The Person of Christ

Is there any Queen of heaven constituted by God? It is denied. That name was taken from the ancient idolaters, and applied to the virgin Mary by the new ones.

We acknowledge the Blessed virgin to be the most excellent member of this spouse; and that, in this sense, she reigns with Christ, and with all the faithful. But that Christ administers his kingdom through her, as through the Queen of heaven, or that he has constituted her to have Dominion over all creatures with Royal power, since this is not proved from scripture; but is only fashioned by the most audacious men, she will never receive it; … nor can we defer it to her.

I hear again a Jesuit crying out, "You, Mother of God, CAN DO ALL THINGS in heaven and on earth." But I believe Christ, saying, (Matt. 28:18.) "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth." If he had said the same of his mother, we would have given faith to him: which we rightly withdraw from those who, without God's authority, crown a Queen, not only for themselves, but to rule over all creatures.

Except for those honorary titles which belong to God the Lord and to our only Saviour, one may give her the highest and most glorious titles. … But that we do not name her a Goddess, a Mediator between God and men, an all-knowing and almighty Queen of Heaven, a Gate of the Heavenly Paradise, a Redeemer, a Reconciler of the human race, and more suchlike honorary titles which were raised by men, comes solely therefrom, that suchlike honorary titles are adverse to the honour of God and of Our Saviour.

However, we cannot in any way acknowledge or accept what our opponents openly say, namely that Mary is to be invoked as a mediator between God and humans, or that she is our patron and advocate. We do not believe that this is either a tradition of Holy Scripture or a command from God. We believe that God, who alone grants all salvation for the present and future, is the one to be invoked alone. We believe that Christ alone [since He alone is true God and true man] is the true mediator between God and humans. We believe that He, who alone can satisfy all humans, is the patron and advocate with the Father.

In brief, there is scarcely one title given to Jesus Christ, nor one which prophesies of Him, which they do not attribute to her, calling her Queen of Heaven, Porter of Paradise, their life, their sweetness, treasurer of grace, the refuge and advocate of sinners—thus dishonoring Him and also making the poor people understand that they honor her contrary to the whole Word of God and the writings of the most ancient teachers.

Nothing is more frequent among them than to call the blessed virgin a redemptress and deliverer from sins.

Yes, they transform some of them into detestable idols, making them in truth mediators of redemption, especially the virgin Mary, whom they call "a Lady, a Goddess, a Queen, whom Christ her Son obeys in heaven, a mediatress: or life, hope, the medicine of the diseased."

It may be added also that the doctrine of the Papists that the saints or the Virgin Mary may act as mediators to procure blessings for us, is false. There is but "one Mediator;" and but one is necessary. Prayer offered to the "saints," or to the "Virgin," is idolatry, and at the same time removes the one great Mediator from the office which he alone holds, of making intercession with God.

But can she not furthermore be venerated as a mediator and intercessor between God and us with the honour of invocation? Answer: No, since no one should be invoked except God alone in Christ, our only Mediator, Saviour, and Intercessor

So also, the Holy Virgin herself recognized the Lord Christ as her Saviour (Luke 1:47). But now whose Saviour the Lord Christ is, He makes whole and redeemed from sins, as God's Angel himself testifies (Matthew 1:21).

She knew herself to be a sinner who needed a Saviour, and that she could no otherwise rejoice in God than as interested in his salvation through the promised Messiah.

It is with great propriety, in speaking of the joy of her heart, that she gives to God the appellation of Savior. Till God has been recognised as a Savior, the minds of men are not free to indulge in true and full joy, but will remain in doubt and anxiety.

My Saviour—Mary, poor heart, never dreamt, we see, of her own "immaculate conception"—in the offensive language of the Romanists—any more than of her own immaculate life.

The Virgin Mary and the rest of the Saints being sinners, could not satisfy so much as for them selves.

Thirdly, It is a standing testimony against that idolatry which he foresaw his church would in after-ages sink into, in giving undue honours to the virgin Mary, a crime which the Roman catholics, as they call themselves, are notoriously guilty of, when they call her the queen of heaven, the salvation of the world, their mediatrix, their life and hope; … The Son of God is appointed our Advocate with the Father; but the mother of our Lord was never designed to be our advocate with the Son.

He hath also hereby taught us, that the blessed virgin is not to be preferred before her Son (as the papists do).

Now, as at other times, he put a comparative neglect upon his mother, which seemed purposely designed to obviate the extravagant respect which men in aftertimes would be apt to pay her. Our respect ought to be guided and governed by Christ's; now the virgin Mary, or Christ's mother, is not equalled with, but postponed to, ordinary believers, on whom Christ here puts a superlative honour.

Which is said not through ignorance or contempt, but either, as displeased with the interruption given him; or with a view to take an opportunity from hence of expressing his superior value to his spiritual relations; which looks with no favourable aspect on the superstitious notions, and veneration of the virgin Mary among the papists

As Christ alone is our mediator and redeemer, none of the saints nor even the most blessed virgin Mary (even though we recognize her as the most blessed among women and praiseworthy above all others as the mother of God) may be called mediators between God and men. Nor is it to be assigned to Mary to be the queen of heaven with lordship over all creatures, which is the province of Christ alone.

He is nevertheless our sole mediator, redeemer, defender that sits at the right hand of God the Father (1 Peter 2; Rom. 8). The saints are not mediators, intercessors, nor is the virgin Mary a mediatrix

We are knit to him both by consanguinity and by affinity. The nearest affinity is marriage, and the nearest consanguinity is sister. So that there are all bonds to knit us to Christ. Whatsoever is strong in any bond, he knits us to him by it. Is there any love in an husband, a brother, a mother, a friend, in an head to the members? in anything in the world? Is there any love scattered in any relation, gather it all into one, and all that love, and a thousand times more than that, is in Christ in a more eminent manner.

Christ gives himself to the soul, with all his excellencies, righteousness, preciousness, graces, and eminencies, to be its Saviour, head, and husband, for ever to dwell with it in this holy relation. He looks upon the souls of his saints, likes them well, counts them fair and beautiful, because he has made them so.

That the saints are nearer unto Christ than angels are, as I told you before; he is so a head to men as he is not to them. Both their union and ours with God is by Christ; now, if we be more united to Christ than they are, then we are more nearly united to God too; more nearly united to Christ we are, for he is our brother, he hath our nature, he hath more of ours, he hath done more for us; we are sons by adoption in him, he is our husband. To which of all the angels was it said that Christ is their husband? Of which of all the angels is it said that Christ is their Saviour?

Christ hath never enough of the soul. He would have them more and more open to him. Our hearts are for Christ, who hath the heaven of heavens, and the soul of a believing Christian for himself to dwell in. He contents not himself to be in heaven alone, but he will have our hearts.