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Is It True that Mary Never Died? Did Mary Ascend to Heaven?

  

IS IT TRUE THAT MARY NEVER DIED?


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Is It True That Mary Never Died? - Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

  • “the Immaculate Virgin…was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things.” (CCC 966)
  • she shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of his Body” (CCC 974)
  • “But while in the most Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle, the faithful still strive to conquer sin and increase in holiness.  And so they turn their eyes to Mary: in her, the Church is already ‘all-holy’” (CCC 829)


Is It True That Mary Never Died? - Scriptures to Consider:

  • Acts 2:32–36 “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. [33] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. [34] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, [35] until I make your enemies your footstool.’ [36] Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (ESV)
  • 2 Kings 2:10–12 “And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” [11] And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. [12] And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.” (ESV)
  • Genesis 5:23–24 “Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. [24] Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (ESV)
  • Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” (ESV)
  • Proverbs 30:6 "Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” (ESV)


Is It True That Mary Never Died? - Questions to Consider:

  • Where does the Bible reference Mary as a Queen?
  • Who are the only three people that the Bible references as going directly to Heaven without dying?  Why is there such clear evidence and observation about their ascensions?
  • Why would the Bible not reference Mary as ascending directly to Heaven also?  Who observed it happening?  Where is it described?
  • When was this idea added to church Tradition? Why did not the apostles or early church fathers speak of this happening with Mary?
  • If such a significant claim is made by the Catholic Church, without biblical or early church evidence, is the Catholic Church trustworthy on other issues?


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Was Mary a Virgin Her Entire Life? Did Jesus Have Any Brothers?

 


WAS MARY A VIRGIN HER ENTIRE LIFE?
DID JESUS HAVE ANY BROTHERS?


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“Was Mary a virgin her entire life?” - Important Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

  • “led the Church to confess Mary’s real and perpetual virginity” (CCC 499)
  • “Against this doctrine the objection is raise that the Bible mentions brother and sisters of Jesus.  The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary.  In fact James and Joseph, ‘brothers of Jesus,’ are sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls ‘the other Mary.’  They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.” (CCC 500)
  • “Mary ‘remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin’” (CCC 510)


“Was Mary a virgin her entire life?” - Important Scriptures to Consider:

  • Matthew 1:24–25 “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” (ESV)
  • 1 Corinthians 7:3–5 “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. [4] For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. [5] Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (ESV)
  • John 7:3–5 “So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see  the works you are doing. [4] For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” [5] For not even his brothers believed in him. (ESV)
  • Matthew 13:55–56 “Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? [56] And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” (ESV)
  • Luke 8:19–21 “Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. [20] And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” [21] But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (ESV)
  • John 2:12 “After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.” (ESV)
  • John 7:5 “For not even his brothers believed in him.” (ESV)
  • Acts 1:13–14 “And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. [14] All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” (ESV)
  • 1 Corinthians 9:5 “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” (ESV)
  • 1 Corinthians 15:7 “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” (ESV)
  • Galatians 1:19 “But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother.” (ESV)
  • Galatians 2:9 “and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” (ESV)
  • Jude 1 “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James
  • James 2:1 “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” (ESV)
  • John 2:12 “After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.” (ESV)


“Was Mary a virgin her entire life?” - Important Questions to Consider:

  • Would having other children detract from Mary’s holiness?  Or add to it according to Gen 1:28?
    • Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (ESV)
    • 1 Timothy 5:14 “So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander.” (ESV)
  • In John 2, Jesus has just performed a miracle changing water to wine and rebuked his mother Mary in the process.  This same passage refers to Jesus’ mother and “brothers” as continuing with him to Capernaum.  Why are these “brothers” referenced and so involved in traveling with Jesus’ mother if they are only cousins or more distant relatives?
  • Why is there no historical or linguistic evidence that the Greek words (adelphoi (“brothers”) and adelphai (“sisters”)) support this idea of them not being brothers and sisters but just distant relatives?
  • Would Mary not have been a bad wife is she refused to be physically intimate with her husband Joseph?
    • 1 Corinthians 7:3–5 “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. [4] For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. [5] Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (ESV)
  • Why would the Catholic Church invent and propagate the idea that Mary was always a virgin?  If they would twist the Scriptures to misrepresent this, what other areas of their Tradition are untrustworthy?


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Is Mary the Cause of Salvation? Did Mary Save the Whole Human Race?

  

IS MARY THE CAUSE OF SALVATION?


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“Is Mary the cause of salvation?” - Important Passages of The Catechism of the Catholic Church to Consider:

  • “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” (CCC 494)
  • “Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert … : ‘The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the Virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.’ Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary ‘the Mother of all living’ and frequently claim: ‘Death through Eve, life through Mary.” (CCC 494)
  • “The Virgin Mary ‘cooperated through free faith and obedience in human salvation. … By her obedience she became the new Eve, mother of the living.” (CCC 511)
  • “by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death” (CCC 966)
  • “restoring supernatural life to souls” (CCC 968)
  • “the Blessed Virgin…under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix” (CCC 969)
  • “collaborating with the whole work her Son was to accomplish” (CCC 973)
  • “the new Eve, the Mother of the Church, continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role on behalf of the members of Christ” (CCC 975)
  • “she is inseparably linked with the saving work of her Son” (CCC 1172)
  • “The Gospel reveals to us how Mary prays and intercedes in faith.  At Cana, the mother of Jesus asks her son for the needs of a wedding feast; this is the sign of another feast - that of the wedding of the Lamb where he gives his body and blood at the request of the Church, his Bride.  It is at the hour of the New Covenant, at the foot of the cross, that Mary is heard as the Woman, the new Eve, the true ‘Mother of all the living.’” (CCC 2618)
  • “by asking Mary to pray for us….we address ourselves to the ‘Mother of Mercy,’ the All-Holy One.  We give ourselves our to her now…our trust broadens further…to surrender ‘the hour of our death’ wholly to her care. … May she welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing to lead us to her son, Jesus, in paradise” (CCC 2677)


“Is Mary the cause of salvation?” - Important Scriptures to Consider:

  • NOTE: The Bible never mentions Mary being “full of grace” (but uses that phrase with Jesus and Stephen), redeemed from conception, or sinless.  While the Bible describes Mary as “highly favored” (Luke 1:28) and  “blessed . . . among women” (Luke 1:42) it does not support the claim to sinlessness.
  • Romans 3:23–24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (ESV)
  • Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (ESV)
  • 1 John 1:8-10 "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”
  • John 2:4 “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me?’”
  • Acts 6:8 “Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.”
  • John 1:14 “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth”
  • Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
  • Romans 5:17 “For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” (ESV)
  • Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (ESV)
  • John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish”
  • 1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (ESV)
    Romans 5:18 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” (ESV)
  • 1 Corinthians 15:45 “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (ESV)
  • John 14:16 "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (ESV)
  • Hebrews 13:6 “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (ESV)
  • John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (ESV)
  • John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (ESV)
  • John 16:7 "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (ESV)
  • 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (ESV)
  • John 2:4 “And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.'” (ESV)
  • 1 Peter 4:19 “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (ESV)


“Is Mary the cause of salvation?” - Important Questions to Consider:

  • Why is Mary given titles that are only biblically used as titles to describe God Himself? “Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix [Mediator]”  Why are there no biblical passages giving Mary these titles?
  • Did Jesus praise his mother or rebuke his mother for her interference at Cana?
  • Why are we called to “trust” and “give ourselves” to Mary?  How is this different than faith and worship?  Doesn’t Peter say to entrust our souls to the Creator?  Where does Peter tell us to entrust our souls to Mary in the Bible?
  • Is mercy referred to by the Bible as coming from Mary?  Where does the Bible refer to Mary as the “All-holy” one?
  • Do these claims and titles about Mary elevate her to the level of deity (being a god/goddess)?
  • Where does the Bible address Mary as the “cause of salvation” (CCC 494)?
  • Where does the Bible connect Mary to Eve (CCC 494) as it connects Jesus to Adam (1 Cor 15:45)?
  • How do “our prayers” cooperate with Mary to “deliver our souls from death” (CCC 966)?  Where does the Bible describe this practice?Subscribe to “The Catholic Blog” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC03uZywULBplunOmh4nCB2A    

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