The Bible and Praying the Rosary
Praying the Rosary is arranged as follows: ten Hail Mary preceded by one Lord’s Prayer. The Rosary contains two parts. The first part is a direct quotation from (Luke 1:28) and that is biblical. The second part of the “Hail Mary” and portions of the “Hail, Holy Queen” are not biblical.
The practice of saying the Rosary goes contrary to Scripture in a number of ways:
1- Humans are forbidden to pray, worship or “venerates” other humans (Acts 10:25-26; Acts 14:13-16; Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:8-9). A person praying the Rosary spends more time calling out to Mary than to God! For every one praise of God in the Rosary, there are 10 praises of Mary!
2- It is not right to call Mary our “life” and “hope” for these are terms used of God alone, particularly God the Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-14; Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:1; Ephesians 2:12; Titus 2:13).
3- The “Hail, Holy Queen” calls Mary our “most gracious advocate” but the Bible calls only Jesus our Advocate to the Father (1 John 2:1) and our only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). The Bible states that Jesus is our Redeemer (Galatians 3:13; 4:4-5; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9).
4- In the Rosary, Catholics call Mary “holy” because they believe Mary never sinned nor had any taint of the original sin. But the Bible teaches that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Jesus said there is none good but God (Matthew 19: 17) including Mary (Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:12). And every believer can become a saint through faith and obedience (Revelation 24:12).
Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. The Bible nowhere instructs Christians to pray through intermediaries, or to petition saints or Mary for their prayers. Believers in Christ have an imparted righteousness from Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus is our only Savior (Matthew 1:21). Even Mary herself called God her “Savior” in (Luke 1:47).
5- When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He gave them what is commonly called the “Lord’s prayer” (Matthew 6:9-15). This is the model prayer.
6-The Lord instructed that His children are not to “use vain repetitions as the heathen do” (Matthew 6:7).
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In His service,
BibleAsk Team
