Book Reviews
See http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/fatima.htm
According to the Catholic church, the Virgin Mary appeared at
He is speaking out of ignorance. The Catholic Church makes a distinction between public revelations and private revelations. Public revelations are any in the Bible. The Catholic is required to believe those. Private revelations are any revelations to private individuals apart from the Bible, such as the appearing of Mary to the children at Fatima. Now, do not get me wrong here. I do in fact believe in Mary appearing at Fatima. But I am not required as a Catholic to believe it. And no Catholic is required to believe it. When the Church investigates a Marian apparition and finds it valid, the most it would ever say is that it is “worthy of belief”.
The Bible commands Christians to test all things, which includes visions:
Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Thess. 5:21)
How are we to test these visions to ascertain their source and know how sound the wishes and directives of the Mary of Catholicism are?
I agree. And the biggest critic of the Marian apparitions has been the Catholic Church. The Church does not conclude its investigation of a supposed miracle until the miracle is over. This is why the Church has still not decided on Medgugorge – it is still going on.
The rest that Dave Corner writes is how that the message of Mary contradicts what is written in the Bible. On the surface, I can see how this argument can be very persuasive, especially to one who is not familiar with the Bible. But to one who is familiar with the Bible, one can understand that a Jew can make the same argument to the Christian about Jesus as the Protestant can make to the Catholic about Mary. Just as Mary of Fatima can seem to contradict the New Testament to the Protestant, so does the message of Jesus and the apostles seem to contradict the message of the Old Testament to the Jew.
The biggest apparent contradiction between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the oneness of God.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord God is One.
Deut 6:1
And yet when we get to the New Testament, we do not have one but three! I can see how this could seem to a Jew or a Muslim to be a blatant contradiction. How can you have one God in the OT and three Gods in the NT? Now, I understand the Trinity – that there are three Persons in one nature. But this is not expounded until the fourth century. In the New Testament, you have verses that say that the Father is God, that Jesus is God, and that the Holy Spirit is God (although this one is not as clear as the other two). Jews and Muslims can add. If you have three persons as God, then there must be three Gods, which is a direct contradiction to the Old Testament.
So we Christians are in a quandary. It sure looks as if the New Testament is contradicting the Old Testament on this. There are two options:
- Admit that the New Testament contradicts the Old Testament and turn away from Christianity.
- Assume by faith that the New Testament does not contradict the Old Testament and find how they can be reconciled.
The Church chose option two at the Nicene Council. Through prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church reconciled the teachings of both Testaments with the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one in essence, but is three in Persons. To Jews and Muslims, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it is a duck! But to the Christian, there is a sense of mystery. God can be one yet three. Jesus can be infinite God and yet finite man. God cannot die, but yet Jesus who is God can die in His humanity. God knows all things, but the Son of man did not know the day or hour He is coming back.
There are many other areas that the New Testament seems to contradict the Old Testament. The Old Testament had sacrifices. The New Testament has Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice. In the Old Testament there was the
All this is pretty complicated stuff! There have been volumes of books written by theologians to explain how both Testaments can be reconciled. A heretic named Marcion believed they could not be reconciled at all, and concluded there were two Gods – the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. Atheists today would use the contradiction between the Testaments in order to attack the Christian faith. So these discrepancies are no small things. And yet we Christians still believe that the Scripture cannot be broken. Theologians talk about progressive revelation, that God did not reveal everything to man at once. He took baby steps to reveal His truth. So what looks as contradictions are not contradiction at all, but deeper revelations of His truth.
Please keep all these things in mind when you read the alleged contradictions between the messages of Mary and the teachings of the New Testament. The discrepancy between them is not any deep as the discrepancies between the Old and New Testaments.
The Message of Fatima
Say the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war (p.24).
It is interesting that Corner starts out with this, as if he finds it scandalous that the Rosary should bring about peace. But this shows his ignorance of what the Rosary is all about.
As Pope John Paul said, the Rosary is in essence Christ-centered, he wrote “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer” (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae_en.html). True, there are 10 Hail Mary’s to one Our Father, but quantity does not determine emphasis. The Rosary is a spiritual exercise of meditating on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I myself started praying the Rosary daily about 7 years ago. I can tell how my attitude toward Jesus has become more loving, more obedient, and more submissive to His will. The Rosary has worked in me becoming closer to Jesus.
Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart (p.26).
So what? In the Old Testament God stressed His oneness so that the Jews would not be tempted to follow the pagan religions. Although there may be hints of multiple persons in the Godhead, He did not really reveal it until the New Testament. People were not ready to hear that until then. So what if Jesus did not wish to reveal the importance of His mother until later until we were ready for it? But are there any hints in the Bible? You bet! In Revelation of John, the apostle saw a woman in heaven clothed with the sun (Rev 12:1). She delivered a son who was destined to rule the nations and the son ascended into heaven (verse 5). This is obviously Jesus. And if this Jesus, then the woman must be Mary. She is not only the mother of Jesus, but all those who keep Gods commands and bear the testimony of Jesus (verse 17)
In the Old Testament, one of the Ten Commandments was to “honor thy father and mother”. In the New Testament, Jesus was perfect, without any sin. That He perfectly obeyed God’s laws. That means He honored His mother perfectly. No man honored his mother more perfectly than He did. When Jesus ascended into heaven, He took his body with Him, meaning that He took His humanity with Him. Jesus will from now on for all eternity not just have a divine nature, but a human nature. Since He will forever have His human nature, He will forever be the Son of Mary. In His divinity, He is the Son of God. In His humanity, He is forever the Son of Mary. And He perfectly honors her forever. Now, we are called to imitate Jesus. So if I am called to imitate Jesus, and Jesus honors Mary as no other man has ever honored his mother, then I am called to honor Mary.
This is all that Jesus is calling us to do – to be as devoted to Mary as He is devoted to her. This is all part of imitating Christ.
I (Mary) will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God (p.26).
Remember, Revelation 12 says that she is the mother of all Christians. What mother would not comfort her fearful children by saying that she will never leave them and always be there for them?
In front of the palm of Our Lady’s right hand there was a heart encircled with thorns which pierced it. We understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of Humanity, and that She wanted reparation (pp.26,27).
The Bible says that a sword will pierce her soul (Luke 2:35). Obviously this is figurative. How can a physical sword pierce an immaterial soul? But how is that any different than saying that a crown of thorns pierces her heart? Clearly we are talking about some intense sadness here because of sin. And why not? After all, it says in Revelation 12 that Mary is our mother. So would she not be saddened at the sins committed by her children? Also, there is a bond between her and her Son, Jesus, as no other bond between mother and child. She sees how much our sins hurt the sacred heart of Jesus, and her heart goes out toward Him. She is outraged and saddened because her Son is outraged and saddened of our sins.
But why reparation for sins against Mary? Jesus did say that we should make reparations when we hurt someone.
Luke 18:7
1 Thess 4:6
If God will avenge us when we are wronged, how much more would He avenge those who plunge a sword into the soul of His mother by their sins?
What I do remember is that Our Lady said it was necessary for those persons to say the Rosary in order to obtain the graces during the year. And She continued: “Sacrifice yourself for sinners, and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice: ‘Oh Jesus, this is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’” (p. 29).
This is the difference between the Catholic and the Protestant. The Protestant sees that the Cross is a completed work and there is really no need for us to suffer anymore. Let the good times roll! Although, Protestants still see that Christians can still suffer, they really lack a coherent theology about it. This is why Protestants are so vulnerable to the health and wealth gospel. If Christ’s sufferings are finished on the Cross, then our sufferings are no longer needed.
But for the Catholic, the Cross is not the end but the beginning. When Christ cried out on the cross that it is finished, He was not saying that our salvation was completed. If our salvation was completed, then even our faith would not be needed. When he said that He when He is lifted up on the cross, He will draw all to Himself (John 12:32), He is saying He will draw all into His sufferings so that we can experience the fellowship of His suffering (Phil 3:10). Paul said that he completes what is lacking in the sufferings in Christ (
This is a critical difference between Catholic and Protestant. But the Catholic position is totally Biblical.
You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. In order to save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, there will be peace (p.30).
Many souls have been saved through the preaching of Billy Graham. Why cannot souls be saved through the dedicated prayers of a woman of God?
And then with a sad expression She said: “Pray, pray very much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have nobody to pray and make sacrifices for them” (p.35).
Let me see if I understand. Dave Corner argues later that this apparition of Mary has Satanic origin. So Satan is actually encouraging us to PRAY???
Maybe Corners does not like the part of making sacrifices. But that is Biblical!
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service
Romans 12:1
Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all
Phil 2:17
But I have all things, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, and odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God
Phil 4:18
Through him then let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Hebrews 13:15, 16
ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
1 Peter 2:5
The Bible does say that now that Christ has been sacrificed for us, there are no longer any animal sacrifices. But other forms of sacrifices still continue. For instance, we are to offer up to God a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15). We as a royal priesthood should continue to offer spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Peter 2:5). So by Mary encouraging them to make sacrifices on behalf of others, this is totally Biblical. This does not mean that they were to physically offer up a lamb or a goat. But instead, they were to offer spiritual sacrifices to God.
I want to tell you that I wish a chapel to be erected here in my honour, for I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to say the Rosary every day (p.40).
Look at the name of many of your Protestant churches. You have the Lutheran church, named in honor of Martin Luther. You have churches called Calvinist, in honor of John Calvin. You have the
1. The Rosary is exalted in these visions, but is anti-scriptural in itself.
The Rosary is based on scripture itself. Wed pray the Our Father. That is taken right out of the Bible (Matt 6:19-13). We then pray the Hail Mary. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” is taken from Luke 1:30. “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus” is taken exactly from Luke:42. The last part of the Hail Mary is asking Mary to pray for us. The Bible teaches us to pray for each other. When we pray the Rosary, we are praying the Bible.
Jesus taught:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Mat 6:6-8)
Corner leaves out the next part. In the very next verses, our Lord gives us the Our Father. So how can Jesus be condemning repetitive prayer when He is Himself gave us a form prayer that has been memorized and prayed repeatedly by both Catholics and Protestants? It is true that we should not babble. We should not think that God only hears us for our many words. God looks at the heart. But that does not means that we are not to use form prayers if we want to. Sometimes I use form prayers. Sometimes I pray in my own words. There is one thing I like about form prayers. My focus is then totally on God, and not what I am going to say next. But we have the freedom in Christ to prayer whatever is best for us.
Nowhere in the Bible are we ever told to pray to Mary or repetitiously, as the Fatima visions would have us do. Furthermore the Rosary would have us wrongly think Mary is our life. See our detailed article on the rosary.
The Bible makes it clear that we not only have a relationship with Jesus, but with God and his angels.
No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12:22-24
Notice that this passage says that “we approached
Yes, the Bible does command us the pray repetitively.
Pray without ceasing
1 Thess 5:17
Praying without ceasing is praying repetitively. I challenge anyone to try to pray without ceasing for a day, or even just for one hour, without repeating yourself. As a Protestant, I saw the hypocrisy in all this. I noticed that at Protestant prayer meetings that the same people prayed the same prayers over and over again. It just cannot be avoided. Just because Protestants do not have form prayers, it does not mean that they do not repeat themselves in their prayers.
The Bible declares Jesus is our Life:
I am the bread of life. (John 6:48)
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (
The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1 John 1:2)
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:12)
Dear reader, is Jesus your life or is Mary? Your answer will affect your eternal destiny.
True, our life is in Christ. But the Bible also teaches we, by being in Christ, are also life to others.
For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life. who is sufficient for these things?
2 Cor 2:15-16
We are a sweet savor of life to those who are saved. Mind you now, our sufficiency to do this is only in Christ. But if we are the savor of life to other Christians, how much more so is the mother of Jesus. Again, her sufficiency to do that is totally in Christ.
This is also illustrated in other metaphors used in the Bible. Jesus said that He is the light of the world (John 8:12). Does that mean that we are not the light of world, since He is the light of the world? Absolutely not! Jesus also said that WE are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). But how can this be? If Jesus is the Light, how can we be the Light? Easy! We are in Christ, so that whatever properties that are in Christ are also in us if we abide in Him, except of course for his divinity. So we are the light of the world because we are in him, the light of the world.
So if we are the light of world, and we are the savor of life to those who are saved, how much more can this be said of Mary!
- Does Jesus wish to establish world devotion to Mary? Please know that such was never the desire or will of the Lord at any time as expressed in the Bible.
This is not true. As stated before, Revelation 12 states that the woman clothed with the sun is crowned. Jesus perfectly honored his mother can exalted her above every other creature. Only God is higher than her in heaven, according to John’s vision.
Jesus repeatedly pointed people to Himself, and rightly so since he is the Savior, our Life, only Hope, all in all, etc. He told people to come to him, follow him, obey him, trust on him, believe on him and remain in him. The Lord never pointed anyone to Mary and Himself. It was never a Son/mother team in the Bible.
You must read Bible from a Jewish mindset, as a Jew would think in the first century. In the Old Testament, the mother of king was considered the queen, not the wife of the king. Before Christ,
This is the historical context in which Jesus and Mary lived. So when Jesus announced to the Jews that was the Messianic king they were waiting for, they would naturally assume that Mary would be the Queen Mother. Given this natural assumption, it is more amazing that Jesus never clarified that Mary was NOT the Queen Mother if He did not intend Mary to be honored as such.
Please remember this and note the following teachings of Jesus Himself:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Mat 11:28)
But the Bible also teaches that we all bear each other burdens. So if we are to bear each other’s burdens, then why should not Mary bear our burdens as well?
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." (John 1:43)
And yet Paul wrote that we should follow him as he follows Christ. If we are to follow Paul as he follows Christ, then why should we not follow Mary as she follows Christ?
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me” (John 10:14)
The word “pastor” means shepherd. Most Protestant call their minister pastor. Does that mean that Protestants are denying Jesus as being the good shepherd?
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1)
I trust my wife. Does that mean I sinned. Does that mean that if a child trusts his mother that he has sinned against God. If we can trust our earthly mothers, why can’t we trust our heavenly mother?
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)
The Catholic agrees with this. Jesus is the only way to the Father. But what is the way to Jesus? This passage does not deal with that.
Also, our refuge is clearly God and Jesus—and not Mary too:
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—from violent men you save me. (2 Sam. 22:3).
To say Mary is the way to God is to say we should trust in her for salvation, which is not only disobedience but spiritually deadly, according to the Bible.
Let me ask you this – do you trust in the Bible? You say yes! But how can that be? Dave Corner says that we should only trust in Jesus. And yet you place your trust in the Bible, the writings of mere men? Don’t you say that Bible brings you to Christ? Is that not placing the Bible over Christ? Do you not say that the Bible is your refuge?
You may say “But the Bible is the Word of God!” That is all true. But we only accept that by faith. God did not drop the bible out of the sky. He inspired men at different places and times to write the Bible. But how do I know they did not just make it all up? When Matthew recorded the words of Jesus and placed them in his gospel, how do I not know that Matthew did not make it up? I don’t. I must trust Matthew. Everything we know of Jesus has been filtered through the testimony of mere men. Jesus Himself never wrote a book. So for me to trust in Jesus, I must first trust in mere men to bring me Jesus. I cannot know Jesus apart from the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James and Jude. They bring me Jesus. If I cannot trust in their writings, I cannot even know Jesus.
Now, you may object “But God inspired them to write His Word. I am not trusting in them! I am trusting in God!” I agree. But if I can trust God being behind the Bible, why cannot I trust God being behind Mary?
God does not reveal Himself to us directly. He reveals Himself through His prophets. He who rejects the prophet from God rejects God. He who accepts the prophet accepts God. We Catholics are saying that Mary has been a prophet sent from God. She speaks for God. There is no competition between them. To say that we should obey God and not Mary is like saying we should obey God and not Paul, or that we trust in God’s promises instead of Matthew’s promises. That is absurd. God sends the prophet. We treat the words of Matthew as the words of God. We treat the words of Paul as the words of God. So why can we not treat the words of Mary as the words of God. Is it because Mary is a woman?
5. Unlike what the Fatima visions declare, no one can obtain grace by praying the rosary. If we could, then there is now a means to obtain grace that never existed for the first 1000 years in Christianity, since praying the Rosary began in 1090 A.D.
God does not judge man based on believing on what will happen in the future. Even Protestants agree on this. Will God send every one in the Old Testament to hell for not believing in Jesus? Of course not! God treats people in one dispensation differently than in another, based on what He revealed at that time.
But I am surprise that Corner uses this argument. According to the Protestants, the Church lost the gospel until Martin Luther rediscovered it. So let’s say for the sake of argument that the Church lost the gospel at the time of
6. To save souls from Hell God wants the true gospel to be declared so forgiveness of sins can be found. Such never comes by devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The true gospel is summed up as repentance towards God and faith in Christ Jesus (Acts 20:21). We prove our repentance by our deeds (Acts 26:20) and must endure to the end to be saved (Mt. 10:22). This is the message that Jesus wanted his followers to spread throughout the world. Please note that Mary is not included in the message Jesus gave the disciples to spread.
This message was not included in the Old Testament either. Sure, there were hints of it when the Old Testament prophesied about the future Messiah. But Christ Jesus was not revealed to them as He is in the New Testament. Theologians call this progressive revelation. God progressively reveals His reveal His truth to us. He did not reveal it all at once. But just as God gave hints of the coming Messiah in the Old Testament, so He has given hints about Mary in the New Testament. In Revelation 12, John sees the woman, the mother of Jesus, clothed with the sun with a crown on her head. She is Mary, the Queen of heaven. She is not only the mother of Jesus, but our mother. As mother, she nourishes us and takes care of us.
Actually, Protestants cannot agree what the true gospel is. John MacArthur said that the true gospel is receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord. Charles Ryrie accused MacArthur of preaching a false gospel. He said that we are saved only by accept Jesus as Savior. He said that accepting Jesus as Lord was a works salvation. Then there are Lutherans who believe in baptismal regeneration. So since Protestants themselves cannot agree on what is the true gospel, then why we accept Corner’s definition of the true gospel?
Not The Mary of The Bible
7. The following is a clear example of a false gospel, but nonetheless is part of the salvation message at Fatima. The personage claiming to be Mary said:
I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me (p. 47).
Dear reader, please know that Mary doesn’t have the ability or influence to make such a promise to assist in one’s salvation. Furthermore, even if she did, her directives are not true. All this talk about going to confession, receiving communion, reciting 5 decades of the Rosary, etc. is all foreign to the Bible. This was never the message of Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, James, etc. Did God have his salvation message changed or revised for us since Fatima? If He did, then there is now another way to obtain salvation since the Fatima visions, which is impossible. There has only been one true plan of salvation alongside many counterfeits.
All these things fit into what Dave corner calls the true gospel. Dave wrote that we must repent. That is exactly what Confession is about. Confession is confessing our sins and turning to God. Dave wrote that we must believe in Jesus. One the verses he quotes from is in John 6. But he left out the most important part.
53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
John 6
This is very graphic. In Greek, the word “eat” means to gnaw on. Jesus said that for us to have eternal life we must gnaw on His flesh. He starts with saying “I tell you the truth”, others versions have Jesus saying “truly, truly”. In others words, Jesus want them to take seriously what is saying. He is speaking the truth, not in allegory. Also, in verse 55, He say that His flesh is REAL food. He did not say that it symbolized food, He did not say that His flesh was REAL food. At this time, multitudes were following him. They were shocked by what he said. After all, we are not cannibals! And then there is one of the saddest verses in the Bible:
Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
John 6:66
These disciples took the words of Jesus literally, and they left Him. Now, if they mistaken, why did Jesus not yell to them as they were leaving “Hey guys! Don’t take me so literally! I did not mean it that way!” No, Jesus could not say that, because He did mean it that way. He did mean that we had to literally eat His flesh and drink blood. Their problem was not that they did not understand Jesus. Their problem was that they could not accept it.
So in this passage we see how important Communion is. Is the actual taking of the flesh and blood of Jesus, and is necessary to abide in Him and have eternal life.
I dealt with the others already. Praying the Rosary is Christ-centered, the mysteries that we are supposed to meditate on are the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Rosary is based on exact quotes and other teaching from the Bible. So the Rosary is Christ-centered and Bible-based. And making reparations for our offenses to Mary is based on the teaching of the Bible that we should make reparations to someone we offend, because that can effect our relationship with God.
The following is most relevant about a false gospel:
.... Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Gal 1:7-9)
This is begging the question. From my perspective, the one who is teaching a false gospel is Dave Corner. From his perspective, I would be the one preaching a false gospel. Each one can use this verse for his side.
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All this evidence from comparing (and contrasting) the message of Fatima to the Bible forces one to conclude the personage representing Mary was not the Mary of the Bible. The Mary of the Bible never had any role in one’s salvation, as already proven. Never did any sinner go to Mary to get to Jesus. Never is Mary shown to have more mercy or compassion on sinners than Jesus did, etc. The message of Fatima draws our attention and trust from the Lord Jesus and places them upon a creature (Mary). Even though sincere Catholic people may be trying to reach out to God by observing the Fatima message, we must come to God the way the Lord taught to receive salvation results.
This is all based on the false notion of sola scriptura, that everything we believe must be in the Bible. But sola scriptura is self-defeating. The Bible itself does not teach that only what is in the Bible is to be believed.
It is also unlivable. There are many things that are not in the Bible that we Christians, including Protestants, believe or practice. We believe that slavery is wrong and yet that is not condemned in the Bible. We believe that polygamy is wrong, and yet there is not one verse in the Bible that tells us that a man should have only one wife. We changed the day we worship from Saturday in the Old Testament to Sunday. And yet there is not one verse in the New Testament that tells us to do that! The Bible also says nothing about a couple needing to exchange marriage vows in front of a minister order to be married in the sight of God. Although the Bible says much about marriage, there is no verse in the Bible that says what must be done in order to actually be married.
The Bible was never intended to be a systematic theology book explaining everything that we Christians should believe and do. The apostles were very busy preaching the gospel, building churches, and making disciples. They only took some time to write letters to churches when they heard that a church has going a serious problem. True, they were inspired by God to write what they wrote. But it does not mean that they wrote everything that Christians needed to know. They spent most of the time teaching them orally. They had their form of Sunday School classes to teach their church members. They also had their own personal disciples that they groomed to be the future leaders of the church. Paul said to his disciple Timothy the following:
and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
2 Timothy 2:2
That is how Paul saw God’s truth was passed on from generation. Paul taught Timothy. Timothy then entrusted Paul’s message to faithful men, who would then teach others. This is what we Catholics call tradition. In fact, then word “tradition” means “to pass on”. The truth is passed on from generation to generation. This is why we exchange marriage vows, not because it is in the Bible, but because it is part of tradition. True, Jesus spoke out against tradition. But not all tradition is bad. There is bad tradition and good tradition, just as there is one true Bible and many false Bibles.
The Vision of Moses and Elijah
The voice from the cloud (God the Father) rebuked Peter for even the suggestion that these men are on a par with Jesus and declared that we are listen to Jesus.
We can learn from that vision and correction issued to Peter. Again, please know that even though someone would appear in glorious splendor, that in itself doesn’t mean that the vision could not be misunderstood, as Peter did. Most importantly, Moses and Elijah didn’t speak in any unscriptural way. They merely spoke with the Lord about his departure, which was 100% in accord with Scripture.
If we take this to mean what Dave Corner think it means, this would completely do away with traditional Christianity and replace it with the New Age Movement. Only the New Age Movement can boast of direct, immediate access to Christ without the use of any mediators. For even traditional Christianity say we must go to Christ through His prophets. We do not listen to Christ directly. We listen through Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, David, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude. We listen to him through the writings of His prophets and the apostles. The only ones who listen to Christ directly, through a mystical voice apart from these intermediatories are the ones involved in the New Age movement.
Is Mary Blessed Because She Gave Birth To Jesus?
Nearly two thousand years ago, a woman tried to publically exalt Mary on the basis that she gave birth to Jesus in the presence of the Lord Himself and his disciples. This is how the eternal record states it:
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." (Luke 11:27,28)
Did the Lord approve of her praise of Mary? Holy Writ states that the Lord publicly rebuked that Mary-exalting woman for that notion and set the record straight on who is blessed with these words: Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Please note that Jesus wants all to know that any person hearing and obeying God’s word is blessed more than Mary on the basis she gave birth to Jesus. Dear reader do you believe what Jesus taught here? Please read his eternal words again:
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:27 ,28)
I hope Dave Corner is wrong because if not then this was not only the destruction of the Catholic faith, but the Christian faith as well. This seems to escape those Christian with an anti-Catholic, anti-Marian bias. If you attack Mary, you eventually are attacking her Son.
As I stated before, the scriptures are perfectly clear that Jesus was without sin. He knew no sin so the He could be sin in our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). It was necessary for Jesus to fulfill all righteous (Matt 3:15). He had to be totally without sin in order to the unblemished and spotless Lamb who died for our sins (1 Peter 1:19). So if Jesus committed just one tiny little sin, then He could not have been our Savior. Not only that, but God, being perfect in nature, cannot sin. So Jesus could not have sin without it revealing to us that He was not God! And since one tiny little sin would disqualify Jesus as be our Savior and being God, then would also disqualify the Bible, which told us that Jesus was our spotless Savior and was God. There is a lot at stake on whether or not Jesus committed even the smallest sin.
The Bible commands us to Honor our father and mother. If Jesus broke this command in the smallest way, then He would not be our great God and Savior, and the Bible is merely the words of men. Now, imagine someone pays a compliment to your mother and said what Dave Corner writes that Jesus meant. Would that not be tremendously disrespectful to her? I cannot imagine ever saying that my own mother! What man could say to his mother “From now on you are no longer special to me as a mother. Anyone who obeys God’s word is just as much a mother as you are” Those words are cold and cruel! How can Jesus says such things about His dear mother and still be our sinless Savior?
But fortunately there is another option. Jesus was not dissing His mother at all. His mother would still be close to His heart. But how can that be? How can it be that He was not show disrespect to His mother when He said that anyone who obeys God’s Word would also be His mother? Simple! The Bible teaches that we are all sinners (Roman 3:23). There is none that is righteous, no not one. So there is no one who actually obeyed God’s Word perfectly, except for Jesus and – Mary. Yes, Mary. Only if Mary obeyed God more than anyone else could Jesus have said this without dishonoring His mother. Jesus knew that no one could ever obey God more than her, so there was no danger in breaking God’s command by saying this. He was not saying that someone other Mary could be closer to him, because He knew no one else could ever obey God as much as Mary obeyed God. Jesus was just saying that Mary was not great because she was His mother. She was great because she perfectly obeyed God.
In the Bible, we can see Mary’s perfect obedience to God and her perfect faithfulness. When the angel came to her about God’s plan to make her pregnant with Jesus while still keeping her a virgin, she said “I am my Lord’s maidservant. Be it not according to thy word”. It is easy to forget the great sacrifice she made here! In that culture, a woman who was caught having sex outside of marriage was usually stoned to death! So when the people started to see her pregnant without being married to Joseph yet, she had every reason to fear for her life! Can you imagine that conversation she had with Joseph? “Honey, I have some wonderful news. I am pregnant! Yes, I know we never had sex. But don’t worry. I did not sex with someone else. You see, this angel appeared to me, and he said that this was going be a miracle, and …” Yeah, I just see how well that went! But none of this mattered to Mary. She was God maidservant. Let His will be done.
Then at the wedding of Cana, she spoke to the servants “Do whatever my Son tells you to do”. She encourages us to totally obey Jesus.
Mary was the only person that never abandoned Jesus. All the other apostles scattered when He was arrested. At least John accompanied Mary to be with Jesus when He was on the cross. But Mary was the only one who never left Him. Look at all the other great men of God in the Bible. Each one had at least one great sin in his past. Moses killed an Egyptian. David stole a man’s wife and then had him killed. Peter denied Jesus. All the other apostles abandoned Him when He was arrested. The apostles were slow to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Paul used to persecute Christians. But where were Mary’s great sins? Nothing! In fact, it is easy to think that Mary’s absolute humility was an indication that Mary was not important. But she was no stage mother! She could have taken part of the limelight. She could have boasted to others that she was the mother of the Messiah. But no, she stood quietly in the shadows. All through her life, she took everything that happened to her Son and quietly pondered them in her heart. She did not go around bragging to others what her Son was going to do. Mary was a model of what pleases god. God is not pleased with men capable of doing great things. No, blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the humble who quietly give their all to God. This was Mary. And this is the example that Mary gives to us. God is not impressed by how great a preacher someone is, or how great a theologian someone is. God is pleased when someone quietly gives her all to God. And Jesus was just saying to that woman that this is why Mary was so blessed.
Satan Can Masquerade as an Angel of Light
Among the many ways the devil tries to deceive people is through visions. According to the following we must be on guard against such a subtle form of deception:
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14)
That truth explains why the message of Fatima is so foreign to the Bible. It also explains how such a vision could endorse many Catholic practices which are unscriptural in themselves. Please know that Mormonism and Seventh Day Adventism also claim visions from God, but they flatly contradict the visions of Catholicism. Since God can’t be contradicting Himself with all of these visions there has to be another source of visions besides God. According to Scripture that other source is the devil. Deception is the work of the arch-deceiver, who is trying to mislead precious souls trying to find God. Dear reader, to know God’s will for you and how to find salvation, go to the New Testament and trust its message above everything else you were ever taught. It in turn will point you to Jesus and Him alone for your salvation.
A vision is not the same thing as an apparition. Joseph Smith and Ellen G white had dream-like visions that could have be verified. But the apparitions of Mary are verifiable. For instance, in the Fatima apparition, over 70,000 eyewitnesses saw the sun dance in the sky, many of them were not even Catholics or even Christians. It was even in the newspaper the next day. Also Mary predicted world events that all came true. Any Mormon or Seventh-Day Adventist dream cannot compare to this.
It is true that Satan does masquerade as an angel of light, but that does not mean reject all miracles because Satan may be behind them. It that were the case, the miracle done by Jesus would also have to rejected. In fact Jesus was accused of the very thing that many now accuse His mother.
14Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15But some of them said, "By Beelzebub,[g] the prince of demons, he is driving out demons." 16Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
17Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 19Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the
Luke 11
Jesus was accused of doing the miracles He did because He was of the Devil. He made a profound response, which should be a criteria on how we ourselves should test the spirits to see if they are of God or of the Devil. He said that any kingdom that fights against itself cannot stand. Satan is no fool. He would not have his demons fight against each other. Jesus was saying to His critics to use some common sense. True, Satan can masqeruade as an angel of light. But he would not do something that would cause actual good. He may make us feel good about ourselves, but he would not make us to be more obedient to God. Satan will never cast out Satan. He will never work against His own ends of drawing us away from Christ and towards sin.
There is one message that Our Lady gave that Dave Corner conveniently overlooked. Her main message was that we need to turn away from sin and sin back to God. Now, the Devil would vomit on these words, so how can he be the one behind these apparitions. Satan does not cast out Satan. Satan would never work so that we commit less and more obedient to God. Jesus himself said that Satan would never do it.
Millions of people have come closer to Christ and more obedient to Him because of Mary. I am one of them. When I lost my ministry my heart was filled with bitterness to God and others. There were times I felt guilty about this and try to come back. I went to many different Protestant churches and responded to their altar calls. People prayed other me. I re-dedicated my life to Christ. But come Monday I was back in the valley again. Then I happened to read Pope John Paul’s encyclical on the Rosary. I then prayed the Rosary. I was able to pray for the first time in 15 years without all those bitter thought coming back to me. I prayed the Rosary every day, and through my devotion to Mary I have more love for Christ and an intense desire to serve him than I ever had before, even as a minister. So I ask you. Why would Satan be behind this? He had me where he wanted me. I was on the verge of reject Christ altogether. Why would Satan cast out Satan?
The Solar Miracle and Healings
If the devil is try to deceive sincere people through these visions, then how should we view the solar miracle and healings that have occurred there? On July 13th, Lucia requested a miracle from Mary so that everyone will believe that you have appeared to us. In response, Mary answered:
Continue to come here every month. In October I will tell you who I am and what I want, and will perform a miracle so that all may believe (p. 29).
The miracle on October 13, 1917 is described by Lucia in the following words:
... And opening Her hands, She made them reflect on the sun. While She ascended, the reflection from Her person was projected on the sun itself. That is the reason why I cried aloud “Look at the sun” (p. 40).
Besides the solar miracle there have been reported physical healings over the years at Fatima. Undoubtedly, many would view this as surely being the handiwork of God. But the truth is, if we go to Scripture, we learn there are two sources of such miraculous/healing power—God and the devil. Please see our important and detailed article on this.
The Fatima Discrepancies
On May 13, 1917 when the Mary of Fatima started to appear to the three little shepherd children, among other things, she told them:
I came to ask you to come here [Cova da Iria] for six successive months, on the 13th day at the same hour. Later I will tell you what I want. And I will return here yet a seventh time. (Lucia Speaks on The Message of Fatima [Ave Maria Institute, Washington, New Jersey], p. 22.)
Wrong Time and Place!
The fourth apparition occurred on August 15, 1917 in a place different from the Cova da Iria called Valinhos. ( Ibid., p. 33.) A different source shows a four day discrepancy from this account:
On the afternoon of Sunday 19 August, Lucia, Francisco and his broth John were pasturing the sheep in a rocky field known as Valinhos, about a mile from Fatima, when suddenly they noticed the beginning of the extraordinary atmospheric phenomena that has preceded the visions in the Cova da Iria. (Francis Johnson, Fatima: The Great Sign [Tan Books and Publishers, Rockford, Illinois], p. 45.)
Note: In both quotes it was not on the 13th of the month and not in the place where Mary told the children to be to see the apparition. Is it possible the all-knowing God was taken by surprise and had to send Mary to a different place on a different day then originally announced?
It is amazing that a person such as Dave Corner, who seems to love Jesus Christ, would use an argument about discrepancies. If we want to talk about discrepancies, there is nothing that has severe problems as the Bible. Matthew has only one angel talking to the women after the resurrection of Christ (Matthew 28:1-5). But Luke writes that there were TWO angels (Luke 24:1-7). Mathew says that a certain land was called the Field of Blood because the Jewish leaders used the blood money they used to have Jesus arrested to buy the field (Matthew 27: 6-8). But Luke wrote that this land was called the Field of Blood because Judas hanged himself there (Acts 1:18, 19). Now, do not get me wrong, here. I believe that Bible is fully the Word of God. I think there is a way to reconcile these discrepancies. But I have to admit that these look pretty bad. But it is like trusting a close friend. You do not abandon a friend based on circumstantial evidence against him. So I am not going to abandon Jesus just because of some apparent discrepancies in the Bible. But if I am not going to abandon Jesus because of apparent discrepancies, why should I abandon because of apparent discrepancies?
This is my central thesis on my website. Although there are many wonderful Protestants, Protestantism as a belief system makes people vulnerable to skeptical attacks on the Christian faith. Here is a perfect example. Dave Corner is arguing that we should reject the apparitions of Mary at Fatima because of a minor discrepancy in the details from differing sources. But if this is a valid argument, then this can make Protestants start questioning their faith in the Bible, and eventually the Christian faith as a whole. There are far more problems with the Biblical accounts of the resurrection of Christ than with accounts of Marian apparitions at Fatima.
But just as there is a way to reconcile apparent contradictions in the Bible, there is also a very reasonable way to reconcile this account about the Marian apparitions. In fact, it is not a problem at all. Here is a much fuller account of what happened:
As 13 August approached, the story of the apparitions had reached the anti-religious secular press, and while this ensured that the whole country knew about Fatima, it also meant that many biased and negative reports were circulating. The children were kidnapped on the morning of the 13th by the Mayor of Vila Nova de Ourem, Arturo Santos. They were interrogated about the secret; but despite his threats and promises of money, they refused to divulge it. In the afternoon they were moved to the local prison and threatened with death but determined that they would die rather than reveal the secret.
On August 19, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were assembled at a place called Valinhos, near Fatima, late in the afternoon, when they again saw Mary, who spoke to Lucia: "Go again to the Cova da Iria on the 13th and continue to say the Rosary every day." Mary also said she would perform a miracle, so all would believe, and that if they had not been kidnapped it would have been even greater.
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/approved/appariti/fatima.html
The children were kidnapped by the secular authorities and were threatened with torture. It is reasonable that they were a little apprehensive to go back to Corva de Iria. Mary being a compassionate mother that she is, went to them to encourage them to go back to the site. This is not the first time she did this. Five hundred years ago she appeared to a Mexican peasant, Juan Diego. The next time Diego walked that way, he tried to avoid the site where she first appeared to him. But Mary sought him out.
This is how God operates. We all strayed away from Him, but He sought us out. And since Mary is God’s servant, why should we be surprised that she sought out the children?
Penance For Salvation —Drinking Pond Water?
As a result of the Fatima message the three children were influenced in the following way behavior-wise:
The three children undertook the most severe penance for the salvation of sinners. They wore a rope tightly round their waists; they gave their lunches to the poor, or even to their sheep; they didn’t drink during the furnace-like heat of August 1917—an almost unendurable penance as anyone who has stayed in Fatima during that month will appreciate. Later, Jacinta even wanted to drink water from a pond frequented by cattle. (Fatima: The Great Sign, p. 37.)
Again, from a Biblical point of view the above statements are far from God’s truth, especially in the following ways: (1) Jesus on Calvary’s cross was the all-sufficient and final sacrifice for sinners. There is nothing Lucia, Jacinta or any other, as sincere as he may be, improve upon that one-time-for-all-sin sacrifice, (2) It is impossible that Mary has been sinned against, as suggested, and that reparation (satisfaction) needs to be made to her. (3) In October, the Mary of Fatima revealed herself as the Lady of the Rosary. (Ibid., p.40.) This again shows the spiritual force behind these apparitions is not the same as what gave us the Scriptures.
The Scriptures themselves give us ample examples of strict forms of asceticism. In the Revelation of John, John ate a BOOK (Rev 10:10). You think it was bad for Jacinta to eat water from a pond frequented by cattle. What about John eating a book! And then what about John the Baptist? He wore a raiment made of coarse camel’s hair. Dave Corner thinks its extreme wearing a rope tightly around your waist. Well. What about a coarse camel shirt? And what about a leather girdle around your loins – not exactly comfortable. And look what John the Baptist ate - LOCUSTS and wild honey!
Jesus assumed that we would fast. He told us how we should act WHEN we fast, not if we fast (Matthew 6:16). Jesus told the Pharisees that once He is no longer with them, that His disciples will fast (Matthew 9:15). Fasting is usually abstaining from food or drink for a certain length of time. But a person can be creative in what he is fasting – it can be a certain type of food, or television, or whatever else that a person may be having an inordinate affection to that could hinder his relationship with God. That is why John the Baptist gave up some comfort by wearing a camel-hair shirt. That is why Paul wrote the he beats his body, so the he would be the master of his body (1 Cor 9:27). So if these children want to wearing a rope around their waist to provide a mild form of discomfort, or to drink water frequented by cattle, what is wrong with that?
The Bad Fruit of Fatima and Other Visions
Sadly, Jacinta trusted in Mary for her salvation, at least in part, because of the visions she saw:
During this period her [Jacinta] love of God and Our Lady seems to have risen to ecstatic heights. She never tired repeating: “.... Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation!” (Fatima The Great Sign, pp. 82,83.)
Only God knows how many others have likewise been misled through Marian visions over the years. As astronomical as that number is, it is even larger when one would include the ones deceived by the visions that Joseph Smith and Ellen G. White claim to have had that has adversely affected millions of Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists throughout the years.
As I wrote before, Protestant Evangelicals say they only trust in Jesus. But that is not really true. They also trust in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, etc. Their writings are what make up the Bible. Now, I know what they are going to say, these writers were inspired by God to write the Bible, so by trusting in their writing we are trusting in God. But this is exactly what we Catholics are saying about Mary! Mary was sent by God. He who obeys a prophet from God is actually obeying God. He who trusts in the promises made by a prophet from God is trusting in God. Jesus said to his apostles before he sent them out to preach God’s Word that he who receives them receives Christ Himself (Matthew 10:40). If that is true of the apostle He sent, how much more would what be the case if Christ sent His mother to us! We show our love for Christ by how we treat those whom He sends.
Fatima: a Compendium of the Catholic Faith
As the Bishop of Fatima expressed it in 1975: “Fatima as a whole is a compendium of the Catholic Faith.” (Fatima, The Great Sign, inside back cover)
To be more exact, the Fatima visions confirmed the following doctrines, most of which are distinctively Catholic and unscriptural:
They may be Catholic but they are scriptural.
The apparitions of Our Lady in the following year again emphasise (sic) the priority of penance and prayer,
particularly the devout daily recitation of the gospel prayer of the rosary “which contains all the mysteries of our salvation,” as Pope Leo XIII pointed out.
But they do! As we pray the Rosary we are too meditate of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do not Evangelical teach that we are saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? So would do then by meditating on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, are we not meditating on all the mysteries of our salvation?
Also confirmed in Our Lady’s appearances were the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the authority of the Pope, the existence of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell, of saints and demons that Modernists try to eliminate, the meaning and value of suffering, the evil of sin and the serious obligation of every committed Christian to the work of atonement, the necessity of interior conversion, the indwelling of God in the souls of the just by grace, the mystery of Christ’s redemption, the unique role of Mary as our Mediatrix with Christ, the importance of devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the practice of the virtues and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy and so on. Even the doctrine of original sin is implied at Fatima, for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which Fatima underlines, clearly brings into focus the Immaculate Conception which in turn points to the doctrine of the Fall. (Fatima, The Great Sign, pp. 75,76.)
All these that he put in bold I dealt with elsewhere on this we site. The can be supported in scripture and were believed by the earliest of Christians. But look at the items that are not in bold – the Holy Trinity, the evil of sin, the necessity of conversion, the indwelling of God in our souls just by His grace, the mystery of Christ’s redemption, the practice of virtues, spiritual and corporal acts of mercy, and the fall of man. All these things Evangelicals agree on. Now, as I wrote before, Jesus asked how could Satan cast out Satan? When Jesus was accused of being of the Devil, He responded that Satan is no fool. Satan would not work against himself. Satan would choke before he would ever mention the Holy Trinity, or that sin was evil. I agree that Satan can masquerade as an angel of light, but that does not mean he would ever say anything against sin. Satan will make good look evil and evil look good. But Satan would never make evil look evil, or make good look good. So by this author admitting that Mary talked of the evilness of sin, this could not be of the Devil.
Another False Gospel
It is crystal clear from the evidence that the Mary of Fatima is not the Mary of the Bible. There is only one way to be saved and Mary is not even indirectly connected in the smallest manner with our salvation, according to the Bible. Mary has absolutely no role in our salvation, that is, unless you accept Scripture-contradicting-Marian-visions (and other Catholic materials) that would state she does.
The Bible clearly teaches that that ALL Christians have a role in the salvation of others. Do we have the main role? No, of course not! Jesus had the main role. Our role is nothing compared to His. But the Bible is clear that there are two ways that each Christian can have role in the salvation of others.
One way is through preaching. We are ambassadors of Christ, God reconciling the world through us by our preaching (2 Cor 5:18-20).
The second way is through our prayers. The
So those are two ways that all Christians, including Mary, share in the role of reconciling others to God. We are called to preach the gospel and pray. In these two ways has Mary’s role been more effective than any what we can do. In the area of preaching, Mary is the ultimate preacher. Through her preaching, more people has come back to God than any other evangelist. In her appearance in
So in those two ways, she definitely has a role in our salvation – through preaching and prayer. Ands to a much lesser extent do we all have a role in the salvation of others.
But to do that is to dangerously ignore the fact that the Scriptures (or sacred writings) are able to give us the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus:
And that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15).
Notice how the Scriptures will cause us to place our faith in Jesus alone for salvation. Hence,not only don’t we need to go elsewhere for salvation directions, we can be assured all other sources (visions, papal decrees, etc.) that would differ with what the Scriptures declare are not from the same source that gave us the Bible.
Notice how this author reads into his own theology in this passage. The passage merely says that salvation is through faith which in Christ Jesus. It does not say faith in Jesus ALONE. If it said that we should have faith in Jesus ALONE, then that would mean that we should not have faith in the Father or the Holy Spirit.
The Acid Test For Visions
Again, the real test for Fatima is the message itself and how it parallels or contradicts the message of the Bible. It is not if there are miracles or healings, but the message itself.
This is the same thing that the atheist does when he is confronted with the evidence for the resurrection of Christ. He denies the existence of the miracle of the resurrection before he looks at the evidence, because it contradicts his materialistic view of the world. He looks at the evidence with a closed mind.
This author does the very same thing when it comes to the appearance of Mary at Fatima. He denies it not because of evidence for the miracles, but because it contradicts his view of the Bible. And just as the atheist is not willing to admit his view is wrong, so is this author not willing not admit his view is wrong.
A more reasonable approach is for the atheist and this author is to look at the evidence objectively, whether it be the resurrection of Christ or the apparitions of Mary, and be willing to adjust their views in the face of compelling evidence.
When such is examined, Fatima is shown to be of a different source than the one who gave us the Bible. To be more exact, this different source is an enemy trying to lead us away from absolute 100% trust and reliance on Jesus, who is our life, for our salvation, as declared in the Scriptures. Dear reader, please for your own soul’s sake carefully reread this important article and verify all Scripture references for yourself.
Here is another way how many anti-Catholic Protestants contradict themselves. They say that we are justified by faith alone, and that there is absolutely no way that a Christian can ever lose his salvation. And clearly this is what this author believes. But if a Christian can never lose his salvation, then how could his soul be in jeopardy if he decides to be Catholic? To the Protestant, Christ died for all our sins, we are forgiven for all sins we even going to commit in future. Very well then, if God forgives me of all my sin, then even if my devotion to Mary is idolatry (which I do not believe is, though), then did not Christ even died for that sin? It reminds me of the contradiction of Martin Luther. On one hand, he said that ifd he went to a harlot a 100 times a day, he would still be saved. But yet Luther said that a Protestant who went back to Catholic Church would go to hell. Why is being Catholic to only unforgive-able sin?
Don’t just trust another to do this for you.
And yet we are supposed to trust his interpretation of what the Bible says and the Catholic Church teaches.
Souls are at stake over this issue.
From a Protestant viewpoint, this does not make sense. If the only thing that can a person to hell is the rejection of Christ, then how can praying to Mary or being Catholic send someone to hell? Is not this author perverting the gospel into a gospel of works? If Christ died for all my sins, then does that not mean that Christ even died for my “sin” of praying to Mary? If nothing can separate me from the loves of God in Christ Jesus, then how can praying to Mary cause God to stop loving me? This author believes that God would send to hell a little old lady who loves Jesus Christ with all her heart simply because she also prays the Rosary.
As I wrote in the beginning, the Catholic Church has never taught that the Catholic is required to believe in any extra-Biblical miracle. A Catholic is free to believe or not to believe. The most that the Church has said is that this is worthy of belief. So it is not that the Catholic Church is imposing a legalistic requirement on Christians. It is this author who threatens their souls with eternal damnation if they dare to believe. And this contradicts the message of the gospel of grace.
