There is a distinct manner in which Christians, mostly in the West, defend their teachings by  the use of “sola scriptura.” This is the idea that any and all doctrines of the Christian faith are found only and alone in the Bible. The first problem with this idea is to see the numerous and conflicting denominations who hold to this view. It has been fine contemporary entertainment to enter an online Christian forum and observe a Seventh Day Adventist, a Presbyterian Calvinist, and a Southern Baptist all vehemently disagree with each other and yet base their argument solely on this principle. One wonders at what point in their lives they might step back from the fray and say,  “Hey, we all believe in sola scriptura, yet we don’t agree. This doesn’t seem to be working very well.”

The second erroneous opinion of those holding to this position is that when they say “sola scriptura,” what is meant is that any doctrine of Christianity must be precisely spelled out, word for word, in order to be a part of the faith. Yet even the Bible itself doesn’t suggest this, such as is found in the following verses:

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (Did the people see an actual lamb coming towards John?)

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (Really? But you don’t look like a slice of bread!)

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (Funny, I don’t see any leaves coming out of my fingers.)

Metaphors are teaching devices which help in understanding deep and sometimes mysterious principles of the faith. When we understand that bread in the time when Jesus walked the earth was the main source of nutrition, and therefore life itself, we understand that Jesus is saying by this metaphor that we need Him to sustain our lives. We further understand, by thinking about this verse, that He is speaking not about the earthly plane, but about spiritual life.  He feeds and nourishes us, gives us the strength to live spiritually. It is also not by accident that Jesus left us the bread of the Eucharist to remind us that in being present under the appearance of bread He is our life.

The Bible teaches by analogy, metaphor, proverbs, and parables, as well as those verses which are clear and distinct, such as “Thou shalt not steal.”

Calvinists appear to gladly ignore the metaphorical nature of the Bible when it suits their purpose, insisting on finding doctrine being taught clearly and word for word in the Sacred Scriptures. Regarding baptism, for instance, calvinistic Baptists will quickly defend their position by saying, “Where in the Bible do you find infant children being baptized?”  The answer, of course, is … nowhere.  The challenge then becomes, “So why do you do this if it is not in the Bible?” Because of this lack of a precisely worded instruction in the Bible to do so, infant baptism, along with several other practices of the Orthodox Church, is described as “superstition” by some Calvinists and many Anabaptists and Evangelicals. The word “paganism” is also bandied about freely by men like J.D. Hall and his ilk, who have no idea of how to view the Scriptures other than within their narrow Calvinist framework. Allow me to give an example of how this works.

One of the more frequent accusations received by Orthodox and Roman Catholics is that by referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary as “Queen of Heaven,” we are following the ancient pagan practice which was condemned by Jeremiah in his denunciation of Israel’s pagan worship.

Jeremiah 7:17  Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

Since this condemnation is so clearly expressed in Sacred Scripture, what possible reason could both Orthodox and Roman Catholics have for addressing Mary by this title? When a Calvinist myself I often engaged in the same misunderstanding of Mary and the ancient, apostolic faith, being taught more by things like Chick tracts and anti-Catholic polemical books than good biblical exegesis.

The first problem with the Calvinist position is that it does what all cultists do – takes a single verse out of context and makes a whole doctrinal position based on that narrow understanding. This is what Ellen G. White did with her one verse about the keeping of the Sabbath, not recognizing that the Sabbath was specifically given to the nation of Israel as part of the Old Covenant. Exo 31:16.  Furthermore, the Sabbath was a metaphor for the rest which believers find in Christ. White did not understand that, nor did she have a full working understanding of the changes between the Old and New Covenants.

In like manner, neither do most Calvinists.

It is precisely because of the Covenant of God that we address Our Lady as Queen of Heaven. This understanding goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and the Fall of Man. Adam was created into a covenant relationship with God. He is called “the son of God in Luke 3:38.  Since God is describe in multiple places in the Psalms as the King of the Universe, this means that Adam was created as a prince. How do I know this? By using what we know of earthly princes and applying it to Adam. A son of a king is a prince. He is expected to mature someday into a king. This was Adam’s teleology – to become king over Creation, reigning under  and bearing the supreme authority of God. This is where the use of analogy and metaphor – describing that which we don’t understand by things that we do – is so important.

Adam had a wife. What is the wife of a king? A princess! And what does a princess become when her husband is elevated to kingship. A queen!  Hmmmmm….starting to see a definite thread here!

What was lost in the Fall? EVERYTHING! Mankind would not rule over Creation with a man and a woman as king and queen. To understand Mary as Queen of Heaven, you must understand that what was accomplished on the Cross was more than just an individualistic salvation, which is the basis of Calvinist soteriology. It was the reversal of all damage done to Creation and mankind by the Fall. Adam is restored, for we find the man, Jesus of Nazareth, is now addressed as the Last Adam 1Co 15:45. Now a male human being is once again not only covenant head over Creation, but through His life of obedience – which Adam failed at – He has been elevated to King. No Calvinist would deny this title to Christ, yet this is where they stop. Calvinists do not unpack all the baggage that this title carries with it, for if there is now a human King, and He is the restoration of Adam, then one important question remains:

WHERE IS HIS QUEEN???

If Eve is not also restored from the Fall, then the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross is incomplete. In order for there to be a full and complete restoration of the family of man first found in the Garden of Eden, Eve must be restored in some female human being. I am sure that by now, you see exactly who that woman is. It is none other than the perfect, immaculate, and obedient Mary.  Just as Adam and Eve would have been co-regent over all Creation as human rulers, so Jesus and Mary now reign. Any authority which She bears comes not from herself, but rather from her union with her King. We know this from observing earthly kingdoms. To insult a queen was to insult the king. To disobey the queen was to disobey the king.

Jesus and Mary fulfill the restoration of the Garden. They reign as Adam and Eve could have if they had not fallen. “But how do you know that a mere human being, no matter how perfect, could become a queen in the way you describe Mary?”

Excellent question, and the answer is in the Bible:

Revelation 5:10   And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

John says that all the redeemed of God are kings (and by extension, queens). Rulership is given to God’s children, a fulfillment of that which Adam and Eve could have had. Sola scriptura cannot find the verse which states clearly that Mary is now Queen. You have to work this out of the pages of Scripture. You also have to understand a Suzerainty kingship covenant, which is the model in which the biblical Covenant of God is based – greater and lesser kings (Please study this if you are at all interested in studying God’s covenant relationship with mankind)

I have shared this with more than one Protestant and have had them either pooh-pooh it, or go right back to Jeremiah and repeat the verse against worshiping the queen of heaven, as if presenting this verse over and over will magically make it come true. It is sad and high-level ignorance of proper hermeneutical principles. The Bible is to be understood as a whole unit, a story from beginning to end about the creation, fall, and redemption of mankind. Taking a verse out of Scripture and beating it to death in a public forum is not the way to do exegesis of the Bible. I also find it odd that the words “Total Depravity” are not found in the Bible as descriptive of man. Calvinists are more than willing to “work the Scriptures” to prove this idea, but I will guarantee you that 99% of them will not allow for me to do the same thing here in my defense of Mary as Queen.

A final note: who is it who mimics the truth, presenting falsehood with just enough truth in it as to appear to be orthodox belief? When the protoevangelium was declared in Genesis 3, promising the coming of our Redeemer, it was not long before numerous false redeemers arose which mimicked the true coming of the Son of God:

The pagan system of sun worship had three main aspects: the father, mother, and the son. In ancient Chaldean times, these were the god Bel or Merodach, Ninus the son who was also worshiped as Tammuz, and the female goddess Rhea who was also worshiped as Ishtar, Astarte, or Beltis. She was also referred to as the “queen of heaven,” and the “wrath subduer.” Mary has received these same names in Catholicism. 

Mother and child worship was the basis of the ancient religions. In the various religions of the world, the same system of worship was perpetuated under different names. In Egypt , the mother and child were worshiped as Isis and Osiris or Horus, in India as Isi and Iswara, in China and Japan as the mother goddess Shing-moo with child, in Greece as Ceres or Irene and Plutus, in Rome as Fortuna and Jupitor-puer, or Venus and Adurnis, and in Scandinavia as Frigga and Balder. The mother and child were worshiped in Babylon as Ishtar and Tammuz, and in Phoenicia, as Ashtoreth and Baal. Moreover, the child was worshiped as both husband and son of the mother goddess.

The express action of Satan have always been to take away from that which is the true worship of God. These pagan systems are ancient and exist even today to distract souls from Christ. But the accusation of paganism by Calvinists regarding that which is true is simply wrong. I have shown, by connection of Jesus to Adam and Mary to Eve, how the Garden family is restored. You have to connect the dots. If you are looking for explicit, word for word descriptions of every doctrine held by Orthodox and Catholic believers, you will never find it. You work these things out of the Scriptures. This is called “exegesis,” and it requires a lot more time and effort than just finding a pet verse in the Bible and riding it into the sunset.

I have posted these blogs publically, yet I have not heard from any Calvinists regarding them. I understand. As a former Calvinist, I found it hard to break out of the paradigm in which I was operating. It was only as I came to understand the Covenant of God that I could apply these principles and make sense of the apostolic faith.

I prayed for J.D. Hall this morning. May the Lord graciously open his heart and his eyes to the truth and beauty of God’s restored covenant family and the new Adam and Eve, King and Queen of Heaven.