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A Review of John Martignoni's Newsletter #204
In his newsletter #204 John Martignoni states:
To say that Mary, who bore the Son of God in her womb, is not
special, is like saying the Ark of the Covenantwas just another bo
! "h sure, it carried the Ten Commandments, and Aaron#s staff, and
the $read of the
%resence, but so what& 'o big deal( )ust another bo !
'owhere does Scripture say the Ark of the Covenantwas blessed *A$"+
- other bo es! Mary carried the .ord of God in flesh, not in stone!
Mary carried the
eternal /igh %riest 0/eb 12314 /imself, not just the high
priest#s staff! Mary carried the living $read that hascome down
from /eaven 0)ohn 52134, the bread which if you eat of it you will
live forever 0)ohn 52634, not justthe bread that the /ebrews
scooped up off the ground and ate and yet still died 0)ohn 52174!
So, if Mary isn#t
more blessed than any other woman, then the Ark of the Covenant
is just another bo !
John Martignoni is truly an amazement !irst" the rea er's
$omments ma e on Mary in newsletter #204to ma%e the $ase against
elevating her as the Roman &atholi$ &hur$h oes" a$tually
states Mary was lesse an$hosen y (o whi$h ma%es her s)e$ial *o
Martignoni on$e again starts off framing his argument in a way
thatis isingenuous an will serve him + not the truth *e$on " he
ma%es the argument that Mary is s)e$ial e$auseshe was the vessel"
or as he uses in his analogy the , o-. that $arrie the *on of (o /e
uses the $om)arison ofMary to the Ar% of the &ovenant to ma%e
us elieve that Mary shoul e elevate in some way to the level
theRoman &atholi$ &hur$h insists she e elevate here is
sim)ly no warrant for this here are two issues here:
1: *houl Mary e elevate to a higher level e$ause she was the
mother of Jesus
2: If so" why
It's a ig lea) to assume that we shoul a$$e)t the e i$t of John
Martignoni that Mary e elevate to thelevel she is in the Roman
&atholi$ &hur$h e$ause she $arrie Jesus in her wom In fa$t
the 3i le re e$ts thisi ea As shown in Martignoni's newsletter
#204" even Mary i not elieve this shoul e the $ase *he realizeshe
was lesse among women" ut others were also lesse y (o an not
elevate Mary herself a mitte shenee e a savior 5nly Jesus $oul save
her" an /e i this y /is wor% on the $ross *he $oul not save
herself*he %new she was a sinner" even if Martignoni oesn't get
it
6e see Martignoni's $laim that the Ar% of the &ovenant was
not , ust another o-." an was s)e$ial ustli%e Mary was" ut where o
we see that in the 3i le *houl n't Martignoni give the *$ri)ture
After all" he runsthe ,3i le. &hristian *o$iety" right 6as the
Ar% worshi)e No 6as the Ar% revere e$ause it was the Ar%
No he Ar% of the &ovenant was im)ortant to e sure" ut it was
its contents that ma e it so" otherwise it 6A* ust another o- As%
yourself this 7uestion: woul the Ar% of the &ovenant ha een
s)e$ial if they $arrie theirlun$h aroun in it No he )oint is
$om)letely lost on Martignoni 6hat is raise in stature in the 3i le
is the
en &omman ments" not what $arrie them 6as Moses lifte high
on the worshi)ing )e estal e$ause he$arrie the en &omman ments
own from the mountain No8 Martignoni's analogy of Mary an the Ar%
is silly
eyon elief Mary" y her own a mission" was a servant an hum le
han mai en of (o " not to e elevate inany way 6hat was s)e$ial a
out Mary was the honor she re$eive e$ause of what she $arrie in her
wom " not
e$ause of anything Mary was" or i *he i not stan on her own
merits It was she that was to give honor to
the 9or e$ause of the o))ortunity (o gave her" not she who was
to re$eive elevate status
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6hile this is a great story" it's ust that ? a story It's a
story esigne to get you to see how Mary couldhave een )reserve from
sin" ut that's not the same as it a$tually eing the $ase he
7uestion is" is it true6as Mary %e)t from her sin nature If so"
then why i she say she nee e a savior If she never fell into
the,)it. an was never ,mu ie . in the first )la$e" why i she elieve
she was ,mu ie .
here's no in i$ation in the 3i le that any su$h thing as saving
Mary efore she was orn; i " or even$oul ta%e )la$e !irst of all it
was the wor% of Jesus" an /is eath on the $ross that ma e it )ossi
le for all of
us to e save y /is gra$e /is sa$rifi$ial eath an atonement for
our sins in$lu ing Mary's; is was saves usan her" an /e ha yet to
)erform that wor% at the time of Mary's irth If /e ha save her from
,the )it. anthe stain of sin efore /e was orn" then why o what /e i
to save the rest of us 6hy not ust save us all
efore we fall in the )it an get staine &oming u) with a
fan$iful story a out how something $oul e one" isnot the same as it
a$tually eing one here's no in i$ation anywhere other than what the
&atholi$ &hur$h$laims that this ty)e of thing ever ha))ene
or even $oul ha))en 6hy oesn't the 3i le s)ea% of Mary's,)ulling
from the )it. an e$lare her sinless in it's )ages 3e$ause it never
ha))ene ? that's why
6e hear from the Roman &atholi$ &hur$h the
following:
, at the first instan$e of her $on$e)tion" y a singular
)rivilege an gra$e of the 5mni)otent (o " in virtue ofthe merits of
Jesus &hrist" the *avior of man%in " was )reserve imma$ulate
from all stain of original sin .
>o)e >ius IC" Ineffa ilis Deus" De$em er B" 1BE4
It's an im)ossi ility for Jesus to have save Mary efore she was
orn as is state a ove" e$ause inor er for Jesus to im)art saving
gra$e to anyone" /e nee e to first e orn as a man in the flesh" lea
a )erfe$tlife" an then ta%e on the sins of the worl to %ill sin
through /is atoning eath on the $ross It was the eath ofJesus that
ma e the forgiveness of our sins )ossi le /is eath an resurre$tion
are the ,merits. >ius IC s)o%ea out It's sho$%ing that he i n't
see that those merits ha yet to e$ome manifest in the man Jesus
&hrist at thetime Mary was $on$eive Jesus ha not yet een orn
yet alone ie at the time Mary was su))ose ly ,savefrom the )it .
his is why (o e$ame flesh" suffere " an ie for us all o ma%e it
)ossi le for us to e save "Jesus ha to ie 5ne $an't ie until they
are orn first If there was any other way" woul he have not $hosen
itIn fa$t we see in the gar en ust efore Jesus' eath Jesus as%ing
the !ather ,!ather" if thou art willing" let this$u) )ass from me .
Jesus was as%ing that if there was any other way to forgive the
sins of man" let Me not gothrough this 3ut there was no other way
to remove sin" so Jesus went to /is eath on the $ross to $om)lete
/issaving wor%
In short" Martignoni misses the entire )oint on Mary" )resuma ly
e$ause he nee s the R&& story of hergreatness to live on It
must e true for him" an he'll most li%ely elieve it even eyon the
ay that the Roman&atholi$ &hur$h finally e$lares her
&o+Re em)tri- /e ismisses the mira$le (o )reforme thorough
hishum le servant y trying to $o le together a $razy $om)arison on
the Ar% an Mary" an the great wor%
)erforme through Mary not y her; is trashe y his insisten$e that
she e more than what she really was@ asim)le han mai en that was
honore y the 9or
3lessings"Mi%e
