By Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon

Among all the women in history, none have been more venerated than Mary, the

mother of Jesus. However, this veneration can be almost exclusively attributed to the

influence of the Catholic Church. For example, one of the most powerful men in the world

sold in the tens of millions of copies, he refers to his “total abandonment to Mary” and to

But who is Mary, according to the Bible? Mary is the young virgin woman who was

chosen by God to bear the Messiah into the world (Mt. 1:18-25; Lk. 1:27-32, 39-41). Although

Mary was “greatly troubled” (Lk. 1:29) by the angel’s announcement of her chosen

role, she faithfully submitted to God’s will: “May it be to me as you have said” (Lk. 1:38).

Throughout her life, she was amazed at the privilege God had given her. When she visited

Elizabeth and heard Elizabeth prophesy amazing things about her child, she said, “My soul

glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Lk. 1:46–47). When Jesus was

born and the shepherds worshipped Him and told of their angelic visitation (what the angels

had told them about Jesus), “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her

heart” (Lk. 2:19). At Jesus’ dedication in the temple, she was even more awed over the

prophecies given about her child (Lk. 2:23).

Thus, the biblical portrait of Mary is of a godly woman who was, not surprisingly, often

taken aback in her role as Jesus’ mother. But was she in any way unique or different from

role as Jesus’ mother; otherwise, she had no special graces, powers, or abilities.

Although the Catholic Church has a billion followers and claims that it accepts biblical

teaching, we find in Scripture just the opposite of what the Catholic Church teaches about Mary.

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was sinless, but Mary is clearly said to be a sinner like

all of us (Lk. 1:47; Rom. 3:23). The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was a perpetual virgin,

but the Scripture teaches she had at least six other children (Mt. 13:55–56).

Although Jesus gave the appropriate respect to Mary as His mother, He never set her

apart as the Catholic Church has. According to Rome, Mary has been more blessed by

God than any other mortal. In the words of Pope Paul VI, citing Vatican II, “The place she

to Luke 11:27–28, Jesus Himself denied Catholic views when He taught that those

the Messiah Himself: “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out,

Today, the Catholic Church views Mary as 1) Co-redemptrix, 2) Mediatrix, and 3) Queen of

Heaven. As Co-redemptrix, she cooperates with Christ in the work of saving sinners. As

Mediatrix of all graces, she now dispenses God’s blessings and grace to the spiritually needy.

As Queen of Heaven, she rules providentially with Christ, the King of Heaven. Thus, “There is

one Mediator between Christ and men, the Holy Mother Mary. Mary is the way, the truth and

As a result of such teaching, the Catholic Church logically teaches Mary’s right to

veneration by faithful Catholics. Because of her role in the economy of salvation, Mary is

worthy of special adoration.

That Catholic theology places Mary very close to Christ Himself can be seen from the

following chart:

In light of this, it is difficult to deny the response of Protestants that Mary has been

elevated from the status of a creature into, in Berkouwer’s words, “the supernatural perfection

of the life of God” or that “Mary’s role is often delineated by Catholicism in a way that

popes and official texts.

Consider a few excerpts: “Nothing according to the will of God comes to us except

through Mary. . .nobody can approach Christ except through the Mother”; “With Jesus,

Mary has redeemed the human race”; “[Mary] offered him [Jesus] on Golgotha to the eternal

Pius XI and Pope Pius XII were reiterated at Vatican II and by modern Catholic theologians.

Vatican II declared, “Taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but

[of salvation] by contributing her share to the justification of the human race, beginning with

In essence, the Catholic Church’s exaltation of Mary at the theological level has resulted

in her worship at the grass-roots level. This is why Carson remarks, “The [historical]

development of Mariology has been accompanied by an ever increasing tendency to accord

Mary a worship that, in much popular devotion, is indistinguishable from that offered to

how such fine distinctions are to be maintained in actual Catholic practice when one is

Sproul who remarks, “I think, however, for all practical purposes, that I can say without fear

of ever being proven wrong, that millions of Roman Catholic people in this world today

MARY

Mother of God

Sinless (immaculate conception)

Perpetual virgin

Ascended (assumed bodily into

heaven)

Queen of heaven

Dispenser (Mediatrix)

Co-redemptrix in the salvation of man

JESUS

Son of God

Sinless

Born of a virgin

Ascended bodily into heaven

King of heaven

Dispenser of all redeeming grace to mankind

Redeemer and Savior of man

and that Catholic views are a result of the evolution of Church tradition and papal pronouncement.

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Unfortunately, however, there is also a logical connection between the Catholic

Church’s exaltation of Mary and the occult revelations from Marian apparitions throughout

the world.

One simply cannot deny that Catholic Mariology approaches, and, in practice often

constitutes, idolatry. We think such idolatry is a principal reason for the worldwide occult

activity associated with official Catholic Mariology.

For example, around the world there are literally hundreds of sites of Marian apparitions

encompassing thousands of messages from “Mary” given to Catholic believers. Revelations

from “Mary” have occurred in almost all of the 50 states and dozens of countries.

No one can deny the fact of these supernatural manifestations, whether they are personal

visions, apparitions, materializations, or channeled revelations. Nor can one deny that the

In the messages of these apparitions in general, leading Catholic Mariologist Father

Thus, proof that these worldwide Marian apparitions could not come from the biblical

Mary can be seen in the teachings the occult “Mary” gives. Mary not only presents herself

Catholic teachings that Mary has consistently supported in her apparitions and revelations

215.

Conference, 1974), 20.

239.

Sproul, “The Virgin Mary” lecture transcript 5, 6, (on file) emphasis added.