I came across a video on youtube where a speaker makes the argument that when Luther's doctrine of sola scriptura (the bible alone) is rejected, there will be negative consequences. He uses the Catholic practice of devotion to Mary, mother of Jesus, as the prime example to support his statement. What the speaker fails to mention, and what his intended audience doesn't know, is that Marian devotion is easily proven beyond the shadow of a doubt using the bible alone. No one was more surprised than I was to learn of this, but here it is in black and white (with embellishments of course).
(source)
But wait, there's much more. Follow the flow of the Holy Bible from start to finish (emphasis added).
Eve, our mother foreshadows the Woman who is to come
Genesis 3:15, "And I [God] will establish a feud between thee [satan] and the woman... she is to crush thy head..."
It's not an option
Exodus 20:12 "Honour thy... mother; so thou shalt live long to enjoy the land which the Lord thy God means to give thee."
The nation of Israel's hierarchy foreshadows the new, spiritual Israel (the Church) to come, which represents the kingdom of Heaven
I Kings 2:19-20 "...the king rose to meet her [his mother] and bowed low, then he sat down on his throne again... a throne was brought for her... to sit down at his right hand. There is a light request, she told him, that I would make of thee... Make thy request, mother, said he; I will not turn a deaf ear to it."
If it's good enough for Gabriel, it's good enough for me
Luke 1:28 "Into her [Mary's] presence the angel came, and said, Hail, thou who art full of grace...
"All generations" means us as well, right?
Luke 2:39-47 "Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country... she... greeted Elizabeth. ...when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb... filled with the Holy Spirit... she exclaimed... "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ...Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord... Behold, from this day forward all generations will count me blessed."
She doesn't even answer his question because she knows he will never "turn a deaf ear" to her petition
John 2:4-5 "Jesus answered her [Mary], Nay, woman, why dost thou trouble me with that? My time has not come yet. And his mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you.
These two were the only representatives of the Church during Christ's final moments on the cross
John 19:26 "And Jesus, seeing his mother there, and the disciple, too, whom he loved, standing by, said to his mother, Woman, this is thy son. Then he said to the disciple, This is thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own keeping."
Wait a minute! Doesn't Leviticus 19 forbid communication with the dead? Yes it does, but the saints, especially Mary, are not dead.
Mark 12:27 "Yet it is of living men, not of dead men, that he is the God..."
Heb 12:1 "...we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses..."
Rev 6:10 " ...[the martyrs] cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?"
Rev 8:4-5 "the prayers said by all the saints...from the angel’s hand... went up in God’s presence..."
For this next part it is important to note that the original scriptural writings did not contain the chapter and verse numbers we know today. These were added in at a later time for the sake of convenience. One problem with this is the transition from Rev 11-12. It was originally written as one continuous text. Jews in the first century flipped their lids when they heard this:
Rev 11:19 "... God’s heavenly temple was thrown open, and the ark of the covenant was plain to view..." (transition to chapter 12) "in heaven... a woman that wore the sun for her mantle, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars about her head."
Also from Rev 12:
If you stand opposed to the Woman, you stand with the Dragon
"he [satan] stood fronting the woman who was in childbirth, ready to swallow up the child as soon as she bore it. She bore a son... who is to herd the nations like sheep... and this child of hers was caught up to God, right up to his throne." "finding himself cast down to earth, [satan]went in pursuit of the woman..." "...in his spite against the woman, the dragon[satan] went elsewhere to make war on the rest of her children, the men who keep God’s commandments, and hold fast to the truth concerning Jesus."
Now take another gander at Exodus 20:12. By God's own design Mary is the Queen of Heaven, the Ark of the New Covenant, and the bible EXPLICITLY states that all faithful Christians are HER children. “Honor” means treating one’s parents with the gravity that their position demands. ...the opposite of “honor” is “kalel.” The word is always translated as “to curse,” but its literal meaning is to make light of (from the Hebrew “kal,” light). One curses one’s parents... if one treats them lightly."(source) To treat Mary lightly is, not only to disobey God's commandment, but to curse Christ's own mother! How would you react if someone were to curse your mother? Would you joyfully welcome them into your kingdom?
Still not convinced? Here's a little piece of History you will not be told about in Sunday school:
“...found on a fragment of papyrus that dates all the way back to approximately AD 250”, only a couple of centuries after the Death and Resurrection of Christ, approximately a century before Constantine and the Edict of Milan but, more importantly, two centuries before the Third Ecumenical Council, the Council of Ephesus, in which the Virgin Mary was proclaimed “Mother of God”.
The prayer goes:
Beneath thy compassion,
we take refuge, O Mother of God:
do not despise our petitions in time of trouble,
but rescue us from dangers,
only pure one, only blessed one.
(source)
Other images: Illuminated manuscript, Adam and eve, Moses and the ten commandments, King Solomon and His Mother Bathsheba, The annunciation, The visitation, The wedding at Cana, seven last words of christ, Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, Mary queen of heaven, Apocalypse selon Saint Jean - La femme de soleil et le dragon à 7 têtes Giclee