Are the Apparitions of Mary from
God?
Today’s Question: Many people worship the Virgin of Guadalupe. I know
that you read the Bible a lot. Can you tell us whether or not the
Virgin of Guadalupe really was from God?
Bible Answer: I realize
that my answer may offend many Catholics, but the apparition of
the Virgin of Guadalupe is not from God. Now let me explain why I believe this.
The Bible tells us to "test everything" and
"not to believe every spirit." So I put to test the
apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and this apparition failed
the biblical test in many ways.
First, Juan Diego claimed that the girl he saw was a young
Mexican girl, about 14 years old, with golden beams that radiated from her
person from head to foot. Mary is not a Mexican girl. According to the Bible she
is a Jewish girl. In fact, the Bible painstakingly emphasizes her genealogy as being traced to the
lineage of David.
Second, the girl said, "I am the ever-virgin Mary, Mother
of the true God." Mary is not "ever-virgin."
According to the Bible, after she gave birth to Jesus as a
virgin, she later had normal relationship with her husband Joseph
and gave birth to four boys and a few daughters.
Matthew 13:55-56 says,
Isn’t [Jesus] mother’s name Mary, and
aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
Aren’t all his sisters with us?...
The Greek words for "brothers" and
"sisters" are adephos for brother and adelphe
for sisters. These words come from the word delphus which
literally means "the womb." In other words, these were
brothers and sisters of Christ who shared the same womb. The
words brothers and sisters could not be—as the Catholic
church claims—relatives or cousins or previous children of
Joseph.
The Greek word for relative is suggenes which is used
in Luke 1:36:
Even Elizabeth your relative is
going to have a child in her old age...
So it’s clear that Mary gave birth to other children, and
thus, this apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe could not be the
same Mary in the Bible.
This apparition also claims to be the "mother of
God." The term "mother of God" implies that Mary
gave birth to the divine nature of God in Christ. But she
didn’t. Mary was the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
was responsible for His physical nature, not His spiritual
nature.
Third, this girl wanted a Temple built in her honor
"where I will show my compassion to your people and to all
people who sincerely ask my help." Notice that this
apparition does not glorify God but herself. She wanted a temple
built in her honor.
This is exactly what Peter tried to do when he saw the
apparitions of Moses and Elijah. He wanted to build a shelter for
them. But he was wrong in trying to do so. (see Matthew 17).
According to this girl, she would hear and answer prayer.
Friend, it is God who answers prayer not people. This apparition
encouraged idolatry.
Fourth, the name of the temple would be called
"Guadalupe." This was the Spaniard’s way of
interpreting the Nahuatl language that the Aztecs spoke.
The word "Guadalupe" was the word tetcoatlaxopeuh which
means "stone serpent." The Aztecs god was name Quetzalcoatl. This temple was named after their evil god, and on
the same site where the Aztecs worshipped their "Mother
Goddess." Serpent is an alternate name for Satan. The Catholic Church
attempts to cover this embarrassing name by saying that the Mary is the new
Eve who crushes the serpent, so that is why she is given the name
"stone serpent." However, Genesis 3:15 says:
And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his
heel.
According to this scripture, who will crush the serpent's head?
It says, He will crush your head, not her. It is the offspring
of the woman who crushes the serpent, not the woman herself. Of course, the
Catholic interpretation reveals the real problem with their view of Mary; they
see her as co-redemptrix, instead of Christ is the sole redeemer. As much as the
Catholic Church tries to cover up the name Guadalupe, the name clearly
reveals Juan Diego's belief in his pagan goddess, and so he associates the
apparition with the goddess.
After reading and studying the apparition of the Virgin of
Guadalupe, I’m convinced that this apparition was a
counterfeit vision meant to lead people into idolatry.
Send
your comments
Read more Bible Answers to Today's
Questions
Click
here if you're interested in having Tom
Brown come to your area
Back to the Main Page
