MARIOLATRY NOT OF CHRIST.
If ever woman had reason to sing, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour," it was Mary, the Virgin Mother of Christ. God recognized her as a helper in restoring man from the ruins of sin. To her the angel spake, saying, "Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women." And in pondering in her heart the strange coincidences, she exclaimed, "God hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
From these words it is evident that Mary appreciated the honor conferred upon her by her Creator and rightful Ruler. It is a singular fact, that Eve, betrayed by Satan, betrayed the race. Mary held steadfast to God and to truth; and yet Satan has the second time taken woman and used her as an ally, and so has brought an influence to bear upon the minds of men which has led millions astray, and covers vast portions of the world with the gloom of a moral night. Mary, the "Mother of Jesus," is made to take the place of "Christ, the Son of God," and is declared to be the Mother of God. In this land we can form no conception of the extent to which this worship of Mary is carried in Roman Catholic countries. To the Italians Mary is God, and worship is simply the adoration of the Virgin. Viewing Romanism in the light of the Bible, this is its crowning sin; viewing it as a system combined to seduce and enslave, this is its masterpiece. To understand how it is so, let us think how deep in man's nature is placed the feeling of the need of a being like unto himself, to mediate between him and God. The Bible completely meets this want in the God-man. But Popery blots out the God-man as mediator, and in his stead presents us with Mary, who is to the devotee the "one living and true God;" for, though the Father and Son are known, they are accessible only through Mary, and they stand so far behind and beyond her, that to the Romanist they are vague, shadowy, and unknown. Mary is the first name to be lisped in childhood, the last to be uttered by the quivering lips before they are closed in death. Around the neck of the infant is suspended a small image of the Virgin; when the babe seeks the breast it must kiss the image, and thus literally does it draw in the adoration of Mary with its mother's milk. "Were the New Testament to be written at this hour, Rome would blot out the name of Christ and substitute that of Mary. Take a proof: The church close by the Vatican has upon its marble pediment, graven in large letters, 'Let us come to the throne of the Virgin Mary, that we may find grace to help us in our time of need.' The Roman sees Heb. iv. 16 quoted, but cannot verify it if he would, seeing the Bible is forbidden to him." Pius IX., at the foot of the column of the Immaculate Conception, erected to perpetuate the fact that he was permitted to decree the dogma, has Moses, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah casting crowns before the Virgin, saying, "Thou art worthy; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." When it was announced that the French occupation of Rome should cease, the Pope published a decree calling on all Rome to go with him to the feet of Mary, if haply by cries and tears they might prevail with her to avert from the throne of God's vicar the dangers that threaten it; and in that act the Pope led the way.[A]
[Footnote A: Minister versus Priest, page 7.]
For this worship of the Virgin Mary there is a reason. Satan could not successfully lead astray so many millions of people, despite a preached gospel and a printed Bible, unless there was some truth lying at the root of this ineradicable Virgin worship. This root we shall discover when we recall woman's position prior to the advent of Christ, the place she was called upon to fill in the scheme of redemption, and the influences set in motion by the life of Christ upon the earth.
1. Let us notice woman's position previous to the advent. Before Christ came, woman was regarded as inferior to man. She had lost her equality. She was excluded from general intercourse, and her confinement to her own home and apartments, without education, without social recognition, left her without strength of character, self-reliance, or resources with herself. "Woman's safety in society lies in two elements: her own virtue and intelligence, and the consequent respect for her which such a character inspires. Where these two things are found, she may participate in general society, mingling freely with men as their equals, and regarded, it may be, even as their superiors. Here, it may be worthy of note, that no such estimate or honor is ever put upon woman except when Christianity has given her this elevation."
Before Christ appeared, the qualities honored as divine were peculiarly the virtues of the man—courage, wisdom, truth, strength. Womanly virtues were regarded as puerile and contemptible, and woman herself was little better than a slave.
2. Notice the place woman filled in the scheme of redemption. It is admitted by those who recognize the Word of God as authority, that the Atonement required the sacrifice of one whose nature represents equally the dignity of the Law-maker and the humanity of the transgressor. In him Deity and humanity must be united: Deity, that he may give value to the offering; humanity, that he may obey the positive precepts and endure the penal sanction of the law human nature has violated. It was therefore essential that the prophecy of Isaiah, uttered six hundred years before the advent, should be fulfilled, viz., "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel—God with us." This work had been accomplished, and Mary was honored with the privilege of taking the words of Eve, "I have gotten a man with Jehovah," and making it no longer a prophecy, but a fact. So we sing,—
"Thou wast born of woman; them didst come,
O, Holiest! to this world of sin and gloom,
Not in thy dread omnipotent array;
And not by thunder strewed
Was thy tempestuous road,—
Nor indignation burned before thee on thy way;
But thou, a soft and naked child,
Thy mother undefiled,
In the rude manger laid to rest,
From off her virgin breast."
Then, for the first time, the mother resumed her place. When the wise men came into the house they saw the young child, with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. The old Eastern custom, which placed the child before the mother, was now understood. God guarded against making Mary first, and at the same time provided for her a place. When God appeared to Joseph in a dream, he did not say, Take the mother and child, but the "young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt." This brings us naturally to consider—