Mary was the earthly, human mother of Jesus incarnate. She was an unmarried virgin engaged to a man named Joseph when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and she supernaturally conceived Jesus. She was only chosen to bear the Savior in her womb by God's grace and unmerited favor.
After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph married and raised Him as their own child. Together, they naturally conceived at least six children, including four boys and a minimum of two girls, who were the half-siblings of Jesus.
Mary was not a divine being but a naturally conceived human who was not without sin. Scripture states that every person born on the earth is guilty of sinning and falling short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Ecclesiastes 7:20). This truth includes Mary. The only person exempt from this fact is Jesus Christ, who was and is God manifested in the flesh (1 John 3:5). Mary confirmed she was a sinner by trusting God as her Savior. She proclaimed in Luke 1:46-47, “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
Mary is not a co-redeemer, co-mediator, or God-appointed intercessor between God and humanity, Jesus and humanity, or Jesus and God. Such claims contradict and undermine the authority and infallibility of God’s Word. Scripture affirms only one Redeemer and Mediator between God and sinful humanity, who is Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25). Therefore, assigning these roles to anyone else, including Mary, depicts Jesus as incapable of redeeming sinful people and portrays His atoning death on the cross as insufficient. It also undermines and contradicts God’s Word, representing it as heretical, fallible, inaccurate, and unreliable—none of which are true.
Mary does not intercede for believers through their prayers. On the contrary, Jesus promised to send a Helper to be with His followers forever and identified Him as the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-20; 26). The Bible also ascribes the Holy Spirit as God’s appointed Intercessor, not Mary (Romans 8:26-27).
Mary should never be prayed to or worshipped because those honors belong to God and God alone. Mary was not divine. Therefore praying to her is idolatry because it improperly elevates her to a godlike status. It also presumes she holds power or influence over what God does or does not do, which offends God. Additionally, praying to Mary violates the biblical directives for prayer, which must only be directed to God (who is revealed in Scripture as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
In the gospels, Jesus taught believers to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). He also modeled this truth on several occasions, including the night He was arrested (John 17:1-26) and while He hung on the cross (Luke 23:34). Jesus also instructed His followers to pray in His own name, according to His will and whatever they asked would be granted to them (John 14:12-14; 1 John 5:14-15).
Other biblical examples of believers praying to Jesus are found in Acts and 1 Corinthians. In Acts 7:59-60, Stephen called on God and prayed to Jesus as he was being stoned. In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul addressed the Corinthian believers as those who “call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Any other biblical reference to worshipping or praying to someone other than God is forbidden (Acts 10:25–26; 14:13–16; Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9).
(See the Scripture References link at the top of the page.)
