"O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: 'Take me and my mother for two gods besides Allah?' "(Surah: 116, the Qur'an.)
At the very time when many American Christians are getting fed up with Islam as it marches through the earth with increasing militancy, this is the very time they should look at the Christian heresies that helped create these doctrines to begin with. The quote above is from the Qur'an. It asks a rhetorical question; the answer being "No!" Jesus did not say that. And Bible-believing Christians will agree with Mohammad, at least here. So where is he getting this notion about Mary?
It's unlikely Islam's founder even HEARD a biblical explanation of the Trinity. For example, the Quran's condemnation of it condemns not the orthodox [i.e. "correct"] doctrine found in the early creeds of Christendom, but rather the distorted views of the Christian heresies circulating in Arabia in the 5th Century AD. Some of them later found their way into the Roman Catholic Church. What the Qur'an condemns, is actually something called "Tri-theism" which the early creeds of Christendom also condemn, and which Papal Rome also condemned, and rightfully so, for the first 600 years of its life: it's the view that the three Persons of the Godhead are in fact three distinct Gods, each with an independent center of consciousness and will. Tritheism was an early heresy whose practitioners were banished to Arabia by the bishops of the Christian Roman Empire. What Islamic scholars have tended to do historically was to "read back" into the Qur'an the Christian-Islamic controversies that came later, including that of the Trinity. Once Christians understand this, they'll be better able to unravel this "Gordian knot" of Islamic-Christian controversy for their Muslim friends.
At the time of Mohammad Arabia had its share of so-called Christian artwork: paintings and mosaics of the Three Persons of the Trinity could be seen on church walls portrayed as three distinct men, sometimes with images of Mary of equal size and stature with one or more of the Persons. Mohammad, living there and already revolted by the idolatry of the pre-Islamic Arabs around the Ka'aba stone in Mecca, saw the paintings. But worse; he heard the doctrines.
The exaltation of Mary did not begin with Rome, and Rome never has believed that Mary was a god or is equal to God. But her "deification" (let's call it her OVER-glorification or exaltation) began with the Christian heresies of pre-Islamic Arabia. How then did the Mariamist heresy find its way into a Church that had fought it for 600 years? And the answer is: "gradually". It took time.
Mary's exaltation has become part of Roman Catholic church tradition. And since, according to Rome, "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 97.), it has, in their view, the authority of Scripture. This is contrary to what traditional Protestants believe, that the Bible alone is the source of doctrinal truth (II Tim.3:16). Thus, Mary as Co-mediator ("Mediatrix") with Christ, Mary as sinless, Mary as Queen of Heaven, Mary as perpetually virgin, Mary as Intercessor, Mary's "assumption" bodily into heaven, Mary as prophesied in Revelation chapter 12:1-6, Mary as the Repository of Merit that she, on request, can share with us to complete the justification of the faithful; all this is completely unsubstantiated by Scripture, but not by Rome's tradition and now has the weight of authority.
How do Muslims hear the gospel today? Largely through the "grid" of Roman Catholic tradition and the exaltation of Mary; in many ways similar to the way Islam's founder heard it 1400 years ago. _____________________________________________________________________________
Live podcast tonight (Thursday): "Jesus: Slain From the World's Foundation" 9:30 pm EST on "Jewish Roots", Internet talk radio, at www.scripturesdramatized.com. Your host, Rev. Rick Anderson. To call with a question or comment: 347-324-5759
At the very time when many American Christians are getting fed up with Islam as it marches through the earth with increasing militancy, this is the very time they should look at the Christian heresies that helped create these doctrines to begin with. The quote above is from the Qur'an. It asks a rhetorical question; the answer being "No!" Jesus did not say that. And Bible-believing Christians will agree with Mohammad, at least here. So where is he getting this notion about Mary?
It's unlikely Islam's founder even HEARD a biblical explanation of the Trinity. For example, the Quran's condemnation of it condemns not the orthodox [i.e. "correct"] doctrine found in the early creeds of Christendom, but rather the distorted views of the Christian heresies circulating in Arabia in the 5th Century AD. Some of them later found their way into the Roman Catholic Church. What the Qur'an condemns, is actually something called "Tri-theism" which the early creeds of Christendom also condemn, and which Papal Rome also condemned, and rightfully so, for the first 600 years of its life: it's the view that the three Persons of the Godhead are in fact three distinct Gods, each with an independent center of consciousness and will. Tritheism was an early heresy whose practitioners were banished to Arabia by the bishops of the Christian Roman Empire. What Islamic scholars have tended to do historically was to "read back" into the Qur'an the Christian-Islamic controversies that came later, including that of the Trinity. Once Christians understand this, they'll be better able to unravel this "Gordian knot" of Islamic-Christian controversy for their Muslim friends.
At the time of Mohammad Arabia had its share of so-called Christian artwork: paintings and mosaics of the Three Persons of the Trinity could be seen on church walls portrayed as three distinct men, sometimes with images of Mary of equal size and stature with one or more of the Persons. Mohammad, living there and already revolted by the idolatry of the pre-Islamic Arabs around the Ka'aba stone in Mecca, saw the paintings. But worse; he heard the doctrines.
The exaltation of Mary did not begin with Rome, and Rome never has believed that Mary was a god or is equal to God. But her "deification" (let's call it her OVER-glorification or exaltation) began with the Christian heresies of pre-Islamic Arabia. How then did the Mariamist heresy find its way into a Church that had fought it for 600 years? And the answer is: "gradually". It took time.
Mary's exaltation has become part of Roman Catholic church tradition. And since, according to Rome, "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 97.), it has, in their view, the authority of Scripture. This is contrary to what traditional Protestants believe, that the Bible alone is the source of doctrinal truth (II Tim.3:16). Thus, Mary as Co-mediator ("Mediatrix") with Christ, Mary as sinless, Mary as Queen of Heaven, Mary as perpetually virgin, Mary as Intercessor, Mary's "assumption" bodily into heaven, Mary as prophesied in Revelation chapter 12:1-6, Mary as the Repository of Merit that she, on request, can share with us to complete the justification of the faithful; all this is completely unsubstantiated by Scripture, but not by Rome's tradition and now has the weight of authority.
How do Muslims hear the gospel today? Largely through the "grid" of Roman Catholic tradition and the exaltation of Mary; in many ways similar to the way Islam's founder heard it 1400 years ago. _____________________________________________________________________________
Live podcast tonight (Thursday): "Jesus: Slain From the World's Foundation" 9:30 pm EST on "Jewish Roots", Internet talk radio, at www.scripturesdramatized.com. Your host, Rev. Rick Anderson. To call with a question or comment: 347-324-5759
