Quote:
Originally Posted by FragrantFlora
Many Protestants would argue why there's a need to pray to Mary or Saints for intercession. They would believe that what is required to be saved is to have a direct relationship with God himself. Several Protestant pastors who have spoken at sermons during church and fellowships have said that when you have a need for messengers/counselors/mediators, it kind of gives off the idea that God is a stuck up, too good for anyone King. It's actually Mary and the Saints, especially Mary(being a mother) who are the compassionate, sweet, kind ones who are trying to soften God's heart in giving mercy to His people. This would mean that Mary and the Saints would have roles in God's decisions and that God isn't so kind after all. I don't now if this is true for all Catholics but I study in a Catholic university and this is what's been taught that Mary is somehow God's counselor/mediator.
|
See that right there is one of the things I think is wrong with Many Protestant denominations. That is that they spend way too much time trying to say what is wrong with the Catholic denomination, as if it is part of their religion study. Instead of spending time on Unity with fellow christian, it seems that this is pointing out why we should be seperate, a bit of self justification, which makes me wonder why the self justification is needed. The Catholic Church does have its problems, big problems, but they are none of these things you point at, and much of what you say others have said seems to stem from ignorance rather than something they know about. The funny thing is that every Catholic church that I've participated in, and I don't really go that much anymore since I'm not very religious, has always taught a more open minded view that it really doesn't matter what christian denomination someone is in and that you Protestants are just as good people as any Catholic and that both have equal chance of going to heaven. They even taught In my time that non christians, such as Buddhists go to haven. So why do some Protestant have to spend so much energy trying to point out whats wrong with the Catholic Church, when the denomination is much reformed from the days that the Protestants, most denominations who were once part of the Catholic Church, split off because they were reformists?
But anyway, it is right that that praying to God is probably just effective as praying to Mary. I don't think that many people pray to saints. But ironically enough, some of the Criticism you have mentioned of praying to Mary as opposed to God also exist within the Trinity itself, as in Praying to Jesus as opposed to God, that the Jesus part of the Trinity, though the same god, is somehow more merciful than the Father part, and then you also have people praying to the Holy spirit. And the whole criticism seems a bit flawed then, because all the sudden singing songs like, "yes, Jesus loves me," seem wrong and can be questioned as to why it is not "Yes, God loves me," But honestly, there is something wrong with spending time thinking about how someone worships God or worships whatever they worship, when they are peacful and don't bother anyone with their religious views. People spending time talking about what is wrong with another religion seem like they are on High horses, especially when that religion does not effect them in any way, especially when that religion holds no ill will against them. The Catholic Church is much reformed from the time the Protestants felt that they had to split
Quote:
Another issue I guess would be the statues especially the one with the Virgin Mary carrying a baby Jesus. Some hardcore Protestants I know and whose books I have read have claimed that Catholicism was just the result of a facelift of the first pagan practices. One of the first ever during the time of Noah's sons. The particular religion then had a Queen Semiramis who made her people see her and her son as gods. From this, as time went about, other religions came about but only with different names. I was amused as to how there's a statue of Isis carrying her baby Horus and how there's a Mary carrying her baby Jesus. I'm not particularly in full agreement with the claims but I did think that there did seem to be a bit of truth in this and what a coincidence this is if it ever was.
I'm wondering what other Catholics think about this.
|
A statue of a woman carrying a child is evidence of paganism? The evidence seems kind of weak, IMO. Now the Catholic church did convert a lot of Pegan places of worship into their own and took on some Pegan traditions to get the people in Europe to convert. But then, if that wasn't the case, then Christianity might not have spread the way it did across Europe, and there probably would be a lot less Chrisitans in the world, Catholic and Protestants.