CORRECTING PEGGY YOUNE’S MISCONCEPTIONS ON MARY AND CATHOLICISM
A Facebook friend and young Catholic apologist, Juan Carlo Saliba, referred to me for comment the misconceptions of one Peggy Youne from Beirut, Lebanon regarding the place of Mary in Catholicism. Peggy Youne is not alone in harboring ill-conceived notions about the Catholic Church, especially about its doctrines on Mary. As the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said: “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millons who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
In this article, we shall correct the misconceptions of Peggy Youne on the Catholic Church and its doctrines on Mary. I hope that Peggy Youne is open to the truth. I pray that the Spirit of Truth will convict her and lead her to the fullness of truth.
By the way, a simple Google check shows that Peggy Youne’s article is not original. It is taken from Bible.Org.2 She posted the article in her Facebook wall3 on August 15, 2012 (Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) without attributing it to the source. The title of the article which Peggy Youne plagiarized is Should We Worship Mary? From the Catholic point of view, the answer is obvious – NO! There is nothing in Catholic doctrine that Mary is to be worshiped or adored for the simple reason that she is not God. But, as the title of the article suggests, we are worshiping Mary. That is already a false accusation and a lie. For that lie to be passed on as truth violates God’s commandment in Exodus 23:1: “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.”4
Peggy Youne’s stolen words are in red while my comments are in black.
Peggy Youne: While all Catholics do not necessarily worship Mary
MNL: Since Catholics do not worship Mary, as admitted in the article, then we are not guilty of idolatry or Mariolatry as oftentimes charged. It is funny that the articles title is Should We Worship Mary since at the outset, there is already a categorical admission that all Catholics do not necessarily worship Mary. So what’s the point?
Peggy Youne:… the fact that many pray to Mary (which is an act of worship and no where justified in Scripture) …
MNL: Peggy Youne and Bible.Org are correct in saying that many pray to Mary. Catholics indeed do that. But when they say that praying is “an act of worship,” they failed to cite a verse to prove their claim. Where in the Bible does it say categorically that prayer is an act of worship? Peggy Youne and Bible.Org cannot give any. Hence, their objection to praying to Mary as an act of worship lacks basis.
When Catholics pray to Mary, the angels and the saints, it is not to worship them but to ask for their prayer or intercession because we know, based on Scripture, that the “prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (Jas. 5:16). Prayer to God is ontologically and essentially different from the prayer prayed to His saints and servants. Praying to the saints is technically called “invocation” of saints. Invocation literally means “to call.” Is there an example in Scripture of a righteous person who called on the saints? Job 5:1 says this of the righteous Job: “Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?” Who are these “holy ones”? Zechariah 14:5 of the Amplified Bible, used as a Scripture resource, identifies the “holy ones” as “saints and angels.”5 There is a clear Scriptural warrant for the invocation of saints and angels which Peggy Youne and Bible.Org ignore.
Peggy Youne:… and give her titles which resemble those given to Jesus Christ including the idea of mediatorship, this question and others related to Mary have been included under this heading.
MNL: t is unfortunate that Peggy Youne and Bible.Org failed to cite these titles so that we can scrutinize them. Nevertheless, the titles given to the Blessed Virgin Mary are relativeones – always based on Mary’s relationship with Christ (or with us). Hence, Mary’s titles tell us about who Christ is. For instance, Mary is called Mother of God, Mother of Our Savior, Mother of Our Creator, etc. because her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ is God, Savior and Creator.
In Catholic devotional practice, Mary is sometimes called Mediatrix of All Grace not because she is the mediator at par with or parallel to Christ but because by consenting to be the mother of Christ, she gave us Jesus Christ the Author of Grace and indeed Grace Himself –“out of his fullness we have all received grace” (Jn. 1:16).
Peggy Youne: Worship is something that is to be restricted to God alone.
MNL: That is absolutely correct. That is why in the Catholic Church, worship in the context of adoration (latria) is offered to God alone. Mary is not God; hence, she is not adored.
Peggy Youne: As the angel stressed when John fell at his feet in appreciation for the revelation he had seen and received, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God” (See Rev. 19:10; 22:9).
MNL: The angel is correct in refusing worship because He is not God. In Revelation 19:10, the angel – as quoted by Peggy Youne and Bible.Org, said, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.” But what was it that John did? Read the verse before it: “At this I fell at his feet to worship him” (Rev. 19:9). Unfortunately, Peggy Youne and Bible.Org did not give us the complete picture. They omitted verse 9 which says that John fell down at his feet toworship the angel.
Peggy Youne: Mary is not God …
MNL: And who says she is? Where in Catholic doctrine does it say that Mary is God?
Peggy Youne: … and her exaltation in the Catholic church has no foundation in Scripture…
MNL: Mary is exalted because of her humility. It is the clear and consistent teaching of God’s Word that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt. 23:12). The Blessed Virgin Mary’s utter humility is reason enough for her to be exalted. She acknowledges her nothingness and praises the Almighty God for all the great things He has done for her (Lk. 1:49). The Virgin Mary confesses that God “has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness” (Lk. 1:48). Yet, despite her lowliness, she proclaims “from now on will all ages call me blessed” (Lk. 1:48). God’s Word says this of God, “He sets up on high the lowly” (Job 5:11). In the Magnificat the Blessed Virgin herself declares: “He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly” (Lk. 1:52). This pronouncement of the Blessed Mother echoes 1 Samuel 2:8: “He raises the needy from the dust; from the ash heap he lifts up the poor, to seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage.”
Peggy Youne: While we may and should appreciate the ministry of men and women, they are only instruments used of God for His glory.
MNL: That’s what we do. We appreciate the ministry of Mary and the saints and praise God for them. When we praise Mary and the saints, it’s God that we praise who made them as masterpieces of His grace. We are grateful to Mary and the saints for their work of love.“God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped His people and continue to help them” (Heb. 6:10).
Peggy Youne: Christ alone is our mediator. Paul clearly points this out in 1 Timothy 2:3-6:
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.
MNL: That’s correct. Where in Catholic doctrine do we say that Christ is not our sole mediator? But since Jesus is our sole mediator, 1 Timothy 2:1 urges us “that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.” And 1 Timothy 2:3, also quoted by Penny Youne and Bible.Org, says: “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” Making intercession for one another is “good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” Does that take away from the sole mediatorship of Christ?
Peggy Youne: Though Mary was the mother of the humanity of Jesus, a miracle accomplished by the Holy Spirit, she was not the mother of God.
MNL: This smacks of the heresy of Nestorianism. A mother is a mother of a person, not of nature. Mary is not just the mother of the human nature, but of the person, of Jesus Christ. Since the person of Christ is divine, Mary is rightly and properly the Mother of God.
Peggy Youne: As God, Christ is eternal and had no mother or beginning (see John 1:1f).
MNL: Who says otherwise?
Peggy Youne: In essence, worshipping Mary is a form of idolatry.
MNL: Precisely, that’s why we don’t worship Mary.
Peggy Youne: In the New Testament, Mary is never mentioned in a way that exalts her as is done in Catholicism. (1) The Bible says nothing about Mary ascending into heaven in some special way. She went to heaven as all do through faith in Christ as God’s Son who died for our sin, including hers.
MNL: Penny Youne and Bible.Org are ignorant of Catholic teaching. We don’t teach that Mary “ascended” into heaven because, as the Scripture says, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven” (Jn. 3:13, KJV). Only Jesus ascended into heaven by His own divine power. In the case of Mary (Enoch and Elijah before her), she was “assumed” into heaven by the divine power of her Son. How come that Penny Youne and Bible.Org falsifies and misrepresents Catholic doctrine? How come, too, that they are disparaging something that they do not know? “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption” (2 Pt. 2:12, KJV).
Peggy Youne: (2) The conception of Jesus, was by the Holy Spirit as explained in Matthew 1:20 and Luke 1:35. Other than stating this was a miracle work of the Holy Spirit, we are given no details.
MNL: Yes indeed, Matthew 1:20 is categorical that “which is conceived in her [Mary] is of the Holy Ghost.” And in Luke 1:35, the angel Gabriel told Mary, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” But, Penny Youne and Bible.Org leave out something crucial, Mary’s cooperation in the Incarnation. Curiously, they omitted Luke 1:38: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Peggy Youne: (3) In Luke 1:28, Mary is called “favored one” (literally, “endowed or filled with grace”) but only in the sense that God, by grace, chose her to be the human mother who would give birth to the Christ child. This same idea and word is used of all believers in Ephesians 1:6. We have all been endowed with grace. To say any more than this is to add to what the text of Scripture says.
MNL: This reflects that shallow Biblical scholarship of Peggy Youne and Bible.Org. They failed to realize the vast difference between Luke 1:28 where the word used is “kecharitomene” and Ephesians 1:6 where the word used is “echaritosen.” Where lies the difference?
In Luke 1:28, kecharitomene is a title or name that takes the place of Mary. It conveys who Mary is in God’s sight: “Full of Grace.” Her name conveys her very essence. It means that Mary is the embodiment of grace because she is ultimate in grace. Luke 1:28 implies that Mary is the masterpiece of God’s grace and she is grace personified.
Kecharitomene6 appears only once in the Bible and it applies to Mary alone. The root word for kecharitomene is charis which means grace. A closely similar word for kecharitomene isecharitosen7 which appears in Ephesians 1:6 which means “transformed by grace.” Paul addressed those who, by becoming Christians are transformed by grace and receive the remission of sins. This transformation happened after the death of Christ. In Luke 1:28, Mary is considered transformed by grace before the birth of Christ, in fact even before she conceived Him in her virginal womb. Penny Youne failed to point out that fact. Little learning is always a dangerous thing – especially if it concerns God’s Word.
“Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God” (Mt. 22:29, NLT).
1 Quotes Click here
2 Should we worship Mary? Click here
3 https://www.facebook.com/PeggyYounes
4 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture citations are from the New International Version.
5 Zechariah 14:5 Click here