Ernie Lassman | – Do Lutheran's pray to Mary?

Pastor Lassman’s Lesson 6 and 7 – Jesus Christ
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Videos from the Adult Information Class on basic christian teachings at Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington.

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Pastor Lassman Pastor Lassman. A class on basic Christian teachings at Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle, Washington.

Comment (49)

  1. oh I see martin luther had great admiration for mary the"mother of god"because he would point out marys life as a faithful witness.in his commentary on marys song luther said,here,the tender mother of Christ teaches us,with her words and by the example of her experience,how to know,love,and praise god

  2. Eastern Orthodox and some Anglicans (Anglo-Catholics) venerate St.Mary and ask of her prayers and intercession. But we do not adore her the way Roman Catholics do. If any Christian puts Blessed Mary equal to

  3. Eastern Orthodox and some Anglicans (Anglo-Catholics) venerate St.Mary and ask of her prayers and intercession. But we do not adore her the way Roman Catholics do. If any Christian puts Blessed Mary equal to God, they are in error. I solemnly believe in the Communion of Saints just like my ancestors the Celtic Christians did. It is not wrong to ask the Theotokos to pray for us.

  4. perfect explanation. It's so obvious and elementary when you think about how she fits as the role as "Woman". People tend to forget about Eve. It took Adam and Eve, therefore it took Mary and Jesus. Eve prompted Adam to his first SIN. And Mary prompted Jesus to his FIRST MIRACLE. Adam called Eve "Woman", and at very appropriately placed times in Jesus' story he called Mary, "Woman". It doesn't take a rocket scientist! I'm so dumbfounded that these Christians completely ignore Mary.

  5. James 5:16 explains it pretty clearly. God tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is POWERFUL and EFFECTIVE. And he tells us to confess our sins to each other. So, don't you agree that Mary is the FIRST believer in our Lord Jesus Christ? I can't think of anyone else. Can you? Through her FAITH in her SON, she has become RIGHTEOUS. Think about it. I don't have to wear a black and white priest garb to know this. You should start praying the Rosary

  6. So, if you think Mary was a sinner… don't you think she would have spanked the hell out of her son for staying behind for 3 days and found in the temple? I know my Mom would have tore my ass up. No..she just pondered it in her Heart. That doesn't sound like a sinner. You can learn all this stuff too, by praying the Rosary. Check out my channel. Mary has shown me a lot of stuff.

  7. Mary was the first Christian. Mary said yes to God. Mary was the Immaculate conception. Mary was present at Jesus first miricle…"do what he tells you to do". Mary received the holy spirt. Mary told us.."all generations will call me blessed" Most important..Mary is the Mother of God. Amen!

  8. "Prayer" can = "praise", reserved for God alone, but prayer can also = "conversation". For centuries, the Church was regarded as a "family", made up not only of the living on earth, but also the saints in heaven, and Mary is among them. In the Psalms, the psalmist often addresses angels and enjoins them to praise the Lord. Is the psalmist thereby worshiping angels or is he just speaking to them? In Revelations, St. John speaks of angels and elders in heaven, offering to God the prayers of the saints. If we are to pray directly to God and only to God, then why would God need or allow elders and saints in heaven to act as "intermediaries"? The reason is this: God alone is the object of worship, but prayer isn't JUST about "worship", it's also about "family" members speaking to one another, praying for one another, encouraging one another, the focus of all that being GOD.

  9. The pastor keeps speaking of praying to Mary as if it was a Roman Catholic "thing", but Eastern Orthodox Christians also honor her and pray to her. Neither group "worships" her. Mary's position in the Church evolved when the Church was still young and unified, long before there even WAS a "Roman Catholic Church". The "Sub Tuum", a Marion prayer of intercession, dates to the year 250 AD. Early Church councils and Fathers honored Mary, the Mother of God, with prayers and devotions, and her icons were venerated, but again, there's a distinction between that and "worship". If you pick up a photo of a deceased or living loved one and speak to that person, or touch and kiss the photo, are you worshiping that person? Hardly.

  10. lutherans believe we catholics  (i'm a catholic) worship Mary. we don't ( worship marry. we honor her for saying yes to god for being the mother of christ and for being sinless. (I don't know if lutherans/protestants think of mary as the queen of heaven and earth but we catholics and possibly orthodox do)

  11. Some people here keep saying Lutherans are wrong about the Catholic Church dogmas concerning Mary. The Lutheran question is always: Where is it written in the Bible? Jesus said: "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only". We are asked then: What is worship? Easy: All kinds of devotion, prayers, thanks giving etc. Also, God said through Isaiah: "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols".

    I come to admire our fellow Catholic brothers who think Mary is so important for the church, in a sense that they should talk about her, give thanks to her, pray to her every time they go to their service. Then we see non of the apostles (especially in the epistles) talking about her, giving thanks to her or praying to her. Only the historical books mention her. Why? Because you cannot talk about Jesus' human life without mentioning his earthly mother. That's all. The Church Fathers gave the same honor to Mary Lutherans do. She was chosen to be the mother of God in this World… Altough you should never forget: chosen by Jesus (who is eternal) to be his mother. Jesus, as the Word of God (John 1: 1-3), created everything, including Mary. The term "theotokos" applies to Mary to glorify Jesus, not her.

    If you think Mary is capable of hearing your prayer in the same time someone in Brazil is praying to her, you're undoubtly giving Mary qualities of God: omnipresence and omniscience.

    Believe only what the Bible says. Nowhere your kneeling to Mary is encouraged in the Word of God. Remember what Jesus says: "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only".

  12. I think people should look up for themselves how Martin Luther feels about Mary. You'll find he has all the same beliefs as he did when he was Catholic. He wants people to praise and honor Mary. He belived she was a virgin and died a virgin. He believed she is the Queen of Heaven. His beliefs of Mary mother of God and an ever- virgin is identical to catholism. He also said, Whoever has good faith, says the Hail Mary without danger! Whoever is weak in faith can utter no Hail mary without danger to his salvation! So what does that tell you. It is safe to pray the Hail Mary and you should.

  13. Luther encouraged praying the rosary early on, but as he grew in understanding of Christian doctrine, no longer supported it. He continued to have great respect for Mary's example. The Hail Mary prayer and the rosary changed over time. I do not know any Lutherans trusting solely in Christ who pray the rosary.

  14. Six Beautiful Quotes on Mary by Martin Luther

    1) Mary was without sin
    “God has formed the soul and body of the Virgin Mary full of the Holy Spirit, so that she is without all sins, for she has conceived and borne the Lord Jesus.”

    2) Mary was a perpetual virgin
    “Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary’s virginal womb… This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that. […] Christ… was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him.”

    3) On the veneration of Mary
    “The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart.”

    4) Mary is the mother of all Christians
    “Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees… If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother.”

    5) You can never honor Mary enough
    “[Mary is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ… She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures.”

    6) Mary has no equal among creation
    “She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child…. “Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God…. None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.”

  15. I thought Luther and the first protestants denied the prayers to the virgin and saints, since when did Lutherans go back to prayers to the Virgin?

    Catholic legal writings in the 16th century claimed Lutherans denied Mary and the saints assist our salvation

    All I know is that virtually nowhere in the writings of patristics from the Ante-Nicene Church(1st to 4th century) their is no mention of prayers to Mary and she has no major role wether you read Papias, Taitian, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin, Tertullian etc.

  16. Doesn't this call into question, what defines all books in the Bible, also, very old graffiti has been found in Roman Catacombs extolling Mary for help, Catacombs of Priscilla. That's a lot older than the "dark ages" 500-1000. Why does the Orthodox Church share this veneration? Dormition of Mary, etc. etc. And of course, Luther himself speaks highly of Mary.

  17. Thank you for posting brother in Christ. I will pray for the Lord to strengthen your heart for service work for his glory and to richly bless you now and in the new Earth. It is his promise to those who love him as it is written. I recently joined a local Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. I am thankful to the Lord for providing this church the servants of God there are so loving and gracious but bold to stand on the word and share in the sufferings of Christ. Blessed be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is blessed forever.

  18. In regards to the sinlessness of Mary, she is the only person to have been described in the entire old and New Testament as being “Full of Grace”. The fact that grace is the unconditional love of God, to be full of it leads to one assuming that therefore Mary is without sin. Also Catholic’s do not “worship” Mary, they ask for her intercession while praying to God as she is in the presence of God, quite similar to the Saints.

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