As I read the heated arguments posted here, I wish not to add fuel to the fire nor persuade you to join in my belief or religion. I just want you to ponder this thing about God’s Trinity.

Matthew 3:13-17 (New International Version)

The Baptism of Jesus
13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Also, about Jesus as the Son of God:

John 3:16 (New International Version)

16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I am saddened that despite your intensive biblical study, you missed these. But it’s your choice.

My only reminder to you as I end up…Walk by FAITH and not by SIGHT.

What is written is enough to live a life worthy to be called Christians. You Catholic traditions go against Christian teachings written in the bible.

Your “reasons” are childish to say the least, no offense intended.

God is eternal, therefore He has no Mother. Theotokos is a catholic invention and is never supported by scriptures.

Trinity is another catholic invention without biblical basis.

Please watch GEMnet streaming videos to find out for yourself what I believe in.

Thank you and God bless you and your love ones.

Not everything Jesus said and did is in the Bible. Pure and simple. We need to know all we can about Jesus and the Apostles. The Catholic Church does not teach sola scriptura as we rely on Sacred Scripture and Apostolic Tradition.

Why didn’t the Bible state we should pray to Mary? I can think of a few reasons. First, it may have been so obvious that taking the time to write it down would have been ridiculous. Second, papyrus and ink were probably in short supply and the illiteracy problem has already been noted. Third, it’s possible that the original writing has been lost. I’m sure there are more reasons. Your insistence that everything regarding Mary be found in the Bible is illogical. The Bible is the Word of God, but it is not the WHOLE Word of God.

Yes, Mary is the Mother of God. Jesus is God Incarnate and Mary being His mother makes her the Theotokos – the Mother of God. She is full of grace and we do well to pray to her to present our pleas to her Son. If there are no saints in Heaven, who has the bowls of incense which are the prayers of the saints? As noted before, this is straight from the Bible so it should please even you. Can sleeping/dead people have prayers?

Mary is NOT equal with God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit. She agreed to become the Mother of God and played an important role in our salvation but everything good about her comes from God. Without God she would be nothing.

RESBAK,I don’t think you or any INC minister understand “BINDING AND LOOSING” (Hebrew, asar ve-hittir) on MATTHEW. 16:19; 18:18.

RESBAK,you do not understand. In the early centuries of the Church, there was not a formal canonization process. Saints were declared or acclaimed BY THE PEOPLE after death. Later on, the Church formalized the canonization process in order to prevent such abuses as venerating someone about whom little or nothing is known. A CANONIZATION is simply an official acknowledgment by the Church that a particular person is in HeaveN. The only requirement is two attested miracles by a person who lived a holy life while here on earth. The purpose of canonization is to set forth for Catholics a model of Catholic Christian holiness.

“Those in heaven” doesn’t include the “saints” of the Catholic church.