I recently read... "The Da Vinci Code. A key plot point in Dan Brown's best-selling novel, with 4.3 million copies in print, is that the Roman Catholic Church suppressed 80 alternative Gospels, several describing a physical relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene."
I can highly recommend it for its authentic-ish-sounding rendition of the Mary-ology. I'll not get started about the real "Mariology" (note spelling change) studied and practiced by the Roman Catholic Church. A quick Google search turns up: # Books, and more books - http://topics.practical.org/browse/Maryology # an exposition of the 'theology' of Mary - http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/Catholicism/mary.htm "Although for hundreds of years the Roman Catholic Church has given honor and adoration to Mary that the Scriptures do not, during the past fifty years, one of the most important trends in the Catholic Church has been an even greater emphasis upon the place of Mary. She is readily referred to as "holy," the "Mother of God" (official Catholic dogma in 431 A.D.), with prayers to her proclaimed in 600 A.D., and has been dubbed the "Co-Redemptrix," thereby making her an object of idolatrous worship (e.g., the Rosary has ten prayers to Mary for each two directed to God). In 1923, Pope Pius XI sanctioned Pope Benedict XV's (1914-1922) pronouncement that Mary suffered with Christ, and that with Him, she redeemed the human race. And Pope Pius XII officially designated Mary the "Queen of Heaven" and "Queen of the World." Catholics claim not only that Mary was perfectly sinless from conception, even as Jesus was (doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary," proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854 -- "Let all the children of the Catholic Church ... continue to venerate, invoke, and pray to the most blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, conceived without original sin."), but that the reason she never sinned at any time during her life was because she was unable to sin (cf. Lk. 1:46,47; Rom. 3:10,23; 5:12; Heb. 4:15; 1 Jn. 1:8,10). Catholics also believe that Mary was a perpetual virgin (cf. Ps. 69:8; Matt. 1:24,25; 13:54-56; Mk. 6:3; Jn. 7:5), and that she was assumed, body and soul, into heaven shortly after her death (doctrine of the "Assumption of the Virgin Mary," declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950). Finally, she was given the title "Mother of the Church" in 1965. The consequence of all this veneration of Mary, in effect, establishes her authority above Christ's! Rome says, "He came to us through Mary and we must go to Him through her." All this is so obviously idolatrous, one wonders why Catholics take offense when their religious affections are called cultic. Peter ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Stuart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2004 11:18 PM Subject: THe Lost GOspels > http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101031222/story.html > > Anyone got the whole article? > > Tom > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > www.milman.uniting.com.au > Ph: 6862 5502 Mobile: 0427 625 502 > 14 Bushman St > Parkes NSW 2870 > > 'Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable'. > I prefer to die living than to live dying! > "War is a poor chisel with which to carve out the future." - Martin Luther > King, Jr > > > > ------------------------------------------------------ > - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) > See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm > ------------------------------------------------------ > > ------------------------------------------------------ - You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe insights-l' (ell, not one (1)) See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm ------------------------------------------------------
