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Dilemmas On this page: | Mary Dilemma 1: Mediatrix of All Grace | Mary Dilemma 2: Queen of Heaven |

Mary Dilemma #1: Mediatrix of all Grace?

Evidence:

"Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, article #968).

"but by her manifold intercession [Mary] continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation." (Catechism, article #969)

"I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and to all the saints, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word an deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beseech (notice that the Father is now missing?) Blessed Mary ever Virgin, blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, to pray to the Lord our God for me." (The 'Confetior', quoted from The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, Official Revised Edition, Copyright 1962, Page 5.)

FACT 2: The Word of God says, quite clearly, that there is only one intercessor between God and man, and that one is Jesus Christ.

Evidence:

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ⁶Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

FACT 3: Scripture declares that there is only one person who can "bring us the gifts of eternal salvation," - Jesus Christ. There is absolutely no evidence in Scripture that Jesus delegated or shared his power of salvation with Mary - not even a tiny hint!

Evidence:

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

FACT 4: Grace is absolutely necessary for salvation.

Evidence:

¹¹But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. (Acts 15:11)

⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2: 8-9)

FACT 5: Rome teaches that the only way you can get grace is through Mary.

Evidence:

"Mary is the mediatrix of all graces because of her intercession for us in heaven. What that means is that no grace accrues to us without her intercession. Through God's will, grace is not conferred on anyone without Mary's intercession." (Catholicism and Fundamentalism, by Karl Keating, Copyright 1988; with Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur: Page 279)

The Dilemma

My observations on this Dilemma

Given the current movement in the Roman Catholic Church to declare Mary as the "Mediatrix of All Graces," I would not be at all surprised to see the Trinity soon become the Quadrinity - Father, Son, Holy Spirit and Mary. Mary is already portrayed as being "intimately involved in union with God in the Trinity." (The Essential Mary Handbook, Page 5: Liguori Publications, 1999).

From the same publication, and from numerous other official Roman Catholic publications, we read further that, "Mary's role is not just an individual one, but she also assumes a broader role as a minister of salvation for the whole human race." (Same source, Page 6). Such declarations identify Mary as our savior, our redeemer. It could not be more clear; no amount of back-peddling by Rome can get around this conclusion.

If Grace, as the gift of God, can only be distributed via Mary as "Mediatrix of All Graces," isn't it very plain that Mary, and not Jesus, is the one who is really necessary for salvation?

Keep an eye on Rome. I don't think it will be long before we see an "Ex Cathedra" proclamation that Mary must be accepted as "Mediatrix of All Graces." And, after that one sinks in, the next step in the logical progression is to declare Mary to be part of the Trinity Itself. Don't laugh; its not funny. Throughout recorded history Satan has worked diligently at establishing false religious systems with a woman at the top. In those false systems, the woman is viewed as having all the power by virtue of her son, often show as an infant in her arms. Sound familiar? You can go back to Egypt, Rome, China, even to Babylon and will find such a system firmly entrenched. And, as I have described elsewhere at this site, the modern Roman Catholic Church already bears more than a striking resemblance to those pagan religious systems.

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Mary Dilemma #2: Queen of Heaven?

Evidence

"Mary's title as Queen of Heaven did not come from being married to God - as I had thought - but was based on the honor of being the Queen Mother of Jesus, the King of Kings and the Son of David. In the Old Testament, King Solomon, the son of David, elevated his mother, Bathsheba, to a throne at his right hand, paying her homage in his court as the queen mother. And in the New Testament, Jesus elevated his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to a throne at his right hand in heaven, bidding us to pay her homage as the Queen Mother of Heaven." (Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism, Scott&Kimberly Hahn: ©Ignatius Press 1993)

FACT 2: The concept of 'Queen of Heaven' is mentioned only five times in Scripture. Each time it is a reference to a concept that God finds an abomination.

Evidence Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17, 18, 19, 25

FACT 3: The teaching of a 'Queen of Heaven' did not originate with the Roman Catholic Church, nor with the New Testament. No, this teaching, which God finds repulsive, originated on the Plain of Shinar (modern-day Iraq) at the Tower of Babel!

Evidence: Click here for detailed information about the history of the 'Queen of Heaven' concept.

FACT 4: There is absolutely no indication in Scripture that (as stated by the Hahns') Jesus 'elevated his mother to a throne,' or 'bid us to pay her homage,' or identified her as 'Queen of Heaven.' These are all unfounded suppositions by these Roman Catholic apologists.

FACT 5: Only one 'Father of the Church' - Origin - mentions the 'Queen of Heaven,' and he considers it a heresy, a sin to be avoided.

Evidence

"As we allege, however, that he has fallen into confusion in consequence of false notions which he has imbibed, come and let us point them out to the best of our ability, and show that although Celsus considers it to be a Jewish custom to bow down to the heaven and the angels in it, such a practice is not at all Jewish, but is in violation of Judaism, as it also is to do obeisance to sun, moon, and stars, as well as images. You will find at least in the book of Jeremiah the words of God censuring by the mouth of the prophet the Jewish people for doing obeisance to such objects, and for sacrificing to the queen of heaven, and to all the host of heaven. The writings of the Christians, moreover, show, in censuring the sins committed among the Jews, that when God abandoned that people on account of certain sins, these sins (of idol-worship) also were committed by them." (Roberts, Alexander and Donaldson, James, Ante-Nicene Fathers: Volume IV, Book V, Chapter VIII: Origin against the Heresy of Celsus [Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.] 1997.)

Of all the ante-nicene, nicene, and post-nicene Fathers, only Origin uses the term "Queen of Heaven" and he identifies it as an heretical concept. None of the other ante-nicene Fathers even mention the "Queen of Heaven." I find this most interesting in light of Rome's claims that Jesus himself elevated her to that supposed position. If He did, and if it is such an important teaching of Rome, don't you find it interesting that not one of the early Church Fathers was aware of it?

FACT 6: The whole idea of looking to Mary as Queen of Heaven is to appeal to her as the 'Mediatrix of all Graces' for our salvation. As the supposed Mediator, Rome teaches that she intercedes with God and her son, Jesus Christ, on our behalf. The assumption of such activity is, of course, that one will obtain one's request through Mary.

FACT 7: The very Scriptures quoted by the Hahns' to 'prove' their point, actually backfires: when you read it, you soon learn that it proves exactly the opposite point!

Evidence:

¹⁸And Bathsheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king. ¹⁹Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand. ²⁰Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay. ²¹And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife. ²²And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah. ²³Then king Solomon sware by the LORD, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life. ²⁴Now therefore, as the LORD liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day. ²⁵And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died. (1 Kings 2: 18-25)

If the Hahns' want us to believe that Solomon's action with his mum is evidence that Jesus did the same thing, they fail miserably! Solomon's mum did act as mediatrix between the King and Adonijah. The result? The king had Adonijah killed! Some intercessor! This is a parallel to Mary and Jesus?

The Dilemma

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