Why do catholics place more emphasis on the Virgin Mary rather than on Jesus?
460713
No, we do not.  Although that's what most religions think.  We appear to do so because we venerate her, She being the Mother of Christ.  And in doing so, we are criticized.......................................
293766
A big reason is that many Catholics are more worldly than the Church and God call them to be.  They are "cafeteria Catholics", choosing the parts of the faith that they like and dismissing the rest.  Another reason is that many Catholics are poorly taught . . . they haven't had any teaching since middle or high school (and haven't sought any), so they aren't sure of what is true and what isn't.  Also, there are some who profess the Catholic faith and teach error (my husband was at a meeting of RCIA where a teacher, who had been in the seminary, but left, told the candidates that the Church teaches that birth control is wrong, but that they would be in "big trouble" if they didn't use it).  \n\nIn addition, not using birth control doesn't mean that a woman will have many children.  A good friend, who I think got married in her late twenties, has one living child.  She has also had a miscarriage and had a baby die a few days after birth.  They are not using birth control, but God has not chosen to give her many children at this time.  This is something I must constantly remind myself of, because I tend to judge others based on what I see . . . and a small family doesn't mean small faith in God.  :-)
333664
The whole issue of Mary being "The Mother of God" is ridiculous. Are people suggesting that Christ did not exist before he came to earth?? He always existed (John CH.1 V1-14) There is very Little mentioned in the Bible about Mary and whilst an angle appeared to her before the birth of Christ and told her what would happen in the near future and told her that she was "blessed amongst women" The bible is clear on the issue of there being only one mediator between man and God who is Jesus Christ.Christ said in John Ch.14 V6 "I am the way, the truth and the life; No man cometh to the Father but by me."  \nNo one but Christ himself can make intercession for us. \nPraying to Mary or one of the saints is totally futile as this is against what the Bible teaches. Aside from acknowledging that Mary was "blessed amongst women" the Lord did not place any other special emphasis on her as the entire point of focus is on Christ as he alone can save us and no one else. We believe that Mary had other children after the birth of Christ as he refered to his brothers. Why wouldn't Mary have had other children as she was young and married??\nThere is too much emphasis placed on Mary and Praying the rosary. Jesus was right when he said that people think that God will hear them for their much rambling and babbling but he doesn't. Jesus gave the example of prayer (The Lords Prayer) in that he addressed his prayer directly to God himself "Our Father who art in heaven....." \n\nIt is important to note that Jesus didn't come to establish a religion, he came to establish a RELATIONSHIP between man and god.\nIts little wonder that the Catholics are soo confused as the Catholic Church added 2 books to the King James Bible.\nThe King James has 66 books, the Catholic Bible has 68 books. Doubtlessly they overlooked the fact that there is a dire warding in Revelations being "If anyone shall add to the words of the prophesy of this book, God will add unto them the plagues that are written in this book" One of the plagues is, of course, death.\nHope this helps.
607017
Catholics are Christians through and through--in the very fullest sense.  \n\nPeople like to give (and make up) all kinds of reasons why Catholics are not Christians, but the one thing that truly sets Catholics apart most is the Eucharist.  Together with members of the Orthodox Church (the Catholic Church's "Sister" Church), Catholics are the only people who receive the Real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Lord Jesus.  You don't get any more Christian than that!\n\nReceiving the Eucharist literally transforms us spiritually into true sons and daughters of God.  That was the entire purpose of Jesus's Incarnation--He died so that we could be true children of God again.\n\nThat said, in order to receive the Eucharist, we must be in a state of grace (proper disposition, no mortal sins on our souls).  Unlike many Protestants, who think their salvation is guaranteed just by saying they believe in Jesus (regardless of their sins), Catholics care a great deal about making ourselves as worthy as possible, and we often go to great lengths.  This is because we know we are truly, completely, receiving Lord Jesus into ourselves through the Eucharist.  You wouldn't want to invite a guest into a messy house--we *definitely* don't want to do that to Lord Jesus!\n\nIt's no surprise that lots of Christians don't understand Catholicism--there is so much to learn, and not everyone likes to learn.  But no argument against Catholicism can stand up to Scripture or any other element of Sacred Tradition.  After all, the Bible is a Catholic Book (despite some Protestants thinking that the King James Version just fell out of the sky one day).  Protestants claim that Catholic Sacred Tradition "adds" to the Bible, but the fact is that the Bible IS Catholic Sacred Tradition.  \n\nFinally, I'd like to address Catholics' veneration of Mary--which Protestants claim to mean that we worship Mary (and therefore, we are not Christians).  Veneration does not mean worship--it means honor.  As a good Jewish man, Jesus honored His parents (both Mary and St. Joseph).  Before His death, Jesus told St. John to regard Mary as his mother--which meant that Jesus was asking St. John to honor her as well.  So... who are we not to honor her?  Are we above Jesus and St. John?  Venerating Mary is one more way in which Catholics show obedience to Lord Jesus.  It should also be noted that at least some of the earliest Protestants (such as Luther) also venerated Mary and believed in her perpetual virginity.
23169
The Roman Catholic Church for some reason felt that they had to protect Mary's virtue as the mother of Jesus by teaching that after she gave birth to the Lord she remained a virgin for the rest of her life. The Holy Scriptures do not in any way support this notion. The Catholics seem to want to portray her as eternally sexually pure in order to preserve her honor. What they don't seem to understand, however, is that even without her virginity, she is still a pure and honorable woman. She was undoubtedly a wonderful mother and a faithful and loving wife. In fact, the idea that such a woman would deprive her husband of his marital rights for the rest of his life is a notion that I see as offensive and insulting to this dear lady.
662596
Splinterjah (sp?) has no idea what he is talking about. Not to be mean of course, but he doesn't. Catholicism does differ from the mainstream Christian denominations, but it doesn't teach anything false. Catholics do NOT at ALL worship Mary, or any of the other saints. That is just a popular belief that is spread by ingnorant people who really have no idea what Catholicism is. That kinda thing has been going on since the 1500's. Catholics ask Mary and the saints to pray FOR US, just like it says to in the bible. We belive that the during the Eucharistic celebration (communion) the bread and wine really do turn into Jesus, which it also says in the bible. \n\nI don't think anyone in the world has ever prayed to the pope. We might have prayed FOR the pope, but never to him. Thats just ridiculous. The bible (in Matthew) talks about how Jesus gave Peter (the first pope) the "keys to the kingdom" and how what ever Peters says on earth (in reference to religious/moral doctrines) will make a binding compact with heaven. In other words, that means he is infallible, because if it binds with the law of heaven (God), then it has to be infallible, because if God wasn't infallible, the world would cease to be. \n\nAfter Jesus rose back from the dead, The Catholic Church started. JESUS himself started the Catholic Church. Someone said something about the bible saying something about "Christians in Antioch". Well DUH. Who do you think they were? Batists? Methodists? I doubt it, since they (or any other Protestant denomination) didn't come into existance until 1547 (I think thats the right year). Therefore, they must have been Catholics. \n\nIf the Pope is infallible, then that means everything he says and preaches is true (religious-wise) because he is filled with the Holy Spirit, and was given authority by Jesus himself. That means that Catholic doctrine is always in accordance with God in Heaven. \n\nThe bible also says to confess your sins to one another (preists). It never ever says "hey! Don't confess your sins to anybody, and make sure you never go into a thing called a confessional. And also make sure you never follow any kind of tradition, or listen to anything that a holy man says even if he is given authority by Jesus. And definately make sure you don't ask ANYBODY to pray for you, otherwise its a sin, and yes, that does include Mary and the saints."\n\nIt never says anything of the sort. And if anybody tries to prove that different by quoting from the bibe, then they are wrong. You can't just take random verses from the bible with out first looking at the context of which it is taken from. Thats a mistake that everybody makes when trying to refute the Catholic doctrine. \n\nAnd the main that I would say the Protestant churches do that is false is try to prove Catholicism wrong. \n\nBut anyways, I diverge. There is nothing wrong with going to a Catholic Highschool. You already know what you belive in, so it doesn't matter. Of course, you should be open minded. And remember, everyone is going to answer differently in Yahoo!Answers. So my advice to you is to not take ANYBODY'S word for ANYTHING on here. Reasearch all of it for yourself, and make sure that you don't get all of your information from a single biased perspective, which is what I, and everyone else is giving you. \n\nHighschool is highschool. Its all about getting your education, and you shouldn't be worried about anything else. \n\nAnd for the record, there is NO difference between Catholicism and Christianity. There are only differences between the different denominations of Christianity.
34526
Catholics can be categorized as Christians. The difference is the Catholics believe that their church (via the Pope) has absolute authority in matters of spirituality. The rest of the Christian world (Protestants) believes that spiritual authority comes from the Bible alone.
614784
I am a Catholic.  Catholicism is the oldest Christian religion.  All other Christian religions came from Catholicism.  We do not worship statues and rosaries or even the Virgin Mary.  We worship God alone.  God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  3 persons in one God.  Just as 3 leaves make up one clover.  We ask Mary and other saints for intersession to Jesus.  It's no different than you asking someone to pray for you before a test or surgery.  We venerate certain statues or crucifixes.  This is not worship.  It is a sign of respect to the actual person or act that is being depicted.  Please do not think we worship anyone other than God Almighty Himself.
940239
because the catholic religion is all about tradition. \nand nobody in leadership has bothered to look at what the bible says, instead, they go by the ritualistic traditions which are actually un-biblical.\n\nconfessing to a priest will do nothing for you, coz God says to confess to Him. \nthey sometimes use the excuse of the scripture that says "confess your sins one to another".. but if you read that passage, you will realise its talking about discussing your sins honestly with others in order to be accountable to someone to change. but its only God that we get forgiveness from.\n\nas far as Mary goes? again, they dont read the bible where it says that you are only to pray to the Father in heaven in Jesus name. they also obviously missed the spot where it forbids you to talk to the dead. mary is dead. she was awesome, but she is dead at the moment, in heaven and unable to hear them. it says nowhere that she and only a selected special few are saints. we are all saints when we are saved into Christ Jesus. thats what God calls us, saints.\n\nif any catholics dont believe me, take a look at all of the epistles, alot of them start with "to the saints of (insert place like ephesus or corinth here)". He addresses the people of the church, as saints. so unless that church is full of corpses of great men and women of God... He is writing to alive people. \n\n"My people perish from lack of knowledge".\n\nits just a lack of knowledge of what the bible says..so, what God says.\n\nits sad :-(
1057330
The Bible says that only Jesus is the way to heaven. The vision of virgin Mary is real and also the Fatima, the devil can do tricks too and if you believe your eyes more than the Bible you will surely be decieved. The statue Mary and other such things are a form of idol worship and thus they should not be prayed to or look to guidance and forgiveness. Mary was a good woman as the Bible says but neither the gospel writers, the prophets before, even Jesus did not put her up as a saint or someone to pray to or make idols of.
48889
Because Christianity (Especially Catholocism) is grossly out of date. Think about it, this religion COMPLETELY segregates people by gender. The Catholic church has roles that a man fills and roles that a woman fills, that's the way it always has been, and probably always will be.
539441
Good thoughts.  I think we protestants under value Mary.  Much of what you are referring to is ignorance about what Catholics truly believe about Mary, prayer and the saints.
312056
I'm not a Bible thumper, I am a Catholic, and I know more about the Bible and Christianity than these new bread born-again no it all's. I was raised up in the Catholic Church and school with mass everyday. That's a commitment to the sacraments, and I have never tried to use Religion to sway my way through life. Catholics believe this: Spirituality is God given and Religions are man made. It is also my responsibility to know the difference, not yours. So do like I do, and tell them to mind their own business.
746773
I've come across this many times.  A lot of people think that we worship Marry, and it's hard to convince them otherwise.  People can be stubborn, and unwilling to look deeper into things (like Catholicism), before they make claims about it.\n\nI noticed one of the "answers" to your question is in the form of another question, so I decided to answer this one as well.\n\n>>"Her likeness is used as adornment in church, she is prayed to, and asked forgiveness from. How is that not a form of worship?"\n>>Yes Mary's sacred image is used inside the church, to remind us of our Lord's Mother.  He places a lot of importance on families, so why wouldn't we find Jesus' very own MOTHER important enough to have images of her in the place where we worship her son?  Mary is prayed to only to ask her to pray FOR US.  We ask her to help us pray to Jesus.  Do non-Catholic Christians ask people to pray for them? Yes, all the time.  So why shouldn't we ask our Lord's mother to pray for us? Just because she's no longer living here on Earth? \n\nPersonally, I can only hope that the world (Catholics and non-Catholics alike) can come to realize that Mary is not worshiped.  I realize there are probably some Catholics out there that actually believe we do worship her, but they have been seriously misguided, and need to know the truth just as well.\n\nThanks for your question, it was a good one!\n\nGod bless =0)
37420
Roman Catholics have  add works to there salvation.  The Holy Sacrements are required to do to get to heaven. Plus they believe in purgutary a place where they go to finish cleanses there sins, based on there works on earth the longer or least time there will spend in pur. then they will go to heaven. The pope goes straight to heaven bypassing purgutary. They have strange views about Mary, they lift her name up. She did have favor in God's eyes but thats it she still was a sinner just like all men. I disagree with there doctrine
42073
I don't think it's the focus of ALL religion, but many Christians do tend to dwell on that fact.  And then it tends to spill over when they're trying to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And that's where is gets weird.  Because "gospel" means "good news."  How can you spread the Gospel when you're focusing totally on what will happen WITHOUT Jesus Christ.  Maybe their priorities are out of whack.
287872
Both Islam and Christianity agree that Mary conceived Jesus when she was a virgin. She was chaste (throughout her life) and after the conception and birth of Jesus she gave birth to more children, who were Jesus's brothers and sisters.\nSo naturally she is remembered for the her having conceiving Jesus without marrying or the agency of a man.\nThat in essence is what the Virgin conception is all about.