Mary and anti-Catholic bigotry

Pastor Gino Jennings and statue of Mary, sorry Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
Pastor Gino Jennings and statue of Mary, sorry Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
Pastor Gino Jennings and statue of Mary, sorry, Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

I just came across a shocking but not surprising video by Pastor Gino Jennings of the First Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This video was made in the year 2003. It’s quite old and boring too 🙂

Let’s begin by saying a Hail Mary to his soul before I continue.

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.

This is a statue of Mary:

Statue of Mary
Statue of Mary

This is a statue of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus:

Statue of St Therese of the Child Jesus
Statue of St Therese of the Child Jesus

Now that you’ve seen the obvious differences let’s watch the video now:

He quoted 2 Chronicles to justify his case for smashing the statue of Mary (sorry St. Therese)

And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.  (2 Chronicles 34:4 KJV)

As you can see above, he wrenches Scripture out of context. But for his congregation, he is a hero. Interesting. There is a huge difference between idol and sacred images.

Consider the Ark of the Covenant. Is it an idol or not?

Replica of the Ark of the Covenant
Replica of the Ark of the Covenant

It seems ignorance is indeed bliss to some. Well, let’s continue.

According to the Bible, when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, to receive the law, the people of Israel rose against Aaron. They  said:

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (Exodus 32:1-4 KJV)

It is the making of graven images and the worshiping of these images as a god which God forbids.

Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:15-19 KJV)

The ten commandments affirm that God forbids the worship of graven images as a god.

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: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (Exodus 20:4-5 KJV)

Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:4 KJV)

Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make 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 waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, (Deuteronomy 5:7-9 KJV)

We have seen from the context of the above Bible passages that the creature should not be worshiped instead of the Creator. Let us now see passages in the Bible where the Living God commands the making of images. The first instance is the making of the Ark of the Covenant. Here, God said to Moses,

And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. (Exodus 25:17-21 KJV emphasis mine)

Again, God commands the making of bronze serpent.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9 KJV emphasis mine)

I’ll get back to this pastor soon.

You can get more Catholic perspective on a similar issue I made concerning the Grand papa of anti-Catholicism by clicking the image below. God bless you. Please say a prayer for me too. Thank you.

GADEL vs Jack Chick - Why is Mary crying?
GADEL vs Jack Chick - Why is Mary crying?

“Jesus is your friend. The Friend. With a human heart, like yours. With loving eyes that wept for Lazarus. And he loves you as much as he loved Lazarus.” Saint Josemaría Escrivá — Godwin Delali Adadzie is a Catholic living in Ghana, West Africa. A former smoker (Fish smoker now a Vegetarian) but still loves to drink a lot (of water). He attempts to blog at the Fair (HubBlogs with GADEL), the Good (Blessed Virgin our Mother Mary Immaculate), the Bad (GADEL Said What?) and the Ugly (Catholic Fiction: Responding to Myths & Half-Truths)

Godwin Delali Adadzie

Godwin Delali Adadzie

You can call me GADEL. Apologetics and theology are two of my favorite subjects, and you can read some of my work in these areas at Catholic Answers 101. I also care a lot about gun safety. Remember to pray always. Thank you.

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9 thoughts on “Mary and anti-Catholic bigotry”

  1. Pingback: FRIDAY MID-DAY EXTRA | The Pulpit

  2. To be fair, King Hezekiah (one of the kings of Judah whose righteousness is only surpassed by his great-grandson King Josiah) had the bronze serpent destroyed because people began to worship it (2 Kings 18:5).

    The two cherubim were a common feature in Canaanite iconography. They actually functioned as the throne of the god. This makes their presence on the Ark (and in Solomon’s Temple, 1 Kings 6:23) even more fascinating because there is no figure seated on them, emphasizing the invisible God Yahweh.

    That all said, this guy completely misunderstands the role of Mary in the redemption. Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). God prohibits man made images, but He provides an image. The Catechism tells us that “the incarnation of the Son of God has ushered in a new “economy” of images” (CCC 1159). The things of heaven have played out on earth for others to see. A statue of Mary (or St Therese for that matter) is as innocuous as carrying a photograph of a loved one in your pocket.

    The guy must have meant well, but it was hateful, ignorant, and incorrect.

    1. THe guy did not meant well he is right,according scripture, there is only one mediator between God and men, and that is the man Christ Jesus. There is no Mary is death, there is no where in history that she rose from the death, and if she did not, that means she cannot intercede for no one not even for herself. I mean what is so difficult to understand that a death person can not do anything.

  3. Icons and representations have been around since the time of the Orthodox Church in the East. Perhaps even earlier

  4. It just show you how ignorant these preachers are. Confusing a stature of Mary and Saint Theresa. Second of all they should understand that we do NOT worship images, and do not pray to Mary…we ask for her intercession. EXAMPLE-Cameras didn’t exist so we have statues to remind us of these holy people. EXAMPLE-You want that motorcycle. Dad says “no way, not even if pigs fly, not even if hell freezes over”. Your Mom says, okay under certain restrictions and regulations. So your Mom talks to Dad on your behalf in order for you to get that motorcycle. That’s the best analogy I can think of.

    1. If you think that a stature rather it is mary or therese is going too save your soul and get you into eternity than I wonder who is really ignorant here.

  5. @LROY – I appreciate your analogy but Mary’s and God’s will are not at odds if God says no, Mary says no…you cannot divide and conquer our Father and Mother in Christ. To be a saint is to allow God’s will to be done unto yourself…as Mary perfectly exemplifies. When we pray we must not pray to get our way but to eventually recognize and accept God’s way in our lives. God bless you all.

    1. Please study the different between the dispensation of Grace and the Law. Jesus whole earthly ministry was for the Jews only. Read Gal 4:4, Matt 15:24 Our salvation comes under Grace not the Law. Once you learn to keep them a part than you will be sit free.

    2. yes they been here, but that does not make those thing right, it what Jesus Christ said, that is what is right. The Lord Jesus does not come back for a church that is not in line with his teaching, with the will of the father.

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