Venus of Willendorf (Luke 1:26-38) Mary the Mother of God Venus of Willendorf (Luke 1:26-38)

Outline Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Mary? What happens when we die God the Son, or Son of God Who is Mary? Mother of God, or Mother of a Man What happens when we die Heaven or hell? The origins of Mary worship With archaeologists at Willendorf Who and what should we worship? In particular should we worship Mary?

Who is Jesus Christ? The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (from Latin trinitas "triad", from trinus "threefold")[1] defines God as three consubstantial persons, expressions, or hypostases: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit; "one God in three persons". The three persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature". In this context, a "nature" is what one is, while a "person" is who one is. (Wikipedia) Central to our theme this evening is the common belief in what is termed the Trinity {READ Definition} The Trinity is not a term that is found anywhere in the scriptures, but is believed by millions. The Trinity is the belief that God the Father, God the Son (meaning Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Ghost, are co-equal and co-eternal. Well is this the teaching of the Bible?

Jesus Christ – coequal? “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:28) We do not have to read much of the scriptures before we realise that the Lord Jesus Christ though very powerful, he is not co-equal with the Father. He Himself states in no uncertain terms that His Father is greater than He is {John 14:28}. And, lest we are in any degree of doubt that the Lord may have been talking about whilst He was in His earthly state, the Apostle Paul corrects that idea in 1 Corinthians when He writes {1 Corthians 15:28}. So, not only was the Lord Jesus Christ below the Father when in His flesh, but he will be below the Father when at the height of His power in the Kingdom age. When he with great might and power will subdued the powers and principalities of the world. We can conclude then that Jesus and God are not co-equal.

Jesus Christ – coeternal? “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5) Of the Lord Jesus Christ the apostle Paul writes {Galatians 4:4}. The Lord Jesus Christ then was made. Compare this if you will to {Psalm 90:2}. God the Father had no beginning. He was never made. He is from everlasting to everlasting. That’s mind boggling. A concept that I struggle to comprehend. The Lord Jesus Christ had a beginning. He was made under the law. Well what law you might ask. There are several words translated as Law in the Bible. This is the Greek word nomos. And according to Strong’s Concordance this words speaks specifically about the Law of Moses. And, that makes sense to me, because Paul is speaking to the Galatians; a population which would largely have been Jews. So, Jesus Christ was made under the Law of Moses. Well, when did the Law of Moses come into existence? Roughly speaking, around about 3000 B.C. The woman, mentioned here in Galatians is I believe our first reference tonight to Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was not there at Creation, as many profess, he did not pre-exist before His birth. Jesus Christ was made of a woman under the Law of Moses. So not only is Jesus not coequal with God, nor is He coeternal with God. The whole concept of the Trinity is left high and dry. We cannot then call the Lord Jesus Christ – God the Son, in the sense that those who profess that Mary is the Mother of God do. No, He is the Son of God, He is less powerful, and He is not coeternal.

Who is Mary? “Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children”. (Matthew 27:56)  ”These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren”. (Acts 1:14) “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.  And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;” (Luke 1:38) This then gives us a firm footing to determine who Mary is. Who is Mary? Well Mary is found only 32 times in scripture. Almost exclusively those references are in the gospels. On 7 of those occasion's Mary is described as the mother of James and Joses – they being Jesus’ siblings {Matthew 27:56} Only once is Mary describes as the mother of Jesus, and never as the mother of God. {Acts 1:14} Mary herself describes herself as the handmaid of the Lord. {Luke 1:38}

Who is Mary? “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 1:18) Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. (Mark 6:3) At the time of Jesus’ birth she is espoused to Joseph – in modern day parlance she was engaged {Matthew 1:18} Although later she obviously got married, and had additional children, both boys and girls {Mark 6:3}

Who is Mary? “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph, Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum .... Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke 3:23-38) The genealogy of Mary is obviously important as the scriptures trace it back right through to Adam. It’s another subject, but it can be proven that the Lord Jesus Christ was the rightful king of Israel. But what this background does is show us that Mary was a normal mortal woman. Obviously she was very special in that God chose her out of all the women that have ever existed to bare His son. But, non-the-less she was a normal human being.

What happens when we die? “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13) An important aspect of our consideration of worship of Mary has to do with the question of what happens to us when we die. The common belief is that when a disciple prays to Mary, she will hear the prayers in heaven her dwelling place and make intercession for the disciple asking Jesus for a blessing on the disciples behalf. Quite obviously then, we need to understand what happens to a person when they die to understand whether this is so. The scripture is very plain on this topic. As is commonly proclaimed from this platform we understand death as a finality. The dead know nothing {Eccl. 9:5}. Jesus himself clearly proclaims that nobody has gone to heaven {John 3:13}

What is our hope? “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: ... Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:6-8) The hope of the Christian as Paul proclaims is the resurrection from the dead {Acts 26:6-8} Mary has been dead for some 2,000 years. She has by this time rotted into dust, return to the dust from whence she came. She sleeps awaiting the resurrection of the dead. Mary is not in heaven and she certainly is not in a position to hear our prayers and take them to Jesus.

The venus of Willendorf We turn now to consider the origins of Mary worship. The Venus of Willendorf, is a 4.25-inch (10.8 cm) high statuette of a female figure estimated to have been made between about 28,000 and 25,000 BCE. We would of course take issue with that dating, but that’s another address. It was found in 1908 by two workmen named Johann Veran and Josef Veram during excavations conducted by archaeologists Josef Szombathy, Hugo Obermaier and Josef Bayer at a paleolithic site near Willendorf, a village in Lower Austria near the city of Krems. It is carved from an oolitic limestone that is not local to the area, and tinted with red ochre. The figurine is now in the Natural history Museum in Vienna, Austria.

Cave paintings - Luscaux Just to provide an indication of how very old these images are. Here we see a cave painting from the same era. We are talking about cave-men who were using these carvings for pagan rituals that they believed would encourage fertility in their women

Cybele Several similar statuettes and other forms of art have been discovered, and they are collectively referred to as Venus figurines, although they pre-date the mythological figure of Venus by millennia. The purpose of the venus of Willendorf carving is the subject of much speculation. Parts of the body associated with fertility and childbearing have been emphasized leading researchers to believe that the Venus of Willendorf was used as a fertility goddess. The idea is a sympathetic magic. The belief that all nature is in harmony. It is similar to the rain maker who rattled beads in a gourd shell because it sounds like rain. Because all nature is in harmony, and it sounds like rain therefore rattling induces rain. That’s the origin of the aboriginal rain stick. So you carry an image of a pregnant woman to make you pregnant.

Classical Venus The nickname, urges a comparison to the classical image of "Venus".   She was originally nicknamed la poire - "the pear" - on account of her shape. "Venus" has since become the collective term used to identify all these obese Palaeolithic statuettes of women.

The woman with a child The worship of the woman with child can be readily traced from Palaeolithic times, through Mayan and Egyptian mythology, through Greek and Roman times right up to the modern era. Around 300 AD; at about the time the Athenasian Creed was introduced, the Roman Church brought the worship of Mary into the their beliefs. It came from the Pagan worship of the times. As we have said, there is nothing in scripture to say that Mary should be worshipped

Paganism in “Christianity” Worship of Mary Christmas Harvest festival Priesthood Heaven going Hell Hot crossed buns Gehenna Satan / Devil Demons / spirits Ghosts Purgatory Grim reaper Tomb stones May pole The worship of Mary is not unique in this respect. Many of the practices found in the churches around us have there origins in Pagan beliefs. The list is exhaustive, and by no means restricted to the list before us.

Who and what should we worship? And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you... Acts 14:9-15 When Paul and Barnabus cured a lame man in Lyconia the people claimed they were gods, and would have sacrificed oxen unto the Apostles. We can see the reactions of the Apostles {Acts 14:9-15} The same is true of Mary, she was of like passions as we are.

Image worship Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (Exo. 20:4) Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female. (Duet. 4:16) The images that man makes of Mary are in fact an abomination to God. The scripture makes it very clear that God is not pleased by the making of any graven images.

Him only “And Jesus answered and said unto him..., Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:8) The words of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in Luke 4 make it even more abundantly clear.

Summary Trinity – a wrong doctrine Mary, a woman espoused to Joseph When we die, we know nothing The Venus of Willendorf Graven images an abomination Jesus’ command – worship only the Father In summary then, what have we said: The worship of Mary is based upon an incorrect doctrine, the doctrine of the Trinity Mary is simply a woman who was espoused to Joseph When we go to the grave (as Mary has) then we know nothing The history of worshiping the woman with child can be traced back to Palaeolithic pagan rituals; and really has nothing to do with Christianity at all In fact, even the making of graven images, let alone bowing down and worshipping them is forbidden under the Law of Moses And, Jesus Christ teaches himself that we should only worship the Father I think that the scriptural teaching on this subject is very clear, but I doubt I will have fully convinced anyone that practices worship of Mary in the time allotted to tonight’s talk. What I would ask you to do; is to research these things yourself. Hopefully you have a Bible, if you don’t I’m sure that our stewards will lend you one. These truths are easily found on the internet, for any to search out. May God bless you in your research. Thankyou for listening.