It all starts with the inclusion of formerly pagan nations into Christianity without really being saved, born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Greek wisdom replaced Jewish signs and wonders (I Corinthians 1:22) and Christianity became an INTELLECTUAL rather than a SPIRITUAL religion. People were used to worshipping gods AND goddesses and, in their minds, Jesus wasn’t enough. Many of these people were used to worshipping a FEMALE deity, frequently called “The Queen of Heaven”. The Queen of Heaven was a title given to several ancient sky goddesses worshipped throughout the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. Goddesses known to have been referred to by the title include Inanna, Anat, Isis, Nut, Astarte, and possibly Asherah (by the prophet Jeremiah – Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah 44:17-25). In Greco-Roman times, Hera and Juno bore this title. Forms and content of worship varied. So, how to solve the problem? I know! Let’s give Mary the title of QUEEN OF HEAVEN! That will redirect our pagan “converts” and make them feel comfortable with Christianity. Notice I said, “Christianity”, not the Roman Catholic Church. The apostasy that was about to unfold would poison THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST UNTIL THE REFORMATION.
Once Mary held the title of Queen of Heaven, it was only a logical conclusion that even MORE false doctrine would be heaped on her. Now, this wasn’t fair at all to her. Was she the “blessed virgin”? Absolutely. Everything that Elizabeth prophesied about her was totally true. Yes, she was the mother of the Son of God. But to call her the Mother of God implied that she had more authority than Jesus Himself! Matters got even worse when the Church decided that Mary had been born of an “immaculate conception”, TOTALLY WITHOUT SIN! Is this ANYWHERE in the Bible? NO! Was Jesus born without sin? YES! How? Because, as I’ve taught you before, IT IS THE SINS OF THE FATHERS, NOT THE MOTHERS, that are transmitted to the 3rd and 4th generations. IT IS THE MALE “Y” CHROMOSOME, FROM ADAM, THAT CARRIES THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. God held ADAM accountable and the curse fell on him (Adam) and the ground from which he was created (Adamah). Eve was penalized, BUT ADAM WAS IN CHARGE AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY FELL ON HIM, NOT HER. This is why the Virgin Birth was absolutely necessary. Adam had been CREATED WITHOUT SIN. He allowed sin to enter into him by disobeying God. Sin is defined as the deliberate disobedience of the will of God. You know you’re supposed to do it, AND YOU DON’T. You know you’re NOT supposed to do it, AND YOU DO IT ANYWAY! THAT, my friends, is what sin is all about! So, if the Law of Sin and Death was transmitted by the MALE Y CHROMOSOME, then if a new, sinless replacement for Adam, a “Second” or “Last” Adam as Paul describes it, would have to have a HUMAN FEMALE as the mother, but GOD as the father. And that’s the definition of the Virgin Birth. Was it somehow necessary for Mary to also have an immaculate conception? NO! The burden for sinlessness lay with the father, in this case, our Heavenly Father. Is Mary the Queen of Heaven? NO! Is she the Blessed Virgin? YES! And we honor her rightly for being the vessel that obediently carried the Son of God in His human form, subjected herself to potential scandal and rejection by those around her, raised Him up as a godly child, watched Him suffer and die and rejoiced with the others at His resurrection. But is Mary exalted in ANY way in the Gospels or the New Testament BY ANY WRITER beyond those things? No, she is not. Eventually, Jesus, while on the cross, assigned the Apostle John to care for His mother when he was gone. Church tradition says they eventually moved to Antioch, where she eventually passed away and was buried. And that’s where ANOTHER false doctrine arises!
Now let’s tackle that “Perpetual Virgin” issue. And again, we’re simply going to go to SCRIPTURE, not the TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS, for our theology. Once again, the answer is clearly written out in the Gospels. Let’s let the Word speak for itself…
“24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and [i]did not know her till she had brought forth her[j] firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.” – Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV
When the Bible uses the word “know” in relationship to a man and a woman, it is a euphemism (substitute) for the phrase “had sexual intercourse with”. The Book of Genesis echoes the same concept…
“1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore [a]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” – Genesis 4:1 NKJV
Additional passages that include the same concept include Genesis 4:17, Genesis 4:25, Genesis 38:26, Judges 11:39, Judges 19:25 and I Samuel 1:10. Whew! That’s a lot of “knowing”, isn’t it? ;>) Suffice it to say that when Matthew says that Joseph didn’t “know” Mary until she had Jesus, THAT ALSO CLEARLY IMPLIES THAT AFTER SHE HAD GIVEN BIRTH AND GONE THROUGH THE STANDARD JEWISH RITUAL OF PURIFICATION, THAT JOSEPH DID “KNOW” HER, JUST LIKE ANY NORMAL MARRIAGE. Mary’s job was to carry the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, in her womb, to bring forth a being who was BOTH MAN AND GOD, a SINLESS CHILD, a SECOND OR LAST ADAM. While Jesus was in her womb, NO HUMAN MALE COULD HAVE HAD INTERCOURSE WITH HER. IT WOULD HAVE DEFILED HER WOMB. But AFTER Jesus was born, there would be no second miracle child. One Child was enough. Now Mary could resume being an actual wife to Joseph in all respects. So much for the perpetual virgin doctrine! Now, Jesus’s four brother and two or more sisters become a perfectly normal thing in an era when the larger the family was, the better. More people to help carry the load. More family to surround you and protect you if you were attacked. In the 1900’s in America, it was not uncommon for a woman to have a dozen or more children. I personally knew an administrator at the university I taught at who came from a German Catholic farming family of SEVENTEEN children! My ex-son-in-law came from a family of TEN, so for Mary to have had a bare minimum of seven children (Jesus, His four brothers and two sisters) was not out of the question at all.
Once Mary held the title of Queen of Heaven, it was only a logical conclusion that even MORE false doctrine would be heaped on her. Now, this wasn’t fair at all to her. Was she the “blessed virgin”? Absolutely. Everything that Elizabeth prophesied about her was totally true. Yes, she was the mother of the Son of God. But to call her the Mother of God implied that she had more authority than Jesus Himself! Matters got even worse when the Church decided that Mary had been born of an “immaculate conception”, TOTALLY WITHOUT SIN! Is this ANYWHERE in the Bible? NO! Was Jesus born without sin? YES! How? Because, as I’ve taught you before, IT IS THE SINS OF THE FATHERS, NOT THE MOTHERS, that are transmitted to the 3rd and 4th generations. IT IS THE MALE “Y” CHROMOSOME, FROM ADAM, THAT CARRIES THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. God held ADAM accountable and the curse fell on him (Adam) and the ground from which he was created (Adamah). Eve was penalized, BUT ADAM WAS IN CHARGE AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY FELL ON HIM, NOT HER. This is why the Virgin Birth was absolutely necessary. Adam had been CREATED WITHOUT SIN. He allowed sin to enter into him by disobeying God. Sin is defined as the deliberate disobedience of the will of God. You know you’re supposed to do it, AND YOU DON’T. You know you’re NOT supposed to do it, AND YOU DO IT ANYWAY! THAT, my friends, is what sin is all about! So, if the Law of Sin and Death was transmitted by the MALE Y CHROMOSOME, then if a new, sinless replacement for Adam, a “Second” or “Last” Adam as Paul describes it, would have to have a HUMAN FEMALE as the mother, but GOD as the father. And that’s the definition of the Virgin Birth. Was it somehow necessary for Mary to also have an immaculate conception? NO! The burden for sinlessness lay with the father, in this case, our Heavenly Father. Is Mary the Queen of Heaven? NO! Is she the Blessed Virgin? YES! And we honor her rightly for being the vessel that obediently carried the Son of God in His human form, subjected herself to potential scandal and rejection by those around her, raised Him up as a godly child, watched Him suffer and die and rejoiced with the others at His resurrection. But is Mary exalted in ANY way in the Gospels or the New Testament BY ANY WRITER beyond those things? No, she is not. Eventually, Jesus, while on the cross, assigned the Apostle John to care for His mother when he was gone. Church tradition says they eventually moved to Antioch, where she eventually passed away and was buried. And that’s where ANOTHER false doctrine arises!
Now let’s tackle that “Perpetual Virgin” issue. And again, we’re simply going to go to SCRIPTURE, not the TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS, for our theology. Once again, the answer is clearly written out in the Gospels. Let’s let the Word speak for itself…
“24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and [i]did not know her till she had brought forth her[j] firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.” – Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV
When the Bible uses the word “know” in relationship to a man and a woman, it is a euphemism (substitute) for the phrase “had sexual intercourse with”. The Book of Genesis echoes the same concept…
“1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore [a]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” – Genesis 4:1 NKJV
Additional passages that include the same concept include Genesis 4:17, Genesis 4:25, Genesis 38:26, Judges 11:39, Judges 19:25 and I Samuel 1:10. Whew! That’s a lot of “knowing”, isn’t it? ;>) Suffice it to say that when Matthew says that Joseph didn’t “know” Mary until she had Jesus, THAT ALSO CLEARLY IMPLIES THAT AFTER SHE HAD GIVEN BIRTH AND GONE THROUGH THE STANDARD JEWISH RITUAL OF PURIFICATION, THAT JOSEPH DID “KNOW” HER, JUST LIKE ANY NORMAL MARRIAGE. Mary’s job was to carry the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, in her womb, to bring forth a being who was BOTH MAN AND GOD, a SINLESS CHILD, a SECOND OR LAST ADAM. While Jesus was in her womb, NO HUMAN MALE COULD HAVE HAD INTERCOURSE WITH HER. IT WOULD HAVE DEFILED HER WOMB. But AFTER Jesus was born, there would be no second miracle child. One Child was enough. Now Mary could resume being an actual wife to Joseph in all respects. So much for the perpetual virgin doctrine! Now, Jesus’s four brother and two or more sisters become a perfectly normal thing in an era when the larger the family was, the better. More people to help carry the load. More family to surround you and protect you if you were attacked. In the 1900’s in America, it was not uncommon for a woman to have a dozen or more children. I personally knew an administrator at the university I taught at who came from a German Catholic farming family of SEVENTEEN children! My ex-son-in-law came from a family of TEN, so for Mary to have had a bare minimum of seven children (Jesus, His four brothers and two sisters) was not out of the question at all.
It all starts with the inclusion of formerly pagan nations into Christianity without really being saved, born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Greek wisdom replaced Jewish signs and wonders (I Corinthians 1:22) and Christianity became an INTELLECTUAL rather than a SPIRITUAL religion. People were used to worshipping gods AND goddesses and, in their minds, Jesus wasn’t enough. Many of these people were used to worshipping a FEMALE deity, frequently called “The Queen of Heaven”. The Queen of Heaven was a title given to several ancient sky goddesses worshipped throughout the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. Goddesses known to have been referred to by the title include Inanna, Anat, Isis, Nut, Astarte, and possibly Asherah (by the prophet Jeremiah – Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah 44:17-25). In Greco-Roman times, Hera and Juno bore this title. Forms and content of worship varied. So, how to solve the problem? I know! Let’s give Mary the title of QUEEN OF HEAVEN! That will redirect our pagan “converts” and make them feel comfortable with Christianity. Notice I said, “Christianity”, not the Roman Catholic Church. The apostasy that was about to unfold would poison THE ENTIRE BODY OF CHRIST UNTIL THE REFORMATION.
Once Mary held the title of Queen of Heaven, it was only a logical conclusion that even MORE false doctrine would be heaped on her. Now, this wasn’t fair at all to her. Was she the “blessed virgin”? Absolutely. Everything that Elizabeth prophesied about her was totally true. Yes, she was the mother of the Son of God. But to call her the Mother of God implied that she had more authority than Jesus Himself! Matters got even worse when the Church decided that Mary had been born of an “immaculate conception”, TOTALLY WITHOUT SIN! Is this ANYWHERE in the Bible? NO! Was Jesus born without sin? YES! How? Because, as I’ve taught you before, IT IS THE SINS OF THE FATHERS, NOT THE MOTHERS, that are transmitted to the 3rd and 4th generations. IT IS THE MALE “Y” CHROMOSOME, FROM ADAM, THAT CARRIES THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. God held ADAM accountable and the curse fell on him (Adam) and the ground from which he was created (Adamah). Eve was penalized, BUT ADAM WAS IN CHARGE AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY FELL ON HIM, NOT HER. This is why the Virgin Birth was absolutely necessary. Adam had been CREATED WITHOUT SIN. He allowed sin to enter into him by disobeying God. Sin is defined as the deliberate disobedience of the will of God. You know you’re supposed to do it, AND YOU DON’T. You know you’re NOT supposed to do it, AND YOU DO IT ANYWAY! THAT, my friends, is what sin is all about! So, if the Law of Sin and Death was transmitted by the MALE Y CHROMOSOME, then if a new, sinless replacement for Adam, a “Second” or “Last” Adam as Paul describes it, would have to have a HUMAN FEMALE as the mother, but GOD as the father. And that’s the definition of the Virgin Birth. Was it somehow necessary for Mary to also have an immaculate conception? NO! The burden for sinlessness lay with the father, in this case, our Heavenly Father. Is Mary the Queen of Heaven? NO! Is she the Blessed Virgin? YES! And we honor her rightly for being the vessel that obediently carried the Son of God in His human form, subjected herself to potential scandal and rejection by those around her, raised Him up as a godly child, watched Him suffer and die and rejoiced with the others at His resurrection. But is Mary exalted in ANY way in the Gospels or the New Testament BY ANY WRITER beyond those things? No, she is not. Eventually, Jesus, while on the cross, assigned the Apostle John to care for His mother when he was gone. Church tradition says they eventually moved to Antioch, where she eventually passed away and was buried. And that’s where ANOTHER false doctrine arises!
Now let’s tackle that “Perpetual Virgin” issue. And again, we’re simply going to go to SCRIPTURE, not the TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS, for our theology. Once again, the answer is clearly written out in the Gospels. Let’s let the Word speak for itself…
“24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and [i]did not know her till she had brought forth her[j] firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.” – Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV
When the Bible uses the word “know” in relationship to a man and a woman, it is a euphemism (substitute) for the phrase “had sexual intercourse with”. The Book of Genesis echoes the same concept…
“1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore [a]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” – Genesis 4:1 NKJV
Additional passages that include the same concept include Genesis 4:17, Genesis 4:25, Genesis 38:26, Judges 11:39, Judges 19:25 and I Samuel 1:10. Whew! That’s a lot of “knowing”, isn’t it? ;>) Suffice it to say that when Matthew says that Joseph didn’t “know” Mary until she had Jesus, THAT ALSO CLEARLY IMPLIES THAT AFTER SHE HAD GIVEN BIRTH AND GONE THROUGH THE STANDARD JEWISH RITUAL OF PURIFICATION, THAT JOSEPH DID “KNOW” HER, JUST LIKE ANY NORMAL MARRIAGE. Mary’s job was to carry the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, in her womb, to bring forth a being who was BOTH MAN AND GOD, a SINLESS CHILD, a SECOND OR LAST ADAM. While Jesus was in her womb, NO HUMAN MALE COULD HAVE HAD INTERCOURSE WITH HER. IT WOULD HAVE DEFILED HER WOMB. But AFTER Jesus was born, there would be no second miracle child. One Child was enough. Now Mary could resume being an actual wife to Joseph in all respects. So much for the perpetual virgin doctrine! Now, Jesus’s four brother and two or more sisters become a perfectly normal thing in an era when the larger the family was, the better. More people to help carry the load. More family to surround you and protect you if you were attacked. In the 1900’s in America, it was not uncommon for a woman to have a dozen or more children. I personally knew an administrator at the university I taught at who came from a German Catholic farming family of SEVENTEEN children! My ex-son-in-law came from a family of TEN, so for Mary to have had a bare minimum of seven children (Jesus, His four brothers and two sisters) was not out of the question at all.
0 Comments
0 Shares
60 Views
Arabic
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Deutsch
Turkish
Dutch
Italiano
Russian
Romaian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Greek
हिन्दी