hopeful1 Posted May 22, 2004 Share Posted May 22, 2004 Ok, I want to do a presentation on Mary for my campus intervarsity club. The group is mostly protestant with most of them from a baptist or nondenominational background (if this information helps). Now i know Mary is a difficult, if not a totally foreign idea, for protestants and i understand that she is one of the hardest thing to accept for converts. my question to you is how did someone explain some of the tough stuff on Mary in way that you could understand it? (for example, using analogies, parallels to scripture, ect). In this presentation i think i want to focus on prayers to mary (intercession), our relationship with her strenghtens our relationship w/ christ, mary as spiritual mother. However, i may get into the other stuff in another presentation (depending on how well this one goes), so please feel free to post anything else on those topics. any help is appreciated. thank you pham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful1 Posted May 23, 2004 Author Share Posted May 23, 2004 anybody? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 i'm thinking.... When's your presentation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 If this is only going to be one presentation and their introduction to Catholic thought, I would spend much time on what they are familiar with and only a little time on what is new. That way, slowly, seeds can be planted, and the unfamiliar and scary can become familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daugher-of-Mary Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 You might want to check out Dr. Scott Hahn's website. He has some excellent stuff on Mary [url="http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/ma.html"]here[/url] and [url="http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/m.html"]here[/url]. The first article give some very detailed biblical parallels. Take it slowly and expect to be asked a lot of questions...probably a lot on Jesus as the one Mediator. Best of luck to you! God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful1 Posted May 23, 2004 Author Share Posted May 23, 2004 [quote name='homeschoolmom' date='May 22 2004, 10:30 PM'] i'm thinking.... When's your presentation? [/quote] good question, i need to bring that up with them. but hopefully, with time permitting, sometime in the fall. I just want to start planning early with what i want to do, say, research, ect, while i have the time to do it, so if they need me to get into detail about what i'm going to do i'll have an answer for them, if that makes any sense. I'll post if i get anything definate. Brother Adam If this is only going to be one presentation and their introduction to Catholic thought, I would spend much time on what they are familiar with and only a little time on what is new. That way, slowly, seeds can be planted, and the unfamiliar and scary can become familiar. don't worry i'm definately keeping this in mind. I know if i throw everything to them at once about Mary, i'll get a very hostile crowd. I realize she's a foreign subject to most, if not met with some hostility. It's all about baby steps. the first thing i want to do is make it clear that we don't worship mary and that the prayer thing is merely asking for her intercession , and why we even bother having a relationship with her at all. I think this some of the basic stuff most protestants have issues with, and hopefully some of the easier ones to understand. the more i think about it, the more i see the possibility of this being a series of presentations (if they'll even permit that) and i may get into some of the other stuff then, but i would say it would totally hinge on how this one goes. daugher-of-Mary You might want to check out Dr. Scott Hahn's website. He has some excellent stuff on Mary here and here. The first article give some very detailed biblical parallels. Take it slowly and expect to be asked a lot of questions...probably a lot on Jesus as the one Mediator. Best of luck to you! God bless! OMG! I LOVE SCOTT HAHN! Thank you. i'll definately look into this. I just ordered his Hail Holy Queen today (hopefully, if nothing else it'll be a good read, and help me build a devotion to her) The Jesus as one mediator is one i'm thinking about to, i'm thinking about explaining that along the lines that it's the same thing as asking a friend to pray for you. in the same sense they're acting as a mediator, but it's all going to Jesus. obviously, it's going to have to be more detailed than that. Ok, i know after i'm done with this presentation, i can't expect them to suddenly start praying the Hail Mary or start praying the rosary, and i don't expect that. I know Mary is one of the hardest pills to swallow especially for converts because the majority of them have been taught to ignore her and anything more than that would seem blasphemous. That's why i'm asking if anyone has explained these things to you in a way that seemed 'less scary' as Bro. Adam put it, so they can understand it. the goal of this presentation is for them to gain a better understanding of how we percieve mary, and hopefully, gain a better appreciation of her. if any of them want to take it any further than that, good for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 It might be a good idea to go with the "typology" idea. Many Protestants are facinated by the typology of Christ. In fact, maybe start there talking about the types of Christ and then adding the types of Mary... New Eve, Ark of the New Covenant, Queen in the New Davidic kingdom... those things are hard to ignore for those who clearly see Jesus as the new Pascal Lamb... That's what I would do... (Scott Hahn's book would be emensely helpful...) Also, maybe talk about Mary as the daughter of the Father, mother of the Son and spouse of the Holy Spirit... That alone points out her very unique place in history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful1 Posted May 23, 2004 Author Share Posted May 23, 2004 typology? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 Yes... the idea that things in the New Testament are presented in the old... The OT sacrificial lamb is a type for Chirst, of course... all of the sybolism there, etc. Then the ones I mentioned for Mary: the Ark, Eve, etc... Hahn's book will clear this up. As a Protestant, this was interesting to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful1 Posted May 24, 2004 Author Share Posted May 24, 2004 oh, ok i think i see what you're saying. kinda like parallels (sp?) between the old and new testament, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 [quote name='hopeful1' date='May 23 2004, 10:21 PM'] oh, ok i think i see what you're saying. kinda like parallels (sp?) between the old and new testament, right? [/quote] Yes. I am just thinking that since Protestants are very much a "show me where it says this in the Bible" people and the Bible doesn't out right say, "Mary was conceived without sin, was a purpetual virgin and intercedes for us on our behalf" in so many words, you could show them Mary's OT types. The Ark was created very specifically to carry the Word of God (and so was Mary). The Ark was a "hands off" item (So was Mary)... The Queen in the Davidic Kingdom was the mother of the King who interceded on the people's behalf-- just as Mary does today for us. (She doesn't decide the outcome, but she presents our requests to the King). Anyone who is learned in the OT will probably think it's interesting. Even if they don't buy it right away, it was stick with them. And if nothing else, they'll see that Catholics get these "wacky" ideas right from the Bible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archangel Raphael Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 [quote name='homeschoolmom' date='May 24 2004, 08:21 AM'] Yes. I am just thinking that since Protestants are very much a "show me where it says this in the Bible" people and the Bible doesn't out right say, "Mary was conceived without sin, was a purpetual virgin and intercedes for us on our behalf" in so many words, you could show them Mary's OT types. The Ark was created very specifically to carry the Word of God (and so was Mary). The Ark was a "hands off" item (So was Mary)... The Queen in the Davidic Kingdom was the mother of the King who interceded on the people's behalf-- just as Mary does today for us. (She doesn't decide the outcome, but she presents our requests to the King). Anyone who is learned in the OT will probably think it's interesting. Even if they don't buy it right away, it was stick with them. And if nothing else, they'll see that Catholics get these "wacky" ideas right from the Bible. [/quote] Wow I'm gonna write this stuff down so I can bug Mary bashers later if they wanna start anything, muahaha! You know, oddly enough even though I don't consider myseful fully Catholic, I still now and then do speak to and think about Mary. I acknowledge her as my true Mother as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful1 Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 [quote name='homeschoolmom' date='May 24 2004, 08:21 AM'] Yes. I am just thinking that since Protestants are very much a "show me where it says this in the Bible" people and the Bible doesn't out right say, "Mary was conceived without sin, was a purpetual virgin and intercedes for us on our behalf" in so many words, you could show them Mary's OT types. The Ark was created very specifically to carry the Word of God (and so was Mary). The Ark was a "hands off" item (So was Mary)... The Queen in the Davidic Kingdom was the mother of the King who interceded on the people's behalf-- just as Mary does today for us. (She doesn't decide the outcome, but she presents our requests to the King). Anyone who is learned in the OT will probably think it's interesting. Even if they don't buy it right away, it was stick with them. And if nothing else, they'll see that Catholics get these "wacky" ideas right from the Bible. [/quote] oh yeah! I definately see what you're saying! I find it interesting too, and i'm 6 yrs short of being a cradle catholic! Fascinating stuff, and i know these guys are looking for proof in the bible too! I'll have to research to see if there's any other parallels i can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Hail, Holy Queen, by Scott Hahn... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeful1 Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 [quote name='homeschoolmom' date='May 25 2004, 12:29 AM'] Hail, Holy Queen, by Scott Hahn... [/quote] YES! I definately plan on using this as a source, as i'm sure it will be invaluable in fact i ordered over the weekend from my catholic bookstore, i can't wait for it to come in. even if they won't let me do the presentation, it'll def be a good read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now