THE NEW AND IMPROVED MARY?

By Jerry Bates

Just when you think that religious people cannot get any further from revealed truth, another event happens which shakes you back to reality. Recently, I read that many Catholics were petitioning the Pope to proclaim a new dogma: "that the Virgin Mary is Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate of the People of God." (Newsweek, Aug. 15, 1997). This movement supposedly is supported by several prominent Catholics. Of course, for centuries Catholics have elevated Mary to a position far higher than has been revealed in Scripture, but to proclaim her to be an equal with Jesus Christ, Himself, is something else.

How could many sincerely religious people support such an idea? I believe that it can be answered very simply. Either people do not know the Bible or do not respect the simple written authority of the Bible. The author of the article made this very revealing statement:

"The secret of Mary's mysterious power may be just this: having no history of her own, she entices every new generation to draw her portrait. The Bible offers only scraps to build on."

In other words, it doesn't matter what the Bible says. It is not particularly important that the Bible says absolutely nothing about such a doctrine. It makes little difference that such a doctrine contradicts a plain teaching of Paul when he wrote: "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5). Just forget that John warns, "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ hath not God" (2 John 9). The crux of the matter for the bishops is this: "We like it; we want it; let's have it!"