Defending Mary: Part One

"The Bible says you shouldn't talk to the dead." That's the first comment I receive when I share with people that I am a Catholic. When further questioned why they would choose that as their first comment to me, they respond that "well, you pray to Mary and the Saints." The honor that we give to Mary and the Saints is a big hurdle for many converts to the Catholic faith. The aim in this series of articles is to shed a little light on this issue and provide some valuable tools to allow fellow Catholics to defend their faith.

The main issue that comes up with my encounters is the scripture alone teaching. They believe that the Bible is the only rule of faith, sola scriptura (Latin: "Scripture alone") Many would point to John 20:30 as proof of their argument, although if one looks at the verse that precedes it, one would have to admit that the Gospel of John is sufficient by that rationale. "The verse from John’s Gospel tells us only that the Bible was composed so we can be helped to believe Jesus is the Messiah." "It does not say the Bible is all we need for salvation, much less that the Bible is all we need for theology; nor does it say the Bible is even necessary to believe in Christ. After all, the earliest Christians didn't have access to the Bible, as a result of the inability to read,or because the printing press had not been invented. All these people learned from oral instruction passed down from generation to generation, by the Church.

The second verse that is quoted is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Protestants take this verse out of context. This passage is only part of Paul's instruction to Timothy. The two verses immediately before it state: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:14–15). What he has learned, he learned from Paul himself.  Paul says that much Christian teaching is to be found in the tradition which is handed down by word of mouth (2 Tim. 2:2). He instructs us to "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15). 

John Henry Newman explained it in an 1884 essay entitled "Inspiration in its Relation to Revelation." This oral teaching was accepted by Christians, just as they accepted the written teaching that came to them later. Jesus told his disciples: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me" (Luke 10:16). The Church, in the persons of the apostles, was given the authority to teach by Christ; the Church would be his representative. He commissioned them, saying, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19).