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<\/a>Edward Bouverie (E. B.) Pusey<\/a>\u00a0(1800-1882) was an English Anglican cleric, professor of Hebrew at Oxford University for more than fifty years, and\u00a0author of many books<\/a>. He was a leading figure in the\u00a0Oxford Movement<\/a>, along with\u00a0St. John Henry Cardinal Newman<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0John Keble<\/a>, an expert on patristics, and was involved in many theological and academic controversies. Pusey helped revive the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Church of England, and because of several other affinities with Catholic theology and tradition, he and his followers (derisively called \u201cPuseyites\u201d) were mocked by over-anxious\u00a0adversaries in 1853<\/a>\u00a0as \u201chalf papist and half protestant\u201d. But, unlike Newman and like Keble, he never left Anglicanism.<\/p>\n This is the second of two replies to his book, An Eirenicon<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1864), which was a letter to his former colleague and\u00a0\u201cdearest friend\u201d<\/span>\u00a0William Lockhart<\/a>: the first of the tractarians to convert to Catholicism (in August 1843, even before Newman\u2019s reception in October 1845). Cardinal Newman himself replied to this book in 1865, in his volume,\u00a0Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching, Volume 2<\/em><\/a>. I haven\u2019t read it, so it won\u2019t have any influence on these replies. Pusey\u2019s words will be in\u00a0blue<\/span>. These two and additional replies to Pusey will be collected under the \u201cAnglicanism\u201d section of my Calvinism and General Protestantism<\/a>\u00a0web page, under his name. I use RSV for Bible citations.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n On his page 45, Pusey brings up the topic of Mary Mediatrix, that I recently wrote about<\/a> and and also discussed in a video (taped this very day) on my YouTube channel. I won\u2019t set forth a full defense of the doctrine here (the article linked is a good, solid introduction, I think, as is the video). Rather, I\u2019d like to address a very important and fundamental premise that lies behind<\/em> the notion of the Blessed Virgin Mary\u2019s widespread, even \u201cuniversal\u201d intercession; one that is firmly grounded in Scripture<\/em>. First, I\u2019ll cite several of Dr. Pusey\u2019s numerous objections to Marian intercession and what Catholics believe is her God-ordained role in the process of distributing grace and helping in the salvation of souls \u2014 just as St. Paul and many others did \u2014 indeed, potentially \u201cany\u201d of us, as James 5:19-20 states.<\/p>\n Pusey cites some (partially questionable) words about Marian intercession from Jean-Jacques Olier<\/a> (1608-1657), who was a French\u00a0Catholic priest\u00a0and the founder of the\u00a0Sulpicians<\/a>. He doesn\u2019t speak for the Church or determine doctrine or even spiritual practice. That\u2019s the job of the magisterium, which is the pope and bishops in ecumenical council, in agreement with him. When I defend the Church as one of her apologists \u2014 possessing, of course, no authority whatsoever \u2014 , I cite those sources, because that\u2019s what matters in the end.<\/p>\n So what Olier wrote is neither here nor there, in terms of \u201cofficial\u201d teaching of the Catholic Church. It\u2019s not ultimately relevant to this controversy. This is a longtime and tiresome tactic of Protestant apologists in criticizing the Catholic Church: they will cite individuals rather than actual magisterial statements, which are collected in sources such as Denzinger\u2019s Enchiridion symbolorum<\/em><\/a>. But let\u2019s move onto Pusey\u2019s objections (which I will reply to, grouped according to various sub-topics of the larger subject):<\/p>\n Our Lord has bidden us ask the Father in His Name; and we should not expect to be heard except through our Divine Redeemer. In like way, if God had \u201cplaced the Blessed Virgin between Christ and His Church,\u201d then, so far from there being any thing amiss in the exclusiveness of these prayers, it would rather seem, that to pray \u201cto Mary,\u201d or \u201cthrough Mary,\u201d would be the only legitimate form of prayer, as our prayers are to God \u201cthrough Jesus,\u201d or \u201cto Jesus,\u201d God and Man. It is the natural result of this belief, that, in almost every case, the hopes are expressed, that \u201cMary will do this or that.\u201d I remember few cases only, in which any Bishop said, \u201cGod would do it\u201d (there may of course have been more), . . . (p. 63)<\/span><\/p>\n I want to especially emphasize in the strongest terms that the Catholic Church believes as much as any Protestant, that we can pray directly to God any time we wish to do so. Indeed, we say the Lord\u2019s Prayer \/ Our Father<\/em> at every Mass, and that is the quintessential Christian prayer, taught to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It\u2019s a prayer to God. So no one can say we somehow discourage or frown upon \u201cgoing directly to God.\u201d It\u2019s a non-starter and a red herring. I will explain below why we often choose<\/em> to \u2014 as opposed to being required or compelled to \u2014 ask for the intercession of saints rather than going directly to God. It\u2019s because the Bible<\/em> explicitly and frequently teaches the goodness and effectiveness of such methods of prayer.<\/p>\n How can it be thought by any, that Jesus,\u2014Who \u201cever liveth to make intercession for us,\u201d Who crowned his own and was crowned in them; Whose words in His everlasting Gospel are, \u201cCome unto Me<\/em>, all that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest;\u201d \u201cWhatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you;\u201d \u201cWhatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if ye shall ask any thing in My Name, I will do it,\u201d\u2014is not willing to hear us, unless we seek a Mediatrix with Him, who is to dispose him to hear us? (p. 52)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We simply don\u2019t (officially, as a Church) teach that Jesus won\u2019t listen to us unless<\/em> we go to Mary first. If some Catholic individuals taught this, they went too far and didn\u2019t make the proper and crucial necessary distinctions. Mary\u2019s prayers are a spiritual aid to us, not a necessity to get to God.<\/p>\n \u201cShe loves those who love her,\u201d said the Archbishop of Granada, \u201cand most abundantly builds up with graces, and disposes her servants to become the habitation and temple of her Blessed Son and the Holy Spirit. (p. 63)<\/span><\/p>\n Human beings spreading graces to other human beings is a practice that is quite explicitly scriptural. St. Paul stated at least twice that he was a conduit of God\u2019s grace to others, and he and St. Peter taught that all<\/em> of us believers have the potential to do the same:<\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 4:15<\/strong> For it [his many sufferings: 4:8-12, 17] is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people<\/em>\u00a0it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.<\/p>\n Ephesians 3:2<\/strong>\u00a0assuming that you have heard of the\u00a0stewardship of God\u2019s grace that was given to me for you<\/em>\u00a0. .\u00a0.<\/p>\n Ephesians 4:29<\/b>\u00a0Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is\u00a0good for edifying, as fits the occasion,\u00a0that it may\u00a0impart grace<\/em>\u00a0to those who hear.<\/p>\n 1 Peter 4:10\u00a0<\/strong>As each has received a gift,\u00a0employ it for one another, as good stewards of God\u2019s varied grace<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Paul mentions distributing grace to folks at the beginning of practically every epistle that he wrote. When Paul and others use the common greeting of \u201cgrace to you\u201d (e.g., Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:2; Phlm 1:3; Rev 1:4), it\u2019s in the sense of \u201cmay God give you more grace\u201d; just as St. Peter writes, \u201cMay grace and peace be multiplied to you\u201d (1 Pet 1:2; identical wording in 2 Pet 1:2). Angels spread grace, too: \u201cGrace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne\u201d (Rev 1:4). So why the objection to Mary the Mother of God the Son doing the same thing?<\/p>\n Still, the teaching remains, that we are even surer to obtain them from her, than if we go directly to the One Mediator between God and man, Our Divine Lord, \u201cWho ever liveth to make intercession for us.\u201d (p. 47)<\/span><\/p>\n This is where the Bible can be a great aid in explaining why Catholics think it\u2019s a very good and spiritually wise thing<\/em> (not a necessary<\/em> or required<\/em> practice) to ask Mary or other saints to pray for us and go to God on our behalf. The Bible\u2019s very clear about this, which is why it\u2019s odd that Rev. Dr. Pusey \u2014 a clergyman and very educated person \u2014 seems to be unaware<\/em> of the sorts of Bible passages that I will now bring to bear, which are ultra-relevant to this discussion.<\/p>\n James 5:14-18<\/strong> Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; [15] and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. [17] Eli\u2019jah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. (refers to\u00a01 Kgs 17:1)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Catholic position is that it\u2019s best, and always possible, to \u201cgo straight to God\u201d in prayer,\u00a0unless<\/em>\u00a0there happens to be a person more righteous than we are in the immediate vicinity, who is willing to make the same prayer request. Then the\u00a0Bible<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 not merely the Catholic Church \u2014 recommends that\u00a0we ask\u00a0them<\/strong>\u00a0to intercede<\/em>, rather than asking God directly. If someone wants to be biblical and to follow the biblical model of prayer and intercession, it would include this practice. I\u2019ll now proceed to document that.<\/p>\n We can choose to wisely ask a person holier than themselves to make a prayer request of God, because of the key passage above, and others like, \u201cthe eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer\u201d (1 Pet 3:12), and \u201cWhen the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears\u201d (Ps 34:17), and \u201cthe prayer of the upright is his delight\u201d (Prov 15:8), and \u201che hears the prayer of the righteous\u201d (Prov 15:29), and \u201cwe receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him\u201d (1 Jn 3:22), and \u201cIf I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened\u201d (Ps 66:18; cf. 66:19-20).<\/p>\n Having established this principle of scriptural prayer, we see how it is carried out in the case of very holy people. God told Abimelech that Abraham would pray for him, so he could live, \u201cfor\u201d Abraham was \u201ca prophet\u201d (Gen 20:6-7). \u201cAll Israel\u201d (1 Sam 12:1) \u201csaid to Samuel [the prophet], \u2018Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die\u2019. . .\u201d (1 Sam 12:19). God told Job\u2019s \u201cfriends\u201d: \u201cmy servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly\u201d (Job 42:8).<\/p>\n Why did God listen to Job\u2019s prayers? It\u2019s because God Himself stated that \u201cthere is none like\u201d Job \u201con the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil\u201d (Job 1:8). King Zedekiah asked the holy prophet Jeremiah to pray for him and the country (Jer 37:3; cf. 42:2: \u201c[they] said to Jeremiah the prophet, \u2018Let our supplication come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us\u2019\u201d).<\/p>\n If we go to a more righteous or holy person and ask them to pray for\u00a0x<\/em>, then\u00a0x<\/em>\u00a0is far more likely to happen than if we go to God directly (because we are less righteous). Therefore, it\u2019s more \u201cefficient\u201d and \u201cbetter\u201d to do this in these instances rather than go directly to God. Righteous people know God\u2019s will better than those who are not following God with a whole heart, with all their might. Therefore, their prayers are more effective. Here are many more passages that teach this principle of prayer:<\/p>\n Exodus 32:30<\/strong>\u00a0On the morrow\u00a0Moses said\u00a0to the people, \u201cYou have sinned a great sin. And now\u00a0I will go up to the LORD;\u00a0perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.\u201d<\/p>\n Numbers 11:1-2<\/strong>\u00a0And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. [2]\u00a0Then\u00a0the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.<\/p>\n Numbers 14:11-13, 19-20<\/strong>\u00a0And the LORD said to Moses, \u201cHow long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them? [12] I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.\u201d [13]\u00a0But\u00a0Moses said to the LORD, \u201c . . . [19]\u00a0Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.\u201d\u00a0[20]\u00a0Then the LORD said, \u201cI have pardoned, according to your word;<\/p>\n Numbers 21:6-8<\/strong>\u00a0Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. [7]\u00a0And the people came to Moses, and said, \u201cWe have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you;\u00a0pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.\u201d\u00a0So Moses prayed for the people. [8] And the LORD said to Moses, \u201cMake a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.\u201d<\/p>\n Deuteronomy 9:18-19<\/strong>\u00a0Then\u00a0I lay prostrate before the LORD as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin which you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. [19] For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure which the LORD bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But\u00a0the LORD hearkened to me\u00a0that time also.<\/p>\n Deuteronomy 10:10<\/strong>\u00a0I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and\u00a0the LORD hearkened to me\u00a0that time also; the LORD was unwilling to destroy you.<\/p>\n 1 Samuel 7:8<\/strong>\u00a0And\u00a0the people of Israel said to Samuel, \u201cDo not cease to cry to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.\u201d<\/p>\n 1 Samuel 12:18-19<\/strong>\u00a0So Samuel called upon the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. [19]\u00a0And\u00a0all the people said to Samuel, \u201cPray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.\u201d<\/p>\n 1 Kings 13:6<\/strong>\u00a0And the king said to the man of God, \u201cEntreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.\u201d\u00a0And the man of God entreated the LORD;\u00a0and the king\u2019s hand was restored to him, and became as it was before.<\/p>\n 2 Kings 6:18<\/strong>\u00a0And when the Syrians came down against him, Eli\u2019sha prayed to the LORD, and said, \u201cStrike this people, I pray thee, with blindness.\u201d\u00a0So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Eli\u2019sha.<\/p>\n 2 Chronicles 30:18-20<\/strong>\u00a0. . . Hezeki\u2019ah had prayed for them, saying, \u201cThe good LORD pardon every one [19] who sets his heart to seek God, the LORD the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary\u2019s rules of cleanness.\u201d [20]\u00a0And the LORD heard Hezeki\u2019ah, and healed the people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This reply to his objections seems to have never crossed Dr. Pusey\u2019s mind. Yet it\u2019s a repeated principle of prayer taught throughout the entire Bible.<\/p>\n Bishop Andrewes also, in his summary, explains what those of his day believed to be condemned by the article, not requests for the prayers of saints departed, but direct addresses to them, as if they could themselves give what we ask. (p. 47)<\/span><\/p>\n More is intended than the asking of their prayers, as we do those of members of Christ still in the flesh, . . . (p. 48)<\/span><\/p>\n However it may be explained by Roman Catholic controversialists, to be no more than asking the prayers of members of Christ yet in the flesh, still, in use, it is plainly more; for no one would ask those in the flesh to \u2018protect us from the enemy,\u2019 \u2018receive us in the hour of death,\u2019 \u2018lead us to the joy of heaven,\u2019 \u2018may thy [the Blessed Virgin] abundant love cover the multitude of sins,\u2019 \u2018heal my wounds, and to the mind which asketh thee, give the gifts of grace,\u2019 or use any of the direct<\/em> prayers for graces which God Alone can bestow, which are common in Roman Catholic devotions to the Blessed Virgin. . . . Holy Scripture is not even alleged (as no text for the invocation of saints either is or can be quoted by Roman Catholic controversialists), . . . (p. 49; citing a book of his own from 1849)<\/span><\/p>\n Where our<\/em> natural language would be, \u201cGod will do this or that,\u201d there it seems equally natural to Roman Catholics to say, \u201cMary will do it.\u201d At least, where we expect beforehand, in the unfinished sentence, to find \u201cGod,\u201d or \u201cJesus,\u201d we find \u201cMary.\u201d (p. 64)<\/span><\/p>\n The simple answer to all this is that it has to do with a certain manner of speaking, and the casual unspoken assumption that God ultimately answers all prayers (many times with a \u201cno\u201d) and that we need not note<\/em> that every time we refer to the intercession of saints (with or without Protestants \u201clistening\u201d). I can show this from the Bible itself, too. Right from the lips of Jesus in Holy Scripture, comes the story (not parable!) of Lazarus and the rich man in Hades. The rich man literally prays to or petitions Abraham in language that seems \u2014 at least at first glance \u2014 to presuppose that Abraham alone can make things happen and answer his prayers. I contend that this is very similar to Catholics asking saints to \u201cplease obtain for us so-and-so . . .\u201d Jesus said:<\/p>\n Luke 16:22-31<\/strong> The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham\u2019s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; [23] and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz\u2019arus in his bosom. [24] And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz\u2019arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.\u2019 [25] But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz\u2019arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. [26] And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.\u2019 [27] And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father\u2019s house, [28] for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.\u2019 [29] But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.\u2019 [30] And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.\u2019 [31] He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Note that the rich man petitioned Abraham three times, and three times he was refused (with Abraham giving the reason for the refusal in 16:29, 31). Abraham never said (as he would have had<\/em> to do, if Protestantism is true), \u201cwhy are you asking me<\/em><\/strong>?! Don\u2019t you know that you are only permitted to make requests of God alone<\/em><\/strong>?!\u201d This is what Jesus taught, and I would remind all readers of whatever religious persuasion, that this is Jesus talking in inspired Scripture, and that He can\u2019t teach heresy or other error, which is true even if this is regarded as a parable.<\/p>\n Another similar case is that of Saul and the prophet Samuel, who appeared after he had died:<\/p>\n 1 Samuel 28:15-16<\/strong> . . . Saul answered, \u201cI am in great distress; for the Philistines are warring against me, and God has turned away from me and answers me no more, either by prophets or by dreams; therefore I have summoned you to tell me what I shall do.\u201d [16] And Samuel said, \u201cWhy then do you ask me, since the LORD has turned from you and become your enemy?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here, it was correctly assumed by Saul that Samuel spoke for God, which is what prophets did. So he petitioned him, asking what he should do (knowing that the answer would come from God through Samuel his messenger). Samuel asked him, \u201cWhy then do you ask me?\u201d not because it was improper<\/em> for Saul to ask at all, but because it was already a foregone conclusion<\/em> that Saul had been rejected by God. That being the case, Samuel couldn\u2019t help him, because he spoke for God. But Saul presupposed that he spoke for God, just as Catholics \u2014 who know anything at all<\/em> about their faith \u2014 presuppose that the saints have to go to God to receive any answer to a petition from us.<\/p>\n As to the larger question about the vastly misunderstood and misinterpreted \u201cCatholic \u2018flowery\u2019 \/ \u2018excessive\u2019 language of veneration\u201d towards Mary and the saints, see the following five articles of mine:<\/p>\n St. Alphonsus de Liguori: Mary-Worshiper & Idolater?\u00a0<\/a>[8-9-02]<\/p>\n Was St. Louis de Montfort a Blasphemous Mariolater?<\/a>\u00a0(cf.\u00a0abridged,\u00a0National Catholic Register<\/em>\u00a0version<\/a>) [2009]<\/p>\n Maximilian Kolbe\u2019s \u201cFlowery\u201d Marian Veneration & the Bible<\/a>\u00a0[2010]<\/p>\n Catholics Think Mary is \u201cCo-Creator\u201d? (vs. T.F. Kauffman) (Refuting a Distortion of What St. Alphonsus de Liguori Actually Teaches in\u00a0The Glories of Mary<\/em>)<\/a>\u00a0[7-17-23]<\/p>\n Mary, Not Jesus, is the Catholic \u201cSavior\u201d? (Response to More Misrepresentation of St. Alphonsus de Liguori\u2019s Book,\u00a0The Glories of Mary<\/em>)<\/a>\u00a0[7-21-23]<\/p>\n These are not \u201clight reading\u201d by a long shot, but anyone wishing to better understand why Catholics talk the way they do about Mary, can learn a great deal (agree or disagree), I think, by perusing them: especially the first one.<\/p>\n\n