Mariolotry
Apostasy rears its ugly head again. There seems to be no end to the "reinvention" of Christianity. I was looking into the "Emerging Church" movement and found out that the only thing they seem to have emerged from is the pit of hell. These apostates are looking to incorporate more and more of the ancient rituals of such pagan influenced sources as Roman Catholocism. It seems like every time you read about a so called emerging church they're lighting candles, meditating, wandering through labyrinths, embracing "Celtic Christianity," and the like. The latest invention is a reawakening of Mariolotry - the worship of Mary.

Scot McKnight, founder of Jesus Creed, has written a book called The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus. Well I, for one, will not be reading this book because first of all I am not an Evangelical. I am a Fundamentalist of the proudest variety. As the pastor of Grace Pharisee Church, I would no more call myself an Evangelical (too bad the dropped the "Neo-" off their name because that's what they really are) than I would call myself a Democrat. Both are godless apostates to the cause of God and Truth. If apostate Evangelicals want to embrace Mary, then they can be my guest as they head even further down the path of perdition.

Secondly, I have no interest in gazing into anything that is remotely associated with Catholics or Catholocism. The veneration of Mary is central to Catholic tradition and dogma to the point of worship. As a result I won't even mention Mary in church except one Sunday a year in December. And even then, it's blessedly brief because I would much rather focus on the important characters in the story like Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men. I think a focus on Mary robs us of the need to focus on the masculine elements associated with the Godhead.

Finally, since Mary has such a small place in the Bible, I would think it unBiblical to mention her any more than one week out of the year. Had she been present at any of Jesus' miracles, or during any of his earthly ministry, or even at the ctucifixion ro resurrection, I would mention her. But clearly she is a minor character undeserving of much notice in scripture. I think we should just ignore her like most good Protestant denominations have done over the centuries.
- posted by rick @ 3:27 PM