Maria Divine Mercy has repeatedly made this rather outlandish claim that her messages are, in fact, 'Holy Scripture'. Her first messages stated,
“You need all your energy to write the book. [The book of which I speak, is a Holy Scripture and is part of the plan which has been revealed in the ‘Book of Kells’.] This book will change lives, save souls and has been foretold. Yes, the book is what was prophesied. You are the writer. I am the Author. (November 12th, 2010)
The Book of Kells is the ancient Iish term for the four Gospels but interestingly. The term has been removed from the original message on 'WarningSecondComing website' though it is still available in some translations.
That is not the only time when the new 'scripture' needed correction. For example, on March 23, 'WarningSecondComing' website amended the message from the previous day that called on ALL the followers to fast from Monday until 15.30 on Good Friday and said that to those 'who do not wish to endure this suffering (fasting) 'I will grant you great blessings', a rather attractive offer - who would not like great blessings after all? Especially if all it took was not to fast during the Holy Week.
What came first, the Church or the Bible?
None of the New Testament writings called themselves Scripture until the Church decided that they should be part of the Bible.
Maria Divine Mercy writes,
“Why do My children ignore these teachings taught by My apostles since the new scriptures were produced?” (30 Nov 2010).
What teachings were taught by Apostles since the New Scriptures were produced? None. As Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote,
"It was the New Testament that came out of the Church, not the Church which came out of the New Testament."
“I call only on those who are brave enough to
take up my gauntlet.” MDM message 23/8/2011
(Is Jesus challenging us to a duel?)
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The New Testament canon was approved and finalized as late as the fourth century A.D. In the early days of the Church there were many writings in circulation supposedly coming from the apostles. Some of them were read in the early Church, such as the 'Shepherd of Hermas' written by Pope Clement,' but they never made it into the final canon. The Church Father in union with the Pope, under guidance of the Holy Spirit determined which writings were inspired. The Councils of Rome (382 A.D.), Hippo (393 A.D), and Carthage (397 A.D.) finalised the list of 27 books of New Testament. None of the twelve Apostles, of course, was alive at that time.
MDM and Sola Scriptura
Catholics see God's revelation as presented through Scripture, Tradition and the teaching body of the Church, the Magisterium. Protestants reject the Sacred Tradition and the Magistrium, claiming that only the Bible (Sola Scriptura) contains all the knowledge necessary for salvation.
Even the Bible itself seems to reject the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, calling the Church 'the pillar and support of the truth' (1 Tim 3: 15), and warning the faithful about the dangers of private interpretation: "At the same time, we must recognise that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual." (2 Pet 1: 20).
This is something that even Luther learnt the hard seeing the chaos Sola Scriptura and private judement in interpreting the Bible produced, he said, "All men now presume to criticise the Gospel, almost every old dotting fool or prating sophist must, forsooth, be a doctor of divinity.'
The result today is thousands of Protestant denominations, all of which claim to rely solely on the Bible and yet cannot agree with each other on a number of points.
Maria Divine Mercy, unlike Catholics, embraces the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and is apparently a Protestant, as she claims,
"The Bible contains the Holy Word of God. The Bible contains the whole Truth. It does not lie. If you deny the Truth contained therein you deny the Word of God. (May 18, 2012).
Though this poses a few questions - if the Bible contains the whole truth, why do we need the Book of Truth? And happens when her messages contradict the Scripture? That should mean that one of them got it wrong, right?
But Maria Divine Mercy has a solution for that:
"My true prophets, for the most part, are ignorant of Holy Scripture or prophecies given to the world out of My Mercy. They do not need to quote extracts from the Holy Bible because I do not ask them to do this. My Word is given as it is. My Holy Bible is sacred. To extract sections out of it, in order to endorse any divine revelation, is not authorised. When a message is given by Me, the prophet writes what I dictate, and is never asked to replicate extracts given to the world by My apostles." (April 28, 2013).
That is very convenient as it takes care of a number of problems - MDM is excusing herself for not knowing the Bible - as this is apparently a sign proving she is a true prophet. Also, nobody, including the Church even, is 'authorised' to examine whether the Book of Truth conforms to the Bible, which is normally the test of authenticity of private revelation - its consistency with Public Revelation.
Though 'it is not authorised', let's take a look at a few such rather striking contradictions.
MDM: ‘I am suffering to such an extent that the wounds inflicted upon Me at My terrible crucifixion…are opening again and festering…’ 13. 11. 2010:
The Bible: because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. Psalm 16: 10
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MDM ‘Many Christians ignore one of the most fundamental promises I made during My crucifixtion [sic] where I would be present in bread and wine and leave a permanent mark to help nourish souls. 14. 4. 2011
Bible: The only promise given during the Crucifixion is: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23: 43
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MDM ‘All paths lead to God, the creator of mankind.’ 21. 11. 2010:
Bible: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’ John 14: 6
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MDM: Don't you know that My Power is Almighty and that I cannot be broken, even though they may break My Bones. 7. 07, 2013.
Bible: 'He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Psalm 34: 20
Reading these one would wonder that maybe it is not 'authorised' to extract sections of the Bible to endorse this supposedly 'divine revelation' because simply the Bible does not endorse it.
Private Revelations and the Bible
There has never been a true seer has ever claimed his or her messages to be equal with Holy Scripture. And even if MDM's messages conformed to the Bible and the teachings of the Church, would it be still possible to put them on par with Holy Scripture? The Church, which is the pillar and support of the truth, teaches the opposite:
Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.(CCC 67)
Of course, according to Maria Divine Mercy the Church shouldn't even attempt to discern these messages - she tells us,
"Never try to analyse My Messages for you do not need to do so. My Word is My Word. No man can defend My Word for it is cast in stone. Any man who tries to break My Word or cast aspersions on it, will fail for they are powerless against My Holy Word. (July 2 2012).
So that apparently means the Church, without any discernment or study, should add MDM messages to the Bible, and maybe even include it in the Mass readings? Then we would probably find ourselves listening to such pearls of wisdom from MDM:
“They will never deviate from the truth no more than you. My beloved followers, can sway the truth to suit your interpretation.” 28/12/2010
“Remember God the Father is now in charge of His Kingdom which no man can tumble. Any attempt to do so will result in failure.” 14/7/2011
“Keep praying for those sacred servants of Mine who will, like Judas before them, kiss Me on one cheek while betraying Me with the other. 28/1/2013
“Many people reject them [God’s visionaries]. Even more reject those visionaries who have made themselves known to the world.” 29/11/2012
Or these threats against those who dare to speak against Maria Divine Mercy's revelations:
When you spit at Me, you will become blind and will never see again. When you utter words of hatred, your tongue will be cut out. When you stand up and declare to all your self-proclaimed knowledge of God, you will fall with your legs cut from under you. When you deem My prophet to be evil, you will have no life. (May 4th, 2013).
Compare that to Matthew 12: 32;
"And anyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven but no one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven either in this world or in the next."
Is she equal to the Holy Spirit - one wonders.
Such threats are fairly common in her writings, since they are apparently crucial for the salvation of mankind,
“You, My beloved faithful are now being called by me to stand up and defend My Holy Word so that mankind can be saved.” (15/11/2011),
Though more common is the admonition not to defend the messages, as in
“My daughter you must not respond or try to defend My word.(23/5/2011:)
Supposedly they can stand on their own. That takes care of the problem effectively because it is quite impossible to defend them. The only way to defend them is to refuse to defend them. Better change the topic. Attack Pope Francis for example. Works almost every time.
So is Maria Divine Mercy writing new Scripture? Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for us, Catholics, she is not.
The Catholic Church teaches that public revelation is already complete:
"...no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries (CCC 66)
And
Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfillment, as is the case in certain non-Christian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations". (CCC 67).
Maria Divine Mercy is not writing 'new scripture'; she is rather creating a new religion, a Catholic sect with its own 'holy book'.
Such holy books were already written, like the Koran written by Mohammed or the Book of Mormon written by Joseph Smith. Those two books claim not only divine origin, but they are supposedly not written by humans even - just like MDM who uses automatic writing to get her messages.
The Bible, on the other hand, has human authors who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
The Bible, on the other hand, has human authors who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (CCC 136 ).
We, Catholics, already have the Book of Truth and it is called the Holy Bible; we should take seriously what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about it,
"The Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord's Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God's Word and Christ's Body. (CCC 103).
Perhaps if we had better knowledge of the true Word of God, we would not fall for any counterfeits as the badly written, heretical and at times plain silly messages of Maria Divine Mercy ironically called 'The Book of Truth'.
Source: How Stupid Can Private Revelations Can Be
Recommended reading: Having it both Ways With Divine Revelation
Thank you for an excellent post which pulls this story together. I would like to add a comment about the M-DM article "I am present in the Eucharist despite the misinterpretation of My Promise" Ap.14, 2011
ReplyDeletewhich gave the Protestant understanding of this sacrament suggesting Jesus is somehow mingled within the bread and the wine. The administration team has since added a footnote on the W2C website stating: "For Clarification on the Doctrine of Transubstantiation please refer to the Message given on Friday, June 1, 2012." All this to show the scripture of M-DM is fallible while Sacred Scripture is infallible. I too have a hard time to believe that whoever is writing this tripe is Catholic. Then again, a good many Catholics are still promoting her.
“THEY [my loyal children] ARE THE LIGHT THAT BRING ME THE STRENGTH NEEDED TO LEAD MY ARMY.” ( Jesus to M-DM, Jan.31, 2012)
ReplyDeleteResponse: Jesus is omnipotent and He resurrected in His glorious body, therefore He needs no one to give Him strength. Furthermore, Jesus is the light of the world. St. John described Him as the “true light which enlightens everyone.” Why would He who is light need anyone’s light?
Regrettably, many of the faithful no longer see “the light of Christ which shines out visibly from the Church” and they fall for a work of darkness which propagates hatred. Christians are called to be a light to the world, not to Jesus. This is more of M-DM’s inverted theology and inept similitude with Scripture.
“CHRIST IS THE LIGHT OF HUMANITY; and it is, accordingly, the heartfelt desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit, that, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature, it may bring to all men that LIGHT of CHRIST WHICH SHINES OUT VISIBLY FROM THE CHURCH.” (Lumen Gentium 1; Mark 16:15. These words open the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. By choosing this starting point, the Council demonstrates that the article of faith about the Church depends entirely on the articles concerning Christ Jesus. THE CHURCH HAS NO OTHER LIGHT THAN CHRIST’S; according to a favorite image of the Church Fathers: THE CHURCH IS LIKE THE MOON, ALL ITS LIGHT REFLECTED FROM THE SUN.” Catechism no. 748
It is not just M-DM who refuses to defend her messages but her apostles have adopted the same tactic. M-DM wrote a prayer for anyone discerning the authenticity of her mission. This prayer to the Holy Spirit is to be recited for seven days. Consequently, her disciples feel no further need to question a single word pronounced by M-DM. Like it or not; understand it or not; if Jesus on the W2C site, said it then it must be gospel truth. These Catholics feel powerful emotions and their fervor rides high. Surely, the Holy Spirit has enlightened them, just as M-DM promised. They are not disturbed, in the slightest, that at least a billion of their brethren in Christ, welcome Pope Francis as a legitimate successor of Benedict. After all, they are the remnant army; they expect the true Church to be small. Unfortunately, they refuse to doubt for a moment there might be another spirit at work. A spirit that inspires automatic writing.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, they are so confident that they hold the lucky dice, they are willing to set aside all guidelines of the Church on discernment, warnings from outstanding Catholics, concerned bishops, pleas from pastors, friends and family, to gamble their salvation in a single toss. They are putting everything on this one seer. Their audacity is striking. How could anyone be so reckless with the gift of faith they were entrusted with? Rather than value the pearl of great price they have enjoyed for so long, they squander it like prodigal children. For what? An anonymous Internet shyster selling real estate for the new Paradise on Earth.
These are the fruits of the Holy Spirit: “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.” To all the M-DM apostles who refuse to share a few minutes of your time when asked, know that your stonewalling is neither kind nor generous. It is cruel. Give a few minutes of your time. Be prepared to give a reason for the hope that lies within you.
Because Jesus instituted the Eucharist during the last supper, rather than on the cross a few hours later, you maintain that He didn't say it during His crucifixion? Sorry, not a cutting criticism of MDM. It's like all the critiques iof apparitions that turned out to be true. It's called SOPHISTRY.
ReplyDeleteBtw MDM didn't mention institution of the Eucharist in the part you are referring to. What she taught here smacks of Martin Luther's doctrine of consubstantiation so much so she had to amend that message as PocketSketch pointed out.
DeleteCrucifixion is rather a specific term, isn't it?
These were just the examples, for more I suggest you read on heresies, factual errors, self-contradictions and failed prophesies. And before you throw a big word like SOPHISTRY kindly address the issue.
Sorry, but I consider this type of analysis to be sophistry. It's just the appropriate word.... I leave you to your position on this. Time will reveal all.
ReplyDeleteNo need to be sorry, I am used to MDM followers not being able to produce real arguments apart from 'time will tell'. It is kind of strange that you picked out this part and not even addressed the main issue which is - is MDM writing 'Holy Scripure' a claim which is so ridiculous that there is no need to wait for 'time'. It's all rubbish.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSophistry: a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone.
DeleteMaybe VTA needs to learn the meaning of the word, sophistry, before using it. If VTA is refuting an argument, he needs to prove his point that indeed Jesus did say that from the Cross. He has to prove wrong the argument that MDM is contradicting scripture. He didn’t. Instead, he gave an ad hominem attack which is a tool people use when they have no basis to support their claim. Jesus doesn't contradict Himself. He doesn’t make slips of the tongue. He doesn’t suffer from bouts of forgetfulness. That is a fundamental principle for discernment.
Therefore, one can conclude, in good faith, that someone is masquerading as the Saviour. Souls are in a sorry state when they profess their only source for truth is an anonymous group of writers who brainstorm for inspiration like a group of Hollywood scriptwriters, making it up as the movie is being shot. They are so confident, no one will care, whether or not their version of history is accurate, that they haven’t bothered to hire a spiritual consultant. One is either searching for truth or “diverted to myths.” (2Tim.4:4)
As the faithful like to defend their prophet using St. Paul, here is an account which bears reflection. St. Paul had been chased out of Thessalonica, a leading city of Macedonia, by a mob of angry Jews who didn’t accept the Messiah. He fled to Beroea where, “These Jews were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all willingness and examined the scriptures daily TO DETERMINE WHETHER THIS THINGS WERE SO. Many of them became believers . . . ” Acts 17. In other words, they measured the claims of St. Paul against the prophecies of the Old Testament and found them to be in agreement. Even so, today, a new seer claims to speak in the voice of Christ and as Catholics we search Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium to see how they measure up. She fails on all three counts.
“I will cut out the hearts of those hardened and stubborn souls who care nothing for anyone’s needs, except their own.” “Jesus” to MDM, Aug. 29, 2013
ReplyDeleteAgain, this new scripture of Marie Dvn Mrcy is a terrible distortion of Divine Mercy. Where does this come from? Even in the Old Testament God is full of mercy:
“I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.” Ezekiel 36:26
The promise made to the prophet Ezekiel has been fulfilled in the new and everlasting covenant for it is the Holy Spirit who brings the grace of repentance and conversion to purify the hearts of sinners, not cut them out.
She should change her name to Maria of Divine No-Mercy, especially after a message like this one: "This church will be seen to reach out to all sinners and to embrace those sinners whose sins are not acceptable by Me."
Delete(August 10, 2013)
I agree. Maria of No Mercy. She contradicts herself within the body of that message and her earlier messages.
DeleteJesus spoke about the Warning to MDM, May 24, 2012: “There is nothing to fear because this is the greatest gift I bring so that not one soul is lost to the fires of Hell.”
That not one soul will be lost to the fires of Hell is a direct contradiction of Jesus in Scripture.
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life and few find it.” Matthew 7: 13-14