Apologetics for the Masses #320 - Slick and Mary

Topic

Matt Slick and the Blessed Virgin Mary

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General Comments

Hey folks,

Many of you have been wanting to see the full page newspaper ads I've been putting in the Birmingham News and Huntsville Times on the last Sunday of each month (next one is this Sunday, February 25th) since August. Well, you can now see them online at my website. I've put them right there on the home page. Just click here and you can see them: http://www.biblechristiansociety.com/. I hope you enjoy them. This Sunday's ad, on Sola Scriptura, will soon be added.

Introduction

Matt Slick, anti-Catholic, who has avoided any direct confrontation with me for a few years now, even though I have "analyzed" some of the articles from his website from time-to-time here in this newsletter - and many folks have forwarded those analyses to him - recently popped up on one of the Facebook pages that I am a member of - "Catholic Church/Bible Only Debates". I couldn't believe it! At last, a chance to go head-to-head with him. So, I dogged him over a few days by responding to every single post he made. Guess what? He didn't respond to a single post, until he finally said something like, "Really?!" And then, in his next post, he feigned hurt and offense because of my posts - basically to keep from answering the questions.

What was really awesome, though, was when he put up a post on 10 things about Mary that he claimed show how Catholics essentially worship Mary. They came from an article of his on Mary that he has on his website: https://carm.org/roman-catholicism-mary-compare-god Well, I responded to the post, and guess what happened? Nothing. A couple of days went by without any response from him. And then, lo and behold, he deleted the entire thread, including his original post! Fortunately, I had saved a copy of my post, so I started a new thread on Mary by posting my response to Slick again. A couple of days went by without any response from him. And then, lo and behold, he gets into a big snit fit with the administrator of the page and gets kicked off.

Now, he has popped up on another website that I am a member of: "5 Solas vs. Catholic Church". And, as Gomer used to say, "Surprise! Surprise!" he has put up essentially the same post on Mary that he deleted from the other Facebook page. So, I responded to it again. This time, he actually posted something in reply to me, and I thought this would be good fodder for a newsletter, so here we go.

The first thing below is Slick's original post on Mary. Then I will post my initial response. Over the next 2 or 3 newsletters, I am going to respond, point-by-point, to each of his 10 points on Mary. I'll also be posting these responses on the FB page. I wonder if the whole thread will get deleted again?

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Matt Slick

TEN things about Mary from Catholicism.

Question 1: Why is this NOT idolatry?
Question 2: Where is any of this found in the Bible?

I numbered them for easy reference in responses.

1. Mary made atonement for the sins of man: "...Mary, by her spiritual entering into the sacrifice of her divine son for men, made atonement for the sins of man and (de congruon) merited the application of the redemptive grace of Christ. In this manner she cooperates in the subjective redemption of mankind." (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Ott, page 213).

2. Mary crushed the head of the serpent: "All our hope do we repose in the most Blessed Virgin—in the all fair and immaculate one who has crushed the poisonous head of the most cruel serpent and brought salvation to the world," (Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus).

3. Mary is preparing a home for you: "This mother...is waiting and preparing your home for you," (Handbook for Today's Catholic, p. 31).

4. Mary hears your prayers: "May the Blessed Virgin hear your every prayer," (Message of John Paul II, read by H. E. Msgr. Francesco Marchisano, Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens, Saturday, 31, May 2003).

5. Mary is Queen over all things: "She is "Queen over all things," (CCC par. 966).

6. "so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother," (Vatican Website: Encyclical of Pope Leo 13th on the Rosary, Octobri Mense, Pope Leo 13th, 1903-1914).

7. Mary is 2nd only to Jesus: "Mary has by grace been exalted above all angels and men to a place second only to her Son" (Vatican Council II, p. 421).

8. No Better way than to look to Mary: "After speaking of the Church, her origin, mission, and destiny, we can find no better way to conclude than by looking to Mary," (CCC 972).

9. Devotion to Mary: "The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary," (CCC. 971).

10. Mary is the all holy one: "By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the 'Mother of Mercy,' the All-Holy One," (CCC 2677).

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John Martignoni

(Matt Slick, I was hoping you would put up this post again. When you posted it on the other FB page, and I responded, you proceeded to delete the entire post. And then, when I re-posted my response as its own thread, you completely ignored it. So, here it is again...exactly as I've posted twice before):

I would be happy to answer your questions about Mary. But, before I begin doing so, I want to state a few ground rules that I believe we can both agree on:

1) The things you say about the Catholic Church are nothing more than your fallible opinion, and they are not God’s infallible Word. For example, when you “equate Roman Catholic exaltation of Mary with idolatry,” or when you say Roman Catholics "worship Mary," that is your fallible opinion, not the infallible Word of God, correct? Or, when you say, “The exaltation of [Mary] is comparable to God,” that, too, is your fallible opinion, not the infallible Word of God, right?

2) The Bible often attributes to man things that are attributed to God. For example, there are men in the Bible to whom fatherhood is attributed, but we only have one Father Who is in Heaven, right? There are men in the Bible to whom kingship is attributed, yet our one true king is Jesus Christ, right?

3) Your interpretations of Scripture are your personal fallible interpretations of Scripture. For example, when you say that this or that Catholic teaching is contrary to a particular passage of Scripture, what you are actually saying is that this or that Catholic teaching is contrary to your fallible understanding of that particular passage of Scripture, right?

If you disagree with either #1, #2, or #3 above, please let me know because I would be very interested in hearing your reasons for doing so.

Now, let’s begin discussing Mary, Mr. Slick. The first thing I would like to address is what you refer to as the excessive Catholic “exaltation of Mary” [he didn't use that exact quote in his post above, but he did use that phrase in his original post of this material]. I have a question for you: Did God exalt Mary when He chose her to bear His Son? If you say, “Yes, He did,” then would you characterize that exaltation as a minor exaltation, a medium exaltation, or a great exaltation? Can you give me an honor that God could bestow on any human being that would be greater?

Strategy

I'm just going to take these 2 or 3 at a time and let Mr. Slick know where he is going astray in his fallible interpretations and his subjective opinions regarding Scripture and Catholic teaching. I haven't looked over the materials he is quoting from about Mary, but if he is true to his MO, he is taking these particular quotes out of context and ignoring nearby passages in the documents he is quoting from that further expand or elucidate on the what is being said. Full presentation of material information is not Slick's strong suit. Cherry picking quotes to make his position look good, however, is something he is very good at.

So, next newsletter I'll take on Mary and the atonement of sin...

Closing Comments

I hope all of you have a great week!

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