With the emergence of different heretical and apostatic teachings, some churches have spread false teachings associating Mary, the mother of Jesus, with different false tenets. This new theology, according to which Mary is venerated, is fundamentally based on four non-biblical concepts: [1] the Immaculate Conception, [2] the title of “Mother of God”, [3] the Perpetual Virginity of Mary; and [4] the Assumption of Mary. For a better understanding of Mariology, you will need to take a closer look at each of the four dogmas.
Immaculate Conception:
This Mariological concept holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was sinless, i.e., preserved from original sin. This Immaculate Conception should not be confused with the conception of Jesus! Instead, people who believe in Mariology hold that the Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, given the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of humanity, preserved from all stain of original sin. In other words, Mary did not have a sinful nature and was, in fact, sinless since God made her immune to imputed or inherited sin! This, however, is absolutely unbiblical.
A common passage on which Mariology is based is Luke 1:28 where Mariologists seek to imply that the words "highly favored" can be rendered "favored with grace", thus Mary is a superabundance of grace that makes her sinless, the reason why God chose her to bear His Son. Another passage is Genesis 3:15 where Mariologists seek to point out that the conflict between the serpent and the woman is equal to the conflict between the serpent and the Offspring of the woman, therefore the woman (Mary) must be as sinless as her Offspring (Christ). However, these passages in no way concern Mary's sinful status.
In reality, and as also believed by Mariologists, the Bible gives us no reason to believe that Mary was without sin. Rather, she is described as humble and submissive young woman, faithful to God (Luke 1:46–55), an ordinary human female whom God chose to become the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ and without a doubt, she was a God-fearing (Luke 1:28) and cherished (John 19:27) mother. According to the Bible, there is only one person who has never committed sin, and that is Jesus Christ (see Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 2Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). In other words, the immaculate conception is only applicable to Jesus and not to anyone else. There is no passage in Scripture indicating the conception of Mary as an exception. Just as Mary is no exception to the biblical statement that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23); she also needed a Savior, just like all of us (Luke 1:47). In this verse, herself calls Jesus her Savior: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior”. The clear implication of Mary’s calling God her “Savior” is that she recognized her need of salvation from sin.
The Mother of God Title
We all know that Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ, but she is not the mother of God! This is probably one of the heresies that is a bit difficult to understand for a novice believer who tend to confuse nature and person of Christ: Christ’s human and divine natures.
Those who attribute this title to Mary teach that since Jesus is God and Mary is the mother of Jesus, she is therefore the mother of God. In this statement, the term mother of God could be misinterpreted to imply that Mary was the source or originator of God, like how Juno was the mother of Vulcan in Roman mythology. It would mean that the Word became flesh (John 1:14), and Mary mothered Him! Knowing that God is eternal, and that Jesus has a pre-existing divine nature; we see that the idea that Mary is the mother of God in the sense that she was the source of God or somehow predated God or was herself part of the Godhead is clearly not biblical.
The biblical teaching of the Incarnation takes Mary as a human agent through whom the Eternal Son of God took on a human body and human nature and entered the world. Mary is the “bearer of God” in the sense that, in her womb, the divine person of God the Son has taken on human nature in addition to His pre-existing divine nature. However, it is very unfortunate that some churches today use the concept of Incarnation to communicate something different to the point of making Mary an object of worship in her own right!
Some churches, especially Catholicism, teach their followers to turn to Mary for help in times of need. Mary was honored with the title of "Mother of God" and consequently the Incarnation of God moved towards a veneration of the "Mother of God", even to the point of honoring her images and praying to her as "Queen of Heaven", " "Benefactress" and "Mediator". You will probably have heard about different hymns and praises to Mary! These teachings represent a theological shift from Christ as our only Redeemer and Intercessor (1 Timothy 2:5) and an overemphasis on Mary as “co-redemptrix or a mediatrix.” Believers of such churches are obliged to accept these three false doctrines: (1) Mary participates in redemption with Jesus Christ, (2) grace is granted by Jesus only through the intercession of Mary, and (3) all prayers from the faithful must flow through Mary, who brings them to the attention of her Son. This movement would, in practice, redefine the Trinity as a kind of Quartet.
The scriptures are so clear that Jesus is the only mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5), and that there is no mediator between man and Jesus since Jesus Himself dwells in believers; thus, none is required (Colossians 1:27). There is no scripture to support the assertion of Mary's sinlessness or her ascension to heaven to intercede for us. Jesus Himself indicated that Mary has no special place in relation to redemption or mediation (Matthew 12:47-50). We see that Mary was also part of the community of believers in prayer and supplication prior to Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Mary is indeed “most blessed among women” (Luke 1:42) because she was the mother of the Messiah. But she is not divine and cannot be seen as part of the Trinity. She did not redeem us from sin and cannot be made part of the redemptive process.
Perpetual Virginity of Mary
A third unbiblical tenet about Mary holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin all her life. Those who support this false dogma teach that Mary remained unmarried and had no children other than Jesus. Such concepts are not taught anywhere but contract the Scriptures.
We read in Matthiew 1:25 “but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son.[a] And he named him Jesus.” The Scriptures are very clear: Joseph and Mary did not have sexual relations until after the birth of Jesus, that is, Mary remained a virgin until the birth of the Savior. However, later God blessed Mary and Joseph by giving them several children, which in that culture was accepted as the clearest indication of God's blessing on a woman. Their children are James, Joseph, Simon, Judas and their sisters, as we see listed in Matthew 13:55-56.
Catholic leaders claim that the Greek terms for "brothers" and "sisters" in these verses could also refer to male and female relatives, not necessarily literal siblings. However, the intended meaning of this passage is much clear: Father, mother, brother, sister. It is straining to understand the meaning of the text interpreting "brothers" and "sisters" as "cousins" or "relatives" when mentioning the mother and father of Jesus. We see similar accounts that mention Jesus' mother and brothers in Matthew 12:46; Mark 3:31-34; Luke 8:19-21; John 2:12; and Acts 1:14. If they were Jesus’s cousins, or Joseph's sons from a different marriage, why were they mentioned so often with Mary? The account of Jesus returning to Nazareth with His earthly parents, in Luke 2:41-49, also shows us that Mary and her husband Joseph travelled, every year, to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. This passage emphasizes that Mary and Joseph were indeed living together as a married couple.
Anyway, this theology of the perpetual virginity of Mary is not even necessary. Sex in marriage is not a sin, so Mary would in no way defile herself by having sex with Joseph, her husband. The intention of placing Mary in an exalted position could not be prevented by sexual relations with her husband, for marriage is a divine purpose and nowhere do the Scriptures prohibit Mary and Joseph from entering into a marriage bond, but rather an encouragement from the Angel (Matthiew 1:20). The whole concept of Mary's perpetual virginity is therefore based on an unbiblical teaching and an unbiblical understanding of sex.
The Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is a teaching that, after the mother of Jesus died, she was [assumed] resurrected, glorified, and taken bodily to heaven.
The doctrine of the Assumption of Mary began with the Feast of Dormition (“falling asleep”), which commemorated the of Mary's death in the Byzantine Empire, around the sixth century. As the practice spread in the West, emphasis was shifted to the resurrection of Mary and the glorification of Mary's body and soul, and the name of the feast was thus changed to Assumption. The doctrine of the assumption goes further by assuming that Mary has an exalted place in Heaven, with the closest access to Jesus and God the Father, just a position comparable to that of her Son. Some Roman Catholics even go so far as to teach that Mary was resurrected on the third day, just like Jesus, and that Mary ascended into heaven, just like Jesus. The problem is that there is absolutely no biblical basis for all of these teachings.
Mary’s death is not recorded in the Bible. Nothing is said about Mary ascending to heaven or having an exalted role there. The story of the Assumption of Mary, involving her resurrection and the miraculous gathering of the apostles to witness the event, is pure folklore. Nowhere does the Bible indicate that the apostles gave Mary a prominent role as the Bible does not even mention Mary after Acts chapter 1. Attributing the events of Jesus to Mary is an intention to attribute to her some of the attributes of Christ. For those who believe Mariology, the Assumption of Mary is an important part of why Mary is venerated, adored, worshiped, and prayed to. Teaching the Assumption of Mary is a step towards making her equal to Christ and essentially proclaiming the deity of Mary. The Bible nowhere indicates that Mary can hear our prayers or that she can mediate for us with God. Jesus is our only advocate and mediator in heaven (1 Timothy 2:5).
If you are still reading, thank you ! To sum up, just in one phrase, the whole concept of Mariology is imposed on the Scriptures, in contradiction to what the Scriptures clearly say.
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