I was a certified Roman Catholic for 29 years before I became born again according the scripture, and the 'queen of heaven' was a huge part of that experience. I was baptized into the Roman Catholic religion as a baby, sent to 12 years of private Roman Catholic schooling, was an altar boy for 3 years, and through it all there was one constant – the 'virgin Mary'. Ha! And you thought I was going to say Jesus, didn't you? Sad, but true.
"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God." Luke 1:26-30 (KJB)
On this episode of Rightly Dividing, we are looking at that amazing, beautiful and faithful woman the bible calls Mary the earthly mother of Jesus of Nazareth, and we are comparing her to the very different creation of the Roman Catholic Church known as the Queen of Heaven. They are both named Mary, and that's right about where the similarities begin and end. The Mary of the bible is a humble, obedient woman who performs no miracles, answers no one's prayers, and says she needs a Saviour just like any other sinner does. That's the biblical Mary, and she's wonderful. I very much look forward to meeting her in Heaven one day soon. |
