Why do Christians worship Mary?

[rhb100]

Are Roman Catholics allowed to vigorously challenge the literal truth of the virgin birth?

NO.... they are not allowed to challenge or even talk about the possibility that a dogma is incorrect.

I accept your response as being correct. But this is truly unfortunate. If Roman Catholics are not allowed and encouraged to vigorously challenge religious dogma, they will not develop into clear thinking, rational seekers of truth.

 

[darkpenguin]

Why is it not questioned whether she was a virgin or not? Why is it just believed with blind faith? Back in that day she would have been outcast if she were raped, but in this day and age she would be sympathised with. Why don't people see it logicaly and put 2 and 2 together and realise that nobody in that day could have got pregnant without having intercourse? Why the blind faith in a book and characters within that book? I'm curious!

 

[Bishka]

Why don't people see it logicaly and put 2 and 2 together and realise that nobody in that day could have got pregnant without having intercourse?

Because we believe she WAS a virgin and that a miraculous event happened. Just because you don't have faith that this even happened, doesn't mean other people can't.

 

[darkpenguin]

And for the record i'm not ridiculing anyone for their beliefs in mary/god/christ.
I'm just voicing my opinion and asking a simple question!

 

[Gentoo]

And for the record i'm not ridiculing anyone for their beliefs in mary/god/christ.
I'm just voicing my opinion and asking a simple question!

For some people, faith is all they need. For others, myself included, need a little more than that, we need to see a follow through - cause and effect. I don't think there's a reason for it... it just is.

 

[Bishka]

And for the record i'm not ridiculing anyone for their beliefs in mary/god/christ.
I'm just voicing my opinion and asking a simple question!

Well, it's an obvious miracle in our book.

 

[darkpenguin]

Well, it's an obvious miracle in our book.

That seems fair, I just struggle with certain things in religion and accepting this has never been possible for me. I'm not sure whether it's me thinking outside of the proverbial box or me not stepping outside of the said box!

 

[rhb100]

Faith doesn't have to be founded in science, that's why it's faith (duh).

Perhaps a more clear description of faith would be to say, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so", as Samuel Langhorne Clemens put it.

 

[MaddLlama]

Perhaps a more clear description of faith would be to say, "Faith is believing what you know ain't so", as Samuel Langhorne Clemens put it.

I disagree. Faith is believing in something that hasn't been proven to be true or not true. To say that all people who believe in God know he isn't real is, well, ludicrous.

 

[logician]

Pushing "faith" has been used as a coverup for religion throughout the ages as a substitute for proof, since there hasn't been any. Making believers feel guilty unless they have a strong faith is the cornerstone of most religions.

 

[MaddLlama]

Pushing "faith" has been used as a coverup for religion throughout the ages as a substitute for proof, since there hasn't been any. Making believers feel guilty unless they have a strong faith is the cornerstone of most religions.

That's quite a narrowminded brush to paint such a large group.

 

[Scott1]

Seems like veneration can also be deemed worship, maybe you need another terminology, or should admit that Mary is worshipped in many circles.

She most certainly is....

Well intentioned but erroneous Christians have worshiped many things other than Christ for thousands of years... from Peter's wife to the various Marain apparitions.

 

[ApologeticsCatholic]

Blind Faith Is "Faith" that is what makes Faith well Faith....
If mary was not a virgin and did not concieve The Emmanuel, God Among us then are faith means nothing....
mathew 1:23 says "And a virgin will be with child" it was a prohecy written in the apocrypha of the old testiment
So we must believe and we do believe

 

[FerventGodSeeker]

What do you mean by the religion of Atheism, FerventGodSeeker?

Pretty much everyone has faith, even if they don't realize it or refuse to admit it.

The only thing atheists have in common is that they are not persuaded by the evidence for the existence of a God.

That's a pretty big ideology to share in common; it shapes your whole worldview.

The God they are referring to in their non belief is usually the God as described in the Bible

No,that would be a non-Christian. An Athiest is one who rejects belief in any god, not just the Biblical One.

 

[FerventGodSeeker]

Hmmm, from the dictionary:

ven·er·ate
–verb (used with object), -at·ed, -at·ing. to regard or treat with reverence; revere.

[Origin: 1615–25; < L vener&#257;tus, ptp. of vener&#257;r&#299; to solicit the goodwill of (a god), WORSHIP, revere, v. deriv. of vener-, s. of venus, presumably in its original sense “desire”; see Venus)

]


Seems like veneration can also be deemed worship, maybe you need another terminology, or should admit that Mary is worshipped in many circles.

Or maybe you should figure out that language changes over time?

 

[Scott1]

mathew 1:23 says "And a virgin will be with child" it was a prohecy written in the apocrypha of the old testiment
So we must believe and we do believe

Well I believe because I believe in the Church that defined the canon that included the verse you quoted... if you choose to base your faith on scripture, so be it.... different strokes as they say.

 

[FerventGodSeeker]

Pushing "faith" has been used as a coverup for religion throughout the ages as a substitute for proof, since there hasn't been any. Making believers feel guilty unless they have a strong faith is the cornerstone of most religions.

And pushing an anti-religious, anti-God agenda has been an excuse to exterminate thousands and millions of people around the world, when there's been no proof to exclude the possibility of Deity. Making people feel smart and self-relient when they reject God has been the cornerstone of most Atheist beliefs.

 

[Scott1]

Just FYI:

The Collyridians were an obscure early Christian heretical group. According to our main source, the Panarion or "Medicine-chest against Heresies" of Epiphanius of Salamis (written ca. 375 AD), certain women in then largely pagan Arabia worshipped Mary mother of Jesus as a goddess and offered little cakes or bread-rolls (Greek &#954;&#959;&#955;&#955;&#965;&#961;&#953;&#962; — a word occurring in the Septuagint) to her. Epiphanius states that Collyridianism originated in Thrace and Scythia, although it may have first travelled to those regions from Syria or Asia Minor. Little else is known.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyridians

 

[mr.guy]

Making people feel smart and self-relient when they reject God has been the cornerstone of most Atheist beliefs.

It would be hasty give such a notion so much load-bearing credence; most of us just consider this a handsome pony wall.

 

[FerventGodSeeker]

It would be hasty give such a notion so much load-bearing credence; most of us just consider this a handsome pony wall.

I thought I would paint Atheism with strokes as broad as the ones wanderer painted Christianity with