

D. As for Mary, read Psa 16:10, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine 'Holy One' to see corruption." This verse could apply to Mary as well as to the 'Messiah'. See also, 1Cor 15:52.

E. Mary certainly is a 'Holy One', for in Lk 1:28, an angel said to her, "Hail full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women." In Lk 1:30, the angel said, "...thou hast found grace with GOD" In Lk 1:42 Elizabeth said, "...Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." In Lk 1:48 Mary herself says, "...henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."

I question those who claim to be Bible followers and yet, in fact, have never called her 'blessed' and have no intention of ever doing so.
The verse clearly says:

"Henceforth", which means from the time she said it until the end of time.
"All generations", I would presume includes all of those who refuse to call her blessed today.

"Shall ('will', in some Bibles)", denotes a command and not a suggestion.
"Call me blessed". Why is this simple verse ignored by millions who claim to be Bible believers?

F. Since Mary, as the Mother of GOD, and Queen of Saints, is higher than Enoch or Elijah, why would anyone believe she was not taken up as they were, except to a higher place? Remember, the gates of heaven were opened when GOD died on the cross.

G. The early Churches scrambled for 'relics' of the early Saints as they died. There is no record of any Church obtaining 'relics' of the Blessed Virgin. Her 'relics' would be the most prized of all. There are no first class 'relics' of an assumed person, because there is no body of that person left on earth from which to obtain them.

H. Just because the Bible, at first glance, says little about the Assumption of Mary, does not indicate that she was not assumed. To turn that statement around, Holy Scripture does not say that she was not asssumed either.

I. For GOD's ways are not our ways, Isa 55:8, so why do people try to bring Him down to our human level?

He can do whatever He wants without asking us first. Since He made everything out of nothing, why then could He not Assume the mother of Jesus Christ into heaven body and soul?

Written by Bob Stanley, January 1996
Updated June 17, 2004