The Marian Dogmas

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!" (Luke 1:41-42 NIV)

In contending for the Good News of God's Grace we must expose false doctrines that deny or obscure this Good News. Last month I showed the difference between the Roman Catholic view on authority and, what I would call, the biblical view on authority. This distinction is crucial. As was pointed out, Roman Catholics believe in a three-fold authority: Scripture, the Magisterium and Tradition, with the Scripture being of lesser importance; whereas, biblical Christians believe in Sola Scriptura. There is, however, no mention of a magesterium in Scripture, and the true tradition is the teaching of the apostles.

Roman Catholics vigorously attack Sola Scriptura because they know that they must lean heavily on their magisterium and tradition to justify their Marian dogmas (among their other many accretions). They will locate the seeds of the Immaculate Conception and the Perpetual Virginity of Mary in Scripture. For Mary's Assumption into Heaven, they will claim other sources of authority. Romanists will use Luke 1:28 and Genesis 3:15, allegorically, for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception which claims Mary is free from the curse of original sin. For the dogma of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary they will use scriptures such us Matthew 12:46-49 (cf. John 7:3, 4) claiming that "brothers" are actually "cousins," and John 19:26-27 when Jesus asked John to take care of his mother. Apparently there were no siblings of Jesus to take care of her. Romanists must rely on a spurious document from the 2nd Centuray the Protoevangelium of James to bolster their position. How they go from these scriptures to their conclusion for these dogmas is nothing but non sequiturs.

Finally, with the Assumption of Mary, Romanists admit that there is no scriptural support for this dogma, but rely on a papal pronuncment ex cathedra and tradition to arrive at their conclusion. In their view, the Magisterium and tradition are equally infallible with Scripture. All this and non sequiturs are pretty thin stuff to base dogma that all faithful MUST believe to stay in the good graces of the Church.

This is where the nature of authority is important. Those of us following the Bible alone (Solo Scriptura) as we saw from last month, stand on solid ground. Scripture is from God and is the only infallible authority from the beginning of the church. The authority of Chruch tradition and the Magisterium is not on solid ground because they were unknown from the beginning of the church. Thus, we can conclude that the Marian dogmas are false doctrines and believers should avoid the Roman Catholic church and its teachings.

Pray: "Heavenly Father, please remind us to base all our understanding of what is true in theology on the Bible as did the prophets and the apostles. Amen"